The Villa In Italy by Elizabeth Edmondson

Loved it. It was a mystery without any violence. I couldn't have guessed how the author was going to tie all these characters in at the end. It was about 4 people being summoned by their lawyers to a villa in Italy in order to find out what a complete stranger left them in her will. Delia, an opera singer; George, an atom scientist; Majorie, an author of detective stories; and Lucius, a banker.

One quote stood out to me:
George, the scientist who helped discover and create the first atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima and killed millions carried a heavy burden of guilt for his involvement. 'Science is to blame' he said quietly, 'Science and humanity, the unceasing desire of mankind to know more than is good for us as a species'. I found that interesting, can mankind know more than is good for us? The ability to blow up the entire earth, that's definitely not good for us to know. But with that knowledge has come nuclear power that generates energy for billions of people without having to use coal, although I'm all for natural renewable energy now. The scientist had a hard time realizing the technology they invented was now in the hands of government, elected officials, bureaucracy and thus fallible. Living in this day and age I never really had to worry about the world coming to an end with an atomic bomb although I suppose it still could.

I also loved all the classical references. It made me want to read Dante. I don't think I'd be as ambitious to care about the classic Greek and Pagen Gods who's stories were displayed within the Villa Dante through sculptures and fresco's. How would it be to spend a few weeks in a Villa like in this book? I couldn't even imagine.

Digging to America by Anne Tyler

Rarely do I finish a book and feel like tossing it across the room. It felt so completely plot-less to me. It ended and I was left with a "so what?" feeling. I wasn't a fan. I kept reading it because I related to Maryam, an expat in a foreign country. I began to wonder if I will always feel like she does, not American but no longer considering Iran home either. I see there are lots of discussion questions on the web about this book and maybe if I took the time to answer them I might get more out of the experience but I just didn't relate enough to any of the characters to care about their lives.

The Number One Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

This book was a fast read and a perfect break from how long Shantaram was. It takes place in Botswana, Africa and the lead character is a spunky woman named Mma Precious Ramoswe. Her also being a full sized, black woman with strong opinions of her own I couldn't help but think of the character from Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, Lula. Precious though has quite a mind about her. How on earth someone could figure out the mysteries she did so easily? Am I that observant? Sadly, no, but entertaining to read none the less.