The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir who got trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe

I enjoyed The Extraordinary Journey of The Fakir who got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe by Romain Puertolas.  An Indian fakir persuades his friends to pay for him to go to Ikea in Paris to purchase a bed of nails.  He decides to spend the night in the Ikea store so he can pick up his bed in the morning and return to India.  However, things go awry for him when he hides in a wardrobe when store staff walk towards him.  From there, the fakir goes on an "extraordinary journey" and the reader goes along for the ride.  This is one of those silly light-hearted stories which you can enjoy as you suspend belief.  A fun read that also has a serious side.  Enjoy.  31/2/5

An Event in Autumn

I very much enjoyed this small book An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell.  It is a Kurt Wallander mystery where Wallander discovers two bodies in the grounds of a house he wants to buy.  He and his team investigate and the killer is finally found.  This is a novella, originally written in 2004 for a particular purpose but only recently translated.  A good quick read.  4/5

Spare Brides

I enjoyed Spare Brides by Adele Parks which is set in early 1920s England.  World War I is finally over and those left behind try to go on living as best they can.  There is an abundance of women  after the War and there are not enough men to match them.  There are four main characters who are well off friends - Lydia, well married; Beatrice, rapidly heading for "old maid" status; Sarah, widowed by the War and Ava, a beautiful wealthy woman who relishes her single status.  The main story is the passionate illicit love affair between Lydia and a very attractive Edgar Trent, an NCO in the Army.  For the women it is about status and honour as their class struggles to cope with the "new world order" while those in the lower classes fight to better themselves.  It is a good love story, bit "chick lit" so took a while to get in to it and enjoy it. 4/5

Cell

I enjoyed reading this medical mystery Cell by Robin Cook.  A large medical insurance company in the USA has developed an app called iDoc which is in the beta testing stage.  A radiologist, George Wilson, in a large hospital discovers that a couple of his patients die shortly after being told they have terminal cancer.  They were iDoc patients.  George's fiancee died a few months earlier while spending the night with him.  George learns about the iDoc app which its developers think will make them very wealthy.  The theory seems okay.  The app knows the patient and removes the need to a doctor which will supposedly free up the system and maybe do away with doctors.  However, what happens if the app does not work as intended?  It is a good mystery though George is irritatingly naive.  Eventually all is revealed, or is it?  4/5

Angelica's Smile

I enjoyed Angelica's Smile by Andrea Camilleri which is an Inspector Montalbano mystery.  The Inspector is investigating some unusual burglaries.  He then becomes "entangled" with a beautiful woman, Angelica, who has been burgled.  The Inspector's superiors become impatient with the seeming lack of progress.  It is an easy read and eventually, the mystery is solved. 31/2/5

Lost & Found

I enjoyed this whimsical tale Lost & Found by Brooke Davis an Australian writer.  Seven-year-old Millie is abandoned by her mother in a Perth department store.  Millie sets out to find her mother with the help of two older people she meets, Karl the Touch Typist and Agatha Pantha as well as a mannequin named Manny.  Millie seems obsesses with "dead things" and keeps a record of them.  She and her fellow adventurers travel east to look for Millie's mother.  Along the way they meet other wonderful characters and find a new life.  A lovely story.  31/2/5

The Boys in the Boat

I very much enjoyed reading The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown which is an historical account of the American eight (plus coxswain) who competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.  The author has researched extensively and was fortunate to interview his main character, Joe Rantz, before he died.  In the lead up to the Olympics the Washington State University crew had to compete in races in the United States before they went to Berlin.  The reader learns about the other main characters in this story including the boatbuilder, George Pocock, and the crew's coach Al Ulbrickson.  The author tells the inspirational personal story of Joe Rantz around whom the other characters revolve.  Also we learn what is happening in Germany in the buildup before the Games.  Finally we read about the most thrilling race of all.  This book will appeal mainly to those who understand rowing, however, it is also a very interesting historical story.  Highly recommended. 41/2/5