Thursday, January 31, 2008

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

OK, we've been back for several days now, and this is my first chance to post here. The Nationals were fantastic! I will be uploading a few pictures we took as I have time. I also finished one book while we were gone and started and finished a second since we got back. Both books were for Bookworms Reading Group Yahoo Group.

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue - The story is told by Razi, who stays "between" after her tragic death as a young woman. She tried to find out what happened to the love of her life, Andrew, after she loses track of him. She also becomes interested in a young couple 70+ years after her death. The story moves back and forth between past and present in no particular order (like random memories popping up). You would think that that would be very confusing, but it isn't. It turned out to be a very effective way of telling the story. I rated this book 4 out of 5.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - Santiago is a young shepherd boy who dreamed of finding treasure at the Egyptian Pyramids. He is advised by a gypsy woman and a mysterious king to pursue his dream. Along the way, Santiago meets several people who teach him many things that help him on his search. It was a kind of mystical story that was well written, but I couldn't really identify with. I rated this book 2 out of 5. My favorite quote from the book was this - "'It's not what enters men's mouths that's evil,' said the alchemist. 'It's what comes out of their mouths that is.'"

No comments: