Tag Archives: Book Reviews
March 6, 2013 · 3:42 pm
I tried. I really did. But I just couldn’t finish ‘Cloud Atlas’ by David Mitchell. The whole concept/plot was just too damn weird.
I’m quite proud of the fact that there are very few books which I have never finished but this one definitely defeated me. ‘Cloud Atlas’ interweaves six different stories which include the 19th century Pacific journal of Adam Ewing, the letters of Robert Frobisher living in Belgium in the 1930s, a thriller set in the 1970s, a comic story about someone who gets trapped in a nursing home, a futuristic dystopian world… and this is the point where I gave up after nearly 200 pages. Each of the first five stories are interrupted half-way through and are then resolved in reverse chronological order (although I didn’t get far enough to read these conclusions). Continue reading →
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Tagged as Abandoned, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell, Dystopia, Fiction, Historical, Literature, Reading, Reviews, Science Fiction, Unfinished
March 4, 2013 · 2:52 pm
Set in Scotland in the 1860s, ‘The Observations’ by Jane Harris tells the story of Bessy Buckley, a feisty Irish girl who is taken on as a maid at Castle Haivers by Arabella Reid. Bessy has a number of secrets and is keen that her shady past doesn’t catch up with her. But it turns out that Arabella herself also has a dark history and her obsession with her former maid, Nora, who died in tragic circumstances, proves to be a catalyst for even more mystery. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, Historical, Jane Harris, Literature, Novels, Reading, Reviews, Scotland, The Observations, Victorian
February 26, 2013 · 6:35 pm
I have finally got round to reading another one of the novels specifically sent to me with a request for a review – I promise I will try and read the other two currently sitting in my inbox in the next couple of months! ‘The Tragedy of Fidel Castro’ by Joao Cerqueira has a very interesting opening scenario: God receives a request from Fátima to help stop a war between Fidel Castro and John F. Kennedy. Needless to say, I was intrigued. Continue reading →
February 22, 2013 · 8:30 pm
‘The Devil in the Flesh’ by Raymond Radiguet tells the semi-autobiographical story of an unnamed narrator who begins a tumultuous love affair at the age of 16 with Marthe, a 19 year old married woman whose husband is away fighting at the front during the First World War. The affair is soon discovered by their families and friends. Naturally, tragedy ensues. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Classic Literature, Fiction, France, French Literature, Literature, Novels, Raymond Radiguet, Reading, Reviews, The Devil in the Flesh, World War One
February 20, 2013 · 6:45 pm
Some of you may remember that one of the few books I never finished was ‘Everything is Illuminated’ by Jonathan Safran Foer. I gave up after about 60 pages when I realised that I could neither appreciate nor even understand what on earth was going on. Happily, ‘Eating Animals’, a non-fiction work by the same author about, well, eating animals, is infinitely more readable despite its rather gruesome content. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Animals, Book Review, Book Reviews, Eating Animals, Farming, Fishing, Food, Jonathan Safran Foer, Meat, Non fiction, Reading, Reviews, Vegetarian
February 5, 2013 · 6:27 pm
‘Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything’ by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner explores some of the everyday mysteries of life through the prism of economics, understood in the broadest sense as the study of incentives. Economics as a subject generally doesn’t inspire much enthusiasm but here is where you might be surprised. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Crime, Economics, Freakonomics, Non fiction, Popular Science, Reading, Sociology, Stephen Dubner, Steven Levitt
January 24, 2013 · 8:42 pm
Having read many positive reviews from other bloggers, I have been intrigued by ‘Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking’ by Susan Cain for a long time. In a world which largely values extroversion and outgoing, gregarious personalities, it is refreshing to find a book which completely rejects all this. Introverts of the world will rejoice. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Introverts, Life, Non fiction, Personality, Psychology, Quiet, Reading, Reviews, Susan Cain
January 19, 2013 · 6:55 pm
‘Spies’ by Michael Frayn tells the story of Stephen Wheatley, who returns to the quiet street where he lived as a young boy in England during the Second World War and looks back on a particular incident when his friend Keith announces that his mother is a German spy. The boys soon get caught up in solving this mystery only for new discoveries to be made instead. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, L P Hartley, Literature, Michael Frayn, Novels, Reading, Reviews, Spies, World War Two
January 12, 2013 · 4:49 pm
I wrote in my Best of 2012 review of the year that one of the books I was most looking forward to reading was ‘The Dinner’ by Herman Koch which tells the story of Paul Lohman who goes out to a fancy restaurant in Amsterdam with his wife, Claire, his brother Serge and his wife, Babette. During the course of the evening, it emerges that Paul and Claire’s son, Michel has been involved in a serious crime which also involves his cousin, Rick. I had read a number of positive reviews of this quirky-sounding book and so when it appeared on the Kindle Daily Deal page for 99p just after I had received an e-reader for Christmas, I had no excuse not to get it! Continue reading →
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Tagged as Amsterdam, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, Herman Koch, Literature, Novels, Reading, Restaurant, Reviews, The Dinner
January 8, 2013 · 8:29 pm
Frank W. Abagnale Jr was one of the most notorious con-men, forgers and imposters in American history. Posing as a Pan Am airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer and a teaching assistant at Columbia University in the 1960s, he managed to defraud millions of dollars from banks, mostly by cashing fake cheques. This semi-autobiography outlines exactly how he did it and how he managed to evade capture for so long. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Autobiography, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Catch Me If You Can, Crime, Frank Abagnale Jr, Fraud, Non fiction, Prison, Reading, Reviews
January 2, 2013 · 5:00 pm
What a book to start the year. I loved it. I was particularly intrigued by the original concept of the novel – travelling back in time to try and stop John F. Kennedy being assassinated in Dallas on 22nd November 1963 – and I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, I would go as far as saying ‘11.22.63’ was probably the most enjoyable and imaginative book I’ve read for a very very long time. Continue reading →
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Tagged as 11.22.63, 1960s, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, JFK, Literature, Novels, Reading, Science Fiction, Stephen King, Thriller, Time Travel
December 23, 2012 · 4:59 pm
BEST IN BOOKS 2012
1. Best Book You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want) Do I have to choose? Well, one of my favourites was Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami which I read not long before I started my blog. I’ve read a lot of good books this year though.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t? I was a little bit disappointed by The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. I liked it but I didn’t love it.
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012? The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. At least, I think it was surprising in a good way… I thought it would be too weird for my taste but I actually quite liked it. Continue reading →
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Tagged as 2012, Blog, Blogging, Blogs, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, Literature, Non fiction, Novels, Publishing, Reading, Reviews
December 19, 2012 · 6:08 pm
‘The Poisonwood Bible’ by Barbara Kingsolver tells the story of an American missionary family who move to what was then the Belgian Congo in the early 1960s. Their experiences are told from the point of view of Orleanna Price and her four daughters, Rachel, Adah, Leah and Ruth May while their father, Nathan, tries to bring salvation and enlightenment to the residents of a tiny Congolese village. Each character is strongly affected by their time in the Congo in very different ways. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Barbara Kingsolver, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Colonialism, Congo, Fiction, Literature, Novels, Reading, Reviews, The Poisonwood Bible
December 16, 2012 · 6:21 pm
The Ghost of Neil Diamond
I have received a few emails from unpublished or little-known authors offering me free copies of their novels to review on my blog. The first one was from David Milnes who sent me a copy of his novel ‘The Ghost of Neil Diamond’ about six weeks ago and I also have two more books sent to me by their authors which I will try and get round to reading very very soon! Continue reading →
December 15, 2012 · 2:09 pm
I have got really, really behind with writing up my reviews and I am doing my best to catch up this week before Christmas! I actually read ‘The Paris Wife’ by Paula McClain about three weeks ago. It is a fictional account of Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage to Hadley Richardson told from her point of view after a whirlwind romance and their life together in the 1920s before he found worldwide fame as a writer. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Ernest Hemingway, Fiction, France, Literature, Novels, Paris, Paula McClain, Reading, Reviews, The Paris Wife
December 14, 2012 · 7:34 pm
‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer’ by Patrick Suskind tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, who has no natural odour himself but possesses an unnaturally heightened sense of smell. Abandoned as a child in eighteenth-century Paris, he eventually becomes an apprentice at a parfumerie thanks to his talent for distinguishing between the subtlest collection of odours and creating the most exquisite perfumes. However, his quest for the perfect scent soon leads him down a murderous path. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, France, German Literature, Historical, Horror, Literature, Paris, Patrick Suskind, Perfume, Reading, Reviews
December 1, 2012 · 7:38 pm
‘Capital’ by John Lanchester is a state-of-the-nation novel which follows the lives of the residents of Pepys Road in London in 2007-2008 just as the financial crisis is beginning to wreak havoc on the world. The characters come from all walks of life: they include a City banker, a Senegalese footballer, an elderly lady who has been diagnosed with a brain tumour, a Pakistani family who own the nearby corner shop and several other characters. They all begin to receive anonymous postcards with the message ‘We Want What You Have’ written on them. Why? Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Capital, Fiction, Financial Crisis, John Lanchester, London, Novels, Reading, Reviews, Sebastian Faulks
November 28, 2012 · 8:41 pm
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992, ‘A Thousand Acres’ by Jane Smiley is essentially the plot of the Shakespeare play ‘King Lear’ set on a farm in Iowa in the 1980s. Approaching old age, Larry Cook decides to hand over ownership of his 1000 acre farm in Zebulon County to his three daughters, Ginny, Rose and Caroline. Caroline, the youngest, objects and is cut out of the will and before long, many other family secrets are revealed. Given the ‘King Lear’ link, I don’t think I will be giving away a great deal by saying that ‘A Thousand Acres’ ends in tragedy. Continue reading →
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Tagged as A Thousand Acres, Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Fiction, Iowa, Jane Smiley, King Lear, Literature, Novels, Pulitzer Prize, Reading, Reviews, Shakespeare
November 23, 2012 · 7:38 pm
Source: The Guardian
Whether it’s the Bad Sex award given to the author of the most cringe-worthy sex scene in literature each year or coveted literary prizes such as the Booker and the Pulitzer, book awards attract a lot of attention. They also attract a considerable amount of debate particularly concerning the worthiness of winners. So do we actually need them and what do they really achieve?
Regular followers of this blog will know that I read quite a lot of books which are nominated for the Booker Prize and other similar literary awards. I don’t read these books purely because they are on the shortlist and I certainly wouldn’t rush out and buy the whole lot straight after the announcement. Like most people, I still choose books almost entirely according to personal recommendations and general browsing rather than the number of prestigious awards they have won. However, I am always intrigued by what it is about them that got them recognised and nominated in the first place so I do try and hunt down the ones I think I might enjoy and have heard generally good things about. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Awards, Book Review, Book Reviews, Booker Prize, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Literature, Man Booker Prize, Novels, Publishing, Pulitzer Prize, Reading
November 17, 2012 · 8:35 pm
Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize last year, ‘The Last Hundred Days’ by Patrick McGuinness tells the story of a young British expat living in Romania at the time of the fall of Ceaucescu in 1989. Offered a job at a university, the unnamed narrator soon becomes embroiled in a web of corruption and betrayal. Loosely based on McGuinness’ own experiences, it is a shocking, sometimes brutal account of life under the shadow of a dictator and his rapid downfall. It is a story told with bleak authenticity. Continue reading →
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Tagged as Book, Book Review, Book Reviews, Booker Prize, Communism, Fiction, Literature, Novels, Patrick McGuinness, Reading, Reviews, Romania, The Last Hundred Days, Thriller
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