Elephant Dance

I enjoyed Elephant Dance by Tammie Matson which is a non-fiction account of the author's scientific work studying elephant-human conflict in Africa and India.  Matson is an Australian woman who has a strong relationship with Africa, spending many years there and regarding that continent as her second home.  She is very knowledgeable about the African animals and has worked to find sustainable solutions to conservation problems.  In Africa she found the elephants were denied their natural pathways because of the development of populations and they were also endangered by poachers and wars.  In areas where resources were limited for both people and elephants, conflict between them was a problem.  One solution was chilli farms.  The crops could be sold by the people and as chillis are disliked by elephants, they could be used to protect other crops and homes.  When working for the World Wildlife Fund, Matson found similar issues in India where the elephants' forest habitat was being destroyed for human habitation.  It was an enjoyable and informative read.  If you love elephants, this is for you. 31/2/5

The Villa Girls

I enjoyed The Villa Girls by Nicky Pellegrino which is about four young London women who go on holidays in sunny European locations, including Italy.  The main stories are about Rosie whose story is told in the first person.  Her parents have died and she is wondering what to do with her life.  She meets Addolorata, Lou and Toni and they spend some time on a beach in Europe.  Addolorata becomes a great influence in Rosie's life.  The alternate chapters tell the story of Enzo, the heir to a large olive grove estate which produces high quality olive oil.  The two stories come together with difficult consequences and years then go by before everything is resolved. 31/2/5

The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

I really enjoyed this quirky Swedish story The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.  Allan Karlsson escapes his nursing home on the morning of his 100th birthday.  He gets to the bus station and buys a ticket for as far as he can go.  While waiting for his bus a young man asks him to mind his large suitcase while he uses the toilet.  In the mean time Allan's bus arrives and the young man is still in the toilet so Allan boards the bus with the suitcase.  This is the beginning of his adventure as Allan meets a man at an abandoned railway station and they open the suitcase and the contents are quite a surprise.  They realise the young man will be wanting it back. Meanwhile the police are looking for Allan, concerned for his welfare.  Also the young man and his boss are very anxious to reclaim the suitcase so Allan and his new friend go "on the run".  They meet other wonderful characters along the way.  The reader learns about them and also there are chapters devoted to the life of Allan Karlsson and his adventures meeting heads of state.  The story is a lot of fun, suspend belief and go along for the ride. 4/5

The Hare with Amber Eyes

It had a slow start but I then enjoyed the story The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal.  It is the story of a collection of 264 miniature Japanese carved objects called netsuke.  They are collected in the 19th century by Charles Ephrussi a wealthy Jewish man living in Paris.  He is a relative of the author.  The Ephrussi's are a wealthy family who originally came from Russia and establish their own bank.  The netsuke are small beautifully crafted intricate carvings in ivory or wood.  The author is fortunate in having prominently wealthy ancestors as he is able to access many documents in his research and brings his ancestors to life with the detail of how they lived.  Charles then gives his collection to a nephew Victor Ephrussi and his wife Emmy as a wedding gift.  They live in Vienna and the author then covers the period 1899-1938 when they are in their family's possession.  Of course, towards the end these are very difficult times for Jews in Austria and the reader follows the story with increasing dread.  I will leave the reader to discover the rest of the story.  Very well researched and beautifully written.  It is a different way of telling a family history through the tale of these wonderful objects. 4/5

The Time Keeper

I enjoyed The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom which has a magical fable like quality about time and its effects.  If only we could stop time in a perfect moment, if only we could turn back time to when life was better - but that cannot happen, or can it?  Father Time is depicted and becomes involved with two individuals in modern times - Sarah whose infatuation with a boy has disastrous consequences and Victor who is dying but plots to defy death.  The reader becomes captivated by these characters and the decisions they make, but can Father Time prevent them from making the wrong decision.  A delightful story. 4/5

Dead Famous

I very much enjoyed Dead Famous by Ben Elton which is our Crime Club book for March.  The stage is set (literally) for a very unusual murder inside a "Big Brother" type house which in this story is called "House Arrest".  There are 10 "housemates" who are competing with each other for a large cash prize and trying to get along at the same time.  The murder takes place on day 27 and is witnessed by an international audience, yet the police are baffled as to the murderer's identity.  There are some wonderful characters in this story - the competitor themselves, the producer who manipulates the program who does selective editing to ensure some are seen in a poor light.  She treats her staff appallingly using very "colourful" language (be warned as some readers may find the language and some scenes offensive).  Inspector Coleridge who investigates the murder is the complete opposite, very conservative and is appalled that he and his team have to trawl through every frame of film of this ridiculous show to search for clues to the murderer. A great sendup of reality TV shows. 41/2/5

The Retribution

I enjoyed The Retribution by Val McDermid but beware - the murders are quite gruesome.  A serial killer, Jacko Vance, escapes from prison and he has carefully planned how he will punish Inspector Carol Jordan and Tony Hill who were instrumental in sending him to prison many years previously, and also Vance's former wife.  With help from the outside Vance begins his terrible retribution, with awful consequences.  Jordan, Hill and other detectives try to find him and predict where he will strike next.  As well there is another serial killer murdering prostitutes.  So there is a lot of investigation work to be done. 41/2/5