Snowfed Waters
We read Snowfed Waters last month for a bookclub discussion based in Kathmandu. My group and I agree it should be recommended for those intending to visit Nepal. Sonia is a perfect caricature of expatriate volunteers who venture out to live in foreign cultures well outside of their comfort zone. When a natural disaster struck the community and the local family she had learned to love, she gets over her self-absorption and phobias to help them survive. The humour with which the author describes the cultural difference is admirable.
Betty Attfield
Himalayan Kidnap
"I think the author was amazing. The best bits were when she read extracts from Himalayan Kidnap. Listening to her life in Nepal was fascinating." Alex H.
"I liked it because the author had lots of detail in everything she said. I also think she likes travelling like I do!" Lucia L-T.
"I liked it when the author read the part about the two boys trying to cross the river. She made it realistic, for example, about the crocodile spinning the boy round in the water."
Hanif M.
"I think her books seem interesting. Also, I think the author is a good inspiration to people."
Maddie P-M.
Year 7 Beaumont School
Himalayan Heist
From looking at the cover of the book I wouldn’t normally have chosen to listen to this audiobook. However I am pleased I did.
It is very interesting learning about Nepal and the characters surviving in the Himalayas. I didn’t like James's character because he farts a lot at the beginning and is mostly talking about food at inappropriate times. However I liked Alex's character and I liked the other main characters. I liked how Alex was so knowledgeable about animals and plants and ecological and animal welfare.
I think Jane’s voice is really good and the book is well read and easy to understand and enjoyable to listen to. Her reading is a lot better in my opinion than some other audiobooks I have listened to on audible and the library app.
The photos in the accompanying PDF really help the listener to visualise what some of the things and places in the book would look like and is a helpful addition. On the PDF I learnt that Jane had taken most of the pictures herself and written what they are. This validates her knowledge of Nepal and the animals and culture.
This book has an enjoyable story but also a serious animal welfare theme and interesting setting.
Himalayan Hostages
What makes this adventure story unique is the author's first hand and in depth knowledge of the flora and fauna of Nepal. The descriptions of both are so vivid that you feel you are really there, with the two brothers, Alex and James, as they desperately follow the trail of their kidnapped parents, facing life-threatening danger along the way.