Casual Novels and an Educational Read – Book Reviews

Camino Winds by John Grisham:

• Grisham takes the reader back to Camino during a hurricane where a murder is committed in what might be the ideal scenario to get away with it
• as Bay Books owner Bruce Cable gets ready to welcome back best selling author Mercer Mann, hurricane Leo veers towards the island
• most people evacuate, but some like Bruce stay behind and end up sorting through the rubble and the murder of one of their best friends
• I enjoyed this sequel to his previous novel Camino Island as it was fun to follow the characters on a new adventure
• Grisham’s reads are always exciting, and for those that don’t take the world at face value (like me), he offers up thought-provoking conspiracy theories that often play out
• the medical slant was quite timely given the current Covid and vaccine controversies that put Big Pharma into question
• this may not have been his best novel as it was a bit choppy in places, but it was still worth the read

 

21 Things You May Not Know About The Indian Act by Bob Joseph:

• since its creation in 1876, the Indian Act has dictated and constrained the lives and opportunities of Indigenous Peoples and is at the root of many enduring stereotypes
• Bob’s book comes at a key time in the reconciliation process when awareness from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities is at a crescendo
• he examines how Indigenous Peoples can return to self-government, self-determination, and self-reliance and why doing so would result in a better country for every Canadain
• this book was recommended by a friend on the heels of the Kamloops Indian Residential School tragedy, so it served as a starting point for me to better understand this tragic piece of Canadian history
• it’s hard to fathom how the government of a country of immigrant settlers could treat the First Nations in such a barbaric manner
• I highly recommend this book to anyone who is trying to gain a simple, straightforward understanding of the human rights violations of our country
• as Shelagh Rogers (OC, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Honorary Witness) said in her praise of the book – There is much for non-Indigenous people to learn and to do.  But equally important, there is much to unlearn and to undo.’

 

Revenge by James Patterson & Andrew Holmes:

• the shocking death of a young woman that former SAS soldier David Shelley once helped protect puts his safer civilian life plans on hold
• wealthy grieving parents add a dynamic to the case that provides many twists and turns involving a Russian Chechen mafia and British gangsters
• the book is a typical fast-moving Patterson story with several plot twists that keep the reader on their toys
• I enjoyed the book as it gave some insight into different types of gangs and the dynamics of kidnapping cases
• the title of the book is very apropos in multiple ways and is pause for thought as it could apply to many aspects of life