I just finished a novel with a very interesting plot.
Set This House in Order by Matt Ruff was so intriguing that I just could not put it down.
Andy Gage, the main character, is really many characters.
He was called into being two years ago by Aaron, the father figure for the multiple personalities living inside the 38-year-old head of Andy Gage.
Prior to Andy's "birth" the personalities were coming and going as they pleased and then they met Dr. Gray. Aaron as the dominant personality, worked with Dr. Gray to enable the other personalities to live in the house harmoniously, and come out when they were invited.
Aaron himself made the decision not to be the public face so he could devote his attention to all the souls.
Andy works for a virtual reality software company and it is there he meets Penny Driver, another multiple personality. She has not yet realized that her memory lapses are really those times when her other souls take over.
The story moves from there to explore the histories of Andy and Penny and their many souls, and in the process has both of them confronting the circumstances in their childhoods that resulted in the creation of so many personalities living in just two bodies.
Oh, so many books, so little time. Here are some other titles.
To The Top: The Story Of Everest by Stephen Venables. 2003. (JNF 796.522 VEN)
Filled with full-colour photographs, this history of the assaults on Everest is a book for all, not just children. The text is extensive and rich with the excitement and challenge felt by climbers for the highest mountain on earth. Climber Venables had his own Everest triumph in 1988.
Sails On The Horizon: A Novel Of The Napoleonic Wars by Jay Worrall. 2005. Fiction. (FIC WOR)
In this historical high-seas adventure, twenty-five-year-old Second Lieutenant Charles Edgemont leads his gun crews during an almost suicidal maneuver to cut off the escape of Spanish ships in a battle off the coast of Portugal.
Thicker Than Water by Rett MacPherson. 2005. Mystery. (MYS MAC)
Genealogist Torie O'Shea comes to believe that her friend Sylvia's death at 102 years of age might have been murder. In cleaning out Sylvia's things, she turns up an old postcard with a photo of a little girl on the front and an ominous message on the back.
Le Colonial: A Novel by Kien Nguyen. 2004. Fiction. (FIC NGU)
In 1773, three Frenchmen embark on a mission of faith to Annam, and arrive to find a country of warlords fighting each other.
How To Restore Your Wooden Runabout. Volume 2 by Don Danenberg. 2005. (ANF 623.823102 DAN v.2)
This book continues Vol 1 which was published in 2003, and addresses carvel-planked runabouts beyond the woodwork and including upholstery,wiring, and hardware.
- For more information or to request books online, go to www.virl.bc.ca