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Check out the July Challenge!
Do you have a book you read in school that you swore was the worst book ever? Have you ever thought that maybe your teachers weren't out to torture you, and there may have been a method to their madness after all? Then the July Challenge is for you!
Details on the challenge can be found here...check it out, and join us!
Details on the challenge can be found here...check it out, and join us!
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Author: Alison Weir, 1998.
Genre: Non-fiction, Biography.
Other details: Audiobook, read by Davina Porter. Approx: 25 hours.
This follows on from Alison Weir's The Children of Henry VIII, opening with Elizabeth I's ascension to the throne and concluding with her death. Along the way is chronicled her long relationship with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, as well as how she dealt with the many suitors seeking her hand. There are the constant threats to her throne including from her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, the war with Spain, and many other historical events. Also included is a wealth of period detail, snippets from letters and texts, commentary on fashion and art of the day. Elizabeth comes across as a complex woman, a strong and shrewd leader. Yet she was also someone who needed to be the constant centre of attention; demanding that her courtiers keep their wives away from court and indulging in petty jealousies.
Weir writes very accessible historical biographies, which is probably why she has been so successful in crossing over to fiction. Some have criticised her for including the 'frivolous' aspects of court life such as gossip and fashion, yet I felt this gave a much more rounded picture and a more accessible one than just dry dates and reports on legislation. Weir also touches on the way in which Elizabeth wove about her a mystique, drawing on archetypal imagery and how artists and poets complimented this with works such as The Faerie Queen.
As the book is currently out of print I wasn't able to see what sources Weir had used, a definite disadvantage in the audiobook format as is the lack of an index. However, it is due to be re-published next January and I plan on buying a copy. In terms of the audiobook, I enjoyed Davina Porter's voice and she engaged my attention throughout its 25 hour length.
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Author: Laurell K, Hamilton, 1993.
Genre: Urban Fantasy.
Other details: Audiobook, unabridged. Read by Victoria Gordon.
Anita Blake is an animator, a raiser of the dead, working for Animators, Inc. In this alternative world vampires have rights and the dead can be temporarily raised; usually so they can be questioned for legal purposes. She is also a vampire hunter working with the St. Louis police and licensed to carry out the execution of vampires who have killed humans. Among the vampires she is known as The Executioner and as might be expected not very popular. Anita reluctantly attends her friend Catherine's bachelorette party and isn't too pleased to find it is being held at master vampire Jean-Claude's strip club, Guilty Pleasures. While there a performer takes Catherine under his power and Anita is forced to investigate a series of gruesome vampire murders in order to save Catherine's life. It isn't long until Anita comes under threat herself from old enemies and the sinister master vampire of the city, who may want Anita's help but still enjoys tormenting her.
I originally read this book about 10 years ago and back then it was a revelation. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was in its first season and a friend turned me onto this series about a very different kind of vampire hunter. I've pretty much abandoned the series in recent years now that Hamilton seems to have abandoned plot for porn. Still I've wanted to re-visit the early volumes and a long road trip proved a perfect opportunity. Gordon does a good job in capturing Anita's ironic banter and made me recall how much I enjoyed the series first time around.
So, I completely forgot to post these reviews of books I finished months ago. Go me!
17. The Shipping News -- Annie Proulx (fiction)
A widower attempts to make a new life for himself and his two young daughters by going to work or a tiny Newfoundland newspaper.
( An easy to read, enjoyable novel which reminded me a bit of John Irving’s work. )
18. Doctor Who: Sick Building – Paul Magrs (TV tie-in, audiobook)
The Doctor and Martha become entangled with a mad scientist who refuses to evacuate his family when their privately-owned planet and sentient “dream home” are threatened by an alien menace.
( Definitely not one of the better entries in the series, and I certainly won’t be hunting up the hardback version to buy. )
19. Shopgirl -- Steve Martin (fiction)
A novella detailing the affair between a twenty-something Beverly Hills salesgirl with chronic depression, and a millionaire twice her age.
A basically enjoyable story about realistically shallow, unlikeable characters. I didn’t dislike any of them, with the possible exception of Jeremy (particularly the “grown-up” Jeremy), but they were all so shallow it was impossible to actually care about them. Very realistic portrayal of the superficiality, though, especially the deliberately superficial Lisa. And I really enjoyed Steve Martin’s obvious narrative voice much more than any of the characters, especially when he got onto the subject of unrealistic breast enhancement. :D
Not sure if I’d ever read it again, but I’m glad I checked it out.
20. Daddy-Long-Legs -- Jean Webster (young adult)
A teenage girl from an orphan asylum is sent to college by an anonymous benefactor on the condition that she write him monthly letters detailing her progress.
( My all-time favourite epistolary novel, which was also the basis for a classic film musical. )
21. Dear Enemy -- Jean Webster (young adult)
Sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs, in which Judy’s college roommate Sallie takes on the task of revamping the orphanage where her friend grew up.
( Not bad, but definitely not as good as the previous story. )
22. Where’s Daddy? -- William Roos (comedy)
One of the advertising game’s best and brightest abruptly quits his job to write the Great American Novel, disrupting his family and the entire community. It’s an amusing romp that takes his family from suburban cocktail parties amongst the commuter set to sunny Spain, where the parties are ongoing in an attempt to allow all the would-be novelists to put off actually writing the great masterpieces they’re constantly talking about. It’s very, very much a product of the early 1960s; the feeling is kind of a mix of Jean Kerr’s books and The Dick Van Dyke Show. Rather a shame it was never made into a movie, as it would have made a great vehicle for Doris Day.
17. The Shipping News -- Annie Proulx (fiction)
A widower attempts to make a new life for himself and his two young daughters by going to work or a tiny Newfoundland newspaper.
( An easy to read, enjoyable novel which reminded me a bit of John Irving’s work. )
18. Doctor Who: Sick Building – Paul Magrs (TV tie-in, audiobook)
The Doctor and Martha become entangled with a mad scientist who refuses to evacuate his family when their privately-owned planet and sentient “dream home” are threatened by an alien menace.
( Definitely not one of the better entries in the series, and I certainly won’t be hunting up the hardback version to buy. )
19. Shopgirl -- Steve Martin (fiction)
A novella detailing the affair between a twenty-something Beverly Hills salesgirl with chronic depression, and a millionaire twice her age.
A basically enjoyable story about realistically shallow, unlikeable characters. I didn’t dislike any of them, with the possible exception of Jeremy (particularly the “grown-up” Jeremy), but they were all so shallow it was impossible to actually care about them. Very realistic portrayal of the superficiality, though, especially the deliberately superficial Lisa. And I really enjoyed Steve Martin’s obvious narrative voice much more than any of the characters, especially when he got onto the subject of unrealistic breast enhancement. :D
Not sure if I’d ever read it again, but I’m glad I checked it out.
20. Daddy-Long-Legs -- Jean Webster (young adult)
A teenage girl from an orphan asylum is sent to college by an anonymous benefactor on the condition that she write him monthly letters detailing her progress.
( My all-time favourite epistolary novel, which was also the basis for a classic film musical. )
21. Dear Enemy -- Jean Webster (young adult)
Sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs, in which Judy’s college roommate Sallie takes on the task of revamping the orphanage where her friend grew up.
( Not bad, but definitely not as good as the previous story. )
22. Where’s Daddy? -- William Roos (comedy)
One of the advertising game’s best and brightest abruptly quits his job to write the Great American Novel, disrupting his family and the entire community. It’s an amusing romp that takes his family from suburban cocktail parties amongst the commuter set to sunny Spain, where the parties are ongoing in an attempt to allow all the would-be novelists to put off actually writing the great masterpieces they’re constantly talking about. It’s very, very much a product of the early 1960s; the feeling is kind of a mix of Jean Kerr’s books and The Dick Van Dyke Show. Rather a shame it was never made into a movie, as it would have made a great vehicle for Doris Day.
1001 Books:
21. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Douglas Adams. Audiobook.
I liked this a lot. A decent mystery with Adams' signature wacky humour.
22. The Red Queen, Margaret Drabble. 325 pages.
This was an interesting book. The first half was a retelling of the biography of an 18th-century Korean princess, and the second half is about a middle-aged British woman who goes to Korea for a conference and falls in love with the biography when she reads it on the plane. They are linked by their mentally ill husbands and their love of red clothing. The first half of the book is definitely more interesting and better-written than the second half. There's a nice conclusion at the end of the second part, though.
Other Books:
29. The Deception of the Emerald Ring, Lauren Willig. 464 pages.
The latest (I think) book in the Pink Carnation series. Cute chicklit that covers the modern and historical time periods.
30. A Day with a Perfect Stranger, David Gregory. 112 pages.
A novella about a woman who meets Jesus on an airplane. Interesting, incredibly quick but forgettable read. If you're a Christian who has ever done outreach work, you may want to check it out. If not, then skip it.
31. Financial Peace Revisited, Dave Ramsey. 283 pages.
A lot of good, solid advice, but I felt like I was being talked down to.
32. After Dark, Haruki Murakami. 248 pages.
A surprisingly quick read. Short on plot, but long on character development. It's about the interconnected stories of three people going about their business one night in Tokyo.
1001 Books:
22/25 - 88%
Total Books:
54/75 - 72%
Total Pages:
22,851/22,500 - 102%
Days Passed:
251/365 - 68.7%
I think I'm going to have to up my goal.
21. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Douglas Adams. Audiobook.
I liked this a lot. A decent mystery with Adams' signature wacky humour.
22. The Red Queen, Margaret Drabble. 325 pages.
This was an interesting book. The first half was a retelling of the biography of an 18th-century Korean princess, and the second half is about a middle-aged British woman who goes to Korea for a conference and falls in love with the biography when she reads it on the plane. They are linked by their mentally ill husbands and their love of red clothing. The first half of the book is definitely more interesting and better-written than the second half. There's a nice conclusion at the end of the second part, though.
Other Books:
29. The Deception of the Emerald Ring, Lauren Willig. 464 pages.
The latest (I think) book in the Pink Carnation series. Cute chicklit that covers the modern and historical time periods.
30. A Day with a Perfect Stranger, David Gregory. 112 pages.
A novella about a woman who meets Jesus on an airplane. Interesting, incredibly quick but forgettable read. If you're a Christian who has ever done outreach work, you may want to check it out. If not, then skip it.
31. Financial Peace Revisited, Dave Ramsey. 283 pages.
A lot of good, solid advice, but I felt like I was being talked down to.
32. After Dark, Haruki Murakami. 248 pages.
A surprisingly quick read. Short on plot, but long on character development. It's about the interconnected stories of three people going about their business one night in Tokyo.
1001 Books:
22/25 - 88%
Total Books:
54/75 - 72%
Total Pages:
22,851/22,500 - 102%
Days Passed:
251/365 - 68.7%
I think I'm going to have to up my goal.
- Location:Wisconsin
- Mood:
tired - Music:L&O: CI
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Author: Nick Hornby, 2007.
Genre: Young Adult. Magical Realism. Contemporary.
Other Details: Audiobook. Read by Nicholas Hoult. Duration: 7 hours, 17 minutes.
"Whoever invented skateboarding is a genius. There's only one skater, and his name's Tony Hawk. It doesn't matter if you don't know who he is, just trust me. Not only is Hawk the world's best skater, he's also good to talk to. So I talk to Tony Hawk, and Tony Hawk talks back. Because just when it seemed like everything had come together for me, I had to go and screw it all up. It only took two seconds. But all of me knew. One risk. One mistake and my life would never be the same. Hawk had a few things to say. And a few things to show me. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see your own future?"
18 year old Sam Jones is talking about events that take place when he was 15 going on 16. One instance of unprotected sex leads to his girlfriend, Alicia, getting pregnant and changes their lives forever. As he struggles to come to terms with this, he is whisked ahead in time in his dreams to see the outcome of the pregnancy and how his life develops. The narration also catches up with these future events so we see how the reality compares to the dreams.
I have to admit that I've never picked up one of Nick Hornby's books before despite how many people rave about them. This one, his first foray into YA fiction, was the July selection for the new book club I've been attending. As the audio version was available I chose to go that route. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was a little concerned it was going to be about skateboarding. Still I needn't have worried as while skateboarding does feature it is mainly as the passion of the leading character rather than dominating the story. Sam is a huge fan of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and often talks to the poster he has of Hawk hanging in his bedroom. Hawk also becomes his guide in the dreams of the future.
I find that first person narratives do work well as audio books and here Nicholas Hoult, the actor who found fame in the film adaptation of Hornby's About A Boy and recently in the UK Skins series, does an excellent job of drawing the listener into Sam's story and bringing the language of the book to life. The book was very funny and mildly satirical even though dealing with a serious topic. Sam's asides on life were great and also his report of the 'strategy' the politically correct local school authorities had in place to deal with teenage pregnancies.
I enjoyed it even though I felt Hornby's foray into magical realism was a little clumsy. So it probably wasn't the best introduction to Hornby's writings though the enthusiasm of various book club members for his other books probably will have me looking at those later on.
33. Hero by Perry Moore - I was hoping for something beyond a "coming of age" plot from this winner of the 2008 LAMBDA Fiction for Young Adults, and I wasn't too disappointed. Thom, the main character, has more pressing matters than coming to terms with being gay - he's got super powers, and although that's not all that unusual in the world Moore has created, it's not all that easy, either. Super powers don't make the other people any smarter or less judgmental or less likely to have problems of their own, as Thom learns when he's accepted to train with an organized group of crime fighters. And dealing with his father's fall from public grace and his mother's abandonment are still crappy facts of life, even if you hang out with people who can fly and throw flames and all kinds of other cool tricks. The book isn't especially strong on writing style (I wondered if Moore equates writing for young adults to writing like a young adult) and the world Thom lives in is a little grey when it comes to sense of place, but as a story about how we're all the same in that we're all different, it's a pleasant read.
34. M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman, read by the author - A collection of short stories by Gaiman that have all been published previously, this time collected with the Young Adult reader (listener) in mind. There's a definite building of story depth as you progress through this book, from the beginning "The Case Of The Four And Twenty Blackbirds", a noir crime fiction using some of the best known names in nursery rhymes, to the final "The Witch's Headstone" that brings together all sorts of dark magic that doesn't end badly, if not well. Gaiman is one of the very few writers that I know of that is also an excellent story narrator. (For evidence of that, listen to The New Yorker's podcasts of authors reading their favorite authors!) Every story in this collection by Gaiman has the sound of being told to entertain - and they do.
35. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Tales by F. Scott Fitzgerald, audio book read by Grover Gardiner - I'd like to be more positive about these stories, but as the collection progressed, a single, sad thought kept coming to my mind - Fitzgerald really was a one hit wonder. That might be unfair, in that these stories are his early works, but they were published, so they do stand as a part of his body of work. The titled story is pretty good, especially in concept. And the arc of the main character gives an interesting look at what would happen if we really were more mature when we were younger rather than older. But the story never goes too deep, and the supporting characters are more like backstops, there to bounce dialog and action off of, but never adding structure. The stories are all surface, glitzy and wordy and overwritten, and if you try to look deeper, you'll discover Fitzgerald didn't go any deeper. I suppose that's a good portrait of the era he was writing in, but beyond their historical significance, I'd have a hard time recommending this collection to anyone.
34. M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman, read by the author - A collection of short stories by Gaiman that have all been published previously, this time collected with the Young Adult reader (listener) in mind. There's a definite building of story depth as you progress through this book, from the beginning "The Case Of The Four And Twenty Blackbirds", a noir crime fiction using some of the best known names in nursery rhymes, to the final "The Witch's Headstone" that brings together all sorts of dark magic that doesn't end badly, if not well. Gaiman is one of the very few writers that I know of that is also an excellent story narrator. (For evidence of that, listen to The New Yorker's podcasts of authors reading their favorite authors!) Every story in this collection by Gaiman has the sound of being told to entertain - and they do.
35. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Tales by F. Scott Fitzgerald, audio book read by Grover Gardiner - I'd like to be more positive about these stories, but as the collection progressed, a single, sad thought kept coming to my mind - Fitzgerald really was a one hit wonder. That might be unfair, in that these stories are his early works, but they were published, so they do stand as a part of his body of work. The titled story is pretty good, especially in concept. And the arc of the main character gives an interesting look at what would happen if we really were more mature when we were younger rather than older. But the story never goes too deep, and the supporting characters are more like backstops, there to bounce dialog and action off of, but never adding structure. The stories are all surface, glitzy and wordy and overwritten, and if you try to look deeper, you'll discover Fitzgerald didn't go any deeper. I suppose that's a good portrait of the era he was writing in, but beyond their historical significance, I'd have a hard time recommending this collection to anyone.
28. Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham, audiobook read by Alan Cumming - What a magical thing it would be to spend a day inside Michael Cunningham's head as he observes the world around him. It is through his power of noticing details and then being able to describe those details that makes his writing so damn good. Specimen Days is no exception to his string of stories that are not only very readable, but will come back to haunt you for days and weeks and who knows how long. In this book, we have three short stories that share a lot but manage to be very different. The main characters names are the same in each story, one character's physical appearance stays the same, and all rely on New York City as not only a setting but also a dynamic to each plot. But with one story set in the early 20th century, the second is contemporary, and the third takes place in the future, they all stand independent in purpose. I'm not sure what was better about this book - as a writer I was in awe of Cunningham's skill and as a reader I felt totally swept into these three worlds. And then, there's Alan Cumming as a narrator, creating distinct voices for all the characters with just the right amount of subtlety. This was a perfect blend of narrator and story.
This week I read/listened to three chick-lit books in a row, though all were humorous ones.
Book 59: You Slay Me (Aisling Grey, Guardian Book 1).
Author: Katie MacAlister, 2004.
Genre: Paranormal Romance. Humour.
Other Details: 342 pages.
As with the Sophie Kinsella books this is written in a chatty, first person style with many asides to the reader. The heroine of the novel is Aisling Grey, who is undertaking a courier job to Paris for her uncle's firm. The object she is transporting is a 600-year ritual artefact in the form of a golden dragon. However, when she arrives at her destination she finds the client has been ritually murdered and also comes face-to-face with Drake Vireo, one of those breathtakingly sexy blokes whose natural habitat is the pages of the paranormal romance. Drake also is a dragon in human form. He claims to be investigating the murder and then steals the artefact from under Aisling's nose. She isn't happy and is determined to track him down and regain the artefact. Aisling's hobby is demonology, though only from an intellectual point of view as she doesn't believe that demons exist. That was before Paris where she discovers that not only are demons real but that she is a Guardian, one of the Keepers of the Gates of Hell. Added to her complications she learns that she is Drake's destined mate.
It's a rather ludicrous plot with Aisling getting into all kinds of trouble as well as having many hot and heavy encounters with Drake. However, what distinguished it from the cheesiness of other paranormal romances is that MacAlister is writing with her tongue very firmly in cheek, obviously enjoying herself tremendously as she sends up the genre. Most of the repartee is between Aisling and Jim, a demon she summons who has taken the form of a talking Newfoundland dog. Aisling's running commentary to her muddled life was also amusing. I just breezed through this, enjoying every minute of it.
Book 60: Shopaholic and Sister.
Author: Sophie Kinsella, 2004.
Genre: Chick-lit. Humour.
Other details: Audio Book (Unabridged) 2007 Read by Emily Gray. Approx 12.5 hrs.
In the continuing adventures of Becky Bloomwood she is now married and just coming to the end of a 10-month round-the-world honeymoon. She's been maxing out her credit cards (again!) accumulating various items on her travels and having them shipped back to England. Luckily she is married to a millionaire though Luke's patience is tried when they return home and two massive lorries turn up crammed with all manner of things she has bought. Becky discovers that while she's been away that her best friend Suse has made a new best friend, who like her has a brood of young children and shares her upper class life style. She also discovers that her parents have someone new in their lives in the form of Jessica, the product of a fling her Dad had before meeting Becky's Mum. Becky is delighted with the idea of an older half-sister especially given the Suse situation. However, when they meet it turns out that Jess is the anti-Becky. She is an political activist who collects rocks for a hobby and hates shopping. She is frugal, something that Becky can just not come to terms with. Still Becky attempts to win her over with amusing results.
There were times listening to this when I wanted to reach out and throttle Becky for her immaturity and her inability to control her spending. There is a point in the novel where she meets a kindred spirit in the form of a 13-year old girl who is obsessed with clothes, make-up, handbags, shoes, celebrities and the like. Becky longs to be 13 again and this really is the crux of the matter because she is the epitome of the child-woman hooked on materialism. I have to remind myself that Kinsella is writing humour here but after an exchange of comments with a LJer who has found that young women actually see Becky Bloomwood as a role model to aspire to, there is a part of me that is concerned that the satire may be lost on some. I still enjoyed it but didn't feel it was Kinsella's best.
Book 61: Can You Keep a Secret?.
Author: Sophie Kinsella, 2003.
Genre: Chick-lit. Humour.
Other details: Audio Book (Unabridged) 2005 Read by Gracie Thomas. Approx 10.5 hrs.
I realised with this book that Sophie Kinsella has a typical heroine that populates her books. They all carry on internal conversations and are rather ditzy though warm and good hearted. They are slight misfits in terms of their jobs, sort of muddling along. They also are in one way or another living out a modern fairy tale. In this case it is Cinderella. The heroine is Emma Corrigan, who is the put upon junior in the Marketing Department of Panther Cola. On the way back from a business meeting in Scotland that has gone spectacularly wrong, a kindly stewardess gives her an upgrade to Business Class. Emma is terrified of flying and when the plane hits heavy turbulence she starts blabbing all her innermost secrets to a good-looking American chap in the seat next to her in the belief that they are going to die. We are talking here about her true feelings about her job and workmates, her dislike of her cousin Kerry who came to live with Emma and her family as a teenager and has lorded it over her ever since; about her true dress size and how she lost her virginity; about her doubts about her feelings for her boyfriend, Conner and much, much more. The plane lands safely and Emma with some relief departs the plane a little embarrassed she confessed so much to a stranger.
However, when the next morning at work she learns that the American owner of Panther Cola is in London for a visit, the reader pretty much know who is going to walk through the door. With horror Emma tries her best to avoid Jack Harper though he seems to enjoy teasing her. The more she tries to avoid him the more circumstances conspire for them to be thrown together and pretty soon she is finding she is thinking about him all the time. A lot of really funny twists and turns ensue and even if the tale is somewhat predictable it was a lot of fun getting there. Overall, I liked Emma more than I ever have Becky Bloomwood, probably because she isn't living beyond her means and while prone to get herself into situations remained quite a down-to-earth lass. It was a perfect audio book for a weekend road trip.
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Author: Katie MacAlister, 2004.
Genre: Paranormal Romance. Humour.
Other Details: 342 pages.
As with the Sophie Kinsella books this is written in a chatty, first person style with many asides to the reader. The heroine of the novel is Aisling Grey, who is undertaking a courier job to Paris for her uncle's firm. The object she is transporting is a 600-year ritual artefact in the form of a golden dragon. However, when she arrives at her destination she finds the client has been ritually murdered and also comes face-to-face with Drake Vireo, one of those breathtakingly sexy blokes whose natural habitat is the pages of the paranormal romance. Drake also is a dragon in human form. He claims to be investigating the murder and then steals the artefact from under Aisling's nose. She isn't happy and is determined to track him down and regain the artefact. Aisling's hobby is demonology, though only from an intellectual point of view as she doesn't believe that demons exist. That was before Paris where she discovers that not only are demons real but that she is a Guardian, one of the Keepers of the Gates of Hell. Added to her complications she learns that she is Drake's destined mate.
It's a rather ludicrous plot with Aisling getting into all kinds of trouble as well as having many hot and heavy encounters with Drake. However, what distinguished it from the cheesiness of other paranormal romances is that MacAlister is writing with her tongue very firmly in cheek, obviously enjoying herself tremendously as she sends up the genre. Most of the repartee is between Aisling and Jim, a demon she summons who has taken the form of a talking Newfoundland dog. Aisling's running commentary to her muddled life was also amusing. I just breezed through this, enjoying every minute of it.
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Author: Sophie Kinsella, 2004.
Genre: Chick-lit. Humour.
Other details: Audio Book (Unabridged) 2007 Read by Emily Gray. Approx 12.5 hrs.
In the continuing adventures of Becky Bloomwood she is now married and just coming to the end of a 10-month round-the-world honeymoon. She's been maxing out her credit cards (again!) accumulating various items on her travels and having them shipped back to England. Luckily she is married to a millionaire though Luke's patience is tried when they return home and two massive lorries turn up crammed with all manner of things she has bought. Becky discovers that while she's been away that her best friend Suse has made a new best friend, who like her has a brood of young children and shares her upper class life style. She also discovers that her parents have someone new in their lives in the form of Jessica, the product of a fling her Dad had before meeting Becky's Mum. Becky is delighted with the idea of an older half-sister especially given the Suse situation. However, when they meet it turns out that Jess is the anti-Becky. She is an political activist who collects rocks for a hobby and hates shopping. She is frugal, something that Becky can just not come to terms with. Still Becky attempts to win her over with amusing results.
There were times listening to this when I wanted to reach out and throttle Becky for her immaturity and her inability to control her spending. There is a point in the novel where she meets a kindred spirit in the form of a 13-year old girl who is obsessed with clothes, make-up, handbags, shoes, celebrities and the like. Becky longs to be 13 again and this really is the crux of the matter because she is the epitome of the child-woman hooked on materialism. I have to remind myself that Kinsella is writing humour here but after an exchange of comments with a LJer who has found that young women actually see Becky Bloomwood as a role model to aspire to, there is a part of me that is concerned that the satire may be lost on some. I still enjoyed it but didn't feel it was Kinsella's best.
 |
Author: Sophie Kinsella, 2003.
Genre: Chick-lit. Humour.
Other details: Audio Book (Unabridged) 2005 Read by Gracie Thomas. Approx 10.5 hrs.
I realised with this book that Sophie Kinsella has a typical heroine that populates her books. They all carry on internal conversations and are rather ditzy though warm and good hearted. They are slight misfits in terms of their jobs, sort of muddling along. They also are in one way or another living out a modern fairy tale. In this case it is Cinderella. The heroine is Emma Corrigan, who is the put upon junior in the Marketing Department of Panther Cola. On the way back from a business meeting in Scotland that has gone spectacularly wrong, a kindly stewardess gives her an upgrade to Business Class. Emma is terrified of flying and when the plane hits heavy turbulence she starts blabbing all her innermost secrets to a good-looking American chap in the seat next to her in the belief that they are going to die. We are talking here about her true feelings about her job and workmates, her dislike of her cousin Kerry who came to live with Emma and her family as a teenager and has lorded it over her ever since; about her true dress size and how she lost her virginity; about her doubts about her feelings for her boyfriend, Conner and much, much more. The plane lands safely and Emma with some relief departs the plane a little embarrassed she confessed so much to a stranger.
However, when the next morning at work she learns that the American owner of Panther Cola is in London for a visit, the reader pretty much know who is going to walk through the door. With horror Emma tries her best to avoid Jack Harper though he seems to enjoy teasing her. The more she tries to avoid him the more circumstances conspire for them to be thrown together and pretty soon she is finding she is thinking about him all the time. A lot of really funny twists and turns ensue and even if the tale is somewhat predictable it was a lot of fun getting there. Overall, I liked Emma more than I ever have Becky Bloomwood, probably because she isn't living beyond her means and while prone to get herself into situations remained quite a down-to-earth lass. It was a perfect audio book for a weekend road trip.
22. Willing by Scott Spencer - This is a novel with a great idea for a plot suffering from multiple genre disorder. Is it farce? Comedy? Literary fiction? It's possible for a book to be at least two of those things, maybe all three, but this book doesn't quite achieve any of them. Avery Jankowsky, a freelance writer who's not quite making a living as a writer but is doing too well to quit, tells us the story of his many fathered childhood; his disappointing attempts at relationships; and how they all lead him to take an all expenses paid sex tour. Skipping along through Scandinavia with his fellow travelers, Avery always seems on the verge of breaking out of his self imposed dreariness. If he had, we'd have a funny book. If he discovered he couldn't, this could have been a story of a man accepting his life for what it is. Instead, we get a bunch of characters doing exactly what you knew they were going to do the moment you first read about them, and an ending that puts the story almost exactly back where it started.
23. A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer, read by Roger Allam - The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite books of all time. I re-read it every couple years, and if I stumble across a movie version on television, I am powerless to not watch it, no matter how many times I've seen that version before (or how bad the adaptation is). When I heard that Archer had done an "update" on TCoMC for his newest book, of course I had to read/listen to it. The bad news is Archer still writes like a man who could live alone on a deserted island and never tire of the company. He writes. And he writes. And he writes more. Sometimes what he writes moves the story forward and about equal to that happening we get a rehashing of something we were already told or were able to figure out from context. Case in point, I inadvertently skipped disc 9 of the audiobook, and it didn't make one bit of difference to the story. The good news is, TCOmC is a story that has to be changed to be updated. Contemporary technology, finance, and law make it much more difficult to become someone else and then insinuate yourself into the lives of your nemeses. Archer does a good job of bringing the heart of TCoMC into the modern world. If only he had done it with few words. He is, unfortunately, another victim of SKS.
24. The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear by Ralph Keyes- This is the book to turn to when that little voice inside your head begins to whisper (and then shout if you let it get away with it) "You? A writer?? Who do you think you're kidding??!?!?". This is the book you read when you hear that same vice as you sit down in front of a key board or pick up a pen asking, "What will my family think if they read this?", followed quickly by "What if no one but my family ever reads this?". And lastly, this is the book to read when you think that if what you are writing is "good" it would come to you in a better form, or at least more easily. This book doesn't give you writing exercises to condition your writing muscles, it doesn't teach you the mechanics of plotting and character arcs. What it does is give you antidotes and quotes from and about successful (sometimes financially, sometimes critically, sometimes both) authors and how they got past those awful moments. Some of the stories deal with the physical (when is the best time to write?), sometimes the psychological (this story is my baby, no one can love it like I do!), but they all deal with the blocks, real and imagined, that every writer faces at some point (or at too many points, in most cases).
23. A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer, read by Roger Allam - The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite books of all time. I re-read it every couple years, and if I stumble across a movie version on television, I am powerless to not watch it, no matter how many times I've seen that version before (or how bad the adaptation is). When I heard that Archer had done an "update" on TCoMC for his newest book, of course I had to read/listen to it. The bad news is Archer still writes like a man who could live alone on a deserted island and never tire of the company. He writes. And he writes. And he writes more. Sometimes what he writes moves the story forward and about equal to that happening we get a rehashing of something we were already told or were able to figure out from context. Case in point, I inadvertently skipped disc 9 of the audiobook, and it didn't make one bit of difference to the story. The good news is, TCOmC is a story that has to be changed to be updated. Contemporary technology, finance, and law make it much more difficult to become someone else and then insinuate yourself into the lives of your nemeses. Archer does a good job of bringing the heart of TCoMC into the modern world. If only he had done it with few words. He is, unfortunately, another victim of SKS.
24. The Courage to Write: How Writers Transcend Fear by Ralph Keyes- This is the book to turn to when that little voice inside your head begins to whisper (and then shout if you let it get away with it) "You? A writer?? Who do you think you're kidding??!?!?". This is the book you read when you hear that same vice as you sit down in front of a key board or pick up a pen asking, "What will my family think if they read this?", followed quickly by "What if no one but my family ever reads this?". And lastly, this is the book to read when you think that if what you are writing is "good" it would come to you in a better form, or at least more easily. This book doesn't give you writing exercises to condition your writing muscles, it doesn't teach you the mechanics of plotting and character arcs. What it does is give you antidotes and quotes from and about successful (sometimes financially, sometimes critically, sometimes both) authors and how they got past those awful moments. Some of the stories deal with the physical (when is the best time to write?), sometimes the psychological (this story is my baby, no one can love it like I do!), but they all deal with the blocks, real and imagined, that every writer faces at some point (or at too many points, in most cases).
19.The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle, read by Lily Rabe - Aryn Kyle has set herself a very high bar with this book, her first novel. It is a story of a family going through some tough times, nothing too extraordinary, told by the twelve year old youngest daughter. Of course our narrator sees herself at the center of this family, that's how twelve year olds think. But the reader will see how all the lives are falling apart, coming back together, and sometimes stagnating, while staying true to a young girl's voice. The sense of place (a small horse ranch in the desert) is so strong you can just about smell the leather saddles, the characters are fully fleshed out, even those that only appear on a few pages, and the plot takes some surprising, but very believable turns. The only negative was Kyle's female chauvinism. The women of this story act while the men react. The women are the instigators, the men are manipulated. There are a few exceptions to this, but it was noticeable enough I found myself wondering how the father could be so weak and oblivious and have raised daughters who think so well for themselves.
20. Speaking With The Angel, Edited by Nick Hornby - A collection of short stories written by friends of Nick Hornby at his request to raise money for an autism education program in England (and in the US if you buy the published in America version). The only requirement Honby gave his friends was that the stories be told in first person. With that broad of a brief, you're bound to get a variety of tone, plot, and of as in any anthology, quality. Colin Firth, for one, should never quit his day job. And Dave Eggars reminded me that writing as an animal will cause an immediate disconnect with the reader that is very difficult to overcome. On the positive side, a few of the stories are just down right good short fiction: Roddy Doly writes "The Slave", a sneaky little story that examines the difference between maturity and age; Giles Smith brings us "Last Requests", about person with a very unique job - preparing the last meals for death row inmates; and Irvine Welsh writes in the voice of a homophobe who finds the afterlife exactly what he wants it to be. It wasn't a surprise to learn Walsh was the author of "Trainspotting". Of all the pieces, my favorite was "NippleJesus", by Hornby himself, a "what is art?" story that shows that the question is more important than the answer.
21. Twilight by William Gay - This is a Southern Gothic horror story with the emphasis on people and place over action. That's more than enough to make this story a page turner of the highest calibre. A young man who probably thought his childhood was the worst thing that could happen to him finds himself mixed up with some truly evil men as a result of a question about his father's internment. In an attempt to find justice, he crosses paths with a county full of those sort of characters that make Southern Gothic stand apart from any other genre. The story cuts back and forth, not always smoothly, but when you get to the part that meets up with the beginning of the book, it's all too clear - and perfectly gruesome. Gay goes all out with the dialect and social customs of the region he's writing about, and they add to the "other worldy" aspect of this dark and violent tale. I can't wait to read more of what he's written!
20. Speaking With The Angel, Edited by Nick Hornby - A collection of short stories written by friends of Nick Hornby at his request to raise money for an autism education program in England (and in the US if you buy the published in America version). The only requirement Honby gave his friends was that the stories be told in first person. With that broad of a brief, you're bound to get a variety of tone, plot, and of as in any anthology, quality. Colin Firth, for one, should never quit his day job. And Dave Eggars reminded me that writing as an animal will cause an immediate disconnect with the reader that is very difficult to overcome. On the positive side, a few of the stories are just down right good short fiction: Roddy Doly writes "The Slave", a sneaky little story that examines the difference between maturity and age; Giles Smith brings us "Last Requests", about person with a very unique job - preparing the last meals for death row inmates; and Irvine Welsh writes in the voice of a homophobe who finds the afterlife exactly what he wants it to be. It wasn't a surprise to learn Walsh was the author of "Trainspotting". Of all the pieces, my favorite was "NippleJesus", by Hornby himself, a "what is art?" story that shows that the question is more important than the answer.
21. Twilight by William Gay - This is a Southern Gothic horror story with the emphasis on people and place over action. That's more than enough to make this story a page turner of the highest calibre. A young man who probably thought his childhood was the worst thing that could happen to him finds himself mixed up with some truly evil men as a result of a question about his father's internment. In an attempt to find justice, he crosses paths with a county full of those sort of characters that make Southern Gothic stand apart from any other genre. The story cuts back and forth, not always smoothly, but when you get to the part that meets up with the beginning of the book, it's all too clear - and perfectly gruesome. Gay goes all out with the dialect and social customs of the region he's writing about, and they add to the "other worldy" aspect of this dark and violent tale. I can't wait to read more of what he's written!
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Author: Kylie Fitzpatrick, 2008.
Genre: Victorian mystery. Coming of Age.
Other details: 313 pages.
This is a novel in two parts; something not obvious from the cover blurb or publicity summaries. The first part of the novel is set in 1864, London. Fourteen-year old Sarah O'Reilly and her younger sister Ellen are orphans, who have managed to stay out of the workhouse after their parents' deaths by Sarah disguising herself as a boy and finding work at a newspaper office. The owner, Septimus Harding, soon saw through her disguise but allowed her to continue working there because she was good at her job. He did say she'd need to keep up the fiction of being 'Sam' and wearing breeches, because it 'wouldn't do to have a girl working in a newspaper office'. He introduces Sarah to Lily Korechyna, a wealthy young widow who writes a column on 'exceptional women' for the paper. Lily also has to disguise her gender due to the sensibilities of the age and writes under the pen name of 'Mr. Evans'. Lily takes Sarah under her wing becoming a friend and mentor.
The mystery element of the novel involves a series of murders connected to a collection of nine rare diamonds entrusted by the Maharajah of Benares to Lady Cynthia Herbert, a friend of Lily's. Lady Herbert had brought the gems to London to have them made into a special charm called a navaratna. The gems disappear and are believed stolen, though neither Lady Herbert nor the Maharajah's man in London will confirm this to the police. The second half of the novel takes place seven years later as Sarah, now 21, travels to India to fulfil a promise to Lily. While there she finds that the missing gems continue to have an influence over a number of lives and she is drawn to seek an answer to their disappearance and the London murders.
This is Fitzpatrick's first novel and she has created an engaging mystery and shown a real feel for period detail for both Victorian London and India during the early years of the British Raj. She weaves in elements of early feminism, the Victorian interest in spiritualism and Theosophy, Indian culture, the impact of the British in India and the cult of the goddess Kali. I immediately loved Lily Korechyna as a character and did quickly warm to Sarah, though preferred her older self. While there are a number of strong male supporting characters, it really is women who drive the story: from Lily, Sarah, Ellen and Martha, Lily's faithful housekeeper, to the Maharajah's chief wife, the Maharanee, and his concubine the beautiful but very spoiled Sarasvati.
I felt Fitzpatrick had done well in conveying her settings of London's East End and contrasting it to the opulence of the Maharajah's palace as well as commenting on the poverty Sarah encounters in India outside those walls. Her treatment of the mystical elements of Indian culture and British spiritualism were well-observed and presented without sensationalism. I shall be looking out for further works from Fitzpatrick in the future.
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Author: Sophie Kinsella, 2002.
Genre: Chick-lit.
Other details: Audio Book (Unabridged) 2007 Read by Emily Gray. Unabridged approx 14.5 hrs.
As the title suggests this third novel in the Shopaholic series mainly deals with Becky Bloomwood's preparations for her wedding day. Of course, this being Becky nothing is straightforward. Soon her mother is preparing a traditional family wedding back home in England while Luke's high-society mother is planning a no-expense spared extravaganza at the Plaza in New York. Both weddings are scheduled for the same day. Becky just can't seem to say no to either and gets herself into increasing difficulty as the big day approaches. Characters from the previous novels return: her best friend Suse, her boyfriend Luke, her family and her arch-nemesis the wonderfully nicknamed Alicia Bitch Longlegs. There are new folk as well including Becky's would-be fashion designer and very camp neighbour Danny and her New York wedding planner Robin, who approaches weddings as if they were military campaigns.
Again, this was just so much fun with maximum fluff factor. The perfect reading/listening material for dreary afternoons. The reader Emily Gray did a wonderful job with Becky and the other character voices.
14. In Defense of Food, An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan - This is the followup to Pollans's book The Omnivore's Dilemma, attempting to answer the question a lot of readers had after that first book - "What should I eat?" Pollan's simple answer is on the cover of this book, as well as leading off the introduction: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Simple advice, explained in detail over the course of the rest of this rather short but loaded with footnotes and references book. The bulk of the book deals with Nutritionalism - the science/religion that tells us something new every day about what to eat and what not to eat, often cancelling out what we had been told years and sometimes even only months before, the end result of making the process of nurishing ourselves far more complicated than it needs to be. Pollan shows how the US government tried and failed massively to help Americans choose a healthier diet in the 60s and 70s and how it's not even trying any more. He covers the history of nutritional science as it relates to health, pointing out the reversals that come as science unlocks more secrets and taking that as evidence that we probably don't know very much at all about why what we eat affects our health. It's that core theme of the book that has me questioning what Pollan is saying - if scientists don't know, what's he basing his theories on? Common sense for the most part, fine, but some suggestions, such as "Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food" seems to jump to the conclusion that all new things are probably bad things. It's still a very good book about what's going wrong with the Western Diet, but I wouldn't call it a manifesto.
15. The Rotter's Club by Jonathan Coe - A funny, sad, romantic, historical, and always entertaining coming of age novel about the lives of four young men in 1970's Birmingham England. As an American, I'm sure I'm missing some of the major story line about labour and some of the minor pop culture points, but I understood enough to know that the characters are complicated and interesting and very, very human. I was glad to know there's a sequel, because when this book ended I wasn't ready to say good bye to these guys or their families.
16. California Screaming by Doug Guinan - Funny, trashy, light but not dumb - a simply good "junk food" read. Yes, the book gives away its underlying theme by having one character actually say it, "Maybe young gay men are looking for father figures and in doing so, they won't always make the best relationship choices". Ignore the attempt to provide deeper meaning and just go along for the ride in Hollywood where a broke but beautiful (even by their artificially high standards) guy hooks up with a very big deal player; a sweet and lonely guy falls deep into the muscle queen swamp, and some people actually manage to grow up and act like adults.
17. Duma Key by Stephen King, audiobook read by John Slattery - First, the negative. Stephen King still suffers from what I call SKS, a malady I named for him because he was the first author that I saw it in. It is Stephen King Syndrome, and it could be cured by an editor standing up to a successful author and saying "You're not being paid by the word! Every thought does not belong on the page. Cut the crap!" JK Rowling went through a bout in the middle of her series, imo. So yes, Duma Key is much longer than it needs to be. Phone calls and emails are quoted verbatim when they add nothing to the story. Characters make oh-so-clever pop culture references to show King's cleverness, not the character's. The horror part of the story is played out repetitively to the point it's just not scary anymore. So, in short, TOO LONG!
But the good? Nobody writes about the creative process like King does. Read his "In Writing" and you'll be a better writer for the effort. Read any of the many interviews he's done about what he goes through to produce a book, and you'll understand, it's not magic, it's work - hard, disciplined, sometimes heartbreaking work. But you do it if it calls to you, because to not do it makes life unbearable. In Duma Key, the story centers on a man who's been in a terrible construction accident and must build himself a new life. King uses his experience of recovering from a car accident to take the reader into the mind of someone who barely knows himself anymore. As a form of self-therapy, the man moves to a new local and takes up painting (or does painting take him up? It is a ghost story, after all!). Through out the story, there are chapters titled "How To Draw A Picture" , and they are the short course from Stephen King on how to sit down and put that idea that's in your head down on paper, whether it be in words or in pictures. Those are the chapters that kept me listening to this book at the times when I really did not care who or what was the monstrous muse that haunted Duma Key. Well, that and John Slattery's perfect-for-this-story voice.
18.Cheri and The Last of Cheri by Colette - On the surface, this is the melodramatic love story of a boytoy and the woman who turned him out. But go deeper, and you see that the characters are going through a lot more than simply growing old - they're all growing up, a condition brought on not only by nature but also by post WWI Paris. Cheri was raised to be an ornament, something his mother, lover, and finally wife could be proud to call her own. What all these women failed to see was that while they moved forward in life, he wanted nothing more than to hold on to what he had - even if it didn't exist anymore. It's that realization, that all things change and that he was incapable of changing with them, that changed my opinion an whether Cheri was a weak coward or a tragic victim.
15. The Rotter's Club by Jonathan Coe - A funny, sad, romantic, historical, and always entertaining coming of age novel about the lives of four young men in 1970's Birmingham England. As an American, I'm sure I'm missing some of the major story line about labour and some of the minor pop culture points, but I understood enough to know that the characters are complicated and interesting and very, very human. I was glad to know there's a sequel, because when this book ended I wasn't ready to say good bye to these guys or their families.
16. California Screaming by Doug Guinan - Funny, trashy, light but not dumb - a simply good "junk food" read. Yes, the book gives away its underlying theme by having one character actually say it, "Maybe young gay men are looking for father figures and in doing so, they won't always make the best relationship choices". Ignore the attempt to provide deeper meaning and just go along for the ride in Hollywood where a broke but beautiful (even by their artificially high standards) guy hooks up with a very big deal player; a sweet and lonely guy falls deep into the muscle queen swamp, and some people actually manage to grow up and act like adults.
17. Duma Key by Stephen King, audiobook read by John Slattery - First, the negative. Stephen King still suffers from what I call SKS, a malady I named for him because he was the first author that I saw it in. It is Stephen King Syndrome, and it could be cured by an editor standing up to a successful author and saying "You're not being paid by the word! Every thought does not belong on the page. Cut the crap!" JK Rowling went through a bout in the middle of her series, imo. So yes, Duma Key is much longer than it needs to be. Phone calls and emails are quoted verbatim when they add nothing to the story. Characters make oh-so-clever pop culture references to show King's cleverness, not the character's. The horror part of the story is played out repetitively to the point it's just not scary anymore. So, in short, TOO LONG!
But the good? Nobody writes about the creative process like King does. Read his "In Writing" and you'll be a better writer for the effort. Read any of the many interviews he's done about what he goes through to produce a book, and you'll understand, it's not magic, it's work - hard, disciplined, sometimes heartbreaking work. But you do it if it calls to you, because to not do it makes life unbearable. In Duma Key, the story centers on a man who's been in a terrible construction accident and must build himself a new life. King uses his experience of recovering from a car accident to take the reader into the mind of someone who barely knows himself anymore. As a form of self-therapy, the man moves to a new local and takes up painting (or does painting take him up? It is a ghost story, after all!). Through out the story, there are chapters titled "How To Draw A Picture" , and they are the short course from Stephen King on how to sit down and put that idea that's in your head down on paper, whether it be in words or in pictures. Those are the chapters that kept me listening to this book at the times when I really did not care who or what was the monstrous muse that haunted Duma Key. Well, that and John Slattery's perfect-for-this-story voice.
18.Cheri and The Last of Cheri by Colette - On the surface, this is the melodramatic love story of a boytoy and the woman who turned him out. But go deeper, and you see that the characters are going through a lot more than simply growing old - they're all growing up, a condition brought on not only by nature but also by post WWI Paris. Cheri was raised to be an ornament, something his mother, lover, and finally wife could be proud to call her own. What all these women failed to see was that while they moved forward in life, he wanted nothing more than to hold on to what he had - even if it didn't exist anymore. It's that realization, that all things change and that he was incapable of changing with them, that changed my opinion an whether Cheri was a weak coward or a tragic victim.
Book: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
Pages: Audiobook
Entertainment Rating: N/A
Snooty Rating: 5/5
Total Rating: 10/10
Books Read Total: 18/50
Pages Read Total: 3188/15,000
This book will blow your mind. It will probably give you nightmares, and if you have any soul at all it will make you cry. It will make your stomach turn, your heart ache, and your palms sweat. There will be times when you absolutely must put the book down and walk away, but I promise you it is worth it. I cannot describe this book to you in any way that will do it justice, but I beg you to read it.
From the website:
A gripping story of a child’s journey through hell and back.
There may be as many as 300,000 child soldiers, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s, in more than fifty conflicts around the world. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. He is one of the first to tell his story in his own words.
In A LONG WAY GONE, Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a riveting story. At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. Eventually released by the army and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humanity and to reenter the world of civilians, who viewed him with fear and suspicion. This is, at last, a story of redemption and hope.
Pages: Audiobook
Entertainment Rating: N/A
Snooty Rating: 5/5
Total Rating: 10/10
Books Read Total: 18/50
Pages Read Total: 3188/15,000
This book will blow your mind. It will probably give you nightmares, and if you have any soul at all it will make you cry. It will make your stomach turn, your heart ache, and your palms sweat. There will be times when you absolutely must put the book down and walk away, but I promise you it is worth it. I cannot describe this book to you in any way that will do it justice, but I beg you to read it.
From the website:
A gripping story of a child’s journey through hell and back.
There may be as many as 300,000 child soldiers, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s, in more than fifty conflicts around the world. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. He is one of the first to tell his story in his own words.
In A LONG WAY GONE, Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a riveting story. At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. Eventually released by the army and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humanity and to reenter the world of civilians, who viewed him with fear and suspicion. This is, at last, a story of redemption and hope.
Book 30: The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (USA title: Confessions of a Shopaholic).
Author: Sophie Kinsella, 2000.
Genre: Chick-lit.
Other details: 320 pages.
"OK. Don't panic. Don't panic. It's only a VISA bill. It's a piece of paper; a few numbers. I mean, just how scary can that be."
I was hooked pretty much from these opening lines. I mean who hasn't felt a little flutter of panic after some retail therapy when the credit card statement arrives a few weeks later?
Becky (Rebecca) Bloomwood is a 25-year old who lives in a trendy part of London with her best friend Suse. She works for a financial magazine writing articles telling others how to manage their money. However, Becky is totally hopeless at managing her own money. Becky relates her thoughts and frequent daydreams to the reader as if sharing a confidence . As a character she is as adorable and as much of a mess in her own way as Bridget Jones.
I've been reading so much crime and 'worthy' novels of late that it was nice to have a break with something light and undemanding that made me laugh throughout.
Book 31: Shopaholic Abroad (USA title: Shopaholic Takes Manhattan).
Author: Sophie Kinsella, 2001. Read by Emily Gray.
Genre: Chick-lit.
Other details: Audio Book 2003 approx 12.5 hrs.
I listened to most of the second of the Shopaholic series during a car trip over the weekend.
Set a few months after the events of the first book, Becky Bloomwood's misadventures continue as she accompanies her boyfriend first on a weekend break where she is struggling to pack 'light' and then on a business trip to New York. Surrounded by all the wonderful new shops in Manhattan Becky and her credit cards have a field day and soon she is in trouble again with her bank manager.
Again, this was an easy fun read even if there were times when, like Becky's flatmate Suse, I wanted to sit her down and give her a good talking to about her over-spending. The actress doing the reading perfectly captured Becky's personality.
Note: for the film of Confessions of a Shopaholic this very British heroine has been transformed into an American one already living in New York. I suspect they are trying to capitalise on the Sex and the City market but trying to transform Becky and her friends into Carrie Bradshaw & Co. just seems crazy. It will also make the second book unfilmable as the 'fish out of water' theme of an English girl in New York would be lost.
Author: Sophie Kinsella, 2000.
Genre: Chick-lit.
Other details: 320 pages.
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I was hooked pretty much from these opening lines. I mean who hasn't felt a little flutter of panic after some retail therapy when the credit card statement arrives a few weeks later?
Becky (Rebecca) Bloomwood is a 25-year old who lives in a trendy part of London with her best friend Suse. She works for a financial magazine writing articles telling others how to manage their money. However, Becky is totally hopeless at managing her own money. Becky relates her thoughts and frequent daydreams to the reader as if sharing a confidence . As a character she is as adorable and as much of a mess in her own way as Bridget Jones.
I've been reading so much crime and 'worthy' novels of late that it was nice to have a break with something light and undemanding that made me laugh throughout.
Book 31: Shopaholic Abroad (USA title: Shopaholic Takes Manhattan).
Author: Sophie Kinsella, 2001. Read by Emily Gray.
Genre: Chick-lit.
Other details: Audio Book 2003 approx 12.5 hrs.
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Set a few months after the events of the first book, Becky Bloomwood's misadventures continue as she accompanies her boyfriend first on a weekend break where she is struggling to pack 'light' and then on a business trip to New York. Surrounded by all the wonderful new shops in Manhattan Becky and her credit cards have a field day and soon she is in trouble again with her bank manager.
Again, this was an easy fun read even if there were times when, like Becky's flatmate Suse, I wanted to sit her down and give her a good talking to about her over-spending. The actress doing the reading perfectly captured Becky's personality.
Note: for the film of Confessions of a Shopaholic this very British heroine has been transformed into an American one already living in New York. I suspect they are trying to capitalise on the Sex and the City market but trying to transform Becky and her friends into Carrie Bradshaw & Co. just seems crazy. It will also make the second book unfilmable as the 'fish out of water' theme of an English girl in New York would be lost.
Didn't do too badly last month, especially compared to last year.
February
7. Dorothy and Agatha -- Gaylord Larsen
8. Back Home -- Michelle Magorian
9. The Waltons: The Easter Story -- Robert Weverka
10. Doctor Who: The Last Dodo -- Jacqueline Rayner (audiobook)
11. Matilda and Her Family -- Miriam E. Mason (children's book)
12. The Worst Witch -- Jill Murphy (audiobook)
13. The Mermaids Singing -- Val McDermid
14. Sarah Jane Adventures: The Thirteenth Stone – Justin Richards (audiobook)
15. Anything Goes – John Barrowman with Carole E. Barrowman (audiobook)
16. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – Ann Brashares
( Time Lords, witches, serial killers, John-Boy, world-weary jeans and more… )
50 book challenge
16 / 50 (32.00%)
February
7. Dorothy and Agatha -- Gaylord Larsen
8. Back Home -- Michelle Magorian
9. The Waltons: The Easter Story -- Robert Weverka
10. Doctor Who: The Last Dodo -- Jacqueline Rayner (audiobook)
11. Matilda and Her Family -- Miriam E. Mason (children's book)
12. The Worst Witch -- Jill Murphy (audiobook)
13. The Mermaids Singing -- Val McDermid
14. Sarah Jane Adventures: The Thirteenth Stone – Justin Richards (audiobook)
15. Anything Goes – John Barrowman with Carole E. Barrowman (audiobook)
16. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants – Ann Brashares
( Time Lords, witches, serial killers, John-Boy, world-weary jeans and more… )
16 / 50 (32.00%)
Book 12: The Ruby in the Smoke .
Author: Philip Pullman, 1985.
Genre: Historical Mystery, Young Adult.
Other Details: Unabridged Audio Edition 2003, read by Anton Lesser. Listening time: 6.5 hrs.
This is the first of Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart series set in Victorian England of 1872. Sally is sixteen years old and an orphan following the recent drowning of her father while he was in the South Seas. One morning Sally receives a mysterious note postmarked Singapore, warning her to 'beware the Seven Blessings' and advising that 'Marchbanks can help'. She goes to her late father's offices to see if any of his associates can throw light on the note. However, when she asks Mr. Higgs, the firm's secretary, if he has ever heard of the Seven Blessings he promptly has a heart attack and dies in front of her.
Following this Sally soon finds herself drawn into a deadly mystery involving the opium trade and a cursed ruby. In the course of events she befriends Cockney office boy Jim Taylor, who adores penny-dreadfuls and aspires to be a detective, and also Frederick Garland, a photographer and Rosa, his actress sister.
Book 13: The Shadow in the North.
Author: Philip Pullman, 1986.
Genre: Historical Mystery, Young Adult.
Other Details: Unabridged Audio Edition, 2003, read by Anton Lesser. Listening Time: 9 hrs.
The second Sally Lockhart novel is set in 1878. Sally is now in her early 20s and has begun to work as a financial consultant. One of her clients loses a fortune when the shipping company Sally had advised her was a sound investment goes bankrupt. Sally is determined to investigate especially as there seems to have been suspicious circumstances in the bankruptcy. At the same time her on-off boyfriend Frederick Garland and his associate Jim Taylor are drawn into a mystery involving a stage magician, who is being pursued by thugs, and a medium who clairvoyantly witnesses a murder. Sally's investigations begin to merge with those of her friends and they find that their lives are once more in danger.
Pullman says of the series: Historical thrillers, that's what these books are. Old-fashioned Victorian blood-and-thunder. Actually, I wrote each one with a genuine cliché of melodrama right at the heart of it, on purpose. Pullman certainly succeeds in this aspiration. Sally is quite an unconventional Victorian heroine and I was a little bothered by this when I saw the BBC adaptations before tackling the source material. However, Pullman in the course of The Ruby in the Smoke addresses this when he writes that Sally was a very unusual young lady whose upbringing had given her with an independence of mind which made her more like a girl of today than one of her own time. Also, in befriending the Garlands, who are quite Bohemian in their outlook, she again is in a society outside some of the conventions of her day.
Although I was familiar with the stories of both novels due to the BBC's adaptations I was curious about the source material and as I had bought the Cover-to-Cover audio editions for my husband a few years ago decided to listen to them. I found that I did appreciate the extra depth in terms of characterisation and plot details provided by the novels. Both novels have many twists and while they are great fun there is also sadness and loss, especially in the second. Pullman excels at descriptions and this very much suited the audio format.
Author: Philip Pullman, 1985.
Genre: Historical Mystery, Young Adult.
Other Details: Unabridged Audio Edition 2003, read by Anton Lesser. Listening time: 6.5 hrs.
 |
Following this Sally soon finds herself drawn into a deadly mystery involving the opium trade and a cursed ruby. In the course of events she befriends Cockney office boy Jim Taylor, who adores penny-dreadfuls and aspires to be a detective, and also Frederick Garland, a photographer and Rosa, his actress sister.
Book 13: The Shadow in the North.
Author: Philip Pullman, 1986.
Genre: Historical Mystery, Young Adult.
Other Details: Unabridged Audio Edition, 2003, read by Anton Lesser. Listening Time: 9 hrs.
 |
Pullman says of the series: Historical thrillers, that's what these books are. Old-fashioned Victorian blood-and-thunder. Actually, I wrote each one with a genuine cliché of melodrama right at the heart of it, on purpose. Pullman certainly succeeds in this aspiration. Sally is quite an unconventional Victorian heroine and I was a little bothered by this when I saw the BBC adaptations before tackling the source material. However, Pullman in the course of The Ruby in the Smoke addresses this when he writes that Sally was a very unusual young lady whose upbringing had given her with an independence of mind which made her more like a girl of today than one of her own time. Also, in befriending the Garlands, who are quite Bohemian in their outlook, she again is in a society outside some of the conventions of her day.
Although I was familiar with the stories of both novels due to the BBC's adaptations I was curious about the source material and as I had bought the Cover-to-Cover audio editions for my husband a few years ago decided to listen to them. I found that I did appreciate the extra depth in terms of characterisation and plot details provided by the novels. Both novels have many twists and while they are great fun there is also sadness and loss, especially in the second. Pullman excels at descriptions and this very much suited the audio format.
6. Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips - It's a setting that just full of possibilities: the Greek Gods of Olympus are still around and most of the principles are living in a rundown house in modern London. With characters like Apollo and Athena and Hermes, there's no end to complications and plot twists, right? Phillips does come up with jobs suitable of her cast - Aphrodite as a phone sex operator just makes perfect sense. And if Apollo and Aphrodite live in the same house, they probably would end up having sex with each other, considering their particular strengths, and despite being half siblings. Altogether, wouldn't we expect the whole clan to be just as dysfunctional in this age as the one they originated in? But that's the problem with this book - the characters do act all too often just as you'd expect. They have almost no arc. I guess that's the problem with characters so deitic - they have no where to go but down, and if that's not your ending, you really don't have much of a story. There are two mortals that get mixed up with this crazy family, and they do have a journey, but you'd think with people like Zeus and Hades getting involved, the whole thing would be more.....epic?
7. The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson, read by Peter Francis James - As young adult fiction, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party, as the full title goes, is pretty astonishing in its own right. Told first from the pov of a pre-Revolutionary War period slave living in Boston, then in epistolary form from the pov of a fellow soldier in the rebel militia group he attaches himself to, and then again from Octvian's pov, this is a side of that time period rarely presented in fiction, let alone discussed in history classes. Octavian starts sout his life in a rarified condition - he receives an exemplary classical eduction. Why this slave receives such an education, and how what he has learned plays out against the common perceptions about his race and station is told in vocabulary and grammar correct to his time period. As an adult listening to the story, I thought the set up dragged a bit, but that's usually the case when an adult reads TA fiction. The second and third parts of the story, though, are a well told story for any age. The ending is a set up for a second volume, and I'm very curious to see how the author handles his character during the actual war.
8. The Guardians by Ana Castillo - Whenever I read a story told in the form of characters getting their own chapters to tell their versions of overlapping events, I hold that story to a higher standard. Why? Because it's an easier way to tell a story. The author doesn't have to pin down the voice they're going to use. In the case of this book, that higher standard is exceeded. A fifty-something legal immigrant from Mexico has taken custody of her illegal immigrant sixteen year old nephew. Her brother, a man who has crossed back and forth from New Mexico to Mexico so many time he no longer needs a coyote to guide him (but still must use one because the coyotes are all about job security), has gone missing. Regina does not want to give up hope that her brother will return, Gabo the nephew who already lost his mother to a cross over gone very bad, tries to use his extreme faith in God to guide him in all areas of his life, and a handful of interesting characters, not caricatures all share in the search. You won't forget what happens to these people because Castillo makes you care about them, no matter what your opinion on illegal immigrants.
7. The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson, read by Peter Francis James - As young adult fiction, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party, as the full title goes, is pretty astonishing in its own right. Told first from the pov of a pre-Revolutionary War period slave living in Boston, then in epistolary form from the pov of a fellow soldier in the rebel militia group he attaches himself to, and then again from Octvian's pov, this is a side of that time period rarely presented in fiction, let alone discussed in history classes. Octavian starts sout his life in a rarified condition - he receives an exemplary classical eduction. Why this slave receives such an education, and how what he has learned plays out against the common perceptions about his race and station is told in vocabulary and grammar correct to his time period. As an adult listening to the story, I thought the set up dragged a bit, but that's usually the case when an adult reads TA fiction. The second and third parts of the story, though, are a well told story for any age. The ending is a set up for a second volume, and I'm very curious to see how the author handles his character during the actual war.
8. The Guardians by Ana Castillo - Whenever I read a story told in the form of characters getting their own chapters to tell their versions of overlapping events, I hold that story to a higher standard. Why? Because it's an easier way to tell a story. The author doesn't have to pin down the voice they're going to use. In the case of this book, that higher standard is exceeded. A fifty-something legal immigrant from Mexico has taken custody of her illegal immigrant sixteen year old nephew. Her brother, a man who has crossed back and forth from New Mexico to Mexico so many time he no longer needs a coyote to guide him (but still must use one because the coyotes are all about job security), has gone missing. Regina does not want to give up hope that her brother will return, Gabo the nephew who already lost his mother to a cross over gone very bad, tries to use his extreme faith in God to guide him in all areas of his life, and a handful of interesting characters, not caricatures all share in the search. You won't forget what happens to these people because Castillo makes you care about them, no matter what your opinion on illegal immigrants.
( 1. We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson )
( 2. Life is Ridiculous, Valerie Fausone )
( 3. I Am America, And So Can You!, Stephen Colbert )
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3 / 50 books. 6% done!
300 / 15000 words. 2% done!
( 2. Life is Ridiculous, Valerie Fausone )
( 3. I Am America, And So Can You!, Stephen Colbert )
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- Location:Milwaukee, WI 53226
- Mood: tired
4. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson - A collection of horror short stories including the one that lends its title and very basic premise to the the recent Will Smith movie. Matheson writes stories that put the terrible into the mundane. His monsters, evil spirits and boogey men cross over to our world in a way that will have you second guessing the logical explanations for those bumps in the night. He's not heavy on morals and meanings, these are simple horror stories that don't have deeper meanings. There's also some humor, especially in the almost silly but very enjoyable The Funeral. The collection also includes Prey, the basis for 1/3 of the awesome Dan Curtis production "Trilogy of Terror".
5. Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway, ready by Patrick Wilson - This book was published, unfinished, after Hemingway's death. As such, it would be unfair to criticize it as a finished novel. It's more like a third or fourth draft - still full of holes in some parts, over written in other places. The story follows a recently married couple through their extended honeymoon in Europe, while at the same time the husband attempts to work as a novelist. The character of the husband voices what must have been some of Hemingway's thoughts about the writing process (and his thoughts on drinking while you write, as well), while the young wife explores her sexuality through gender switching and a first time lesbian affair. The husband falls in love with the wife's lover as well, but that may have been more out of self preservation than attraction, in my opinion. The real benefit of reading this book is to fellow writers. It's reassuring to know that someone like Hemingway sometimes wrote very badly on his way to writing the great stuff. As for the audio version - Patrick Wilson should not attempt feminine French accents. It took this listener right of of the story and had me thinking I was listening to a parody or comedy routine.
5. Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway, ready by Patrick Wilson - This book was published, unfinished, after Hemingway's death. As such, it would be unfair to criticize it as a finished novel. It's more like a third or fourth draft - still full of holes in some parts, over written in other places. The story follows a recently married couple through their extended honeymoon in Europe, while at the same time the husband attempts to work as a novelist. The character of the husband voices what must have been some of Hemingway's thoughts about the writing process (and his thoughts on drinking while you write, as well), while the young wife explores her sexuality through gender switching and a first time lesbian affair. The husband falls in love with the wife's lover as well, but that may have been more out of self preservation than attraction, in my opinion. The real benefit of reading this book is to fellow writers. It's reassuring to know that someone like Hemingway sometimes wrote very badly on his way to writing the great stuff. As for the audio version - Patrick Wilson should not attempt feminine French accents. It took this listener right of of the story and had me thinking I was listening to a parody or comedy routine.
1. Person of Interest by Theresa Schwegel - Schwegel knows her setting (Chicago and the near 'burbs) well enough that that alone made this a good read. Then, she populated her story with flawed humans, my very favorite kind to read about! At the center of the story is a married couple who hit the wall in their marriage at the same time. This comes at a bad time, as the husband is an cop on a case that is far closer to his home than he can imagine, and the wife is looking to greener pastures just when her daughter's accommodating boyfriend wanders through. The police investigation is the central plot, but because of the perfectly believable way Schwegel brings all the members of the family into that plot, it's not your average police thriller story. The ending was a little too neat and nice for my tastes, but aside from that, I really liked this book.
2. Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin, Audiobook read by the Author - This was good - so very good! I'd strongly recommend the audiobook over the book because Martin does small bits of his original routines, and hearing them is so much better than reading them. The audiobook also has Martin playing banjo for the chapter breaks. If you're a fan of Martin's, interested in the history of stand up comedy, nostalgic for the 1970's, curious about just how serious comedy can be, or want to study a genius's creative process, listen to or at least read this book. Covering Martin's childhood to his last days in stand-up (and explains in good part why they were his last days of stand-up), the biography ends in the late 70s. Just
2. Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin, Audiobook read by the Author - This was good - so very good! I'd strongly recommend the audiobook over the book because Martin does small bits of his original routines, and hearing them is so much better than reading them. The audiobook also has Martin playing banjo for the chapter breaks. If you're a fan of Martin's, interested in the history of stand up comedy, nostalgic for the 1970's, curious about just how serious comedy can be, or want to study a genius's creative process, listen to or at least read this book. Covering Martin's childhood to his last days in stand-up (and explains in good part why they were his last days of stand-up), the biography ends in the late 70s. Just