Book 4: The Ice Queen, Alice Hoffman

TItle: The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman

Location:On a stool outside Bert’s Bar in Stockbridge, Edinburgh

Weather Conditions: Sunny, Clear Skies, 21 degrees. Best day this year.

About the Author:A native of New York City, Alice Hoffman has written a number of novel, many of which would fall under the category of “magic realism”. Her best known work, “Practical Magic” was made into a film by the same name and starred Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock.

Works Include: 

• Property Of (1977)
• The Drowning Season (1979)
• Angel Landing (1980)
• White Horses (1982)
• Fortune’s Daughter (1985)
• Illumination Night (1987)
• At Risk (1988 )
• Seventh Heaven (1990)
• Turtle Moon (1992)
• Second Nature (1994)
• Practical Magic (1995)
• Here on Earth (1997)
• Local Girls (1999)
• The River King (2000)
• Blue Diary (2001)
• The Probable Future (2003)
• Blackbird House (2004)
• The Ice Queen (2005)
• Skylight Confessions (2007)
• The Third Angel (2008 )

Synopsis: A woman makes an idle wish to be struck by lightning and has her wish granted. She then begins an unusual relationship with another lightning strike survivor.

 

Book 3: Lost Girls and Love Hotels

Title: Lost Girls and Love Hotels by Catherine Hanrahan

Location:  By the pool at Bannatynes gym, Livingston

Date: 4 May 2008

Weather Conditions: Overcast, a bit humid by the pool

About the Author: Catherine Hanrahan was born in Montreal and has lived in England, Thailand and Japan. This is her first novel.

Synopsis: Margaret is doing everything in her power to forget home. Tokyo’s exotic nightlife - teeming with drink, drugs and three-hour love hotels - is just about helping to keep her demons at bay. Working at Air-Pro Stewardess Training Institute by day and losing herself in sex-and-drugs addled oblivion by night, Margaret represses memories of a painful childhood.

But Margaret’s deliberate nihilism is thrown off balance as she becomes increasingly haunted by images of a Western girl missing in Tokyo. And when she meets Kazu, a mysterious gangster, their affair sparks a chain of events that could spell tragedy for Margaret, in a city where it’s all too easy to disappear.

-From thr back cover…

 

Book 2: Stardust, Neil Gaiman

Location:On a leather chair, 1st floor in Bluewater Shopping Mall, Kent

Date: 20 April 2008

Weather condition: Light rain.

About the Author: Neil Gaiman was born in England, 10 November 1960. He is a journalist, comic author, writer and screeenwriter. Among his works are: American Gods, Good Omens (co-written with Terry Pratchet), Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, Fragile Things and Stardust (adapted for the screen in 2007).

Synopsis: Stardust tells the story of Tristan Thorn, son of a captive princess and Dunstan Thorn (a resident of the English town of Wall).

Tristan, eager to win the heart of Victoria, a beautiful, but chilly girl from Wall, he promises to fetch her a fallen star they’ve witnessed fall to the earth as a present for her birthday.

To find the star, Tristan must journey to the magical world of Stormhold, where several others are racing to reach it. What follows is a series of magical characters and comical adventures in his quest for the fallen star that turns out to be a beautiful, willful girl named Yvaine.

This is a fun, light-hearted, quick read that offers a little magic, adventure and romance in a modern world sorely lacking in all of the above.

 

 

Book 1: A Confederacy of Dunces

Book 1: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.

Location: On a bench in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh, UK

Date: 18 April 2008

Weather condition: Overcast with slight chance of showers…

Synopsis: A Confederacy of Dunces follows the adventures of its main character, Ignatius J. (Jacques) Reilly and a myriad of colourful characters through the French Quarter of New Orleans. Ignatus, fat, misanthropic and still living with his mother at ages 30 finds conflict when due to a change in his circumstances finds himself in the awkward position of trying to find a job. (he does manage a couple with hilarious results including a pants factory worker and a hot dog vendor).

About the Author:John Kennedy Toole won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1981 for A Confederacy of Dunces.  The book was published in 1980, 11 years after his suicide. The book was published through the efforts of his mother Thelma Toole and writer Walker Percy (who also contributed a revealing foreword).  

 

Welcome to Spreading the Word, an experiment in reading

This is the start of an experiment in reading and passing on books we love. The concept is simple. Take a book, writing down your name, where you’re from and leave it somewhere for others to find. Leave a message telling them about this site so that we can track the progress of the book. The idea is to read, share and see where books have traveled. Good luck and happy reading.

I will be adding pages to this blog to show where I’ve left books and to manage comments. If you find a book, pass it on and tell me about.