Books are a Uniquely Portable Magic

Book Review: The Lonely hearts Crime Club

Genre: Mystery/thriller Rating: 3/5

'The Lonely Hearts Crime Club' is an apt description for the characters in this book and the synopsis was interesting and so I picked this up. This book took a very long time for me to get through. I think it was mostly because the first 30% or so was comprised mostly of many character studies back-to-back with very little plot progression. All of the chapter titles were names of the character in focus for that chapter followed by the day of the week but everything seemed to meld together because it was too in-depth and a tad unnecessary for the storytelling. And it would have been useful had it gotten me interested in them when the second act began. Don’t get me wrong the story of dysfunctional residents of a high rise banding together to solve the murder of a beloved neighbor was interesting but it felt a bit flat. After all the descriptions, the characters were rushed through their arcs. The murder mystery itself was intriguing and kept me guessing though. The pay off was alright regarding (view spoiler) who was the culprit because I found their character to be the most well rounded and interesting but the misdirections could've been developed a bit better. I really wanted to like Ethan, Ella, Birdie, and William and they had their shining moments and I know they weren’t the most likable of characters but it did make me sympathize with them and with how they were trying to cope with the cards they'd been dealt.

Book Review: The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

'"Qaf," she whispered, tracing the invisible letters on the hull. "Antillia”. Perhaps the difference didn't matter; perhaps it was only the escape that mattered.'

Rating: 3.5/5 Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Rating: 4/5

'I think you have a voice. You just have to find out how to express it fully. This is the journey we are all on. It takes a lifetime - sometimes many lifetimes - to learn our own story.' When I first started reading this book I wasn't sure if I was really going to like it. But this little coming-of-age story really grew on me. In this story, Rosie Ming, a half Persian half Chinese Canadian tries to find her identity and fulfill her dreams of going to Paris by publishing her book of poetry. And her life changes when she receives an invitation to a poetry festival in Iran and decides to travel out of her country (and her comfort-zone) for the first time. I really enjoyed the bits where Rosie traverses the country trying to understand its artistic history and her own cultural background whilst discovering new relationships. There is a moment where Rosie hears the Azaan for the first time and the art of her just floating up is just so lovely. NOt to mention the various styles of poetry sprinkled throughout the book along with the descriptions of various poets. The art was abstract. I loved it but I couldn't really understand why only Rosie had to be a stick figure when everyone else was not. Maybe this just made her stand out more and brought out her need to belong culturally. All in all, I enjoyed reading the book and will probably go ahead and watch the feature-length film for Window Horses because the story is great and animation looks lovely.