THE HILLS IS LONELY by Lillian Beckwith

914.17

BEC

A former schoolteacher who went to live on Bruach, an island in the Hebrides, for a rest cure, wrote this entertaining yearn. She did not get much rest, but if laughter is indeed the best medicine, she must have been cured. Many of her more hilarious adventures and experiences resulted from the cultural and language differences between the people of Bruach and the English writer. Miss Beckwith's, or as she was called by Bruachites, Miss Peckwit's stories are often earthy, but seem likely to appeal to a broad audience.

THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carolos Ruiz Zafon

FIC

RUIZ-ZAFON

This adventure story begins in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in post WWII Barcelona. Daniel Sempere is taken there by his father, a bookseller, and told that he can choose one book. Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. He loves the book, but when he tries to find other works by Carax, he finds that someone is systematically destroying Carax’s books.
As Daniel tries to solve this mystery, he is drawn into the dangerous aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.
This novel features intriguing characters and a strong sense of place.

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

FIC
Martel, Y.

Sixteen-year-old Pi is on his way from India to a new home in Canada when the ship carrying him, his family, and many of the animals formerly in his family's zoo, sinks. Pi finds himself alone on a 32-man lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Time, determination, and Pi's knowledge of animals help him establish a territory the tiger respects. Both the tiger and Pi's faiths-Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Hinduism-help the two survive a horrific 227 days at sea. When investigators from the shipping company refuse to believe Pi's story, he presents them with an alternate version. Even the executives admit their preference for Pi's original, possibly metaphorical, tale. So it is, Pi points out, with God.

Though Martel takes much time recounting Pi's early history, the patient reader will be rewarded.