February reading

I've included the blurb about each book, but not too much of my own opinion. I prefer to think that I'm letting you make up your own mind, rather than being too lazy to write a proper review.

A Year in Provence [Peter Mayle]. Secondhand from the school fete. "Enjoy an irresistible feast of humour and discover the joys of French rural living with Peter Mayle's bestselling, much-loved account of "A Year In Provence". Peter Mayle and his wife did what most of us only imagine doing when they made their long-cherished dream of a life abroad a reality: throwing caution to the wind, they bought a glorious two hundred year-old farmhouse in the Luberon Valley and began a new life. In a year that begins with a marathon lunch and continues with a host of gastronomic delights, they also survive the unexpected and often hilarious curiosities of rural life. From mastering the local accent and enduring invasion by bumbling builders, to discovering the finer points of boules and goat-racing, all the earthy pleasures of Provencal life are conjured up in this enchanting portrait."

DEAD(ish) [Naomi Kramer] -  free ebook. "Linda's had a bad day. First her boyfriend killed her. Then she woke up, still on this boring plane of existence, and with an odd obsession about her missing body. Mike won't tell her what he did with her body, and she can't find the stupid thing herself. There's only one thing she can do - torment the bastard until he coughs up the information." A funny novella with some surprising twists.

How to disappear completely [David Bowick] - free ebook. "Sitting at the top of a Ferris wheel overlooking the Boston skyline, Josh’s life takes an unexpected turn, and things will never be the same. Along with the many surprises on his life’s new path, he’ll come to take life advice from a family of ducks, get in a bloody war with a dog, lose his job over a spilled drink, wake up in the hospital, apply to work at an adult-themed novelty bakery, and find out that people often aren’t what they seem. When you're at the top of the world, there's nowhere to go but down."

The Mamur Zapt and the Girl in the Nile [Michael Pearce]. Book found abandoned by my mother.  This is number 5 in (from what I can gather) 16 Mamur Zapt novels, set in Egypt in the early 1900s. The Mamur Zapt of the title is the British head of Cairo's secret police, and in this novel he becomes involved in solving the mystery of a drowned girl, made more difficult than usual because her body has disappeared. As much political as police procedural, it's an interesting read in light of current events in Egypt.




Still reading:

Sylvia [Bryce Courtenay]. From the school fete. "Sylvia is a story of the Children’s Crusade, which occurred in the year 1212. It is perhaps the strangest true event to have taken place in European history ... It is also a story of how, throughout some of the darkest medieval times, the redeeming power and strength of a young woman’s love and intelligence prevail over poverty, brutality and bigotry."

The Divine Comedy: The Inferno {Dante Alighieri] - Bought from The Book Depository. Part 1 of the Italian classic.