Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Published by Quirk

Vintage Photos from Collections listed

 

A most peculiar book, monsters and shadows, are they all based on Jacob's grandfather's fears as a Jewish child in Poland pre-WWII and the only one of his family to survive? He was sent to an orphanage on an island in Wales in the earliest part of the war. But according to Jacob's grandpa, this was no ordinary home. This, Ransom Riggs' first novel, grows on you as you read. There are several vintage photographs to go along with the stories Jacob has heard all his life of the wonderful and unique home, the safe place. The children most certainly have special abilities one could call peculiar, but Jacob is not sure how much to believe now that he is in his teens. Stories of circus acts, stories of terrible monsters, can they possibly be real? Some very strange things can turn out to be real and some that seem real are not to be believed.

 

When his grandfather dies a horrible death and Jacob catches a glimpse of what he has only heard of before, he begins to suspect there is more to the stories. With his last breath, his grandfather cryptically tells him to go to the island, so he can be "safe", and gives him a date: September 3, 1940.

 

So begins this incredible journey where reality and unreality meet head on. If it weren't for Jacob's father's compulsive interest in Ornithology, and the island noted for its birds, the journey might never have begun. It's on the island where the story really takes on a life of its own. A story of lightness and darkness, magic and horror, atmospheric, a life that only Jacob appears to see. Ransom Riggs will entertain you, transfix you, make you think a bit about spatial displacement, where seemingly ordinary children can be truly extraordinary (especially if one is invisible) and everything you thought was a fairy-tale of ogres and monsters in the woods can be true. I really enjoyed this wonderfully strange journey into the author's imagination... or is it all true...

 

Copies of authentic Vintage Photos used in this novel and provided from various Collections are listed in the back of the book attributed to the Collectors where known. These photos spread throughout the book provide a real backbone to the story.



White Heaven Women by Jessie B. Tyson

Published by Imajin Books
Review based on ebook

An intriguing find, this book is definitely using a ghost writer as you will soon see. What does a 101-year old woman, a blue light, Sally Witherspane's nightmares and a psychic have in common? Much more than one might think. Sally has long planned to write a novel, and now is her chance. Sitting at her computer, she finds herself typing the night away but can't remember doing so. Working at a columnist for the White Heaven Weekly, writing should be easy ... but not that easy!

Sally is terrorized by her nightmares of hideous red-eyed monsters and screaming women in old-fashioned clothing. What can it all mean? The sounds and smells are so real, and she is always in the dream. To put even more fear in her mind, a terrific storm rages outside sending lightning crashing into trees and to the ground leaving trails of smoke. Sally is terrified of storms and this one is a whopper.

As part of her job, she has been asked to cover a past-life meeting. The psychic she has met urges her to go to the meeting, too, and to pay special attention to a woman called Lillian Canterbury, who may be able to help her understand her dreams.

What follows is as fascinating story as ever I've heard. A story which begins in 1899 in another raging storm. This is the story of 101-year old Mrs. Beth Madeleine. How, you might wonder, does this woman's story relate to Sally in the year 2000? I think you will enjoy reading this book to find out. Fascinating, paranormal, and historical, this will become Sally's story, and the debut novel written by Jessie B. Tyson. Gripping, sad, delightful, suspenseful, paranormal and an eye-opener to life in the nobility of a different generation, it is bound to captivate. I enjoyed it completely.

A Cipher in the Sand by Sandra Bolton

An interesting and tense foray into a beautiful yet dangerous land in 1985. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A middle aged woman, divorced, her children grown and gone, feels the need for change and purpose in her life. She joins the Peace Corp, much against the wishes of her children. She is assigned as a teacher and to improve education in a somewhat remote area of Honduras. Her first taste of excitement as the man she has been talking with in the airport, suddenly makes a run for it when the airport security come after him. Her next shock at the end of the flight when she learns they will be landing in the dark, the airport lit by headlights of cars lined up along the runway and men with flashlights guiding the plane to the terminal; the plane swoops down over the mountains onto a very short runway.

Once in Honduras, she quickly learns that she has no idea what she is in for. She finds the land and the people in the villages beautiful and relaxing, but darkness is on the horizon for her. After training, her assignment takes her to the coast and a small village. Fortunately, many people in this particular village speak English, but she has also learned Spanish so she is able to converse quite well with the villagers. To her consternation, a misfit in the newly trained Peace Corp recruits, a young girl, suddenly becomes her room-mate to work in the clinic as a nurse. These totally different personalities must find some common ground.

It does not take long for them to become targets of the Honduran military when they try to help the local villagers. In no time at all, they will be running for their lives. This book is well-written, in-depth both in character and plot. Tension runs high, murder, mystery, yet sweet and caring, this is a powerful thriller with a heart. Fast-paced, terror-ridden, a veritable clash of countries, military, populace, hope and fear all at the same time. I thought this was an excellent read, packed with intrigue. Definitely a very good first novel. I congratulate Sandra Bolton on writing a novel that compels the reader to keep reading this new and exciting book.

Scar by Ryan Frawley

Published by 529 Publishing
Reviewed for Review the Book

I began this book in an erroneous state of mind. I was sure I was reading non-fiction, but no, this book is a novel, in fact it is Ryan Frawley's debut novel. It must say a great deal about the author's ability when the reader can err between fact and fiction. In my own defense, there are several passages that were obvious and deliberate fiction. Regardless, this is an exceptional story from the mind of Dermot Fallon, a man who has the ability to keep a journal illuminating the mind of a schizophrenic, a man who is suffering from and hospitalized with schizophrenia. His psychiatrist collaborates on the story which has been written in journals he has provided his patient with to put down his thoughts and memories. The results have been outstanding.

Reproduced from Dermot's own writing, the psychiatrist's footnotes help sort the story out. The storyline by its very definition of mind fracture would be difficult to write, but handle it Ryan Frawley accomplishes this complex story very well. This is the first time I have felt the stirring of understanding schizophrenia, and just how rampant this particular disease of the mind or psyche is. Dermot is a patient in Riverview Hospital, a real mental health facility near Vancouver, BC. I was born and raised in Vancouver, which makes me feel almost as an onlooker of important tragedy in this large city.

This is a very powerful book. It is well-researched and portrayed. Reading the book brought me through pain and elation, through Irish mythology and human relationships. Partway through the book, I began to notice a puzzle. Not the obvious coded puzzle that is a part of Dermot's history, but a puzzle for the reader to solve. This was very interesting to me, a little bit of mystery in the mix. What does this mean? Well, that I am going to leave up to future readers because I will not give it away, if indeed there is anything to give away. I do believe I am right, though, and it will be interesting to see if other readers feel the same. A fascinating, frightening yet entertaining book overall.