August/September Reads

As promised!  A small list of books I've read these past couples of weeks.

Transgression by James W. Nichol.
Written by a Canadian author, I was delighted to find casual references to Hamilton and the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.  The story narrates the life of a young girl in France during Occupation (WWII) and a policeman in Canada who finds a gruesome corpse.  Eventually the novel culminates in a connecting of both separate plots and characters to it's climax.

A note:  The novel played out well;  it was an enjoyable read.  However, I felt that the beginning to middle was a fairly slow read, while the ending was far too rushed!  I wish the author has drawn out the final moments and explanation a bit more.

Dead In The Family by Charlaine Harris.
I believe the ninth novel in the Sookie Stackhouse (True Blood) series, I read this in about three days.  It's nothing spectacular, but if you're addicted to the series it's obviously a must read.  Personally, after finishing the book today, I discovered during the second last chapter that I really don't care for Sookie (the main protagonist) at all.  In fact, I believe I would probably enjoy the series so much more if she wasn't in it.  Her character has been poorly crafted, not very easy to relate or feel sympathy for.   None of the series are particularly well written though, so I was fortunately not expecting much this book;  just the normal popcorn fluff from Harris.

Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.

Of the all the books I read recently, this was easily my favourite and most devastating.  A fiction novel written by Kim Edwards, the tale is told of an orthopedic doctor who is forced to deliver his wife's baby on a cold January evening.  The child is born--a healthy baby boy-- but the doctor is astonished to find his wife was pregnant with twins and the second baby--a daughter--has the clear traits of Down's Syndrome.   He makes a swift decision to spare his wife the agony and sadness of having a child afflicted with physical and mental disabilities and he instructs the attending nurse to take the child away and admit her into a home for disable infants, while telling his wife her daughter died during child birth.
The entire novel expands on how lies affect the ones we love, the people around us.  Walls grow between the family that is never quite right after that fateful night and eventually the story come around to a tale of sadness but bittersweet redemption. I  highly recommend this novel...it is gripping.  It aptly describes human nature, all the feelings we have but seem ineffable.   Please read!!

That's all for now!  I'll update when I remember the other novels I read!