The Finest Hotel in Kabul

Finished August 19

The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan by Lyse Doucet

This was an excellent read by BBC journalist Lyse Doucet, who was born in Canada. Covering the late 1960s through the present, this story is about the Intercontinental Hotel, which opened in Kabul in 1969 as part of a global chain of luxury hotels, but owned by the Afghan government. Lyse's experiences with the hotel began in 1988 with her first trip to the country as a journalist with the BBC. She has done significant research including talking to employees of the hotel, previous employees, politicians, former diplomats to the country, other journalist, and guests of the hotel.

She takes us through the changes in leadership, both of the hotel and of the country, the damage done through war and terrorism, the staff who moved through a series of roles at the hotel, staff who moved on to other careers after their time at the hotel, and includes information on both staff and guests who died at the hotel. 

Some long term staff we see several times over the years, while others come for short periods and move on. From the time of the country as a kingdom, through coups, Russian occupation, civil war, Western invasion and occupation, democracy,and two Taliban control periods, we see how the hotel, and the people who knew it, weathered the changes. Parts of the hotel were destroyed and rebuilt, but it remains a place of international relations, celebrations, and a symbol of connection to the larger world.

I enjoyed getting to know the various staff and seeing how they worked. I got a sense of the country and its people. This was an engaging and accessible book that enlightened me. 

Alchemy and a Cup of Tea

Finished August 13

Alchemy and a Cup of Tea by Rebecca Thorne

This novel is the fourth and last book in the Tomes and Tea series, but the first I've read. I picked it up for the title, not realizing that it was part of a series. That said, it reads well on its own, and puts you into the action right from the start when you find one of the main characters, Queen Reyna held by a gang who kidnapped her for unknown reasons. She works out how to free herself, while her wife Kianthe, a woman with strong magical abilities who hold the position of Arcandor, launches a rescue mission. 

The rescue team discovers a mysterious alchemy circle hidden in Reyna's holding cell, and begin asking about its unusual design and potential purpose.

The reader soon learns that the pair are recently married, and that Reyna is the new head of a parliamentary kingdom. They live in a New Leaf, small mountain town in the Queendom, and together run a bookstore and café. Reyna is a skilled tea sommelier and they both love books. The marriage has brought tourists to the town hoping to see the couple and the town is not equipped to handle the large influx of people. As they work with town officials on possible solutions, they worry that they might have to close the shop and leave the community they love.

They are due to attend an important magical conference, and hope to learn more there about they alchemical circle, but find there are other strange happenings and attempts to disrupt the core magic that Kianthe is one with. 

This book has tame griffins, powerful ancient dragons, small communities trying to survive difficult conditions, and common goodwill from many citizens of the neighbouring countries. I found it a cosy fantasy with touches of romance, mystery, and danger. It portrays loving relationships and friendships that are accepting of differences and supportive of each other. 

The Prisoner

Finished August 13

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris

The main character, Amelie, lost her mother when she was young and afterwards her father sued the hospital where she died for malpractice, a case which has dragged on, and the pair moved to England. They are very close. As the book opens we see Amelie in the present, where she has been kidnapped from her husband's home and is being held prisoner in a dark room, with minimal contact with her captors, none of which is verbal.

We are also taken to a past timeline, beginning when Amelie is in high school, caring for her father whose health is bad. As we watch her make choices to move to London, to befriend an older woman, and to enter into a problematic marriage, we also see how she has ended up where she is now. 

She is a young woman with an independent spirit who doesn't want pity or sympathy, just wants a chance to be the best she can be. Her circumstances limit her or change the timeline for her dreams, but they don't take the dreams away. She is kind and friendly and somewhat naïve, and thus others take advantage of her. 

In the present we soon learn that her husband is also a prisoner in another room of the building she is in, and that his security guard has been recently killed. We watch Amelie learn about her environment, use any tool that she can find to work for her, and try to figure out what the kidnappers want. She also fears being released with Ned for reasons that become clear. 

This is an interesting psychological suspense novel, as are all the ones I've read by this talented writer. 

Polar Opposites

Finished August 10

Polar Opposites by Barbara Kellyn

This novella is one I picked up to meet a reading challenge and because it has a Canadian setting, Churchill, Manitoba. American magazine journalist Zora Dunn has been struggling with life in general and with writing since the death of her father a couple of months earlier. Her editor sends her to Churchill to do a story on polar bears, the disappearing sea ice, and how the community is adjusting to climate change. Zora has done a lot of research, but her intention is to see the situation for herself and to talk to locals about how they see things and how their lives are impacted.

She has been paired with a Canadian freelance photographer, Luke MacNeil. He has a great reputation as a photographer, but has an abrasive attitude and seems to enjoy getting under Zora's skin. For example, when she introduces herself to him, she says that her friends call her Zee, but he responds by calling her Zed, a reference to how Canadians say the alphabet, but also disrespectful. 

Luke is also facing a health issue that will impact his ability to do his job, and is dreading this loss. The job has brought them together, but how they react to each other and treat the people they interact with will impact the article overall.

I enjoyed the witty banter, but found that the novella format limited the character depth. There were a lot of local characters that seemed interesting that I would have wanted to learn more about. I also wanted more information on the issue that Zora was writing about included. 

Short Circuit

Finished August 9

Short Circuit by Wolf Haas, translated by Jamie Bulloch

This fascinating thriller novel was inspired by the artwork of M.C. Escher and jigsaw puzzles. One of the main characters is Franz Escher, a man who works as a funeral orator and lives a quiet life. Years ago, a woman gave him a birthday gift of a jigsaw puzzle of one of Escher's pictures and he became hooked. Now he has bookcases filled with jigsaw puzzles. He does them often. His other hobby is reading about the mafia, both fiction and nonfiction. Some time ago Franz wrote a fiction book about working in the funeral business, that drew heavily from his real life and real people, including a co-worker named Nellie. Nellie had not gotten angry exactly, but she brought up certain elements of the fictionalized version of herself, and why he made certain choices. Franz felt embarrassed at his literary work, and took the small advance he earned from it and invested it in an online bookstore that he read about that was doing badly financially and expected to go into bankruptcy. He just wanted the money to go away. 

Franz has a faulty outlet in his kitchen, that has been getting gradually worse, and now has a loose connection that makes him nervous. He only has the one countertop outlet, and must constantly unplug appliances in when he wants to use a different one: kettle, coffeemaker, toaster. He has called for an electrician and while he waits he first finished a jigsaw puzzle, and now he is reading a book about an Italian mafioso turned informant Elio Russo. Russo is awaiting being released from prison into a witness protection program. 

Meanwhile, Elio is nervous about his upcoming release and can't sleep, so he is reading a book about a man named Franz Escher, who is waiting for an electrician to come fix a faulty outlet in his kitchen.

As we move back and forth between these two stories, and a third voice related to one of the protagonists, we find ourselves in a surreal world as we wait for them to realize what is happening. 

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Goodbye to All That

Finished August 9

Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves

I've had this book for a while and picked it up to meet a reading challenge. This memoir was first published in 1929 and was very controversial for its honest portrayal of the realities of World War I and of the author's personal life. My copy has an epilogue from 1957 that gives an brief overview of his life since then. The epilogue had an interesting Canadian connection as he mentions an officer he'd met during the war was now a Canadian politician. It was just after this was written that Pearson became leader of the Liberal party and later, our 14th prime minister. 

Graves work talks about his early life and growing up in Wales, with influences from his father's Irish side of the family and his mother's German side of the family. The main portion of the book covers his World War I experiences, and they are written almost dispassionately, telling of the horrors of being on the front lines, the violence and conditions of war, and of the friendships formed. Graves had many friends who were also writers and poets, and one of them that appears repeatedly is Siegfried Sassoon, another officer who had some German ancestry. The realities of the war are sometimes hard to read, and unfathomable for me to understand how anyone could have lived through it without psychological damage. 

He also talks about his marriage to Nancy Nicholson, who he first met in April 1916 at a friend's house he visited and who he corresponded with after that. She was just sixteen at the time, and they married when she was eighteen and he was twenty-two. Nancy was an artist and an ardent feminist who wanted a full life. I was surprised to see what an equal marriage it was, with them sharing the parenting of their four children, and him doing the cooking for the household. They struggled financially, with his writing providing their main income. They did go to Cairo for a year where he taught at a university, but he didn't enjoy it and they didn't fit into the expatriate society well. He had both a brother and sister in Cairo at the time, and while they were welcoming, particularly his sister, they didn't have the same outlook on life. 

The title of the book represents his feeling at the end of the time he was writing about. When his marriage to Nancy ended, he left England and lived in Majorca (except for the years of World War II, where he did return to England)

I am really glad I read this book as it offers a glimpse into personal experiences at the time.

A Merry Little Lie

Finished August 7

A Merry Little Lie by Sarah Morgan

I found this a delightful read. There's a lot going on and I found it hard to put down. Set mostly in Northumberland, UK, the novel finds Becky, an IT worker in London, stranded at the airport when a snowstorm downs flights. She is rescued by Will, her brother Jamie's best friend, a doctor in London, who is also going home for Christmas. He has a car and offers her a ride so they can share driving. With weather and road conditions, they have to stay overnight at an inn and must share a room. Becky finds herself thinking about Will in new ways, but isn't sure how to deal with that. 

Rosie, Becky's twin married Becky's former co-worker and friend Declan in the spring after a whirlwind romance. Becky's been less close with both as she gives them space, and they both miss her. Rosie is a costume designer for a ballet company, while Declan works in IT. The two have had a few bumps in their relationship recently and haven't worked it out yet. This will be Declan's first Christmas with Rosie's family and as a married couple and there are things that are new for him, who doesn't have a close family.

Jamie is also bringing someone home for Christmas, Hayley, who he met only a few months ago, and has told the family they have an announcement. The family is worried about how fast this relationship is moving, as Jamie had a previous long term relationship that broke up when the woman left. Jamie is a doctor in Edinburgh, and Hayley is an illustrator who has lived a nomadic life, growing up in care and not having a home base as an adult but travelling a lot. She longs for a real family Christmas, but worries about being accepted.

Add in a nosy grandmother who asks probing questions, a father who has retired recently and finds himself unmoored, and mothers who worry about their grown kids and also have some secret agendas of their own, and this book kept me wanting more. A feel good, cosy, Christmassy, romantic novel.

I loved the varying points of view, the snowy setting, the lovable dog, the thoughtful presents, and the family nature of the situation.