Nineteen Minutes

Nineteen Minutes

Jodi Picoult

If we don't change the direction we are headed, we will end up where we are going.

What the author makes plain in this story is that disasters happen in the middle of day to day life and it goes on no matter what. Also, that nothing happens in isolation, there is always cause and effect. And one of the victims is the perpetrator. The boy who went on the shooting rampage was teased and taunted by his peers until he finally cracked.

So who is responsible here, the students who bullied him, the parents who gave him access to a weapon, the teachers who failed to intervene, the child who failed to seek help.

Without boring the reader with too much detail the scenes are brought to life with striking reality. The courtroom scenes, the prison visiting room, the classrooms.

The school in question here gave lip service to an anti-bullying policy but gave no direction as to how it was to be handled and no definition as to the discipline to be applied to offenders.

How does one mount a defence when there are 1000 potential witnesses for the prosecution and when the defendant insists on telling his side of the story. What do you think happens when a boy who just turned 18 faces life without any possibility of parole in prison. Yes, spoiler alert he was found guilty.

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The Fisherman and his Soul

The Fisherman and his Soul

Oscar Wilde

A prose version taken from another book.

We've heard of musicians who sold their souls to the devil for their talent. The fisherman in this tale won't to lose his so he can make love to a mermaid. When his soul rejoins him it is a thing of evil that leads him astray. When he comes home at last we get a Romeo and Juliet ending.

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An Irish Country Girl

Irish Country #4

An Irish Country Girl

Patrick Taylor, Terry Donnelly (Narrator )

And for this volume we jump back 40 years in time for a back-story involving Kinky Kincaid Dr. O'Reilly's redoubtable housekeeper and office manager. And to read this edition we have an Irish Female Actress whose brogue is quite noticeable.

To begin Kinkie is telling the local kinder a traditional Irish tale, the questions the children ask supplying background. Using a spider web in place of a bandaid to seal a cut finger is a folk remedy that's new to me.

A bottle of poteen falling and breaking a major tragedy. A sheep doesn't exist but believes the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Kinkie's tale proves to be a story from her past and leads us directly to her life as a sixteen year old.

The man with whom she falls in love proves to be a fisherman who hews to the firm belief that no wife of his should demean him as a provider by working outside the home conflicting with her ambition to become a teacher. It is his death at sea that frees her to travel and meet up with Dr. O'Reilly.

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A Haunting on Cabin Lake

A Haunting on Cabin Lake

Lovelyn Bettison

Feels like a book I've already read.

An author rents a remote cabin to finish a book she's writing. She brings her demons with her.

And finds new ones to haunt her. Discovers she feels safer in the big city that she knows how to navigate.

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The Grey Wolf

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #19

The Grey Wolf

Louise Penny, Jean Brassard (Narrator)

Organized Crime got a head start from smuggling alcohol during prohibition. Beyond their criminal enterprises they have infiltrated legitimate business including unions, transportation, sports, construction, highway building, and even cheese. Given their deep pockets they have infiltrated the police and corrupted cops at the highest levels. It is not knowing whom to trust that troubles Gamache most of all.

With other reviewers I'm disappointed with this outing. I realize there's a limit to how many denizens of Three Pines that can be killed off but in losing the more personal touch the plot becomes too complicated to engage the reader. It's the same reason I find a Le Carre spy thriller not worth my time. I don't envision Gamache as an action hero.

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Gently

Gently

Lynn Renard

Lady Soora's betrothed, a great lummox of a knight shocks her when he presents her with a wounded fawn he has been gently nourishing back to life.

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Lady of Hearts

Lady of Hearts

Lynn Renard

Lady Saria goes to a pub for lunch and a melee breaks out. There's the demon with a yard's long stinging tongue, the waif to whom she presents alms, and the knight who protects her.

What I learned was what I read was a prologue to the actual book.

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The Rescue of Edhelwen: A Veardalan Story

The Rescue of Edhelwen: A Veardalan Story

Raymond Keith

A typical sword and sorcery short though a bow the ranger's favourite weapon. A few editing errors.

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