Hector and the Search for Happiness

I've always been an avid reader because it offers me a delightful escape whenever I wish for one.

While the act of reading makes me happy, I've never felt that the contents of a book actually made me feel happy. Not until I read Hector and the Search for Happiness. This 164 page novel tells the tale of a psychiatrist who sets off on a journey around the world to find out what, exactly, makes people happy. In doing so he also discovers what makes him happy. While reading it I realised that this lovely little book made me feel very happy.

I am considering reading it as a bedtime story to my seven year old son but I would say that the content is safely suitable for unsupervised reading by young adults and up. In fact, I think this book defies attempts to categorize it and does something which few books are able to; it crosses the boundaries of age, social class, ethnicity and religion just as happiness itself does.

Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois Lelord (translated by Lorenza Garcia) is due to be published by Gallic Books in April 2010. You can pre-order your copy by following this link.

The Season of the Beast by Andrea H. Japp

The Season of the Beast is brought to you courtesy of those clever people at Gallic Books who provide you with the opportunity to enjoy French to English translations of some very good reads.

I've spent the past six weeks reading this novel by Andrea Japp (translated by Lorenza Garcia), partly because it has been a hectic and exhausting six weeks and partly because I was doing my utmost to take my time and savour this mystery.

Set in medieval France it tells the absorbing tale of Agnes de Souarcy, an admirable and believable character whom I found myself fascinated with. The struggles everyone faced in daily life back in 1304 is portrayed in the most vivid way. Some of the most mundane scenes are absolutely shocking because of this writing skill. An added bonus is the Historical References and Glossary which added layers to the detail within the story.

The suspense in this novel is exquisitely delivered in rich detail page by page. I found myself either cheering Agnes on or greatly concerned for her well being throughout the novel. The fact that I found myself so engaged with Agnes and the troubles she faces is, to me anyway, the prefect example of the quality of content you'll find between the covers of The Season of the Beast.

A word of warning for those of you who will buy The Season of the Beast after reading this post: there is a second and third installment in the Agnes de Souarcy chronicles called The Breath of the Rose and The Divine Blood. Buy them all at the same time because when you finish reading The Season of the Beast you will be desperate to know what happens next.