The artwork was done by Kati Lacker. She primarily used blue tones in her drawings but there are also red drawings. Is there a red, white and blue theme here? Drawing the Vote is her first graphic novel.
The book is well suited for younger readers. It gives the history of a topic that is current in our politics in a way that is easy to understand. Adults would likewise benefit. It offers a reminder of what has gone past and why we are still stuck in very muddy ground. 5 out of 5 stars.
The drawings are divided by area. The areas are the capitals and Selangor, the northwest peninsula, the south, the east coast, and Sarawak, Sahab and Labaun. I was surprised that Malaysia has so many areas with exquisite architecture. I thought that Kuala Lumpur was the only modern city but I was wrong. There is so much to see in this country that I could spend a few weeks there. Before I read this book, I thought that there was only a small area in Kuala Lumpur that was modern. Travel companies only give their customer a half day in Malaysia, which is where I got my view of this gorgeous country.
A paragraph is written to describe each drawing. I love the font used for these paragraphs. It is a handwritten font and makes it look like the artist handwrote the descriptions himself. Lim Take Bane wrote the descriptions as well as the introduction. I have Kon Yit's Penang and Kuala Lumpur sketchbooks. They are just as gorgeous as this book is. He has become one of my favorite artists.
5 out of 5 stars.
"When residents of a North London cul-de-sac enrol in a seemingly innocent social network, they soon find themselves embroiled in a murky web of sinister manipulation and murder. From the outside, Caroline and Jason Swinton have an idyllic life. But when the cracks start to appear the residents of Riverside Close are drawn into a dangerous game. When Jason's body is discovered in a house on the close, everyone becomes a suspect. Could his lovely wife be responsible for murder? Or do the neighbors have a motive for wanting him dead?
The only problem that I had with the book is that the murder did not occur until page 220 of this 300 page book. Usually this would make me bored with the book but the dating among the four couples kept me fully engaged. In fact, I did not expect a murder to happen at all. I thought that the dating/adultery was what the plot was all about and it could have carried the book. Frankly, I am disappointed that one of the characters died. It takes away from the main theme of the book - adultery.
4 out of 5 stars.
"The normally quiet Dutch town of Leiden is horrified when the chairman of the local Masonic lodge is brutally killed. Almost simultaneously, an old manuscript is discovered in which an anonymous author tells the hidden story of the Pilgrims - the Founding Fathers of the United States. From 1609 to 1620 they lived in exile in Leiden, after which some of them left for America.University teacher Peter de Haan is drawn into the mystery. Why did so many of the Pilgrims stay behind in Leiden? What involvement do the Freemason's have? And what relationship did Peter's girlfriend have with the murdered chairman?At breakneck speed, this story sweeps you away to the narrow alleys of Leiden to the vast waters of Cape Cod to the scorching hot Sinai desert in Egypt. And every step of the way, you'll discover that history is never the way the books want us to believe."
"Things are going well for Sara. She's starting to get lots of followers on her new You Tube series, True Crime Tea, where she does makeup tutorials while discussing true crime cases. At first she isn't sure it will work. It's just an idea to stand out from the crowd. But her channel blows up, and she's thrilled.
But stories are never anywhere near as frightening as reality. Sara finds that out when her own life starts to fall apart, and the darkness she's always talked about seeps in. Her life is starting to feel just like the stories she tells in her videos. Along with the followers she gets unwanted attention. She knows that's expected for a woman on the internet these days, but things are getting weird. Strange messages, a picture of her boyfriend's car at home when he's usually at work. Then suddenly, she is willed a house by a father she never knew.
In a desperate attempt to keep her career and life from falling apart, Sara moves into the musty, cluttered house. As she goes through her father's possessions to clear space to do her work, she uncovers dark secrets she never wanted to know. Secrets about her father, mother, and about herself."
"Legendary fashion designer Coco Chanel is revered for her sophisticated style - the iconic little black dress - and famed for her intoxicating perfume Chanel No. 5. Yet behind the public persona is a complicated woman of intrigue, shadowed by mysterious rumors. The Queen of Paris, the new novel from award winning author Pamela Binnings Ewen, vividly imagines the hidden life of Chanel during the four years of Nazi occupation in Paris in the midst of WWII - as discovered in recently unearthed wartime files.
Coco Chanel could be cheerful, lighthearted, manipulative, even cruel. Against the winds of war, with the Wehrmacht marching down the Champs-Elysees, Chanel finds herself residing alongside the Reich's High Command in the Hotel Ritz. Surrounded by the enemy, Chanel wages a private war of her own to wrestle full control of her perfume company from the hands of her Jewish business partner, Pierre Wertheimer. With anti-semitism on the rise, he has escaped to the United States with the confidential formula for Chanel No. 5. Distrustful of his intentions to set up production on the outskirts of New York City, Chanel fights to seize ownership. The House of Chanel shall not fall.
While Chanel struggles to keep her livelihood intact, Paris sinks under the iron fist of German rule. Chanel - a woman made of sparking granite - will do anything to survive. She will even agree to collaborate with the Nazis in order to protect her darkest secrets. When she is covertly recruited by Germany to spy for the Reich, she becomes Agent F-7124, code name: Westminster. But why? And to what lengths will she go to keep her stormy past from haunting her future?"The is an engrossing novel with plenty of political intrigue. While I was reading I wondered what part of the book was true. The Note From the Author at the end of the book explained all of that. Chanel's life was much more interesting than I could have ever imagined. From her lowly beginning in life she always had to fight in order to survive. I believe that this sense of needing to always fight made her make decisions that she shouldn't have made.
"A corrupt chieftain plots to rule all of Iceland and his steward Kel Coessen may be the only man who can stop him. But there's a catch: if Kel dares to defy his leader, Kel's love Aldis will be killed. A fearless slave called "The Black Mountain" starts Kel down the treacherous path of treason-and when the chieftain commits a loathsome crime, Kel snaps. An unforeseen force draws Aldis to a place she vowed never to return, forcing her to confront her past-and a long buried secret threatens her future. As strife grows, others meddle: a bishop eager to convert pagans, and a foreign jarl's furtive agent with her own designs on the country's young democracy."
