The Book Search

So I've been on kind of kick lately, for no apparently reason, reading books set in England.  One of my friends recommended one of them to me saying it was kind of a pain to read because the author uses so many English slang words, "Why can't she just write in English?", which is pretty hilarious.  But if you want to feel like you're away, it is sort of like speaking another language and yet it isn't! The one I just finished is called "Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith.  Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for J. K. Rowling who is a bit more famous for another series she wrote, also set in England, called Harry Potter.  Cuckoo's Calling could not be further from Harry Potter but I really liked it.  The main character is a private detective named Cormoran Strike.  He is an Afghan war veteran and is currently breaking up with his long time girlfriend.  He comes from a complicated family (rock star dad, groupie mom, many assorted half brothers...

The books I've been reading this week seem to all have a theme of strong girls! My FAVORITE new one is called "Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy" by Karen Foxlee. It's is a wonderful fairy tale that is a very amazing mix of both fairy tale and realistic fiction. Ophelia is a girl who's mom died recently. Her dad is a museum curator and he's currently working on an exhibit of swords. Ophelia's sister is older and beautiful and kind of mad since their mom died. Ophelia is left to her own devices and ends up wandering around the museum. She takes a funny turn and finds a boy who is locked in a room. The boy explains to her that he has been there for 300 years, a prisoner of the Snow Queen and that she should help him and save the world. Ophelia is a person who believes in science and reality so she really doesn't think this is really possible, but she keeps going back to see him and the risks get bigger and bigger. It's very exciting, has very i...