tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574773518839391726.post5556428522049856681..comments2023-07-25T07:49:44.074-04:00Comments on The Open Book: The Blog of the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library: CambridgeREADS Announces its 2012 SelectionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574773518839391726.post-67861001169816105212012-09-25T17:26:57.927-04:002012-09-25T17:26:57.927-04:00I finished the novel last month while on vacation ...I finished the novel last month while on vacation in Maine, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.<br /><br />The stories (there are two, told in alternating chapters) are both set in Africa. One takes place in 1899, the other in 2000. Both concern characters originally from this area. <br /><br />The 1899 tale concerns an engineer, a man with a secret, who comes to help build a railway and is drafted to kill two man-eating lions who have killed and devoured scores of people. (The story of the lions is based on the author’s historical research.)<br /><br />In the other story, an ethnobotanist (a job description that’s new to me) who has Asperger’s Syndrome goes to Africa looking for a plant that has potential value to a pharmaceutical company. While searching, she lives with a group of scientists studying gorillas. Oh, and there is a bizarre rogue army in the area coming menacingly closer day by day.<br /><br />The author, Audrey Schulman, did a terrific job in painting her scenes, in getting me to care about the protagonists, and in puzzling me as I tried to figure out the connections between the stories.<br /><br />This is a terrific book for discussion. My book group has it scheduled for November, and I hope most of us will go to hear the author speak. If you haven’t read it yet, pick it up now. It is a super read!<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1574773518839391726.post-19592226904723332952012-09-19T22:40:16.979-04:002012-09-19T22:40:16.979-04:00I recently read 3 Weeks in December. I thought it...I recently read 3 Weeks in December. I thought it was well written and the format, going back and between two personalities was easy to follow. Loved learning more about the railway in Africa and Aspies. I want to hear more about how and why these two personalities lives are similiar, though their life challenges are so different. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com