15. Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist

As promised, this week I changed course (dramatically) from crime scenes to philosophy and alchemy in the desert. I've never read a book by the famous Paulo Coelho and I don't know if The Alchemist is such a good book to start with because it is quite childish and language use is simple at times. Also, I'm not a fan of philosophy in general and stories about the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixer of Life don't particularly excite me. 

I don't like reading translated books anyway. Coelho of course is Brazilian so he wrote it in Portugese. If anything I'd like to read the book the way it was went to be read. In Portugese... But I swallowed my pride and I succumbed to the pull he has over other people. Since this book "was originally written in Portuguese and has since been translated into 67 languages, winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author. It has sold more than 65 million copies in more than 150 countries, becoming one of the best-selling books in history." (Wikipedia)

The story is about a boy from Spain who has chosen to lead a shepherd's life and travel all around Spain to find new interesting things. He has a recurring dream about a Pyramid and a big treasure within this Pyramid. At first he ignores these dreams, but when he meets a King one day who tells him to sell his sheep and be on his way to Egypt with the use of omens along the way, he does. This novel is about his voyage and the people he meets on his way.

Not very enthralling and I don't know if I'd touch another Coelho book, especially if they're thicker than this short novel. I guess the only way to find out is by looking at omens and listening to my heart.

14. Ian Rankin - Strip Jack

This week it was time for another one of Ian Rankin's books, namely Strip Jack. This is the fourth novel in the Rebus series and I quite like reading these novels two-by-two. I feel that I've had enough of Rebus for the next few weeks, but after the third book I felt like I needed more.

Strip Jack wasn't that interesting. It's about a Scottish MP Gregor Jack who is possibly set up when he visits a brothel. Not only does the media catch light of this event, his wife also disappears. That's another task for Rebus who must work himself through a web of famous Scottish people and their friends. It's something different from the life-threatening events from the previous books. But it's still Rebus and he's still my favourite modern detective (of course Holmes is higher on my favourite detective list).

I will pick Rebus up another time, but for now I think I might leave the whole detective genre for what it is because I've had my fair share of it. Also, I'm aware of the fact that I'm late. I'm on a holiday in the Netherlands. Bad excuse, I know. I will try to finish the next book by Sunday.

13. Ian Rankin - Tooth & Nail

Not only was this an amazing crime novel (I might actually get addicted to these) it also helped me to appreciate Edinburgh and loathe London a bit more. Even though I was considering moving to London for a while, not any more. Ian Rankin paints such a horrible picture of it in Tooth & Nail that it doesn't appeal to me at all after this novel. Job well done!

This novel is about Rebus who moves down to London to help the MET police hunt down and kill The Wolfman. A killer who mainly focuses on women, he or she stabs his victims in the throat and then takes bites in their stomach. Due to his previous succes in Edinburgh the Metroplitan police reckon Rebus would be perfect for the job. He himself is not so sure...

The passage that speaks to me most, is the short paragraph about his books. I fully agree with him and I feel I have met a like-minded soul. 15 more Rebus books to go and I mean to read them all:

So many books. One man could not hope to read them all in a lifetime. He tried to walk through the aisles without focusing. If he focused, he would become interested, and if he became interested he would buy. He already had over fifty books at home, piled beside his bed, waiting for that elusive weeklong break when he could concentrate on something other than police work. He collected books. It was just about his only hobby. Not that he was precious about it. He did not lust after first editions, signed copies and the like. Mostly, he bought paperbacks. And he was nothing if not catholic in his tastes: any subject matter would do. (Rankin 154)

12. Stephen King - Under the Dome

Wow... I'm still completely silenced by the fact that firstly I managed to read this humongous book in one week (877 pages) and secondly by the epic quality of it all. Stephen King started writing Under the Dome almost thirty years ago, but last year he finally managed to finish it. A lot of hard work has gone into writing this novel and it shows. 

This is literally a novel with an epic scope. It's about a tiny village which is suddenly covered by a big invisible dome and the effects it has on the inhabitants. It doesn't help the situation that the main man in the village is a idiot who is on the edge of losing all his common sense, Jim Rennie, and the fact that most of the town are set to follow him in every stupid decision he makes. And it really doesn't help that the town's temporary visitor who after a fight wants to flee the town, Barbie, becomes encased by the Dome and promoted as Colonel by the people on the outside.

I must say that I thought the ending was kind of weak. But it's not about the last 10 pages. It's about the full novel and the build up to the main event. And King has done that in a very King-esque manner.  

I know most people will wait for the mini series to come out. And I'm certain it will be good, but please try to read this book. It's a sensational read and it really doesn't stop anywhere it just keeps going with a "foot on gas narrative" as the Washington Post calls it. Just be aware that you shouldn't be eating anywhere near the book, lots of scenes are really gory. In the way that only Stephen King can do it. 

11. John Grisham - The Confession

Sometimes a book is so good it just grips you and you can't put it away. I had it a while back with Larsson's Millennium trilogy and now John Grisham did it to me again with The Confession. 

In this book, he does not beat around the bush. He takes us straight to the main events. An innocent black man is awaiting execution in Texas for a crime he did not commit. Donte Drumm has been in prison for nine years and the needle is only a week away when the man who did commit the crime, that of killing and raping a high school girl, confesses to a priest in Kansas. The man is a well-known felon in three states and the priest Keith decides to help Travis Boyette jump parole to confess his crimes in Texas to make sure the execution does not take place. The reason Travis wants to confess after nine years is because he is dying of a brain tumour. 

This is the first time I've written such a lengthy summary, but this novel really needs it because it needs to be read. I'm not a stranger to Grisham's books. I've read A Time to Kill and The Client. I've read these a long time ago but I still remember how much I loved them, especially A Time to Kill. For some reason unknown to even me, stopped picking up his books. Maybe it's because I didn't like my studies in Law as much as I thought I would and I stopped reading the author who inspired me to start it. 

In any case, this book is a definite must-read. I can't even describe the sentiments that went through me when reading about the long and impossible task of getting Boyette in Texas on time for the execution. I felt with Keith and I felt for Robbie, Donte's lawyer, who had been trying for years to point out to the jury and the court that evidence in the case against Donte was seriously lacking. Very frustrating. But such an amazing book and Grisham describes all the events with such detail that it just reels you in and for a week you feel like you're in Sloan, Texas.