Death of a Poison Pen

This is a murder mystery as you can tell by the name. Death of a Poison Pen is the 20th book of the Hamish Macbeth Mysteries by M. C. Beaton.

I thought this book was written pretty well and it is pretty engaging.

A girl goes away on holiday. She gets caught up in a murder mystery and wants somewhat of an adventure so she helps the local authority figure out who did it.

Life of Pi

Written by Yann Martel. It is a story with in a story, or a story that is the real story. It is left up to the reader to decide. A young boy moves with his family and their occupation. Their occupation as in his father’s job- the Zoo. Something happens and it is left to the young boy to survive on his own in the middle of an ocean with wild zoo animals all around him. What is the separation between animalistic survival and human survival. It is an intriguing story but there is a twist at the end.

Haddix’s Running Out of Time, and Turnabout

A great introduction to Margaret Peterson Haddix is her story titled Running Out of Time. At the turn of the century a young girl lives with her family. Life is quite normal. She has chores, a family, school. There are bullies, friends, and family. Her mother is the midwife for the village. One day everyone is getting sick and her mother can not help. She finds that Truth and Reality are two very different things. What is Time? She finds she has been living in a different time than the rest of the world. Can this new- or old- world help save those she loves?

What would you think if you could live life backwards? Margaret Peterson Haddix writes an interesting tale of two young girls that were born old and are living life backwards called Turnabout. They escape the home they were living in and begin on a Journey to their Birth. They live home to home, always hiding their secret. What will they do when they can not take care of themselves as toddlers. What will it be like having memories of an adult life when they are so young. Who will be their family?

If you like Running Out of Time and Turnabout I would suggest picking up another of her tales, Among the Hidden. This is the story of a young boy who must hide from the government. The State has put restrictions on the number of children a family can have. This young boy is an extra child in his family. He must hide in the the barn away from officials because he is an extra and expendable life. One day he sees another child- on like him- a shadow child. Will he risk everything to go outside?

Angels and Demons

I read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown recently. I was really rather disappointed. Mr. Brown makes a big deal about the symmetry of the words and makes a big deal about symbols that are not all that important in the book. He tries to pull a whole bunch of loosely related conspiracy theories together to create a story. Worst of all is the climax of the tale, or rather the lack there of. About three quarters of the way through the book I thought I had reached the climax and then there was another one, and another one, and it just kept going. I was just so ready to finish the book I did not care who won or lost the conspiracy war.

The Movie: Angels and Demons I have to admit that I did not see the movie. I heard that it follows the book until the end, and I hear that it was a fun movie to watch. I guess i will take that to say that It was a more fun movie to watch than to read.

Da Vinci Code

I picked up Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code when I was in High School and it only took me a few hours until I was done. I really like the riddles and how he creates such a great mystery through symbols. I thought it was a fun and thrilling conspiracy story. I remember some people I talked to about the book were really upset because of what it said about the Christianity. I thought it was just a face past story with some interesting ideas but nothing more. Though it may say something about the author.

The Movie: Da Vinci Code a while after I read the book the movie came out. Honestly I have to say I was somewhat let down, I did not find the movie as enthralling as the book. At the end of the movie I felt like many of my questions in the movie were left unanswered.