One of my favorite authors died yesterday ... George MacDonald Fraser. He wrote the wonderful Flashman series of books which my friend Dennis just introduced me to last year.
I just got one of his non-fiction books for Christmas, Quartered Safe Out Here. I stumbled across this book while shopping for my Secret Santa as part of LibraryThing's SantaThing. From my Secret Santa's library I knew (1) he reads tons of military history and biography and (2) he'd listed George MacDonald Fraser as a favorite author. Quartered Safe Out Here is Fraser's autobiographical account of serving in Burma during the latter part of World Ward II. A perfect match!
In reading about the book, I decided to add it to my own LibraryThing tbr/wishlist and to check it out some time. Then, lo and behold, a few days later my sister sent me Quartered Safe Out Here for Christmas! (She is known for prowling through my tbr/wishlist and is very generous about sending me books from it.)
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/01/george_macdonald_fraser_1925_2.html
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2234527,00.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/arts/03fraser.html
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Book Review: There's No Place Like Here
There's No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern
This is the story of Sandy Shortt, who searches for missing persons and things ... and then goes missing herself. The story is told from Sandy's perspective with flashbacks to tell us about her childhood and background. We also learn about Sandy through a secondary storyline told by Jack, who hired Sandy to find his brother and who then goes looking for Sandy.
I wasn't so much taken with the story of Sandy's going physically missing as I was with her going emotionally missing. Ever since childhood she had removed herself from ordinary human interaction and kept herself at a distance from other people. I felt bad for the people in her life who had to put up with her disappearances.
Overall, it was an entertaining read but not something I couldn't put down. I actually enjoyed Jack's portion of the story a bit more than Sandy's. He seemed more "real" to me.
Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 1/2/08) as part of its Early Reviewers program
This is the story of Sandy Shortt, who searches for missing persons and things ... and then goes missing herself. The story is told from Sandy's perspective with flashbacks to tell us about her childhood and background. We also learn about Sandy through a secondary storyline told by Jack, who hired Sandy to find his brother and who then goes looking for Sandy.
I wasn't so much taken with the story of Sandy's going physically missing as I was with her going emotionally missing. Ever since childhood she had removed herself from ordinary human interaction and kept herself at a distance from other people. I felt bad for the people in her life who had to put up with her disappearances.
Overall, it was an entertaining read but not something I couldn't put down. I actually enjoyed Jack's portion of the story a bit more than Sandy's. He seemed more "real" to me.
Review originally posted to LibraryThing (LT review, 1/2/08) as part of its Early Reviewers program
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