Sunday 9 November 2014

Jodi Picoult: Leaving time

Jenna Metcalf was with her mother the night she disappeared in tragic and mysterious circumstances, but she remembers nothing. Over ten years have passed, and still Jenna reads and rereads her mother's journals, hoping to find some clue hidden there, in the meticulous recording of her scientific research with elephants. Desperate for answers, Jenna uses all her savings to recruit the aid of a private detective - and a psychic. Jenna knows her mother loved her. She knows she would not leave her. And she will not rest until she finds out what happened that night.

Jodi Picoult does not disappoint, but this is one of her best books ever. As always, I could not wait to get my hands on this new novel and once I started I could not put it down. Jenna, Serenity, Virgil and Alice are all interesting characters and piecing their stories together from each individual's viewpoint makes for gripping reading. I would love to see this story as a film, as I can imagine it to be a fantastic movie with great twists and turns. Although I had expected some odd turns, I could not predict the ending. And the stories Picoult researched around the elephants and their behaviours regarding grieving and mothering also makes you want the book to go on for longer. Fantastic and I cannot wait for the next Picoult novel to come out...

Tuesday 4 November 2014

John Green: The fault in our stars

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

What a fantastic YA read. This is a funny, poignant tear-jerker about Hazel, Isaac and Augustus. The storyline was somehow predictable in a way, and yet this is still a fascinating read and very insightful as far as the Professionally Sick are concerned...

Saturday 1 November 2014

Volker Klüpfel & Michael Kobr: Milchgeld - Kluftingers erster Fall

Ein Mord in Kommissar Kluftingers beschaulichem Allgäuer Heimatort Altusried – jäh verdirbt diese Nachricht sein gemütliches Kässpatzenessen. Ein Lebensmittelchemiker des örtlichen Milchwerks ist stranguliert worden. Mit eigenwilligen Ermittlungsmethoden riskiert der liebenswert-kantige Kommissar einen Blick hinter die Fassade der Allgäuer Postkartenidylle – und entdeckt einen scheinbar vergessenen Verrat, dunkle Machenschaften und einen handfesten Skandal.

Kluftinger ist ein liebenswerter, und doch cleverer Kommissar, der seine Truppe unter Kontrolle hält, wenn auch er manchmal etwas ungeschickt vorgeht und Kleinigkeiten wie seine Waffe und Handy vergisst.