The Accidental

The Accidental by Ali Smith was a fast read. Just a couple of days to get through. It started out great but I think it fell apart at the end. Or maybe I missed something. But I thought the ideas in the story were good. The character development was good. But then it seemed as if she wasn't sure what to do with the story.

I liked it, but was a little disappointed in the end. The story starts with a family on vacation and a stranger comes to live with them. Each family member assuming that another member invited her. Only, none of them actually did. The story is about how this stranger interacts with each member of the family along with private moments with each family member. But suddenly vacation is over, they are home and the story seems to loose its intriguing magic.

I was sad in a way about the way it ended.

The Rape of Oc

The Rape of Oc by Michael Baldwin I found on the shelf at work. We have several bookcases around the buildings filled with books and this one caught my eye. What really intrigued me was the "This book not for sale in the US" stamped on the back.

Why? Don't know. But it was an interesting tale. Basically the story of a virgin and her fight against the crusaders that pillage town after town.

An interesting collection of characters make this a somewhat entertaining story. But it is long. One of those stories that could probably have been told in a few less pages. But still, I read it all the way through and I enjoyed it. It was different. It was imaginative, and it was a story I wanted to know the end of.