My reading corner

  The scariest book about vampires I've ever read......

Amazon review: Stephen King's second book, 'Salem's Lot--about the slow takeover of an insular hamlet called Jerusalem's Lot by a vampire patterned after Bram Stoker's Dracula--has two elements that he also uses to good effect in later novels: a small American town, usually in Maine, where people are disconnected from each other, quietly nursing their potential for evil; and a mixed bag of rational, goodhearted people, including a writer, who band together to fight that evil. Simply taken as a contemporary vampire novel, 'Salem's Lotis great fun to read, and has been very influential in the horror genre. But it's also a sly piece of social commentary. As King said in 1983, "In 'Salem's Lot, the thing that really scared me was not vampires, but the town in the daytime, the town that was empty, knowing that there were things in closets, that there were people tucked under beds, under the concrete pilings of all those trailers. And all the time I was writing that, the Watergate hearings were pouring out of the TV.... Howard Baker kept asking, 'What I want to know is, what did you know and when did you know it?' That line haunts me, it stays in my mind.... During that time I was thinking about secrets, things that have been hidden and were being dragged out into the light." Sounds quite a bit like the idea behind his 1998 novel of a Maine hamlet haunted by unsightly secrets, Bag of Bones.

  It's the very first book of fantasy I've ever read (so long ago.....) and I surely began with a blast!! It's still one of my favourite of all time.

The story: Long ago the world of Shea Ohmsford was ruined by the wars of ancient Evil. Now mankind must compete for the Earth with many other races-- gnomes, trolls, dwarfs and elves. But Shea, the half-human, half-elven adopted son of an innkeeper, knows little of such troubles. Shady Vale, where he grew to manhood, seems a haven for peace. Then into Shady Vale comes the giant, forbidding figure of Allanon, possessed of strange knowledge and even stranger Druidic powers. To Shea, he reveals that the evil Warlock Lord, supposedly long dead, is once again plotting to destroy the world. Against this Power of Darkness the sole effective weapon is the Sword of Shannara, which can be used only by a true descendant of Jerle Shannara. Shea is the last living heir: on him rests the hope of all races! When Shea protests that he is no hero, the Druid states that he must reclaim the Sword. In the morning Allanon is gone, leaving behind a mysterious warning note. Soon a Skull Bearer, dread minion of the Warlock Lord, flies to the Vale, seeking to destroy the last heir of Shannara. Rather than risk destruction for the Vale, Shea and his skeptical half-brother Flick flee, drawing the Skull Bearer after them. Allanon's cryptic orders have directed them to Culhaven, home of the dwarfs. Somehow they must go there to await him, despite the Skull Bearers and other unknown, dire perils. And beyond Culhaven, they must enter the ravaged Northland, where the Warlock Lord holds total dominion. Thus begins the seemingly hopeless quest of a simple man against the greatest power of evil the world has known. Valiant comrades join him against a host of foes and soul-wrenching dangers. Terrors and wonders increase as the overwhelming armies of the Warlock Lord move toward war. But in the end, Shea alone must confront the Lord of Evil without knowledge or hope to guide him.

  What's about: Graham Phillips has written books on The Knights Templar, Atlantis, and Mary Magdalene. In this book, which is a U.S reissue of The Marian Conspiracy published in the U.K. in 2000, he approaches one of the more popular of current topics (the Holy Grail of Christianity) from a slightly different angle than most current authors. The current, popular, theory about the unorthodox interpretation of the meaning of the Grail is that it refers to the family Jesus - specifically his wife (Mary Magdalene) and any children he may have had. Mr. Phillips approaches from the opposite direction. He looks at the mother of Jesus as being "the container of the holy blood of Jesus," which she must have been, since he was born of her. One thing is special about this book, it's that each chapter concludes with a clearly written summary of the major points which have been addressed, thus making it easy to review what has gone before. Much of the basic material covered by this author will be familiar to those fairly conversant with early Christian history, although his interpretations and conclusions may seem fairly to quite unorthodox. There is no new information in here, but the background is laid out carefully and clearly. The gradual evolution of Mary from a simple wife and mother of the first century of the Common Era into a being only slightly less divine than her son is examined, dissected, and re-assembled. Accepting the premise that the Grail refers to the sacred bloodline of Jesus, and the author's assumption that his mother is the source of the legend (and not his wife, Mary Magdalene) leads the reader on a Grail Quest. While journeying through this quest, Mr. Phillips sidesteps the "normal" site of Avalon (Glastonbury). He looks further a field. He finds his journey leading him to the island of Anglesey, which may have been the site of sacred Druid site replaced by a chapel built (allegedly) by Joseph of Arimathea. Whether you accept these ideas or not, the story is fascinating and well-told. The conclusions of the author may or may not be acceptable, or palatable, to everyone (or even to the majority of readers), but they should be responsible for stimulating thought and discussion.  

  The story: This completes the "food trilogy" (Chocolat, Blackberry Wine) and explores some of the same themes, although this third book is much darker than the previous two. Set in a small village near Angers on the Loire, it deals with the fortunes of a widow and her three children, Cassis, Reine-Claude and Framboise, against the background of the German Occupation. With no father and only their harsh and overworked mother to care for them, the three children inhabit a strange and brutal world in which adults are a different race, and which works according to a completely different set of moral values. Into this circle comes Tomas Leibnitz, a German soldier who secretly befriends the three children and leads them step-by-step into a world of betrayal, blackmail and lies. A lifetime later, Framboise, the last survivor of the ill-fated group, returns under a different identity to the village in which she was born, meaning to make a new start as the proprietor of a small crêperie-restaurant. But she is still haunted by the past and by an unresolved mystery, recalled once more to life by the encrypted writing in her mother's old book of recipes. Five Quarters, like Chocolat and Blackberry Wine, is a story about food as a metaphor for change, but in this case the transformation is not always benign. As a child Framboise deliberately torments her mother with the scent of the orange which brings on her migraines - food here is used as a weapon rather than an agent of kindness. It is only much later in her life that Framboise is able to understand her mother and to forgive her, and at the same time forgive herself. Food continues to be a source of pleasure, but here it is far from simple; it is politicized by the fact that much of it is in short supply; it becomes a means of bartering and blackmail, both during the war and in the present day; it becomes an expression of style (much to the elderly Framboise's disgust); a gateway into the past, a means of self-assertion and finally, the agent of a long-delayed reconciliation between mothers and daughters.

 The movie based on this book was so much anticipated, I was willing to read the novel first (while waiting for the movie being released in Italy, always way too late, if you ask me!!). I've never read anything by Grisham before, but after this, he's become one of my favourite! With few exceptions, I liked all his novels, and one of my best friend has finally (thanks to him) no more problems about my birthday present!

The plot: Mitch McDeere has graduated 3rd in his class at Harvard law, all the big firms are about to come calling. He has come along way from a broken and humble family to make it all the way to the brink of boundless opportunity. The good life is within touching distance and Mitch can almost taste the success. However what he didn't expect was an offer from a smaller company in Memphis called Bendini, Lambert and Locke who are ready to beat the highest offer of any of the New York of Chicago Firms exceeding Mitch's wildest dreams and fantasies. The Bendini firm charms the pants of Mitch and it's not long before him and his beautiful wife are heading south to their beautiful new house and BMW, a far cry from the student digs and broken down heap they have been driving while Mitch slugged his way through law school. 'The Firm' is much more than meets the eye, and as they begin to swamp Mitch with work for the bar exam and renovations for his new house, he is approached by an FBI agent early on who informs him that no one has ever left his firm alive! Some have tried and all have ended up dead, for his new employers are none other than the mob itself, and unbeknown to him Mitch has just bought into a life in the mafia, whether he likes it or not. His only way out is to steal files and hand them over to the feds, thus exposing the corruption, however in doing this not only will he be disbarred for breach of the lawyer client privilege, but he will also face a certain death sentence and a life on the run in the witness protection program. Mitch has a decision to make.

  The book:  Readers who think of the Dalai Lama as that beloved, avuncular, cosmopolitan, orange-robed monk with the kindly eyes and charismatic manner are in for a surprise, if not a downright shock, with this small but powerful collection of spiritual essays. Like the weather on the slopes of the Himalayas, these words burn down with the brightest sun one minute, and then, without warning, they blow right through you with the feel of an icy breeze. The preface describes how these talks were given in July 1996 by the Dalai Lama to a joint retreat of 25 Buddhist and 25 Christian monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani, the one-time home of Thomas Merton, a close and beloved friend of the Dalai Lama. Each homily is directed with deadly accuracy at the hearts, souls and minds of his listeners. They start, as any climb up the Himalayas does, with an easygoing amble up slopes that most of us can follow with ease. But as the Dalai gets into his stride, the spiritual atmosphere becomes thinner, the slopes steeper and the amount of specialized knowledge and experience required to follow in his footsteps becomes increasingly demanding. From time to time, the Dalai Lama does refer to the faith and spiritual practices of the Catholic monks, but his major intention is to give an elegant and sometimes esoteric commentary on the spiritual path taken by his Tibetan monks.

 I remember reading this novel while pregnant with my daughter, I was very emotional back then, maybe not the most suitable book to read while expecting.....

 The story: Nancy Harmon had fled the heartbreak of her first marriage, the macabre deaths of her two little children, the hostile front-page newspaper stories and the shocking charges against her. She changed her name, dyed her red hair sable brown, and left California for the wind-swept peace of Cape Cod. Now she was married again, had two more beautiful children, and the terrible pain had begun to heal...until the morning when she looked in the back yard for her little boy and girl, found only one red mitten, and knew that the nightmare was beginning again...