I decided I would skip the prologues that I wrote when I wrote these reviews and just leave you with the reviews themselves. Some may be edited a bit but what the heck:
THE RIBBAJACK & OTHER CURIOUS YARNS by Brian Jacques – From the author of the “Redwall” series comes a collection of six tales of horror and suspense. Actually, they’re really not that scary and if you’ve read his previous collection of ghost stories, you will know what to expect. Not for your hardcore horror fans.
RAKKETY TAM by Brian Jacques – The 17th book in the continuing saga of Redwall. Rakkety Tam, the highlander squirrel, along with his buddy, Doogy Plum, help the Redwallers against an evil wolverine called Gulo the Savage. Your standard good vs. evil with good always triumphing over evil. If you liked “The Wind in the Willows” and “Watership Down”, then you will enjoy this series.
HIMALAYA by Michael Palin – Michael Palin’s fifth journey for the BBC along with the pictures of Basil Pao. I:ve never had a chance to see the BBC travel specials but the books that accompany the program are beautiful. Nice coffee table book, and written in diary form. Some of his earlier books seem to be out of print but you can still enjoy them at Michael Palin’s Travel Site. Michael Palin starts his journey in Pakistan and travels along the Karakoram Highway, and then it’s off to India, Nepal, Yunnan Province in China, Tibet, Nagaland & Assam, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Excellent for the armchair traveler.
PORTUGUESE IRREGULAR VERBS by Alexander McCall Smith – Author of the acclaimed “No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series. Welcome to the world of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld of the Institute of Romance Philology. Yes, I had to look up what philology meant and if you were wondering, the trusty Oxford American dictionary defines as “the study of languages and their development.” Von Igelfeld has written the standard and monumental work on Portuguese Irregular Verbs and only wants the respect he feels he’s due, unfortunately things do not turn out the way he expects.
THE SALARYMAN’S WIFE by Sujata Massey – Rei Shimura is a 27yr old half-American, Half-Japanese California girl living from paycheck to paycheck in Tokyo. Her parents want her to come home to San Francisco and have sent her a one-way ticket that she can use anytime, but that’s something she’d rather not think about. When she finds the dead body of a woman at a ryokan she’s staying at in Shiroyama, her life is no longer as simple as she thought it would be. If you’ve lived in Japan, this book would remind you of the movies that are usually shown in the afternoon where there is always some murder mystery happening at a ryokan or onsen. Also being half-American, half-Japanese myself, I’m sure you can understand my appreciation for the protagonist.
THE FINER POINTS OF SAUSAGE DOGS by Alexander McCall Smith – Back to the continuing adventures of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld. The romance philologist is mistaken for a well-known professor of veterinary medicine and is invited to give a lecture in the States. Upon his return to Germany, the American veterinary professor makes a visit and once again things go awry.
ZEN ATTITUDE by Sujata Massey – Rei Shimura no longer works for a kitchenware company. Living with her new Scottish boyfriend in Roppongi Hills, she has become a private antiques buyer. When she procures a tansu (Japanese dresser drawer) for one of her clients, it sets off an entirely new chain of events involving a person who was thought to be dead, a temple priest, a used car salesman and a host of other interesting characters.
DANCING WITH THE WITCHDOCTOR : ONE WOMAN’S STORIES OF MYSTERY AND ADVENTURE IN AFRICA by Kelly James – Kelly James works as an international private investigator. These stories which are all true read better than fiction. She investigates whether a death in Mombasa, Kenya was suicide or murder and of a missing inheritance. She guides a troubled teen through Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas. She tries to help a friend find his mother and sister in Mozambique even though he hasn’t seen either one of them in over ten years because of the civil war in the country, and lastly she barely survives her stint in Turkanaland in Northern Kenya looking for a missing witchdoctor.
THE FLOWER MASTER by Sujata Massey – Back to the Rei Shimura mysteries. This time Rei is involved in seeing the death of her mother’s acquaintance in a well-respected ikebana (flower arranging) school.
THE RIBBAJACK & OTHER CURIOUS YARNS by Brian Jacques – From the author of the “Redwall” series comes a collection of six tales of horror and suspense. Actually, they’re really not that scary and if you’ve read his previous collection of ghost stories, you will know what to expect. Not for your hardcore horror fans.
RAKKETY TAM by Brian Jacques – The 17th book in the continuing saga of Redwall. Rakkety Tam, the highlander squirrel, along with his buddy, Doogy Plum, help the Redwallers against an evil wolverine called Gulo the Savage. Your standard good vs. evil with good always triumphing over evil. If you liked “The Wind in the Willows” and “Watership Down”, then you will enjoy this series.
HIMALAYA by Michael Palin – Michael Palin’s fifth journey for the BBC along with the pictures of Basil Pao. I:ve never had a chance to see the BBC travel specials but the books that accompany the program are beautiful. Nice coffee table book, and written in diary form. Some of his earlier books seem to be out of print but you can still enjoy them at Michael Palin’s Travel Site. Michael Palin starts his journey in Pakistan and travels along the Karakoram Highway, and then it’s off to India, Nepal, Yunnan Province in China, Tibet, Nagaland & Assam, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Excellent for the armchair traveler.
PORTUGUESE IRREGULAR VERBS by Alexander McCall Smith – Author of the acclaimed “No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series. Welcome to the world of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld of the Institute of Romance Philology. Yes, I had to look up what philology meant and if you were wondering, the trusty Oxford American dictionary defines as “the study of languages and their development.” Von Igelfeld has written the standard and monumental work on Portuguese Irregular Verbs and only wants the respect he feels he’s due, unfortunately things do not turn out the way he expects.
THE SALARYMAN’S WIFE by Sujata Massey – Rei Shimura is a 27yr old half-American, Half-Japanese California girl living from paycheck to paycheck in Tokyo. Her parents want her to come home to San Francisco and have sent her a one-way ticket that she can use anytime, but that’s something she’d rather not think about. When she finds the dead body of a woman at a ryokan she’s staying at in Shiroyama, her life is no longer as simple as she thought it would be. If you’ve lived in Japan, this book would remind you of the movies that are usually shown in the afternoon where there is always some murder mystery happening at a ryokan or onsen. Also being half-American, half-Japanese myself, I’m sure you can understand my appreciation for the protagonist.
THE FINER POINTS OF SAUSAGE DOGS by Alexander McCall Smith – Back to the continuing adventures of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld. The romance philologist is mistaken for a well-known professor of veterinary medicine and is invited to give a lecture in the States. Upon his return to Germany, the American veterinary professor makes a visit and once again things go awry.
ZEN ATTITUDE by Sujata Massey – Rei Shimura no longer works for a kitchenware company. Living with her new Scottish boyfriend in Roppongi Hills, she has become a private antiques buyer. When she procures a tansu (Japanese dresser drawer) for one of her clients, it sets off an entirely new chain of events involving a person who was thought to be dead, a temple priest, a used car salesman and a host of other interesting characters.
DANCING WITH THE WITCHDOCTOR : ONE WOMAN’S STORIES OF MYSTERY AND ADVENTURE IN AFRICA by Kelly James – Kelly James works as an international private investigator. These stories which are all true read better than fiction. She investigates whether a death in Mombasa, Kenya was suicide or murder and of a missing inheritance. She guides a troubled teen through Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas. She tries to help a friend find his mother and sister in Mozambique even though he hasn’t seen either one of them in over ten years because of the civil war in the country, and lastly she barely survives her stint in Turkanaland in Northern Kenya looking for a missing witchdoctor.
THE FLOWER MASTER by Sujata Massey – Back to the Rei Shimura mysteries. This time Rei is involved in seeing the death of her mother’s acquaintance in a well-respected ikebana (flower arranging) school.
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