70. Niccolo Rising

By Dorothy Dunnett
Rated ★★★★★

I began reading this with the DANTZ group but something came over me and the other day I just started reading and couldn't stop until I got to the end.

It's the first book in the House of Niccolo series where the reader is introduced to Claes, who is never what he appears to be or is really doing what he appears to be doing. Set in 13 century Bruges, it's filled with minute details of the time, and evocative imagery and scenes, such as an attempt on Nicholas' life involving fire and a barrel.

We also meet the women who will overshadow his life, the beautiful but extremely silly Katerina and wilful child Gelis, as well as a host of memorable characters. The imagery of Europe in the Middle Ages is almost overwhelming. Since this was another one of my rereads I was reading with a greater eye to detail than I did the first time. I also had the advantage of 20/20 hindsight and still I often found myself lost in the plot with no idea of where things were going. This is why reading these books with a group is so attractive to me.

Dunnett piles more into a paragraph than any other writer I have ever read. But I have learned that she is definitely an author where with a little effort and concentration you can tag along for the most thrilling ride through history ever written.

69. Hunting and Gathering

By Anna Gavalda
Rated ★★★★½

This is another one of those books that I really liked but for the life of me I could explain exactly what I liked so much about it. It starts off very slow and is written in a choppy style, the punctuation is awkward and the story is long and drawn out.

But the characters are lovely and since the book deals with suicide, addiction, eating disorders, poverty and abandonment I had to stick with the book to make sure they came out all right. The characters, Camille, the intellectual artist waif; Philibert, the stuttering young aristocrat who rescues her from a freezing garret; Franck, the angry, overburdened young chef; and Paulette, Franck's ailing grandmother become an impromptu family.

It's a sentimental fairy tale and I loved it, warts and all.