I 'm posting a few notes about books I read over the last few months. I'm always on the lookout for suggestions for reading so pass any ideas along by email.

"The Map of Love" by Ahdaf Soueif. Egyptian writer. Fairly good story even with all the obvious politics. Somehow fairly intriguing even though the characters were rather cardboard and romanticized.

"Oleander, Jacaranda" by Penelope Lively. Very good non-fictional account of a child's perception of events in Egypt during her childhood there.

"Miss Garnet's Angel" by Sally Vickers. A quiet unassuming book that gets you in the end especially having recently visited Venice where it takes place. I think most people want to read something set in Venice after having been there...just to recapture the magic spell.

"The Russlander" by Sandra Birdsell. Very impressive especially how the suspense really builds even though you know about the eventual massacre. Really managed to pull off the telling of a historical period without boring you to death like Wiebe did in "Sweeter than All the World".

"When We Were Orphans" by Kazuo Ishiguro. In the end somewhat disappointing and even during the novel it didn't seem really all that good. Can't really explain why I couldn't put it down and read it the entire day until I finished it...certainly was a page-turner.

"Downhill Chance" by Donna Morrissey. Another really good Newfie writer. I think she really captured the way of life in the outposts before and after WWII without making it overly idealized. I loved the way she captured the language and expressions.

"Testament" by Nino Ricci. Nice to see Ricci writing up to his "Lives of the Saints" period again. He has captured the times of Jesus and what things were probably like and how the stories came about and grew.

"Spelling Mississippi" by Marnie Woodrow. Another new Canadian writer. Very good writing especially for a first novel. I did like the settings of New Orleans and the flood of '66 in Florence. We saw the plaque and the water line of this flood when we were in Florence this past April.

"The Divine Economy of Salvation" by Priscila Uppal. Quite an amazing first novel by a 27 yr old and also Canadian. About a young girl who becomes a nun to try to redeem her involvement in a another young girl's death when she was a teenager.

"In the Skin of a Lion" by Michael Ondaatje. Some excellent writing and overall very good especially the ending but I somehow got a little bogged down with it.

"The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro.The books goes deeper than the film but I don't think I would have been disappointed by the film if I had read the book first.

"The Navigator of New York" by Wayne Johnston. Another fabulous book by Johnston this time about polar exploration and the controversy around Cook and Peary. Wonderful writing once again about ice and snow.

On the mystery front, "Justice Hall" by Laurie R. King was very good as well as Reginald Hill's "Dialogues of the Dead". Ruth Rendall should give up writing I think. Gave up reading both "Adam and Eve and Pinch Me" and "The Blood Doctor".