My Book Year 2025 - Gifted Reads and More!

It's year FIFTEEN of my reading challenge blog, and this year I'm focusing on reading all those books that people have gifted to me that have always gone to the bottom of the pile of unread tomes. No longer will they languish in the gathering dust, but instead, they'll be given the priority they deserve! Oh, and I'm going to try and read more in general after a couple of years of struggling to muster up more than 5-10 minutes at the end of a day. Let's go!

Saturday, 26 February 2011

Week 8 - 10 books down, 42 to go

Has been a bit of a slow week reading-wise. I didn't seem to be getting on well with either book I was reading until the last couple of days. I have only succeeded in finishing my 10th book today due to waking at 4.30am this morning with a bad throat (not impressed), getting up for some honey tea and, while taking some soothing sips, reading until I felt sleepy again ... which was a good while, mainly because the book was reaching an exciting climax! The book in question was Tooth and Nail, by Ian Rankin which I have read in print. This is the third Inspector Rebus novel by one of the best crime writers in the business. I have been fairly late coming to Ian Rankin - but I'm glad I have taken him on as his books are very rewarding. They give you just what you want from a crime thriller - a strong central character, full of interesting flaws; a story full twists and turns, to keep you guessing; a smattering of police procedural; the occasional romantic dalliance; and a dash of humour thrown in for good measure. Tooth and Nail takes Rebus down to London from his native Edinburgh at the invitation of the Metropolitan Police who want his help in tracking down a serial killer they have dubbed "Wolfman". Rebus finds working with his London colleagues a bit of a challenge - with the old enemies (Scot versus English) managing to rub each other up the wrong way almost from the get go! Despite battling with fellow police officers and his ex-wife, Rebus manages to fall for a psychologist who is trying to help the team get beneath the skin of this violent maniac, whose attacks are becoming more and more frequent. But with time running out - can Rebus keep it together and focus on finding the killer rather than the distractions of unhelpful colleagues, his libido and the need to protect his daughter from an "unsuitable" boyfriend. This book really gathers pace with each page and is a gripping read without the need of insanely graphic violence. I can highly recommend it.

The stats bit:
Length: 275 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.50 (charity shop).
Other formats available in: audio CD; audio download; ebook.

2 comments:

CCC26 February 2011 at 07:45
Glad you liked the Rebus - I love them, especially the bleak humour. Am currently mid-book of a much earlier police series - the also troubled Martin Beck of Sweden. I'm on the 6th book 'Murder at the Savoy' and enjoying the familiar police characters and how they have developed through the series. As ever with these fab books, the Sweden of the time (1960-70s) plays a major part and the cool gaze of the authors, yes, plural, presents a critical view of a changing world.
I have also recently had another book I just stopped reading as it was too bleak a picture of modern London life and all the characters were so unlikeable (Sebastian Faulkes' 'A Week in December'). Very disappointing as a couple of his books are in my favourites. Life is really too short to spend time with those characters. With much relief I consumed 'Restless' with relish.
Anyway, good to hear you are still making progress.
Cx
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Jonathan Read-Bone26 February 2011 at 10:50
I have Tooth and Nail as an audio book from Audible, first time around, and along with the other 9 Rebus books I have in this format, I LOVED it :) Will bring the rest to Spain this year to listen to by the pool ;)
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The STARS list 2011

***** The Elephant to Hollywood (Audio); Dancing Backwards (Print); Restless (Audio); Sharpe's Fury (Print); Water for Elephants (Audio); The Graveyard Book (Audio); Chocolate Wars (Audio); Getting Sassy (Audio); The Help (Audio); Life and Laughing (Audio); Rivers of London (Audio)
**** One Day (Audio); The Zookeeper's War (Print); The Solitary Man (Ebook); Fup (Ebook); The Girl Who Played With Fire (Print); Tooth and Nail (Print); Mousetrapped (Ebook); Confessions of a GP (Ebook); Mr Toppit (Print); The Last Hero (Print); The Mayor of Casterbridge (Ebook); Sharpe's Battle (Print); Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes (Ebook); Mort (Audio); The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Print); I am Number Four (Audio); Wading Home (Ebook); The Information Officer (Print); A Fraction of the Whole (Audio); Good as Dead (Print); Mercy (Print); Hard Landing (Ebook); William Walker's First Year of Marriage (Ebook)
*** (and a half!) Airman (Audio); Devil May Care (Print); Labyrinth (Print); Switched (Ebook)
*** Painless (Ebook); Cranford (Ebook); Revelations of Divine Love (Ebook); The Secret Holocaust Diaries (Ebook); Moon Dance (Ebook); Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools (Ebook); Greenmantle (Audio); Ex Machina (Ebook); Little Women (Ebook); The Things We Cherished (Print); Agent Zigzag (Print); Life ... With No Breaks (Ebook)
** The Lady in the Tower (Print); Path of Daggers (Print); Beauty and the Beast (Ebook)
* She's never coming back (Print)