Category: Everything Else

Categories
Uncategorized

Books in Brief: I Let You Go, Unbroken, Where My Heart Used to Beat

I Let You Go Source: Personal Copy

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

Five words from the blurb: tragic, accident, escape, mystery, consequences

I read I Let You Go because it was chosen by my book club. It is a fast-paced thriller about a woman whose child is killed by a car. Some elements were fantastic, but I found other sections less convincing. It’s probably worth reading for the twist alone, but don’t stop to analyse it for too long as it is one of those books that falls apart under scrutiny. Perfect when you’re looking for a gripping mystery to race through!

.

Unbroken Source: Library

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Five words from the blurb: Runner, WWII, crash, survive, floating

Unbroken is the fascinating true story of an Olympic runner who is shot down during WWII and finds himself floating in the middle of the ocean, hundreds of miles from the shore. Unfortunately the text was lacking emotion and, despite the fact it is one of the most interesting stories I’ve come across in a while, I found myself not caring whether he lived or died. Facts seemed to get in the way – with excessive detail on everything from his Olympic running, to the planes he was flying. A quick check on Goodreads suggests I’m in the minority on this one – most other people seem to love it.

.

Where My Heart Used to Beat Source: Free review copy received from publisher

Where My Heart Used to Beat by Sebastian Faulks

Five words from the blurb: soldier, WWII, sanity, love, Front

I loved Birdsong, so was interested to try Faulks’ new book. Unfortunately it didn’t have the same emotional power. There was nothing really wrong with this story of a former soldier learning more about his family and meeting people from his past, but it wasn’t special in any way. An average read for those who enjoy reading about the way war impacts on a soldier through his entire life.

.

Categories
Uncategorized

July/August Summary and Plans for September

I’ve had a very busy summer, spending time with friends and family. I’ve managed to keep up the reading, but haven’t been able to keep this blog up to date. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that now things are getting back to normal.

Over the summer I read two outstanding books: Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Both go on to my list of all-time favourites and I hope that you love them as much as I did.

Books of the Summer:

Shantaram A Little Life

Books Reviewed in July/August:

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts 

All Involved by Ryan Gattis 

The Bridge Over the Drina by Ivo Andric 

Blackass by A Igoni Barrett 

Familiar Wars by Julietta Harvey 

Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen 

The Loney Andrew Michael Hurley 

Under the Skin by Michel Faber 

Plans for September

I’m a bit behind with reviews. I hope to catch up in the next few weeks, but here are a few words to give you an idea of my thoughts on the books I’ve finished recently:

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh Gripping, but flawed

Swallow This by Joanna Blythman Scary!

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara A masterpiece

Educating Ruby by Guy Claxton and Bill Lucas Insightful

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand Lacking emotion

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson Too long

The Seed Collectors by Scarlett Thomas Too fragmentented

Cafe Europa by Slavenka Drakulic Fascinating, but dated

I haven’t thought about what I’m going to read next as I’m too busy unpacking! I need to have a good look at all the books I have here and try to prioritise them. I’ll update my sidebar as I work through the outstanding reviews.

I hope you all had a great summer and I look forward to catching up with you soon.

Categories
Other

Books in Brief: Under the Skin, In the Unlikely Event, The Bridge Over the Drina and The Loney

Under The Skin Source: Personal Copy

Under the Skin by Michel Faber

Five words from the blurb: hitchhiker, male, specimens, why, strange

There were some wonderfully creepy scenes in this book, but it failed to hold my attention throughout. It was repetitive in the middle section and unconvincing in the end – it seemed to rely on shock-value rather than skillful writing. I’m glad I’ve read Faber’s debut, but pleased his skill as a writer has improved with each further book he’s written.

.

In the Unlikely Event Source: Free review copy received from publisher

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

Five words from the blurb: town, disaster, friendship, generations, changed

I have fond memories of reading Judy Blume as a teenager so was looking forward to trying her new book for adults. Unfortunately, due to my habit of not reading blurbs, I had no idea this book was about plane crashes. I read about 50 pages of good character development before discovering this problem and abandoning it – in an attempt to prevent my phobia of flying from worsening. I look forward to finding out what others think of this book as I’d love to know if the plot develops well. Unfortunately the subject matter just wasn’t for me.

DNF

 

Bridge Over The Drina Source: Personal Copy

The Bridge Over the Drina by Ivo Andric

Ivo Andric received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961

Five words from the blurb: Balkan, history, war, generations, survive

The Bridge Over the Drina is a Bosnian classic, but it deserves to be a global one. The plot describes the history of a small Bosnian town by focusing on the events that happen on the stone bridge at it’s centre.  Some sections were a bit slow and there were points when I became bored by sheer number of battles that had taken place over the last 700 years, but that isn’t the author’s fault – Mankind should learn from the lessons of the past! If you’d like to know more about the history of the Balkans this is the book for you.

.

The Loney Source: Free review copy received from publisher

The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley

Five words from the blurb: retreat, coast, hidden, priest, forget

The Loney is a slightly creepy mystery. It began brilliantly, with some fantastically atmospheric descriptions of the English countryside. The characterisation in the book was also excellent, but I’m afraid the plot flagged in several sections. The ending was almost enough to make up for this, but it was too little, too late. This is Gothic horror at its mildest!

 

 

 

Categories
Other

I’m Back from Holiday!

Sorry it’s been a bit quiet around here – I’ve been away on holiday. We had a fantastic time – white water rafting in Slovenia, sailing round the Kornati Islands in Croatia, and then visiting a few cities in Italy.

hol20

 hol16a

    

hol1

hol22

hol5a

 

We’ve had a very busy three weeks – I’ll be back with a few book reviews as soon as I’ve recovered from all the excitement!

Categories
Booker Prize Other Uncategorized

Who Will Be Longlisted for the 2015 Booker Prize?

The Booker longlist will be announced on Wednesday 29 July. For the last few months I’ve been studying the contenders. It’s a pretty average year for fiction and there are no obvious front-runners for the prize, so it will be interesting to see which titles are selected.

My personal favourite is I Am Radar by Reif Larsen as I thought it pushed the boundaries of both literature and science in new directions – something the majority of other books fail to do, no matter how insightful or well-written they are. I’d also be happy to see The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber do well, especially as it is a fantasy novel – a genre often ignored by the prize committee.

After much deliberation I’ve chosen 13 books that deserve a place on the Booker longlist. I hope that you like my selection!

I predict that these books will be selected for the Booker longlist:

 

The Book of Strange New ThingsOne Third of ParadiseLila

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

One Third of Paradise by Julietta Harvey

Lila by Marilynne Robinson

I Am RadarThe Mark and the VoidA Little Life

I Am Radar by Reif Larsen

The Mark and the Void by Paul Murray

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Spool of Blue ThreadQuicksandAll Involved

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Quicksand by Steve Toltz

All Involved by Ryan Gattis

The Green RoadA God in RuinsPuritymiller

The Green Road by Anne Enright

A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

The Crossing by Andrew Miller

Purity by Jonathan Franzen

What do you think of my choices?

Who would you like to see on the Booker longlist?

 

Categories
Other

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Gielgud Theatre

Show_CuriousIncidentDogNight

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week I was fortunate enough to be offered tickets to see a performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Gielgud Theatre in London. I read the book, written by Mark Haddon, shortly after its release 12 years ago and loved it; so I was looking forward to seeing how it had been adapted to the stage. It was even better than I’d hoped it might be and I thoroughly recommend that you go to see it.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time begins with fifteen-year-old Christopher, who has Asperger’s syndrome, discovering that his neighbour’s dog has been murdered. He decides to investigate the crime, but ends up discovering dark secrets about his own family.  It held my attention throughout and made me laugh on several occasions. The play also had more serious moments and I loved the way it effortlessly switched between these darker and lighter elements.

The stage adaptation seemed to follow the plot of the book closely. Most of the dialogue was taken directly from it and playwright Simon Stephens cleverly used Christopher’s teacher Siobhan to narrate the rest. The staging was impressive and I particularly liked the cacophony of sound and light produced to show how easily everyday tasks can overwhelm those with autism. It was also wonderful to see real animals used in the production – the arrival of a puppy melted everyone’s heart!

My oldest son has Asperger’s syndrome, but he wasn’t born when I read the book so I knew I’d be watching it in a different light.  I was pleasantly surprised by how accurately the play portrayed the condition, showing how noise and visual stimulation can lead to overload. It also highlighted the positives of the condition, including an honest nature and a single-minded determination to complete the task at hand. Sion Daniel Young deserves special praise for his flawless performance in the lead role. It was amazing to see someone mimic the characteristics of autism (including facial ticks and lack of eye contact) without being condescending or disrespectful.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is one of the best things I’ve seen at the theatre. I think it’s even better than the book and I highly recommend watching it!

. 

Tickets start from £15 and are available from the National Theatre and  Guilgud Theatre Box Offices.