My favorite books

Reading is something I've always loved. Even though I might read some books in an unconventional manner (beginning, end and then the middle) I thought I'd share some of my favorite books.

• Maisie Dobbs detective series by Jacqueline Winspear- It's a series of mysteries that are solved by a private investigator named Maisie Dobbs who works in London, UK just after WWI. These are mainly murder mysteries but I've always enjoyed  a "who done it" and these books have a twist in  the end so the I hadn't read all that much about World War I so this series was interesting to me. I also like the fact that the detective is a woman and I think it gives an interesting angle to the stories.
• A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute- It's about the adventures of a British woman named Jean Paget working  in Malaysia during World War II. Jean is taken prisoner with a group of other British women who are forced to march across Malaysia and part of the book focuses on that journey and how she helps her friends survive it. The story also focuses on how Jean travels to Australia after the war in search of a man who was also taken prisoner who she met and fell in love with during her trek around Malaysia. I love this book because it really showed me how people can endure tremendous hardship and come out stronger and love more because of their experiences.
• Frankenstein  By Mary Shelley-Mad scientist Dr. Frankenstein brings a dead person back to life but decides he doesn't like it so he abandons the poor thing. I think it's interesting that on Halloween decorations "Frankenstein" is depicted as a monster,  rather than the creator of a monster. Maybe that's symbolic. Anyway, I like the story because it shows that even monsters can ultimately have souls and the capacity to love (despite their tendency to cause a lot of damage  as well.)
• Jane Eyre  By Charlotte Bronte-Jane grows up in a rather brutal boarding school and goes on to become a governess and falls in love with her employer who has a secret dum dum dum, that could ruin everything! I like it because life throws a lot at her and despite the hardships she faces she never really gives up.
• In My Hands; Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gutt Opdyke- The book tells the story of Irene Gutt  who became a housekeeper in World War II for a Nazi officer saves a group of Jewish men and women by hiding them  in the Nazi Officer's basement. Irene and all the people she hid in the house survived the war and lived to old age.
• Dear American Airlines By Jonathan Miles-  Funny book about a man whose flight is delayed on the eve of his daughter's wedding decides to write a letter to the airline about how ticked off he is at the airline and then ends up using the letter to reflect on his life. After reading this I resolved to write a letter to airlines that tick me off, apparently writing such letters is a very therapeutic process!
• Birds, Beasts, and Relatives By Gerald Durrell- it's the 2nd book in a trilogy of books about Durrel's childhood growing up in Corfu, (Greek Island). Durrell was a naturalist and a great writer. His books are basically a bunch of short stories about his family that are really funny and they also involve a lot of descriptions of the plants and wildlife of Corfu. To give you an idea of how funny the book is, I was reading it to my mum in the car and my mum was laughing so hard she had to tell me to stop because she was afraid we'd get into a car accident!
• The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins- Futuristic tale about a girl living in a country divided into districts run by a government that forces 2 children-one of whom happens to be this book's main character, (selected randomly) from each district to fight each other to the death in a televised "Hunger Games". The last person to come out alive wins. Gives new meaning to the "survival of the fittest" idea.
• The B.F.G (Big Friendly Giant) By Roald Dahl- I realize it's a kids book but I like the story. A giant "steals" a girl named Sophie from her orphanage after she sees him sending dreams into other kids bedrooms. (It's his job to send good dreams to sleeping kids.)  the BFG takes Sophie back to a land where only giants live.  All the other giants eat children and so Sophie helps the  BFG capture them to save the lives of the world's children.
•   Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling-I love listening to it on CD. I also fully intend to learn to ride a broomstick and train an owl to deliver my mail-no more buying Forever stamps for me!