Author: Jackie

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Other

I’ve finally entered the digital age!

After years of resisting the temptation I finally have an ereader!

I don’t do much travelling and am surrounded by books so never felt the need to buy one. I couldn’t justify spending that much money on a device when I have hundreds of unread books around me. But then the price comparison website, Idealo, offered to buy an e-book reader for me in exchange for a link in this post and I decided that would be the perfect opportunity to join the digital age.

Has owning an ereader changed my life?

No. I have now had a couple of weeks to investigate my new kindle and although it does have some benefits I still prefer to read a paper book.

The Plus Points

I love the fact that it is really light – a definite plus point when you are reading a long, heavy book.

You can carry lots of books around with you without breaking your back.

It seems to be holding its charge well. I was worried that I’d have to plug it in as much as my mobile phone, but I haven’t had to recharge it at all and after two weeks the battery is still showing more than 50% of its charge.

I find the smaller screen size enables my to read more quickly. I’m not sure why this happens, but I have noticed this weird effect occurring.

The Negatives

I’d heard a lot about the benefits of being able to read one-handed, but that certainly isn’t the case with the kindle. The button to turn the page is located awkwardly so you need to use your other hand every time you turn the page – which is more frequent than with a traditional book as the screen size is smaller. I guess I’ll have to wait a while longer before being able to read whilst drinking a cup of coffee.

There is an annoying flicker every time you turn the page. Other ereader users have assured me that you get used to it, but I haven’t yet.

The risk of damage/theft means I am less comfortable taking it to certain places where I enjoy reading (eg. the beach).

Would I recommend buying one?

If you took my kindle away tomorrow I wouldn’t buy another one. My home-based lifestyle means that the benefits aren’t worth the outlay. If you do a lot of travelling and are the sort of person who carries several books around with you then I highly recommend it – my suitcase will definitely be lighter next time I go away.

 

Categories
2000 - 2007 Fantasy Science Fiction YA

The Shadow Speaker – Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

SHADOW SPEAKER, THE

Five words from the blurb: 2070, mysticism, West Africa, survival, magical 

Earlier this year Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu won the World Fantasy Award for her novel, Who Fears Death. It sounded really interesting, but a few people on twitter suggested that her earlier novel, The Shadow Speaker, was even better and since it was available in my local library I decided to give it a try first.

The Shadow Speaker is a young adult fantasy set in West Africa in 2070. The world has been changed by a nuclear war that released “peace bombs” around the globe. These bombs caused the human population to mutate in a variety of different ways; the idea: to create so much diversity that no single group would be big enough to launch a war against another. Many of the population now possess magical powers – some can fly and the central character, Ejii, has the ability to hear the thoughts of plants, animals and people.

There is a lot going on in this book. African mythology is mixed with science fiction and fantasy to create something truly unique. The blend of magic with interesting predictions for the future created a book that I found very compelling and the fact it is aimed at teenagers means that it is easy to read and is the perfect introduction to African literature.

There is something for everyone in this book – there are talking cats, flesh-eating bushes, links to other worlds and a myriad of new inventions. At times there was a bit too much going on for my liking – so many new ideas on each page that I longed for a bit of calm.

My only other criticism is that the characters weren’t very well developed. There was so much world building crammed into this book that the characters remained a bit flat. They lacked an emotional depth and I failed to connect with any of them, but this wasn’t a major problem as other aspects of the book were so strong.

The best thing about The Shadow Speaker is that it contains a depth behind the words. I found this interesting blog post about the religious messages in the book and I’m sure that it contains equally insightful thoughts about many other aspects of our civilisation.

Recommended to anyone looking for something a bit different, especially if you are interested in African literature.

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Categories
BBC Shop Reviews

Frozen Planet – A World Beyond Imagination

Frozen Planet

This beautiful book is the perfect accompaniment to the BBC Frozen Planet series. There are stunning photographs throughout and all the memorable moments from the series included.

The book has a chapter for each of the four seasons, as well as a section on climate change and its impact on the people who live at the poles.

Each page contains beautiful photographs, some of which must have taken months of planning to obtain.

 

The text clearly and concisely explains each photograph, but I can’t imagine anyone buying this book for the words. It is the images that grab the attention. I stared at them for a long time and many were so impressive that I had to show them to friends and family.

As well as full page photographs the book also contains many pages with a sequence of smaller shots to show the action captured by the filmmakers.

My favourite section of David Attenborough’s recent series has been the “making of” section and I’m pleased to see that the book also explains how filming occurred and the difficulties faced by the team battling against freezing temperatures to capture these images.

My only criticism is that this book only contains a short foreword written by David Attenborough. I’d have preferred to see him having a greater involvement in the book, perhaps giving his opinion on other sections, but this is a minor quibble in an otherwise stunning book.

Frozen Planet – A World Beyond Imagination is the perfect coffee table accessory for fans of the Frozen Planet series.

This book was given to me by the BBC shop in exchange for an honest review.

 

Categories
Other

November Summary and Plans for December

Books of the Month

My Sister Lives on the MantelpieceYou Deserve Nothing

Books Reviewed in November

You Deserve Nothing – Alexander Maksik

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece – Annabel Pitcher (Audio Book)

The Sinner – Petra Hammesfahr

Half Brother – Kenneth Oppel 

Moby Dick – Herman Melville

The Human Bobby – Gabe Rotter 

22 Britannia Road – Amanda Hodgkinson 

House Rules – Jodi Picoult

Seven Houses in France – Bernardo Atxaga

The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born – Ayi Armah

The Piano Teacher – Elfriede Jelinek DNF

The Tin Drum – Günter Grass DNF

Plans for December

In the next month I plan to read all the books that keep cropping up on the “Best of 2011” lists.

I have the following books ready to read in the final few weeks of 2011:

Before I Go to Sleep by SJ Watson

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon Van Booy

The Hand of Fatima by Ildefonso Falcones

The End of Everything by Megan Abbott

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

Have I missed any other gems from 2011?

I also plan to spend a lot of time with my family, so blog posting may be sporadic over the festive period.

Have a wonderful December!

Categories
2011 Discussions Other

Were any modern classics published in 2011?

I have read lots of enjoyable books this year, but none stand out as modern day classics. I haven’t awarded my highest five star rating to any book published in 2011 and wonder if I’ve been reading the wrong books – or has it just been a slow year for fiction?

Will any books stand the test of time?

In ten years people will probably still read The Marriage Plot, but only because they loved Middlesex, and I think that Julian Barnes’ vast body of work will ensure that Sense of an Ending will still be read by a few people, but I can’t think of any book that will be remembered on its own merit.

Many years after publication I still push copies of books like Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger into the hands of anyone who hasn’t read them, but in ten years time I can’t see myself being excited by anything published this year.

The entire Booker longlist will slowly drift into obscurity and enthusiasm for the Orange prize winning, The Tiger’s Wife, doesn’t even seem to have made it to the end of the first year. Perhaps we’ll just have to wait for paperback publication next year so that the real gems of 2011 can bubble to the surface through word-of-mouth recommendation?

Do you think any modern classics were published in 2011?

Do you think 2011 produced a lower standard of fiction than usual?

 

 

Categories
2011

You Deserve Nothing – Alexander Maksik

You Deserve Nothing

Five words from the blurb: Paris, school, morality, students, criminal

I have to admit that the blurb of this book held little appeal. A story about the children of wealthy families attending an international school in Paris didn’t sound that exciting, but as we all know, a talented author can transform the dullest premise into something magical and that is what Maksik has done here.

You Deserve Nothing could be seen as a hybrid of three fantastic books:

  • Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
  • Rupture by Simon Lelic
  • Testimony by Anita Shreve

It uses multiple narrators to question who is to blame when a teacher-pupil relationship occurs and it leaves you feeling sorry for perpetrator of the crime.

It also brings other questions to the table:

  • Should teachers be allowed to encourage children to question their religious beliefs?
  • Should teachers without counselling qualifications be allowed to talk to children about a terrible event they’ve witnessed?
  • What level of friendship/trust is acceptable between a child and a teacher?

On top of these carefully constructed moral dilemmas this well written, tightly plotted book gives an atmospheric portrayal of Paris and what life is like for those living in the insulated bubble of an international school.

The characters are well developed, engaging, but deeply flawed individuals, and the continual switching of viewpoint created a fantastic sense of foreboding.

I used to think, These are my students. I love them. I was often amazed by the closeness I felt, by my desire to protect them, to push them. I wanted to make them proud of me. I wanted never to disappoint them. As much as I loved them in those quiet minutes at the beginning of class, I also wanted them to love me in return.

Literature lovers will enjoy the discussions that take place in the seminars of this international school. Shakespeare, Faulkner and Keats are among the many authors introduced to the students and I ended up longing for an English teacher as passionate.

The ending was perfect and I will be thinking about the issues raised in this book for a very long time.

This is one of my favourite books published in 2011 and I hope it gets the attention it deserves.

Highly recommended.

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