Judy J: THE UNEXPECTED INHERITANCE OF INSPECTOR CHOPRA by Vaseem Khan
Judy enjoyed this book! Its great fun, interesting, entertaining, heart-warming and quite an unexpected, nice read.
It tells the story of Ashwin Chopra, a man of integrity with a rigid sense of fair play. Following a major heart attack he is forced to retire and is presented with a young elephant as a retirement gift by his uncle. On his final day as a police officer, the death of a young man is reported, which no-one seems interested in investigating.
Despite his retirement, Chopra seeks out the criminals with the help of his very special elephant which he named Ganesh. Several twists and turns occur.
Much of the interest in the book comes from its setting in Mumbai, the colours, the sweltering heat, the lives of the rich and poor and the monsoons.
It reminded her of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency from Alexander McCall Smith, a bit more gritty though, but a good mystery without the blood and gore.
Joan: ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell published in 1945.
A political, satirical fable in only 95 pages, Animal Farm is George Orwell’s satire on equality, where all the farm animals live free from their human masters' tyranny. Inspired to rebel by Major, an old boar, animals on Mr. Jones' Manor Farm embrace Animalism and stage a revolution to achieve an idealistic state of justice and progress. A power-hungry pig, Napoleon, becomes a totalitarian dictator who leads the Animal Farm into ‘all animals are equal, but some more equal than others’ situation.
The final message could be that the pigs had become as cruel as the farmer.
Rosemary:
Also read Animal Farm and mentioned some interesting facts about the novel.
*Animal Farm was rejected by the biggest names in publishing.
*The CIA used Animal Farm as a propaganda tool.
*The Soviet Union banned Animal Farm until the Cold War was almost over, and it has been banned by many other governments.
*Animal Farm has inspired Coldplay, the Beatles and Pink Floyd.
Kris: HORSE by Geraldine Brooks
Kris was absolutely absorbed in this story and the characters. Although it is a novel, the story is woven around an actual racehorse, considered the greatest racehorse in American history. There are 3 stories intertwined.
One is set in Kentucky in 1850 where the horse is born and raised by a young negro slave named Jarret.
Despite his relationship with the horse, Jarret has very little power over his life.
The second story is set in New York in 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner becomes obsessed with a 19thcentury equestrian painting of mysterious provenance.
The modern-day story is set in Washington DC in 2019 when a Nigerian American art historian is intrigued by stories of Negro horsemen.
Although the story weaves back and forth between 1850, 1954 and 2019, it is easy to follow and clearly set out. Geraldine Brooks felt the story of injustice had to be carried through to the present as it’s not over yet.
Ed also read HORSE.
She loved the book and commented that she thought the author didn’t dwell too much on the slavery theme.
Helen enjoyed the book HORSE.
It showed man’s love for his horse and the ends he would go for it with the background of racism and slavery.
The chapters are the names of different owners from different times. The author showed her great research and knowledge of horses and their anatomy.
Helen thought Brooks had tried to do too much in the book, with the ending being a little contrived, especially trying to link it with modern day events.
Sheila: ANGEL PUSS by Colleen McCullough
Unfortunately, the title is the only reference to animals, but this was such a well written and beautiful book that Sheila really enjoyed.
Set in the King’s Cross in the 1960’s, a 21-year-old X ray technician Harriet, is earning a ‘male’s wage’ and moves into a Rooming House in the area. The owner lives on the property and earns extra income from such as reading tarot cards, staring at a crystal ball. Harriet soon discovers a world that she never knew existed. Although the characters were often odd in different ways, they always cared for each other and had lots of heart.
Thoroughly recommended.
Pat: STRAY CATS OF HOMS by Nour Eva
Set in Syria, Sami attends school, plays with his friends, and attends university. All the while he is aware of the political situation and corruption in his country.
After finishing his Uni studies and setting up an IT company he is forced into military service, training in map making. In 2011 the rebellion waves spreading across the Arab countries had reached Syria.
Sami decides to stay in Syria, recording life in Homs through photographs as his city is constantly under attack. He continues to feed stray cats and birds as he has done all his life.
He eventually escapes and gets to Paris and meets the woman who wrote the story.
It is not an easy read, but it is an emotional, heartbreaking and extraordinary true story.
Unfortunately, Sami is forced to live in secret in Paris and is unlikely ever to be able to return to his own country.
Tam: THE STORY OF DANNY DUNN by Bryce Courtney
Although not on the ‘animal theme’ this is Tam’s type of book.
Danny Dunn grows up in Balmain during the Depression where his family run a pub.
He goes to war but returns home a broken man, having spent time in POW camps in Burma.
After the war he rebuilds his life . This family saga covers 3 generations and is a great read.
Jo: AUSTRALIA’S REMARKABLE WILDLIFE: PLATYPUS by John Lesley
A fascinating and interesting book about these amazing animals.
The platypus is one of only 2 Australian monotremes the other being the echidna.
1798 Governor Hunter sent drawings to the British Museum, was it a duck, mammal or reptile?
Val: THE SHEPHERDS LIFE by James Rebanks
This beautiful book describes one year in the life of a shepherd (the author) in the Lake District.
His family have been sheep farmers in the area for over 600 years.
Their sheep are Herdwicks, brought to England in the 10th century by the Norse. They can survive the winter and are kept for their strong-tasting meat. Their fleece is very wiry and suitable for carpet making.
James Rebanks is a very interesting man having left school at 16 and returned many years later to complete his tertiary education. For many years, farming only survived because of Government subsidies, but he has now moved into sustainable farming , cattle and bees.
Although it was necessary to move with the times, his life is still in the fields with his sheep.
A joy to read.
Diann: SOUL OF A HORSE by Joe Camp
Joe Camp and his wife receive an unexpected birthday present of a horse. Having never owned a horse before each chapter tells of the lessons he was learning and how they applied not only to his horses but to life and people as well.
A very moving read.
Connie: OUR ZOO by June Mottershead
From the age of 4 years, June Mottershead and her family lived at Chester Zoo started by her father. Most of her life was spent at the zoo, as a keeper and later as a place to raise her family.
But the book tells of the early days of the zoo, how the children slept with the chimps, teaching them how to read and sharing their bedroom. They looked after sick animals in their house.
Her father wanted to run an open zoo, with the animals not in cages. The locals were horrified.
But he persisted and today it is ranked as the 6th best zoo in the world!
Connie thoroughly enjoyed the book, it was full of photos of the family and the animals.
Prue: THE JUNGLE BOOK by Rudyard Kipling
Although the book was published in 1894, it was the first time Prue had read it.
She found it more than just a book about Mowgli but a collection of 7 short stories featuring other animal characters.
Although much of the writing was old fashioned, she found it easy to read, interesting and with lots of action as well.
As she was reading, she could imagine the animals and scenery, but this may have been having seen the movie.
Prue thoroughly enjoyed and glad to have finally read it.
Judy A: REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt
This is the story of the relationship between 70 year old Tova Sullivan and Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus. The setting is an imaginary town called Sowell Bay, on Puget Sound, Washington USA. Tova’s husband died the year before and she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy helps her to cope with her sadness. The other tragedy in her past was the death of her 18 year old son Erik, thirty years ago. He disappeared off a boat and his body was never found and there’s always been a cloud around his death – was it an accident or was it suicide.
A lovely, warm, well written book.
SEPTEMBER: Biographies or Autobiographies
Happy reading.
