Chainfire - Terry Goodkind

Title: Chainfire (Sword of Fire #9)
Author: Terry Goodkind
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 756
Date read: November, 2017

After being gravely injured in battle, Richard awakes to discover Kahlan missing. To his disbelief, no one remembers the woman he is frantically trying to find. Worse, no one believes that she really exists, or that he was ever married. Alone as never before, he must find the woman he loves more than life itself....if she is even still alive. If she was ever even real.

I am really glad that I knew ahead of time that the last three books in the Sword of Truth series are a trilogy in their own right, because that meant I was prepared for the fact that absolutely nothing gets resolved in this book. Otherwise I would have been deeply frustrated by that.
But it still meant that the book was somewhat slow-moving, and definitely not as good as the earlier ones in the series. Not to mention that Terry Goodkind is getting even more long-winded than usual and could definitely have benefited from a good editor to cut down his verbiage by 30-40%.
Even so, I enjoyed it. Knowing nothing was likely to get resolved meant that I could enjoy it for what it was, and while I miss seeing Richard and Kahlan together, I do like seeing Richard's interactions with Cara and her way of trusting him even when she has no clue what he's doing.

The Keeper of Lost Things - Ruth Hogan

Title: The Keeper of Lost Things
Author: Ruth Hogan
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 320
Date read: November, 2017

Anthony Peardew is the keeper of lost things. Forty years ago, he carelessly lost a keepsake from his beloved fiancée, Therese. That very same day, she died unexpectedly. Brokenhearted, Anthony sought consolation in rescuing lost objects—the things others have dropped, misplaced, or accidentally left behind—and writing stories about them. Now, in the twilight of his life, Anthony worries that he has not fully discharged his duty to reconcile all the lost things with their owners. As the end nears, he bequeaths his secret life’s mission to his unsuspecting assistant, Laura, leaving her his house and and all its lost treasures, including an irritable ghost.

Recovering from a bad divorce, Laura, in some ways, is one of Anthony’s lost things. But when the lonely woman moves into his mansion, her life begins to change. She finds a new friend in the neighbor’s quirky daughter, Sunshine, and a welcome distraction in Freddy, the rugged gardener. As the dark cloud engulfing her lifts, Laura, accompanied by her new companions, sets out to realize Anthony’s last wish: reuniting his cherished lost objects with their owners.

Long ago, Eunice found a trinket on the London pavement and kept it through the years. Now, with her own end drawing near, she has lost something precious—a tragic twist of fate that forces her to break a promise she once made.

As the Keeper of Lost Objects, Laura holds the key to Anthony and Eunice’s redemption. But can she unlock the past and make the connections that will lay their spirits to rest?


Took a LONG time to get started. Not that I was bored by it as such, but I did wonder where it was going for awhile. Sadly, it took the death of Anthony Peardew for it to get properly going, but once that happened, I ended up enjoying it a lot more. Just wish they'd left the ghost aspect out - that got silly fast.

I did love reading about Eunice's and Bomber's friendship though, liked seeing Laura's self-confidence grow and grew very fond of both Freddy and Sunshine. So while not an instant favourite, it was still a very enjoyable read.