A Tidings of Magpies

THE CALIPH'S HOUSE by Tahir Shah Many have written about their experiences after moving to a foreign country, recounted adventures in remodeling, and meeting the new neighbors. Having Jinns inhabit your home, however, puts a whole new wrinkle on it. There wasn't anything I enjoyed more after a grey and rainy day in CinCity where my adventure for the day was running up to the local grocery store for the foods I needed for dinner than reading about the latest obstacle in making Mr. Shah's house liveable. The cars, the customs office, the search for building supplies and the descriptions of all the nooks and crannies of Morocco took my mind off the last claws of winter stuck in our local landscape. Quintessential Sentence : "We could sell this house and do it all again," she said. Favorite Word(s ): "Bidonville"--love the sound of it & "Bismillah"--love the concept of it

RUN by Ann Patchett "...a spectacular autumn book: moody and thoughtful, gentle in its handling of weighty topics, and quietly suspenseful."--Holly Silva, The St Louis Post-Dispatch Quintessential Sentence: "Anger and sadness and a sense of injustice that was bigger than any one thing that had happened stoked an enormous fire in her chest and that fire kept her heart vibrant and hot and alive, a beautiful, infallible machine." Favorite word: Enneacanthus obesus Full Disclosure: Ann Patchett could write out a grocery list and I would love it.

Blitz The Story Of December 29, 1940 by Margaret Gaskin I love this book and I want everyone to read it although I realize it's not everyone's cup of tea. It is literally one day out of months of nightly bombing raids conducted by the German Luftwaffe which presents a bit of a problem to write as there is no one particular character to follow. As you read, you follow the timeline of the raid itself, which was massive, and individual accounts from many sources. It took me a bit of time to read, partly because these days I've only been reading at night before bed and it's not too long before I'm asleep. The writing was somewhat difficult for me due to the style of the author. She must have a British style of the wording and the structure and rhythm of the sentences and I would have to re-read to get the gist of it. And the abbreviations...!!! Wartime England... Could not remember those from night to night, but it made no difference to the narrative. It was that intere...

Birds in Fall by Brad Kessler This novel tells the story of a tragedy and its aftermath. I am a sucker for pieces of writing that deal with what happens after the end of your world has come, and then gone, and you also have to go on if for no other reason than your heart keeps beating and your body keeps breathing. The symbolism and metaphores might be a bit thick, but I think the author had a lot he wanted to say and he does it well. Quintessential sentence: "May I ask, he hesitated, do they find their way back?" Favorite word: crepuscular

The Talented Mister Ripley by Patricia Highsmith Will be sleeping with the hallway lights on, and tonight, the dog can sleep on the bed. "Highsmith's novels are peerlessly disturbing...bad dreams that keep us thrashing for the rest of the night." -- The New Yorker Quintessential sentences: "Oh, I can do a number of things--valeting, baby-sitting, accounting--I've got an unfortunate talent for figures. No matter how drunk I get, I can always tell when a waiter's cheating me on a bill. I can forge a signature, fly a helicopter, handle dice, impersonate practically anybody, cook--and do a one-man show in a nightclub in case the regular entertainer's sick." Favorite Word: giggling

Mister Pip by LLoyd Jones This book has left me speechless and returning to Chapter One to begin reading it again. It's a short little gem about a young girl growing up in the midst of a civil war on an under -developed tropical island. To give more than that...I wouldn't want to spoil the story for you. "Lloyd Jone's spare, haunting fable explores the power and limitations of art." -- Washington Post Book World Quintessential Sentence: "My father's family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip." Favorite Word: Pop Eye

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler " A rich saucy lark of a book." Quintessential sentence: "How could I have romanticized this world? A world where a woman's place, substandard as it is, hangs by a thread." Favorite word: saucy, of course, closely followed by ill-fated.

The Savage Garden by Mark Mills "--a romantic and gracefully executed literary puzzle." The New York Times Book Review Quintessential Sentence: "Things can make sense at the time, but as you get older those consolations no longer help you sleep...We all think we know the answer, and we're all wrong. Shit, I'm not even sure we even know what the question is." Favorite Words : La Divina Commedia

"I meant what I said, and I said what I meant... an elephant's faithful--one hundred percent!" Theodore Seuss Greisel I really am trying to finish The Inheritance of Loss but was waylaid this past week by the aroma of popcorn, cotton candy, and hayburners. I spent some rainy days amidst sequins and freaks. I shall get back on track in good time, for this show must go on. Water for Elephants-- The gritty glamour of the circus world in all of its ragged edges, hardness, and heart; where the value of life is measured by performance. Quintessential Sentence(s)--" The whole thing's an illusion, Jacob," he says, "and there's nothing wrong with that. It's what people want from us. It's what they expect." "...why the hell shouldn't I run away with the circus?" Favorite Word-- roustabout