Author: Roddy Doyle

I enjoyed this second book in the Last Roundup trilogy slightly more than the first one. Henry Smart has emigrated to the US, without any official documentation. He is determined to make a new start but, in order to survive, he finds himself on the wrong side of the wrong men once again.

Henry, in some twist of fate, begins travelling with Louis Armstrong before finding his wife and daughter; they soon add a son to their family. But riding the rails during the depression is dangerous business and the family are again separated.

At the end of the book Henry has given up on life but in the middle of the desert he meets the director, John Ford, and you see that Henry’s story will continue.

Goodreads Rating: * * *

Author: Roddy Doyle

I needed a new book to read on Texada so I pulled one from the cabinet. The one I pulled (and started reading) was the last in a trilogy; by the time I realized that and did some research I realized we had all three.

It took me some time to get into the story but by the end I was hooked. Henry’s mother lost a child named Henry; she would point to the sky and tell everyone that he was one of the stars. This book is about another son, also called Henry, who takes an active part in the Irish rebellion. For most of his life he is a wanted criminal – both by the English and his Irish comrades.

Although not the light read of The Barrytown trilogy I still enjoyed it and have made my way into the second book of this series.

Goodreads Rating: * * *

Author: Mankell, Henning

I’ve read a lot of books by this author and I have enjoyed every one of the Wallender mysteries. In this book he refers to things that happened in the past ; all the references were familiar so I must have read about them in previous books in the series.

This one is a computer thriller. Within a few hours two people are found dead. In one case the guilty parties have confessed and in the other case it appears the death was from natural causes. But as the story unflolds we find that the two cases are linked and it takes Wallender the whole book to see how.

Goodreads Rating: * * * *

Author: Nikki Erlick

I think this was one of the books that came from a Facebook group I belong to. I have trouble finding any of their recommendations through Libby and while we were traveling I went a long way down my list before finding one that was available.

On a certain date, all over the world, every person receives a small box containing a string that measures the length of time they have left before death. Some choose to open their box and live with the consequences of a short string or breathe a sigh of relief if their string is long. Others choose not to look at their string at all.

There were a lot of characters in the book and I worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep them all straight but there was no problem; each character and their circumstances were well described.

Goodreads Rating: * * * *