Month: July 2009

Categories
1940s Crime

Tragedy At Law – Cyril Hare

Tragedy at Law was originally published in 1942 and P.D. James states that it is

…regarded by many lawyers as the best English detective story set in the legal world.

This book was written during the golden age of crime and it’s Englishness just oozes out of the pages. I was laughing out loud at certain passages, as the society described in this book just doesn’t exist any more. The characters are so posh! There was one section in the book where someone tries to poison the judge with a chocolate which has been cut in half, poison added to the centre and then resealed. It was thought to be a terribly planned crime, and soon discovered, as no-one would be so rude as to eat a chocolate in one mouthful – it is a very good job they don’t see me with a box of chocolates!

The book focuses on Mr Justice Barber, a high Court Judge, who is being threatened with anonymous letters and the chocolates mentioned above. He moves from town to town presiding over court cases in Southern England. We get a detailed look into what the legal system was like during this period of history, and I think that it would be fascinating to anyone in this profession or with a strong interest in the history of justice, but have to admit that some of it went over my head.

The mystery itself is light and fun to read and it was great to be reminded of what life was like 70 years ago, but I think this book is more suited to the older generation who want to reminisce a bit or to real crime fiction fans who like to study the development of the crime novel. I’m pleased that I read it, but don’t think I’ll read any of his other books.

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I read this for Cornflower’s Book Group. If you’d like to know what other people thought of  Tragedy at Law then take a look at her blog, as we will be disccusing this book there tomorrow.

Categories
Other

I think I’ve had swine flu….

pig-toonI think I had swine flu this week without even realising it!

I have just been talking to a friend who is a doctor. She was telling me about how her husband has swine flu. He has a slight fever, headaches and aching limbs, but isn’t feeling that bad. I had this earlier in the week! I felt a little bit rough, but took a few paracetamols and battled on, as you always do when you have two children to look after.

Swine flu is a real talking point in our town at the moment, as there have been a quite a few confirmed cases. Everyone is really worried, but like everyone else I assumed it was much more serious than my doctor friend now confirms it is. It is a much milder disease than normal flu at the moment and most people don’t even realise they’ve had it.

I think I must have caught it on my trip into London for Simon and Kim’s Book Group! Have any of you who attended this group also had these symptoms?

It is quite ironic that I was reading my Flu book when I had it!  I’ll hopefully be able to finish this book over the weekend and tell you all about it!

Is swine flu in your town?

Have you had it? Are you worried?

Categories
2009 Historical Fiction

The Lost Book of Salem – Katherine Howe

 

Note: This book is called The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane in America

I heard a real buzz about this book before it’s release. I saw a few people state it was their favourite book of the year, and they mentioned how much they were looking forward to publishing their review after it’s release date. I wanted to get in on the action, so it arrived through my letter box on it’s release date a few weeks ago.

I can see why people love it, but although I enjoyed reading it, it won’t make it on to my list of favourite reads in 2009.

The Lost Book of Salem is set during the Salem witch trials of the 17th century Massachusetts, and also in 1991, where Connie, a history graduate is studying the trials. Connie finds a parchment inscribed with the name Deliverance Dane in an old cottage that belonged to her grandmother, and begins to investigate the secrets hidden in the cottage and in her family history.

The book is packed with 17th century atmosphere, and there are some really good spooky scenes – I especially loved the discovery of the mandrake! The historical sections were well written and had obviously been meticulously researched.

Unfortunately not everything was amazing. I found the central modern character, Connie, very irritating. She is supposed to be a history graduate (22-years-old?) but she behaved more like a 14-year-old. She just seemed slow. I don’t think there was a single mystery in the book which she managed to solve before me, and some of them were so straight forward I don’t know why they were mentioned. Here is an example of one of the worst offenders:

Connie raised her head, thinking. What was a ‘witch-bottel’? Bottel. A phonetic spelling of ‘bottle’. A witch bottle.

Overall, it was a gripping read, full of interesting facts about the history of witches, but it didn’t quite live up to the hype.

 

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Have you heard the hype about this book?

Did it make you want to rush out and buy it?

Is this your favourite book of the year?

Categories
Other Recommended books

The best book club reads…..on parenting

I keep finding myself ending reviews with the words “this would be a really good book club choice”. So I have decided to start a new series of posts about books which are a good starting point for a discussion.

This week I’m going to concentrate on books which raise parenting issues. These books may appeal slightly more to woman who have had children, but I’m sure everyone will enjoy the books and be able to bring their own opinions to the table.

My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult

 
Issues Raised
Should another child be brought into the world to save an older sibling’s life? Is the happiness of one child worth sacrificing to improve the life of another? Who has the ownership of a child’s body parts?

Positives

Easy to read, and gripping all the way through.

Negatives

It has been around a while, so many people might have already read it. The film has just been released, so they might have seen that too!
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We Need to Talk about Kevin – Lionel Shriver

Issues Raised

Are children born bad, or is a naughty child a result of poor parenting? Is the parent at fault if a teenager commits a crime? The cause of high school shootings.

Positives

Well written and thought provoking.

Negatives

It is a bit long.

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The Fifth Child – Doris Lessing

Issues Raised

Are children born bad? Is it right to concentrate on the ‘bad’ child at the expense of the other siblings.

Positives

Short book.

Negatives

Slightly dated.

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The Slap – Christos Tsiolkas

Issues Raised

Is slapping ever justifiable? Who is responsible for disciplining a child?

Positives

Gives a male view of the world. Controversial and thought provoking. This will start a debate!

Negatives
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Has not been released in all countries yet.

Is a bit long.

Contains graphic sex and abusive language.

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The Joy Luck Club – Amy Tan

Issues Raised

Difficult mother – daughter relationships. Cultural identity.

Positives

Easy to read.

Negatives

I can’t think of any!

  

Can you think of any more great books to start a discussion on parenting?

Have you read any of these for a book club? Did they go down well?

 

Coming soon – The best book club reads … on old age.

Categories
Blog Improvement Project Blogging Other

Blog Improvement Project Week #13: Blog Post Bingo, Round 2!

BIPThe Blog Improvement Project task this week is:

Blog Post Bingo!

We have to take a look at the 12 types of blog post below, and over the next three weeks, try to write as many of these different kinds of posts as we can.

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 The 12 Types of Blog Post

A Link Post – share link (or series of links) your readers might find interesting
A Short Post – less than 200 words
A List Post – simple as it sounds, a list of some sort
An Opinion Post – take an event, news, or another blog post and share your opinion on it
A Poll or Question Post – post a poll or ask your readers a specific question for feedback
A How-To Post – You’re an expert in something; big or small, share how to do it
A Long Post – more than 700 words
A Review Post – self-explanatory, I think 🙂
A Definition Post – show your expertise about a topic related to your blog
NEW: A Personal Post – something that’s going on in your life, related to your normal blog topic or not
NEW: A Resource Post – you know a lot about something, share the sites/books/tutorials you go to on that topic. This is similar to a link post, except these links should be related in some way and be useful for other people who want to know about the topic.
FREE SPACE – a type of post of your choice (that is not the same as one of the previous posts)

I loved doing this task last time, but it was really hard work. I’ll do my best to complete the list, but I could do with your help. I need some inspiration for the How-To Post and the Resource Post.

Is there anything you’d like to know how to do? 

Or anything that you think I might be able to find out for you?

Categories
2008 Booker Prize Historical Fiction

Sea of Poppies – Amitav Ghosh

Short Listed for the Booker Prize 2008

I had mixed feelings about this book. I loved the first section, set in an Indian poppy plantation. The descriptions of life as a poppy farmer fascinated me and the atmosphere was set perfectly. I would have loved the whole book to be about the lives of these rural Indians. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before the atmosphere of the book was changed by the arrival of the white traders. These arrogant men crashed through the gentle prose and ruined everything for me. I found their dialogue hard to understand, and when the story moved on board the trading ship bound for Mauritius I started to lose interest in the book. Life on board ship would be of interest to those who are studying it, but most of the seafaring terms went over my head.

As the book progressed, the plot slowed, and the writing became weighed down in too much detail. The Sea of Poppies is the first book in a trilogy, and I have heard that it is just setting the scene for the next book. If this is the case then I felt it spent too long doing this. The fact it is a trilogy also meant that the ending was a bit flat – left open to allow for the sequel. I don’t think I’ll be reading the next one unless a trusted source informs me that it is a lot better than this one.

Recommended to anyone with a thirst for knowledge about life on a trading ship in the 19th century, but I’m afraid it wasn’t for me.

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Have you read Sea of Poppies?

Did you enjoy it? Are you planning to read the rest of the trilogy?

Have you read The Glass Palace or The Hungry Tide? Are they better than Sea of Poppies?