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December and January Summary and Plans for February

Favourite Books of December/January:


Books Reviewed in January:

Year of Wonders – Geraldine Brooks  

Peripheral Vision – Patricia Ferguson 

Wolf Totem – Jiang Rong 

Lonesome Dove – Larry McMurtry 

One Day – David Nicholls 

The Facility – Simon Lelic 

The Hand That First Held Mine – Maggie O’Farrell 

The Spider Truces – Tom Connolly 

The Way Things Look to Me – Roopa Farooki 

Books Reviewed in December:

The Road – Cormac McCarthy 

Born on a Blue Day – Daniel Tammet 

Player One by Douglas Coupland 

Hand Me Down World – Lloyd Jones 

The Harmony Silk Factory – Tash Aw 

Fordlandia – Greg Grandin 

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – John Le Carré 

Finch – Jeff Vandermeer 

At the beginning of January I decided to change the way I read. I wanted to be quicker to give up on books that were failing to entertain me and concentrate on reading fantastic books. So how is it going? Really well! The quality of the books that I read in January was a big step up from previous months. I’m still learning, but I have just read three 4.5+ star books in a row (reviews coming soon!) and I don’t think that has ever happened to me before. I really hope that my run of amazing books will continue for as long as possible.

Plans for February 

The Lotus Eaters – Tatjana Soli

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Chess by Stefan Zweig

‘They’ by Rudyard Kipling

The Story of Forgetting by Stefan Block

The History of History: A Novel of Berlin by Ida Hattemer-Higgins

Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman by Friedrich Christian Delius

This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun

Tony and Susan by Austin M. Wright

The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman

I hope that you have a wonderful February!

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The Waterstone’s 11: The best debut fiction of 2011?

On Monday I explained why I love debut novels and so it will come as no surprise that I was interested in Waterstone’s new initiative to highlight debut literary fiction.

Last week they revealed the first Waterstone’s 11: a selection of 11 debut novels which will be published in 2011.

A panel of Waterstone’s staff read around 100 submissions and chose their favourites for inclusion in this list. The fact the selection process was so similar to that of a book award panel gives me confidence that their plan to

identify the future Man Booker nominees

will have a real chance of coming true.

I was really impressed with the list and immediately drawn to several of the titles. When I spotted that the first chapter of each book was available to download from the Waterstone’s Eleven site I decided to read them all and record my impressions.

Here are my thoughts on the first chapter of each Waterstone 11 book:

The Free World by David Bezmozgis

Five words from the blurb: Rome, refugees, escape, Communism, Canada

Very good writing. I can see myself enjoying this book, but I want to wait for others to read it first to ensure that the plot is satisfying enough for my needs. I wouldn’t be surprised if it made the Booker long list.

The Registrar’s Manual for Detecting Forced Marriages by Sophie Hardach

Five words from the blurb: immigration, wedding, safe, investigation, suspicions

Vivid and gripping from the start, but I worry that I’ve read books covering the same themes many times before. I’m sure it is a fantastic read, but it isn’t jumping out at me. 

City of Bohane by Kevin Barry

Five words from the blurb: future, Ireland, gang, henchman, visionary

Could well be fantastic once you’ve got used to the dialect, but in my brief reading it was too much hard work and so I didn’t feel enough engagement to want to read on. Not for me.

22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson

Five words from the blurb: war, survivors, boy, home, accept

I don’t think the blurb would ever have persuaded me to pick up this book, but I loved it from the first sentence. I already want to hug that little boy and I really want to know what happens to him next. Look out for this book on the Orange list!

Chinaman by Shehan Karunatilaka

Five words from the blurb: cricket, Sri Lanka, secret, Tamil Tiger warlord, dying

Cricket? Urgghhh!! It was a struggle for me to make it to the end of this brief extract. 🙁

 

Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman

Five words from the blurb: Ghana, London, knifed, investigation, innocence

Wow! Like a cross between Room and The Other Hand. I was totally hooked and so disappointed I couldn’t read the rest of the book. If I had a copy I don’t think I’d have put it down until I finished.

The Coincidence Engine by Sam Leith

Five words from the blurb: improbable, chaotic, chase, imaginary, America

The first chapter left me very confused. I’m sure it is all explained later on, but I worry it might be trying to be too scientifically clever at the expense of any emotion.

 The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht

Five words from the blurb: tiger, Germany, The Jungle Book, war, devastated

Reads almost like a fairytale, but the reality of war creeps in to give this book a unique style. I think this could go either way for me, but I’m so intrigued I have to read the rest when it is released. 

The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud

Five words from the blurb: haunted, Vietnam, father, senility, love

Beautifully descriptive writing, but I suspect the plot will be too slow paced for me to fall in love with it.

The Collaborator by Mirza Waheed

Five words from the blurb: Kashmir, war, poignant, shocking, family

Gritty, dark and raw. I was surprised by how gripped I was after reading such a small section. I will definitely be reading this one on its release.

When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

Five words from the blurb: childhood, innocence, eccentricity, love, loss

There is a lot going on in this book! In the first chapter themes of religion, war and paedophilia were introduced. I’m fascinated to know where this book goes, but I do worry that too much is going on for any of them to be handled thoroughly.

See the full blurbs and download the first chapter of all these books at the Waterstone’s Eleven page.

I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a list of books where I love so many of the selection. I will be ensuring I follow the Waterstone’s 11 each year and I look forward to finding out if the books are as good as their first chapters.

What do you think of the Waterstone’s 11?

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Discussions Other

Why I Love Debut Authors

I LOVE DEBUT AUTHORS!!

In fact if I had to choose between only reading debut novels for the rest of my life, or eliminating them completely, I would choose the former.

I know that most of you think I’m mad. In the last few weeks I have seen several tweets/comments knocking debut authors and even a post revealing a cautious attitude to them. I thought it was time for me to explain my passion for them and try to get you to embrace debuts as much as I do.

Take a look at the following list:

  • To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 
  • Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  • Sense & Sensibilty by Jane Austen
  • The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
  • Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
  • Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
  • Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
  • Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
  • The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
  • Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
  • Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

Apart from being classics loved by millions of people across the globe, they are also all debut novels. You may not enjoy all of the books on the list (I certainly don’t!), but you can’t dispute the quality.

The thing about debut novels is that they tend to reflect whatever the author is particularly passionate about – authors put their whole being into that book, unsure as to whether or not they will ever write another.  

It is also increasingly hard for authors to get their work published. That means any debut snapped up by an agent must really stand out from the crowd. I find that established authors can get away with printing fairly average books, but unknown authors have to produce something really special to even have a chance of seeing it on the shelves.

Many people noticed that my list of the best debut books of 2011 was much more appealing than the list of books written by established authors and I think this proves my argument – debuts are far more interesting and emotionally powerful than second or third novels.

Which is your favourite debut novel?

Do you think you can spot the difference between a debut novel and one from an established author?

In case you were wondering – all the books pictured in this post are debuts too.

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Links I Like

Town check out all the books from its library in an effort to avoid closure.

This essay on why Chinese mothers are superior seems to have started the largest Internet debate this week.

People got almost as heated about the number of spaces at the end of a sentence.

The difficulty of writing novels set in the Internet age.

Neil Gaiman is to star in the Simpsons.

Harper Collins release enhanced ebooks for The Chronicles of Narnia series:

Stieg Larsson was the top European writer in 2010.

The judges for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize have been announced.

Book scanning device adds fuel to copyright debate.

The BBC are going to adapt Sarah Water’s book, The Night Watch, for TV.

For those in the UK

The deadline to become a World Book Night giver has been extended.

Save Our Libraries From Cuts and Closures!

Listen to Amanda Ross talk about the TV Book Club. Don’t forget that the new series starts tonight!

Have a wonderful week!

 

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Read or Reject? #1

My New Year’s Resolution is to give up on books that aren’t outstanding. I don’t want to miss out on a gem that happens to have a poor beginning, so I hope that you can help me sort the wheat from the chaff.

Should I continue reading any of these books?

South Riding by Winifred Holtby

I love BBC adaptations of books, but prefer to have read the book before I watch them on TV. When I discovered that South Riding would be the next book to receive the period drama makeover I decided to give it a try.

South Riding is a snapshot of an English community after the First World War. We see the relationships between the villagers and the little things they have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. It was easy to read and “charming”…… aaarrrgghhhh….. *runs away*.  I actually read about 250 pages of this book before deciding it wasn’t for me. I’m looking forward to watching the BBC adaptation, but I prefer my books to have a darker element and a stronger narrative drive.  

You’ll have to do a lot to convince me to read the last half of this one!

The News Where You Are by Catherine O’Flynn

The News Where You Are is the first real casualty of my New Year’s Resolution. I suspect that if I’d have finished this book I’d have given it 3.5 stars. I loved What Was Lost and was hoping that this one would be even better, but unfortunately it didn’t deliver.

Catherine O’Flynn has a special talent for writing modern dialogue – she makes it seem so realistic. I loved the first few chapters of this book – the characters came alive on the page and were both amusing and insightful. We get to meet a regional new presenter and learn a bit about some of the seemingly mundane stories he broadcasts. Unfortunately the plot didn’t seem to go anywhere and I found it increasingly difficult to motivate myself to continue reading.  I gave up after about 100 pages.

Am I missing out on some amazing plot twists?

The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi

I started reading this book last Summer. I can’t remember anything being particularly wrong with it; all I know is that other books kept calling to me more loudly and so this one accidentally fell by the wayside. My book mark is only in page 27 so I didn’t give it much of a chance, but I’m not sure it is for me.

Should I start it again?

 

Was I wrong to give up on any of these books?

Is there magic lurking in the final pages?

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Other Richard and Judy Book Club TV Book Club

The Spring 2011 Richard and Judy Book Club Titles Revealed

I wasn’t a big fan of Richard and Judy’s Winter reads, but they have just revealed their Spring collection and the selection looks much more promising.

The books are:

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson


Hothouse Flower by Lucinda Riley

This Perfect World by Suzanne Bugler

Room by Emma Donoghue


You’re Next by Gregg Hurwitz

Trespass by Rose Tremain

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

The Blasphemer by by Nigel Farndale


I have read three of the selection:

Room by Emma Donoghue 

My favourite read in 2010. I’m delighted to see it selected, but think it is a shame that The TV Book Club and Richard and Judy have chosen to highlight the same book.

The Blasphemer by Nigel Farndale 

I loved this book and am very happy to see it reach a wider audience. It is a fantastic book club choice as there is a lot to discuss. It also contains some of the best war scenes I have ever read. I highly recommend it.

Trespass by Rose Tremain 

I have loved Rose Tremain in the past, but this isn’t her best book. It is quite slow and thoughtful so don’t get it if you like your reads to be fast paced.

I have heard wonderful things about Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand and The Postmistress, but I’m not sure they are for me. I worry that the word “charming” is used to describe  Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand and I wonder if I’ve read too many war stories for The Postmistress to stand out. I haven”t heard of the other books on the list, but look forward to seeing what others make of them.

What do you think of the selection?

Do you think that I’d enjoy any of the other books on the list?