Witches and baked goods

Trick or Treat (A Corinna Chapman mystery) by Kerry Greenwood is the 4th book in the Chapman series. Corinna is a baker who owns Earthly Delights and works and lives in a building in a small town in Australia with a cast of very interesting characters. She has a gorgeous boyfriend, Daniel, a former junkie apprentice named Jason and a host of cats two of which are the mouse patrol and keeps the area clear of mice and juicy rats. Daniel has a friend, Georgina, who has a devious secret and is causing trouble for Corinna. A new bakery, Best Fresh, opens and is direct competition to Corinna's bakery. People start turning up hallucinating and acting crazy in Corinna's alleyway and trouble starts heading in the way of her witch friends and a long lost treasure. This series is fun and relaxing.

A teacher trying to find his way

Sometimes I pick up a book that is ridiculously funny and unbelievably shocking.  That's what The Mystic Arts of Erasing all Signs of Death by Charlie Huston conveys.  Webster Fillmore Goodhue (Web) makes a career change because of a tragedy, from teacher to joining the clean team.  The clean team cleans up grisly L.A. crime scenes.  Web feels that he has a steady gig but of course nothing is ever simple.  One job is for him and the clean team to sponge up a Malibu suicide's brains from a bathroom mirror. While doing his job, Web starts flirting with the deceased man's daughter and afterwards things turn weird when the deceased man's daughter asks Web for a favor.  Someone normal would run away but Web agrees to meet her at midnight to see what she needs.  After meeting her he sees that gun-toting California cowboys start showing up on his doorstep.  Something is going on and he finds himself an unfortunate victim in this whole mess.  If you are looking for a funny disturbing and entertaining read then this is the book for you.

Mississipppi's secrets

Being born and raised in New York, the story The Help by Kathryn Stockett was a bit foreign to me.  It's not that I am not aware of the history and stories I heard about the south, it's just that I never experienced the things the people in this book experienced.  The Help is set in 1962, Jackson Mississippi and it's an extraordinary story surrounding Abilene and Minny who are maids and Skeeter, a white woman writer who befriends these ladies.  Skeeter is also looking for her nanny Constantine, who mysteriously disappeared.  Her mother never tells her what really happened to Constantine.  Skeeter decides to write a book about the Help with assistance from Abilene and Minny and they get the other maids to tell their stories.  The Help was an eye opening fun book.  I can't wait to see the movie.  I highly recommend reading this exceptionally written book.

Africa invaded by Britain

The book, Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe is comprised of two stories.  One about a strong warrior in Nigeria named Okonkwo who does not always follow with the traditions of his people and Okonkwo slowly starts to fall from grace with the tribal world.  The second story is about the clash of cultures and the destruction of Okonkwo's world because of European missionaries.  Things fall apart is not an easy book to get through but it is a worthwhile read.