Venture with words

Written by: Marjorie
October 1, 2008

Spring makes you want to venture out!

Be it excitingly with boarding pass in hand or only to a shady spot near the water with picnic basket in hand, the park down the street with the dog leash in hand (yes and the dog), lounging in your own backyard with a glass of white in your hand (the latter for me thanks!)…

An important accompaniment is a good book and I’m always happy to assist you there, happy venturing :)

Deadly Intent - Lynda La Plante

Alexander Fitzpatrick is one of the most wanted men in the Western world. A Howard Marks character, but far more dangerous, his wealth, accrued through drug-trafficking runs into millions. For the past ten years there has been no sighting of him. Has he gone to ground using an alias, or is he dead?

When an ex-police officer from the murder squad is found shot in a dank squat, Anna Travis is pulled onto the case. As the body count rises and the investigation becomes ever more complex, suspicion falls on Fitzpatrick. Is he still alive and in the UK? Could he be the killer, with terrifying access to the most lethal drug in existence?

100 Ways to Happiness - Timothy Sharp

‘I’m too busy to be happy . . .’

Do you ever think like this? Many of us do these days, says psychologist and happiness expert Dr Timothy Sharp.  In our quest for better jobs, bigger houses, more exotic holidays and higher-performing children, we have become too busy to factor in the one component that will make all of the above worthwhile: happiness.

The good news is that achieving happiness is not a herculean task.  It doesn’t require expensive therapy or years of self-examination.  Often it is about fine-tuning our thoughts and putting in place some simple daily practices.

Dr Sharp draws on the latest research into the science of happiness and presents it here in 100 bite-sized chunks of inspiration and instruction.  Read it from cover to cover, or dip in and out for a regular dose of happiness training.  Learn how to increase your happiness levels by:

  • improving your physical health
  • counting your blessings
  • nurturing positive relationships
  • becoming a giver
  • better managing your time

Accessible, informative and funny, 100 Ways to Happiness encourages us to regard happiness as something that is achievable, manageable and hugely enhancing to the lives we live now.

The Point of Rescue - Sophie Hannah
Sally is watching the news with her husband when she hears a name she ought not to recognise: Mark Bretherick. Last year, a work trip Sally had planned was cancelled at the last minute. Desperate for a break from her busy life juggling work and a young family, Sally didn’t tell her husband that the trip had fallen through.

Instead, she booked a week off work and treated herself to a secret holiday. All she wanted was a bit of peace - some time to herself - but it didn’t work out that way. Because Sally met a man - Mark Bretherick.

All the details are the same: where he lives, his job, his wife Geraldine and daughter Lucy. Except that the man on the news is a man Sally has never seen before. And Geraldine and Lucy Bretherick are both dead…

Head over Heel - Chris Harrison
“It was the craziest decision I have ever made, yet I would make it a million times again. She gave me no choice - she intoxicated me. Her liquorice eyes. Her mediterranean skin. Even the sound of her name was like a summons to all my foolish blood. Daniela - one L, smile as you say it to pronounce it correctly - was on her second trip to Australia in six months, far too infrequently for both our liking. So I responded with ease in that Sydney hotel, when she stood naked by the window, after distractedly interrupting what I had been hoping would last forever, and without turning from view, she said softly and without intonation: ‘Come to live with me in Italy.’ I would do many things for that captivating woman; reason was not one of them.”

Starting off in Daniela’s small home town on the coast of Puglia, Chris embarks on a journey into the heart of Italy, where he meets a host of vividly memorable characters and learns about a very different type of life, one which he is now immersed in for better or for worse.

There’s a policeman who rearranges crimes to suit the necessary forms and a doctor who prescribes patients his homemade lemon liqueur. Chris’ biggest challenge is Daniela’s mother, determined to supervise his choice of underwear and build a second storey on her stucco home where the couple might live happily ever after.

Tethered - Amy MacKinnon

Daisies for innocence; Irises for hope; Asphodel for eternal sorrow. Clara Marsh is an undertaker. She spends her solitary life among the dead, preparing their last baths, beautifying their bodies, and bidding them farewell with a bouquet from her own garden.

But Clara’s carefully structured life shifts when she discovers a neglected little girl, Trecie, playing in the funeral parlour, desperate for a friend. It changes even more when Detective Mike Sullivan starts questioning her again about a body she prepared three years ago, an unidentified girl found murdered in a nearby strip of woods. Unclaimed by family, the community christened her Precious Doe.

When Clara and Mike learn Trecie may be involved with the same people who killed Precious Doe, Clara must choose between her solitary but steadfast existence and the perils of binding one’s life to another. Clara’s search for the girl pulls her into a spiralling series of events that threaten to endanger the few people Clara has grown to love - and finally brings her own tragic and long-buried past to the surface.

Darkly atmospheric and tautly written, Tethered is a haunting and ultimately heart-breaking novel that explores the themes of love, loss, faith and redemption.

All titles available at your premium library on the internet

Marjorie Engage Your Passion! Slim Ink Book Rental - your premium library on the internet | http://www.thecalmspace.com/about#marjorie

Comments

2 Responses to “Venture with words”

  1. karenNo Gravatar on October 3rd, 2008 9:09 pm

    Thank you Marj. As always, you find book titles that tempt me to add them to my reading list. Do you have a solution to adding more reading hours to my week, too?

  2. MarjorieNo Gravatar on October 4th, 2008 8:12 am

    Been working on a solution to that Karen but so far no luck :( Currently I am forsaking an hour of tv for some extra reading time - oh and ironing :)

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