The end of my year

So, it's the last day of 2011, and the end of my challenge. I'm chuffed that I managed to read a book a week, I wasn't sure when I set out that I would get there. However, the fact that I was doing so in three different ways really helped. Printed books - there's something special about a printed book ... holding it, smelling it (is that just me?), flicking ahead to see whether you can stay awake to the end of the chapter - there's nothing quite like it. People genuinely treasure a printed book. I often wonder with a library book, or second hand book ... who read this before me, did they enjoy it ...? With the Kindle - it is so handy to be able to carry so many books around with you ... it's so easy to download books and be reading them within a few seconds - wherever you are! There are so many free books, or ridiculously cheap books, available that I did find myself trying new authors through the year - much more so than I usually would. One big advantage I found was that in the colder months, being able to prop the Kindle on my belly and just pop my hand out to turn the page, rather than having to constantly hold it was fabulous. Another massive advantage for people of my age (it's been a year where I've had to invest in varifocals) is that you can increase the size of the font. In fact, I now find myself turning my nose up at print books with small fonts. Come on publishers ... get a grip and print in a font that you can read without a magnifier! Maybe the biggest revelation this year is how much I would enjoy audio books. I've noticed that they featured heavily in my top 10. This could be because they are the books I have had to spend the most money on, so I am very careful to pick books that I am confident of enjoying. Maybe it's because I tend to be more active when reading them - maybe a walk, maybe ironing - so maybe I'm getting an endorphins hit while I'm reading! Maybe it's because I find it a very intimate way of reading. Having the words go directly into your head through your ears takes you into the book much more quickly than any other way. I really have loved them.

Thanks for taking this journey with me - I hope you have found the reviews informative and perhaps have taken a chance on some books that it wouldn't have crossed your mind to read.

What will 2012 bring? Well, more books I hope. I've already downloaded some new ones onto my Kindle, as well as two audiobooks by Charles Dickens. I'm going to try and read some Dickens next year in honour of his bicentenary. I haven't read any Dickens since school, so I think it's time to dive in again instead of relying on the TV adaptations.

So goodbye to my 2011 reading challenge and hello to 2012 - What the Dickens! 

Boxing Day: Swedish thriller disappoints (book 54)

Am glad to be able to report that I have finished another book - but it was a bit of a struggle. It was She's never coming back, by Hans Koppel which I read in print. The only reason I was reading this title was that I was doing a review of it for a local paper - which I'm not getting paid for I hasten to add. If there had been money involved maybe I wouldn't have found it such a chore. The blurb says "the Swedish thriller phenomenon" ... well, not so much in my humble opinion. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo this DEFINITELY isn't! The nub of the story is good - a woman is kidnapped on her way home from work, and finds herself a prisoner in the soundproofed cellar of the house opposite where she lives. She can find no way out, but is given the "gift" of being able to watch what is happening to her husband and daughter on a monitor with a live feed to her house. As the months go by, she sees them moving on with their lives, while her days stay the same - verbal and physical abuse, little food and a whole heap of sexual violence. We eventually find out why this is happening to her, but to be honest, I was beyond caring at this point. This is an unpleasant book, poorly written. It's not thrilling, there is no real suspense and it's terribly contrived. The ending is flagged very early on.  I was expecting big things from this book because of the supposed hype around it, but was sadly disappointed. Don't bother reading this one folks, life really is too short.

My star rating: ONE.

The stats bit:
Length: 393 pages.
Price I paid: Nothing (would have been gutted if I'd bought it!)
Other formats available in: Ebook .

Still going ... book 53 ... Rivers of London

Even though I've reached my target, I'm still going. I've just finished a great book that I have to tell you about. It's called Rivers of London, by Ben Aaranovitch, which I read on audio. This is a crime novel set in London ... so far, so what you might be thinking ... but when the key witness to a brutal murder in Covent Garden is a ghost, you realise this is not your usual police procedural! Peter Grant is a young constable who discovers that not only do ghosts talk to him, but that magic is actually real. He is taken under the wing of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in Britain and becomes his trainee. Together, they try to get to the bottom of what, exactly, is causing seemingly random and previously trouble free people suddenly lose it and attack others with extreme violence ... often shouting "that's the way to do it" as they go! Peter enters a world no one would have believed really existed, and comes face to face with a force that seems determined to cause mayhem on his beloved streets of London. Throw in having to sort out a dispute between the god and goddess of the River Thames, and our trusty constable finds himself in trouble every which way he turns. This is a crime novel with some fantasy thrown in for good measure - for me, two of my favourite genres thrown together in skillful fashion. I'm definitely heading for the sequel (Moon over Soho). I did find the narration a little stilted at times, but a thoroughly enjoyable read nonetheless.

My star rating: FIVE.

Length: 432 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99 (from my Audible monthly account)
Other formats available in: print, unabridged audio CD, Ebook.

Woo hoo - Book 52 is done and dusted!

So, would you believe I've reached my target and finished my 52nd book, and I've still got almost two weeks left of the year! My only regret is that this milestone was not reached with an absolutely cracking read. Instead, I have completed my challenge with Life ... With No Breaks, by Nick Spalding, which I read as an ebook. This is an unusual book in that the author decided he would try to write a book in 24 hours, non-stop! This intrigued me, and so I decided to give it a go. It's basically a romp through the authors life - bits and pieces from past and present - both funny and sad - as well his thoughts and opinions on a whole range of topics. You are taken into Mr Spalding's life as if you were an old friend he's not seen for a while and you get the chance to reminisce and catch up over tea and biscuits (or something a little stronger) into the small hours and beyond. It's not high literature, but it is very readable - the author does not shy away from relating one of his most cringe-worthy moments of his youth, nor the failure of his marriage. It might be one that's more for the boys, but I still enjoyed it and can only admire the man for producing such a good piece of work in a very short space of time. Easy to get through, you won't mind being in Mr Spalding's company for a few hours ... and maybe it will inspire you to try something similar.

(I will keep on reading and see where I get to by the end of the year and will keep you posted.)

My STAR rating: THREE

The stats bit:
Length: 198 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.49
Other formats available in: print.

Week 50: The ineptitude of a new husband (Book 51)

So what happens once the happiest day of your life has finished, and the reality of living together as husband and wife kicks in? Well, hopefully, it won't follow the course of William Walker's First Year of Marriage, by Matt Rudd, which I read as an Ebook! This is written in diary form, and does exactly what it says on the tin - taking you day by day through the first year of William and Isobel's marriage. It is hugely entertaining, and will have you smirking and chuckling to yourself - although not really laughing out loud, probably because the situations that William finds himself in are often cringe-worthy. After the disastrous honeymoon, life settles down until William starts to suspect that Isobel's best friend Alex, wants more than to be "just friends". The resulting tension is exacerbated by the reappearance of an old flame of William's who starts to display "Fatal Attraction" characteristics. William's male buddies aren't really much help, and William himself has a tendency to overthink things while under the influence (never a good combination) and things tend to spiral out of control. Will they make it to the end of their first year, or will the wedded bliss they had dreamed about come crashing down on their heads? I can recommend this book - it's not a heavy read, but you quickly become involved in the characters and keep rooting for them, while, at the same time, wanting to give William a slap for consistently making things worse while trying to make them better. Men!

My star rating: FOUR

The stats bit:
Length: 304 print pages.
Price I paid: free (it isn't free now)
Other formats available in: print, large print, unabridged audio download.

Week 49: Double cross in times of war (Book 50)

Eddie Chapman, career criminal, ladies man and no friend to the British establishment, finds himself in prison on the island of Jersey. When World War II breaks out and Jersey is invaded - nothing much changes for Eddie until he decides that he really has to get out of jail. So, he offers to spy for the Germans. At first his offer seems to be spurned, but months later, things start to change and he finds himself in France at a training camp for the Abwher. In Agent ZigZag, by Ben Macintyre (which I read in print), we then follow Eddie as he learns Morse code, sabotage techniques, parachuting, and, of course, German! He becomes close to his spymaster (Von Groening) - a relationship that lasts into their old age. However, on his first mission behind "enemy" lines, where he is tasked with blowing up De Havilands factory, he immediately hands himself into the British authorities and begins his career as a double agent. Chapman seems to be able to charm most people he meets, and he eventually persuades his new British spymaster that he is on the level and that he will make a useful contribution to the war by going back and spying on his old employees. We follow Chapman on his adventures during the remainder of the war and after as he slowly drifts back into his old ways. This is an interesting, but not totally gripping tale of a most unusual hero. It's just a shame that it takes a war to bring out the best in people!

My star rating: 3 STARS.

The stats bit:
Length: 384 print pages
Price: free (given to me by a friend)
Other formats available: Audio CD (abridged); Audio download (abridged); Ebook (Kindle).

Week 48: Laugh out loud with Michael McIntyre (Book 49)

I've been a lucky girl ... following on from last weeks triumph of The Help - I settled into an autobiography as my next book to read in an audio format. And what a great choice I made - Michael McIntyre's Life and Laughing is an intimate and, of course, incredibly funny take on what has been a long and difficult road to success in his chosen career as a stand-up comedian. His childhood started well - a well-to-do family background and a wealthy, if eccentric Hungarian grandmother (hello darlinks!) with whom he would play scrabble for money to fund his schooldays. But then his parents divorced, there was a change of schools, absolutely NO luck with girls despite many efforts and his father dying at a young age. There are exceptionally touching moments in the book, made more poignant by Michael reading it all to you himself. He does not shy away from the most intimate of details during puberty - I'm sure you can imagine! Many opportunities come and go, usually because Michael has an uncanny knack of messing them up. Eventually, he finds the love of a good woman (the description of his wife Kitty going into labour with their first child and the car trip to the hospital is hilarious) and, after 7 years on the comedy circuit, finds fame and fortune - becoming the household name he is today. This is a great journey to take with the man himself, and you will laugh out loud, and start to talk a bit like him when telling a story ... or maybe that's just me! I was sorry when the book came to an end which is always a good sign. Highly, highly recommended.

My star rating: FIVE.

The stats bit:
Length: 384 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99 (with Audible subscription)
Other formats available in: print, Ebook, unabridged audio CD.

Week 47: The Help ... book 48

What a fantastic book! The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, which I read in audio format is a great slice of life in 1960's Jackson, Mississippi. This is a world where segregation between the races is very much a reality - and no well-to-do home would be complete without a black maid. We follow Aibileen, who is raising her seventeenth white child following the tragic death of her own son; her best friend, Minny, who has a tongue so sharp she is in danger of never getting another job; and Miss Skeeter, a white girl, just home from College, who needs to know why her beloved maid has disappeared. Skeeter wants to be a writer and this leads her to forming a friendship with Aibileen, a gentle spirit who loves all the children she has raised for white employees. As she finds out more about life as a maid, both good and bad, she grows increasingly alienated from her family and white friends. This story is sad, funny and uplifting in equal measures. The three main characters each have a different narrator in the audio edition, which works really well. You are drawn into each woman's story which slowly but surely cross boundaries of age, race and law. I heartily recommend this book - especially in audio. I know it's just out as a film but I can't imagine the tale being better told than it is in the edition I've just read.

My star rating: FIVE.

The stats bit:
Length: 464 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99 (through Audible monthly subscription)
Other formats available in: print; unabridged audio CD; Ebook.

Week 46: A Hard Landing (book 47)

After a quiet couple of weeks, I've just finished A Hard Landing, by Stephen Leather, which I read as an Ebook. It's a fast-paced thriller and the first in a series of books featuring Dan "Spider" Shepherd - an ex-SAS trooper and now, undercover policeman. The action gets going from the very first page and the tension builds up leading to a big finish! We follow Shepherd on an operation that he thinks has come to an end, but finds himself in prison as a result and is asked to maintain his undercover character while starting a whole new investigation to try and find a mole who is helping a particularly unsavoury drug baron who is on remand inside the same prison. All Spider wants to do is get home to his wife and son, but cannot resist this new case. As more witnesses seem to be disappearing, so making the case against the drug baron become weaker and weaker, the pressure mounts. Can Spider maintain his cover and his sanity and find out what's really going on before the baddie goes free? If it's a thriller you are after that carries you along on the crest of an action wave, then Stephen Leather is for you. A good read, although sometimes a little confusing with huge gaps between the time some of the characters are mentioned again and you find yourself thinking ... who was that, and where do they fit into the story again? But despite this, I enjoyed it - but it's not for the faint-hearted (as you would expect with these types of characters), with a smattering of brutality thrown into the mix. It's such a shame that the rest of the books in the series are not priced as nicely as the first ... but it's a great marketing ploy, price the first one cheaply and get you hooked into the character so that you buy the next!

My star rating: FOUR.

The stats bit:
Length: 384 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.49 (Kindle).
Other formats available in: print; audio (cassette).

Week 44: Timeless love triangles (Book 46)

As if one love triangle wasn’t enough, there are two in The Things We Cherished, by Pam Jenoff, which I read in print. Sixty years ago, in war torn Poland, Roger goes to live with his brother Hans and his wife Magda, who, he discovers is a Jewess. Hans is hardly ever at home, either with his official work, or his secret underground activities trying to save Jews from the concentration camps. In their isolation, Roger and Magda are slowly drawn together, but their lives are torn apart when Magda and her daughter are arrested by the Nazis. Roger is offered the hope of rescuing them by the Gestapo - but only if he betrays his brother.

Fast forward to the present, where Roger is being accused of a war crime – and in a bizarre twist of fate, two brothers, Brian and Jack, enter the arena to defend him. The former asks for extra help in the form of Charlotte, an idealistic public defender, who has had her heart broken by him in the past. Despite her reservations, she jets off to Europe to help with the case and finds herself being sucked into not only the heart-breaking case of Roger and Magda, but also the confusion of feelings that surface following her contact with her former lover and his brother. 

I have to warn you now, there aren’t many laughs in this sometimes confusing but ultimately satisfying tale – but then tragedy and romance are always close allies.

My star rating: THREE


The stats bit:
Length: 288 print pages
Price I paid: £0.00
Other formats available in: Large print, eBook

Week 43 - is kidnapping a goat ever a good idea? (Book 45)

What a cracker of a book I've finished ... Getting Sassy, by D.C Brod, which I read in audio format, starts with a dilemma for our heroine, Robyn ... how is she going to afford to keep her elderly mother Lizzie in the local care home when the money is running out, and she's just not getting enough freelance writing work to cover the expense! Enter her accountant - who helpfully points out the difficulty she already knows she is in. Robyn is then tasked with writing about a new medium in the city, and goes to a seance for research. Thus sets off a train of events that eventually lead her and her mother down a long and twisting path that ends with finding out about her father - a man she had never known. In the meantime, she gets ever closer to her accountant and somehow, they manage to come up with a plan to steal a goat - name of Sassy - and ransom it for money! There is a lot going on in this book, but not to the extent that it confuses or bothers the reader. Full of humour and humanity - the conversations between Robyn and her spiky mother have an authenticity that is refreshing. I highly recommend this book for anyone struggling to take care of an elderly relative, or maybe those who likes goats!

My star rating: FIVE.

The stats bit:
Length: 264 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.95 (on iTunes).
Other formats available in: standard print.    

Week 42 - blog one: A mercy killing (book 44)

I've not been around to blog over the last couple of weeks - what with family visitors and then a trip to France ... but I'm back and have two books to tell you about. In this first blog, I'll talk about Mercy, by Jodi Picoult, which I read in print. I think Jodi Picoult is an author who divides people - you either get her, or you don't. Her books usually contain challenging themes that might not necessarily appeal on first glance, but I do recommend giving her a go. There have been maybe two books that have actually made me cry and also completely taken me by surprise - and one of them was by this author. However, enough general preamble. Mercy is set in a small town in Massachusetts, where the population are almost entirely descended from one Scottish clan, the head of which is also the chief of police. Into this quiet and peaceful town, enters Jamie MacDonald (also a member of the clan) in a pick up truck. Sitting next to him is his wife, his dead wife, who he has just smothered with a pillow to relieve her of what remained of her painful, cancer-ridden life. As Jamie is taken into custody, so begins a legal debate about assisted suicide versus murder ... was this a mercy killing? Not that Jamie cares what happens to him - as his beloved Maggie is no longer with him. Meanwhile, the chief of police is going through a personal crisis of his own - drawn to a woman who is not his adoring wife, but who has a freedom of spirit that he longs for. Is this his chance to break away from the tradition and responsibility of being the head of the clan?

I wouldn't say this is one her best books, but at the same time, the story telling is good - I just didn't quite warm to the characters as much as I usually do. I'd still recommend it - there is always something to recommend in a Jodi Picoult!

My star rating: FOUR.

The stats bit ...
Length: 449 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.00 (from a charity shop)
Other formats available in: Audio CD; Audio Download; Ebook.

Week 40: A story of everyday trolls ... book 43!

Switched (Trylle Trilogy, Book 1) by Amanda Hocking stars Wendy, a troubled teenager (when aren't they), who never seems to be able to settle in one place. Mind you, it's not surprising when we find out that her Dad walked out before she could really remember him, and her Mum tried to kill her on her sixth birthday - screaming that she was not her child, but a changeling. Not the most auspicious of starts a girl could have. Her two constants are her protective older brother Matt, and her fabulous Aunt, who raised her in a loving environment. One day, a new boy appears at her school - and he keeps staring at her. Should she be flattered, or creeped out? At the school dance, she starts to feel something for this boy, but when he appears at her house in the middle of the night and starts to tell her that she is not human and was swapped for one as a baby and now needs to come away with him back to her own kind ... she is, well, as you would imagine, weirded out! And so begins a surprisingly enjoyable trip into troll- (or trylle-) dom, where Wendy starts to find out who she is and is amazed to find out how important she is to her kind! This is a mixture of all sorts of genres - coming-of-age, fantasy, thriller, teen-romance - to name but a few. There was a good pace to the book and I did start to root for Wendy as she struggled to come to terms with who she is, but can't help being drawn back home to the people she loves and is loved by. Whilst this book is no doubt aimed at a much younger audience than myself (my teens were a very, very long time ago), I can still remember the angst of being awkward and not knowing what your place was going to be in the world, and whether I would find true love ... ah, the memories! This is the first of a trilogy and I hope to dip back in and find out where it goes - as long as the price is right. I read this as an Ebook - and even though there were a few errors (words missing for instance) it didn't detract from the book.

Amanda Hocking should be a bit of an inspiration to budding authors everywhere and a Kindle hero - she has self-published her books on the Kindle at very low prices (not anymore!), but built up a quick following and is now a multi-millionaire. A film of Switched is planned too!

My star rating: THREE and a HALF

The stats bit ...
Length: 306 print pages (not available until 2012)
Price I paid: £0.49 (but notice that it's now £4.79 on the Kindle store)
Other formats available in: paperback in 2012

Week 39: Good as Dead - Book 42

Phew, at last, a real bowl-along thriller that didn't require a huge amount of thought, but after the last few books, I really needed it! Good as Dead, by Mark Billingham which I read in print, features DI Tom Thorne - a London police officer with a chequered personal history (would we expect anything else!), but who usually "gets his man". When police officer Helen Weeks pops into her local newsagents on the way to work, she is stunned to find herself face to face with a gunman - and is taken hostage. The hostage-taker is desperate to find out what really happened to his son, who died in a youth prison the year before. His demand ... DI Thorne must investigate the death and uncover the truth. The pressure is on - can Thorne get to the bottom of this tragic case before the father completely loses control? And will he even be able to handle what might become a very uncomfortable truth? If you like a crime thriller - then you can't go far wrong with the DI Thorne books. Mark Billingham seems to have finely tuned his writing and is turning out one great book after another - books that you want to keep reading and are disappointed when they come to an end. Highly recommended.

My star rating: FOUR STARS.

The stats bit:
Length: 394 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (borrowed from a friend)
Other formats available in: Unabridged audio download; Ebook (Kindle).

Week 38: An unusual philosphical epic ... in Oz!

I have just finished my 41st book -  A Fraction of the Whole, by Steve Toltz, which I read as an audiobook. It is an epic - telling the life story of Martin Dean ... the most hated man in Australia, who is the brother of Terry Dean ... the most loved man in Australia. How did two brothers become the polar opposite on the popularity stakes? Well, as the book unfolds, we find out in graphic detail about the Dean family, from before the brothers were born to their deaths. Told from two perspectives - Jasper, the much put upon and regularly bewildered and disgusted son of Martin, and from Martin himself. The use of two excellent narrators to voice each of these two works fabulously. Full of philosophical musings (and the odd rant), with Jung, Frome and others all in the mix - we journey through a lifetime of lows and disappointments, with the odd highpoint thrown in to prevent you from complete despair. Despite the often desperate (and usually self-inflicted) situations Martin finds himself in - there are an amazing number of laughs and chuckles smattered throughout. It is a long, long book - and there are some tricky sections to plough through, but it is definitely worth the effort. Not for the faint-hearted (language, violence and general seediness are to be found!), this is a book that will stay with me, despite having a central character that you just want to slap. It's a book about life - luckily, someone else's life - but the core themes of relationships - siblings, fathers and sons, mothers and sons, wives and girlfriends - are thing any of us can related to. I'll miss the Dean family - and I never though I would say that.

My star rating: FOUR

The stats bit:
Length: 720 print pages (around 26 hours in audio)
Price I paid: £7.99 (via my monthly download from Audible)
Other formats available in: Print; EBook; Audio CD.

Week 37 ...and a bit!: Little Women is book 40

After what has seemed a VERY long time, I have finished reading my fortieth book of 2011 - Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, which I read as an Ebook. Written in 1868, this coming-of-age novel takes its inspiration from the author's own life and family. The "little women" are the four sisters of the March family - Jo (tomboy and writer), Beth (quiet, gentle and musical), Meg (the home-maker) and Amy (youngest, artistic and most lady-like of the bunch).

We follow the sisters as they grow up in the shadow of the Civil War, with their father away from home, and their mother trying to keep them happy, healthy and trying to teach them the practical skills they'll need for their future lives. There is a deeply moralistic heart to the book - how we should try and live with each other in the world which some might find offputting. However, there is fun to be had and scrapes to extricate themselves from as the four are no angels and there is the familiar bickering like all sisters do. As they grow up we see them move away from their childish concerns to more adult ones - will any of them marry, will they be able to move out of poverty, how will they cope with illness? After what I felt was a very slow start, I did eventually get sucked into this family and start to care about what happened to each of the characters. You do need to persist with it though and I recommend that if you are thinking of reading this book, then you give yourself good chunks of time to do so, rather than snatching 10 minutes here and there. I'm glad I have got through this classic, but it is very of its time, which I suppose is an education in itself. Not for the thrill seeker, but a good book for those who like character-based stories. There are further books which follow on from Little Women, and whilst I did enjoy following the trials and tribulations of the March family, I'm not sure it was quite enough to continue with it.




My star rating: THREE.

The stats bit ...
Length: 530 print pages.
Price I paid: Free on the Kindle.
Other formats available in: print; audiobook on CD; audiobook as a download.

Week 36: No new books, but have discovered croquet!

I've got two books on the go at the moment - Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and A Fraction of the  Whole by Steve Toltz. I feel like I've been reading the latter, on audio, for ages, as it's a bit of a chunky beast of a story about a father and son relationship, set in Australia. Sometimes it's hard reading and at others it's laugh out loud funny. An odd mixture of a book but I think it's going to be worth the effort. Little Women, on the other hand is a classic novel that I'd heard was a must read, but I was feeling a bit ambivalent and a tad disappointed for a good few chapters until quite unexpectedly, I have been sucked in and am both interested in, and rooting for, the four sisters and their mother. Two completely different books - one very modern in tone and language, and the other, using language that wouldn't upset a nun - but their central themes are similar in that it's all about family and relationships! Who would have thought!

My weekends are usually big reading opportunities, but this last one has been different. My big sister is 50 and we had a "bit of a do" at her house! The clan gathered and had a loud and giggly and please no more food time. Excellent times and a great set of photo's have been taken by my brother-in-law that will help keep a record of our daft family for the younger generation to be able to look at in years ahead when mine is even more decrepit! Anyhow - one of the highlights was having my first ever game of croquet. This was unexpectedly difficult but excellent fun. Whilst I'm sure more experienced players would have been appalled at our loose interpretation of the rules, let alone the rather bumpy pitch, we became hooked - especially my youngest niece who turned out to be a bit of a star player. Just might have to find out if there is a local club. Who would have believed that whacking a ball around with a mallet through hoops could be so much fun! Thanks sis for thinking of hiring the croquet set for the weekend and thanks for everything else too - but boy have you set a high standard for 50th birthday celebrations ... but then you always have been a hard act to follow.

Borrowing a book on Malta - yes please!

Thanks Jonathan, I'd love to borrow your book and find out more about Malta during the war, as it sounds like something we should all recognise and understand and not just think of Malta as a holiday destination.

I'm posting a new entry in the blog rather than trying to post a comment - for some reason, over the last couple of months I cannot post a comment on my own blog! Am not alone - on a blogger forum, there were quite a few messages and queries about this - but we haven't had an answer as yet ... if any of you have a solution, I'm all ears.

Week 35: War time thriller with a twist! (book 39)

Just finished a really good book - one of those that once I'd got half way through, I just couldn't wait for the next opportunity to carry on reading it. Definitely a page-turner! The book was The Information Officer, by Mark Mills which I read in print. Set in Malta during the second world war, we discover a part of world history that many might never have heard about. Max Chadwick is the "Information Officer" whose job is to help keep the morale of the island upbeat despite it being under constant siege by the German Luftwaffe. While the bombs are falling and tensions start to build between the locals and the British "defenders", Max discovers that there could be a serial killer on the loose, who is using the cover of the bombing raids to hide his tracks. Can Max find out the truth and stop any further killings and, as if that wasn't enough to be getting on with, can he finally admit his feelings to the woman he loves? This is a well written novel, which hooks you in to the main characters quickly. There are twists and turns as you would expect, and I could really see this as a film. It has also made me want to find out more about life on Malta during the second world war, which became one of the most intensively bombed places during the war, as the two sides fought for control over this strategically placed hunk of rock.

My star rating: FOUR stars

The stats bit:
Length: 400 pages in print.
Price I paid: £0.50 (at local church fete)
Other formats available: Audio CD; Audio download; Ebook (Kindle).

18 August 2011 - Varifocals and reading!

My eyesight has deteriorated substantially in the last year and the time has finally come for me to try to get to grips with varifocals. I have just picked up my new glasses today and am giving them a go around the house. Can really see the difference for the telly, but haven't yet done much reading. How will I get on with them ... only time will tell. I'm certainly hoping they'll help with my reading - which was starting to become awkward as I kept having to hold my books at arms length. With my Kindle, it wasn't so bad, because I could increase the size of the text to compensate for lack of focus on things within 2 feet of my face! Some people have huge problems with varifocals - including two of my sisters - but others just take to them instantly. Fingers crossed I'm in the second category. Will let you know how it goes ... as long as I don't fall down the stairs as I miss a step between focuses! TTFN 

Week 34 - Wading Home: A Novel of New Orleans (book 38)

Wading Home: A Novel of New Orleans, by Rosalyn Story - which I read as an Ebook on my Kindle - is a novel which uses the backdrop of hurricane Katrina to weave a tale of fathers and sons, home-coming, food and, of course, Jazz! When Simon Fortier, chef and stalwart of the community, goes missing after hurricane Katrina, Julian, his jazz-trumpeter son comes home from New York to try and find out what's happened to him. We follow Julian as he tries to come to terms with the devastation left behind by the hurricane, the apparent lack of timely support by the authorities and his guilt over the last conversation he'd had with his father.  He finds comfort in the music of the city, the homely food that somehow finds its way to the table when more than two locals meet, and the friends he had virtually abandoned when he'd left New Orleans to find fame and fortune across the world. Will he find his father and will he be able to understand how the city maintains its hold over a community that has been ripped apart. This is a really good read - and the writing evokes the sounds, smells, tastes and sights of New Orleans and the people who are trying to rebuild their homes and maintain their own particular culture.

My star rating: FOUR stars

The stats bit:
Length: 306 pages in print.
Price I paid: £0.00 (was free when I downloaded it, but it isn't now)
Other formats available:  Print.

Week 33 - I am Number Four (Book 37)

Growing up is hard to do at the best of times - but when you move house and change names every 3-6 months, never getting a chance to make friends, and your father keeps warning you to take care and don't do anything that will get you noticed - it makes it extra tough. But in I am Number Four, by Pittacus Lore, that's just the situation John Smith finds himself in as he moves to a new place yet again - Paradise, Ohio. You see, John is an alien, from a distant planet who escaped to earth with nine other children, each accompanied by a guardian. And they are being hunted down, one by one ... and John is number four! When number three is murdered, John knows he is next, but for once in his life, he's found both love and a best friend and he can't bear to leave again - and now that his "legacies" or super powers to you and me and starting to manifest themselves - maybe it's time to make a stand and fight! This story has all the general angst of being a 15 year old trying to find your way in the world, but with the uber-intense backdrop of constant peril! I really enjoyed this book, which I read in audio format, although the voicing of the female character was a bit on the wet side. This has been made into a film and I can see it working well in that format. The book worked best for me in the moments between John and his guardian, Henri - whose relationship is loving and combative. And look out for Bernie Cozar (no idea on spelling as I read this in audio) - the beagle who attaches himself to John very early on and becomes a bit of a hero!    

My star rating: FOUR.

The stats bit:
Length: 390 print pages.
Price I paid: £6.82 (Audible download)
Other formats available: Print; Ebook (Kindle)

Week 32 - The end of the Millenium trilogy (Book 36)

It's a bit of an odd couple of weeks and I didn't have much to tell you ... but in the last couple of days, all that has changed! I have, after what has seemed a long time, finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson, which I read in print. What a long book, and, as I was reading the hardback edition, it was very tiring to hold this tome whist reading (score one to the Kindle on that front!). This is the last of the Millenium trilogy by the Swedish author who sadly died before he could experience the worldwide phenomenon of his works about a most unusual heroine - Lisbeth Salander. The action picks up exactly where the previous book ended - with Lisbeth mortally injured by her father (Zalachenko), and in custody! Gradually, as she recovers, she realises that she is only a few rooms away from her father, who she had struck with an axe (these books are not for the faint hearted!). There is great tension as we wait to discover whether he will be able to finish what he started ... but events take an unexpected turn with the intervention of The Section - a secret unit of the secret police, who definitely do not want their dirty laundry (in the form of Zalachenko) aired in public. So begins the framing of Lisbeth, and it seems she is destined to spend her days in an institution - but her estranged lover, Mikael Blomkvist, fights her corner and uses all his investigative journalistic know-how to persuade, cajole and harrass at least some of the authorities to uncover the truth. This is a fitting end to the trilogy, with unexpected twists and turns that keep you going right to the last page. There is a certain genius at work here to make you root for the two main protagonists who are both exceptionally flawed individuals - particularly Salander. If you can stomach fierce violence and sexually adventurous characters then you can't go wrong with these thrillers.

My star rating: FOUR.

The stats bit:
Length: 602 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (borrowed from my husband)
Other formats available in: Audio CD abridged; Audio download unabridged; Ebook (Kindle)

Week 30: A brush with DEATH for book 35

I have been delving into the singular Disc World of Terry Pratchett once again for my 35th book of the year. Mort, which I read in audio on CD (fantastic narration by Nigel Planer) tells the tale of a gangly 16 year old (Mort) whose father doesn't quite know what to do with, so takes him to the annual apprentice fair. Unfortunately, even there, noone is interested in taking him on, so his father is resigned to having to take him back home again and try and find something the boy can actually do! However, on the stroke of midnight - which marks the end of the fair - a booming voice declares that it will take on the boy as his apprentice. Slightly bewildered but glad nonetheless, Mort's father agrees to hand him over to this new employer ... who, it turns out, is none other than DEATH himself! Or rather, an anthropomorphic representation of DEATH - with skeletal features, black cloak and huge scythe, just as you would expect. And so begins the training of our hero into a profession for which there isn't a great deal of competition. Do not be fooled by the subject matter - this is not a grim tale. There is plenty of humour - particularly when DEATH becomes disillusioned with his lot and tries to find out why humans find such pleasure in things such as fishing dancing, drinking and eating canapes! Meanwhile, our young hero threatens to break the fabric of time by preventing the fated death of a princess by taking the soul of her would-be assassin instead. Mort needs to get history back on track and so seeks the help of the most powerful wizard in history as well as DEATH's daughter. This book was written by a Terry Pratchett on top form and has plenty of chuckles and mind-bending situations throughout. Highly recommended for those who like a bit of fantasy from time to time.

My star rating: FOUR

The stats bit:
Length: 320 print pages.
Price I paid: Free - borrowed from local library.
Other formats available in: print, unabridged audio download, Ebook.

Week 29: Ex Machina, by Robert Finn - Book 34

Some time ago, I read a book called Adept, by Robert Finn and I thought it was fabulous. A little bit of adventure, thriller and a sprinkling of fantasy thrown in for good measure. I knew there as a sequel, but hadn't been able to find it in my local library or in the second hand bookshops and had half forgotten about it until I came across it on my Kindle and immediately downloaded it. The book is called Ex Machina and I started to read it with great anticipation. However, I was a bit perplexed for quite a while as the main characters from the first book - Susan Milton and David Braun - seemed to be absent and we were being told a tale by a new, and, quite frankly, very irritating narrator called Jo Hallett who got right on my nerves from the get go. The book seemed to take an age to get going and didn't have the pace and verve of it's predecessor.  Eventually, Susan and David did appear but they took quite a back seat to the action which I found very frustrating. In a nutshell, both books are about a secret army of people who have magical powers - but only when they are wearing gold. They also have longevity, but that is dependent upon "The Marker" without which their time on this earth is limited. The book focuses on the hunt for the Marker - the good guys trying to prevent the bad guys from grabbing it to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting world for a long, long time to come. It's all about the power (isn't everything). Into this comes Jo, an unhappy and ever so slightly unstable girl who is too clever for her own good and has very few social graces - but without her, all may be lost!. Her journey to redemption is a bumpy one, and a bit on the long side for my liking. I am sad to say I was disappointed by this book. Whereas the first had thrills and spills and likeable characters - this sequel, which relegates them to bit players, was an odd choice to make by the author in my view. Hey ho!

My star rating: THREE.

The stats bit:
Length: 416 print pages.
Price I paid: £4.31 (Kindle)
Other formats available: print.

6 July - Book 33: The old style adventure that is ... Greenmantle

So, I picked Greenmantle, by John Buchan in an audio format for my recent holiday as a book I could share with others while chilling by the pool. This is supposed to be the sequel to The 39 Steps, but it really didn't feel like it ... although this could be that I've only ever seen the film(s) and the theatre show (recently, in London - it was totally fab and hysterically funny with four people playing ALL the parts - absolute genius). We catch up with our hero - Richard Hannay - who is dispatched on a secret mission to combat a threat in the Arabic world which the Germans (this is first world war era) are trying to take advantage of! It's quite dated with some content that is no longer very PC, but it is a good stirring tale of daring do with spies, disguises, very bad baddies and an interesting "band of brothers" in the goodies camp. We travel across Europe and into Constantinople and end up in cahoots with the Russians. It's worth reading just for the line about a particularly strong piece of cheese that can apparently "raise the dead" - made me laugh out loud! I do enjoy reading an audio book with others listening to the same thing - it's a communal experience a bit like going to the theatre or cinema. I can recommend reading in a group - but getting the right book, for the whole group - is key!

My star rating: THREE

The stats bit:
Length: 320 print pages
Price I paid: £7.99 (via my Audible monthly account)
Other formats available: Print; uanbridged audio CD; Ebook.

4 July - Book 32 ... an epic adventure with Captain Sharpe!

How I do love Bernard Cornwell and his fantastic army misfit, Sharpe! We are still in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars with this latest tale - Sharpe's Battle, by Bernard Cornwell - which I read in print. Poor Sharpe gets himself into trouble very early on by executing two Frenchmen who he has caught raping the women of a village before murdering them and all the rest of the occupants! Thus, he creates an enemy of Brigadier-General Guy Loup, the leader of the French troop responsible for the atrocity. Needless to say, the rest of the book finds ways to bring these two strong men together, then apart and together again so that we can play out the final personal scenes against the backdrop of the real historical battle of Fuentes De Onoro. We find ourselves romping along, with some strong female interest in Dona Juanita (oh Sharpie, will you never learn!) who plays the field in more ways than one. Can Sharpe avoid being court martialled by commiting an act SOOOO brave, that Wellington just won't be able to resist forgiving him? Well, I'll leave that one dangling! Another good addition to the Sharpe series ... it won't be too long until I dive back into the non-stop adventure that is the life of Captain Richard Sharpe! 

My star rating: FOUR

The stats bit:
Length: 367 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.50 (from charity shop)
Other formats available: unabridged audio CD; Ebook.

Week 28 - A little bit of love for book 31!

I don't usually read love stories ... as you may have gathered ... I'm much more the adventure/thriller type! However, 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson attracted my attention one day when I was surfing my Kindle for new books. It had excellent reviews and sounded intriguing and it was free! It was billed as a romance, but it turned out that although there was a bit of relationship stuff, the main thrust of the book was more about a young girl - 17 year old Ginny - as she followed in the footsteps of the Aunt she idolised, and it turned into a bit of an adventure story. Ginny is a shy, American girl, who receives a parcel containing 13 letters, in blue envelopes, from her wayward Aunt who, neither she, nor anyone, had  heard from in a couple of years. The only rule spelled out within the first letter was that she shouldn't read the next one until she had completed the task in the one she was reading. This is the trigger for a journey to London, then across Europe - where Ginny meets people and goes to places that have influenced her artistic Aunt Peg - the Aunt who said she'd always be there for Ginny but who disappeared without trace for years. This is both a physical and mental journey for our young heroine who finds out that she is capable of so much more than she ever realised. A good holiday read - and something of a rallying cry to get out there and do things you would never usually dream of doing ... because they might just open up exciting new avenues to a fuller life! The end is a bit of a cliff-hanger and leaves you wanting to find out more ... and guess what, there is a sequel! So the fact that I paid nothing for my Kindle edition is a great marketing ploy to hook you into the next book.

My star rating: FOUR.

The stats bit:
Length: 336 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (Kindle)
Other formats available: print; unabridged audio download.

30 June: Book 30 - two old fools in Spain!

I read and finished Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools by Victoria Tweed as an Ebook on my Kindle in very apt place ... while on holiday in Spain! This is the true story of an English couple in their 50's who give themselves 5 years to decide whether retirement in an isolated Spanish village in Andalucia is going to be a reality or whether the dream of a completely different way of life turns into a nightmare. Full of characters - from the ridculously friendly next door neighbours to the man whose mule seems to be in love with him - this is a highly entertaining memoir. We meet builders with varying timekeeping skills, an eccentric ex pat and her mother who seems to bathe in Chanel No. 5. One of the highlights for me is the recipes of Spanish dishes which are scattered throughout the book - tasty treats that the Tweeds have come across during their 5 years. This is a fun book, light, short and a swift read. It won't hurt your head and will keep you entertained for a few hours, but is one you will remember fondly if mentioned to you, but which you won't tell everyone you meet that they must read.

My star rating is THREE.

The stats bit:
Length: 196 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.49.
Other formats available in: Print.

27 June 2011 - Book 29: Chocolate Wars .. a tasty education!

So, here's the next catch up ... it's Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury, which I read as an audio book and is my 29th book this year. The subtitle of this book is "From Cadbury to Kraft: 200 years of Sweet Success and Bitter Rivalry" ... and that just about covers it! This is the true account of how the chocolate industry developed both in the UK and around the world. How the race to find a really digestible product from the humble cocoa bean fired the imagination of Quakers up and down the country, leading them to create some of our most well known chocolate bars of the present day. Told by a member of the Cadbury family, it feels like you are listening to a simple family history - but one which spans the globe. We hear how Terrys, Frys, Hersheys and Nestle all started in the sweet tooth game. We touch on the ethics of the Quaker movement and how it leads to the improvement of conditions for workers. And, unfortunately, how each unique business has been swallowed up by huge corporations such as Kraft. This is a fascinating book and I learned a lot - including how takeovers can happen when the company doesn't want to be taken over.

o

Who would have thought history could be such a thrilling read? I can highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the development of a lucrative industry, the Quaker movement or indeed, good old chocolate itself.
My star rating is 5.

The stats bit:
Length: 352 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.84 (from Audible).
Other formats available in: Print; unabridged audio CD; ebook.

Week 26 - I'm BACK ... and vamping it up!

Well hello once again ... I am back online and able to start blogging. We've a lot to catch up on now I'm back from a holiday in Spain where the weather was SCORCHING hot, the people friendly and the reading opportunities many. Over the next few days I'll be posting my thoughts on my holiday reads, starting with Moon Dance (Vampire for Hire #1) by JR Rain which I read as an EBook on my Kindle. This was a fun and light read - not having to use up too much brain power, an ideal book for when you are travelling or on holiday. The star of the show is Samantha Moon - who, we discover, is an ex-FBI agent, now a private detective who only works nights ... for one very good reason ... she is a vampire (having been bitten by an assailant some 4 years previously!) She is also a Mum and a wife. As she struggles with a tricky case, her marriage is falling apart at the seams ... well it's hard for a man who is now so terrified of his wife that he can't bear to touch her anymore - she is not only NOT the woman he married, she's not even the HUMAN he married! It's no wonder that her case - involving an attorney shot 5 times in the head and yet miraculously survives, becomes the focus of her attention and she finds herself drawn more and more towards the hulk of a man who is her client. Will this case and her online chats with the mysterious "Fang9" help her to move on with her life? The book ends kind of suddenly, but sets itself up for more of the same in what is now a series of titles by the same author. Whilst I did enjoy this book and it made me laugh out loud, it's a bit "vampire light" and I'm not sure I'll be going back for more and I definitely wouldn't be paying much for it if I did.

Star rating: 3 stars (for the laughs)

The stats bit:
Length: 288 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.49.
Other formats available in: Print.

9 June 2011 - Chocolate and Vampires ... where will it end?

I'm posting a quick message here because I am not going to be able to post anything for a couple of weeks after today. I will, however, be continuing to read! I'm in the middle of two books right now - The Chocolate Wars in audio format, and Moon Dance on my Kindle. Am quite surprised how much I'm enjoying The Chocolate Wars - the story of the development of the chocolate business in the UK - I am learning so much about Cadbury's and Fry's and Terry's. But then, I DO like chocolate, so maybe I was very receptive to knowing more about how we got to some of the glorious delicacies we have available today. Moon Dance is a totally different read - very, VERY light crime novel about a private detective who is a) female and b) a vampire. It's going to be a very quick read - not hard going at all and I have laughed out loud a couple of times. True Blood it is not - a bit vampire light so far! Anyhow, that's me signing off for a couple of weeks, after which I hope to have lots to tell you.

Week 23 - Labyrinth: a hard puzzle to crack! (Book 27)

This week saw me finishing Labyrinth by Kate Mosse. It's an epic tale set in the same location (around Carcassone in France) but in two different times - 2005 and the 1200's. In contemporary times, Alice goes on an archaeological dig and finds a cave containing, among other things, two skeletons, a labyrinth pattern on the wall, a stone ring and a small leather bag - after which, everybody seems out to get her and why does she keep getting that deja vu feeling? Eight hundred years earlier, amidst the frightening crusade to stamp out heresy in southern France, a young woman named Alais is given a ring and a book for safe-keeping by her father - after which, everyone seems to be out to get her .... These women's lives are linked across the centuries and we journey with each of them separately (really enjoyed the medieval stuff best) until we come to an almighty bringing together of all the strands back in the cave from the start of the book. Full of peril and mystery and herculean efforts to keep the secret of the "true grail" hidden from those who would misuse it, this is a story that definitely keeps you turning the page. Who can you trust? What were the Cathars up to? I was really enjoying it (maybe because I have been on holiday in the area it is set and was picturing the places mentioned) until quite near the end, when I started to find things had got a little confusing and blurry. Maybe it could have done with a bit of editing to tighten it up - or maybe it was just me. On the whole, an enjoyable but not totally satisfying read as I left it not quite 100% sure if I'd got all that I should have out of it.     

My star rating is 3.5.

The stats bit:
Length: 702 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.00 (PDSA charity shop).
Other formats available in: Print; abridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Week 21 - Halfway there, 26 books down, 26 to go!

It's great to be well ahead of schedule for my challenge this year ... but I know all that can change very quickly. However, I have finished book number TWENTY SIX, which was a cracker! The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman - which I read as an audio book - is the story of a toddler, who escapes death one night when the Man Jack comes to kill his family. He ends up at the old graveyard and is taken in by the residents, who decide to protect him and raise him. The residents are all ghosts, with one exception - Silas - who becomes the boys guardian ... but Silas isn't exactly human either! We then go on a journey with the boy as he grows up into a young man. Now, you'd think that this premis would be a bit on the spooky side, but it's not at all.There are deadly hazards and we meet supernatural beings of all shapes and sizes, some with good intentions and some with bad. But overall, it's a story of love and care for those around you. I loved it, and the dialogue is funny and surprising and extremely satisfying. If you like the current Doctor Who (Matt Smith), there is a sequence in the book where the dialogue could be being spoken by the Doctor. Mr Gaiman has written for the series and I can hear his influence very clearly. Although this is catalogued as a children's book, it would be a shame to dismiss it - it's a great read and with Mr Gaiman as narrator in the audio edition, I felt I was getting exactly the characters and inferences that the author intended. Thank you Mr Gaiman!



My star rating is FIVE.

The stats bit:
Length: 304 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99 (through Audible).
Other formats available in: Print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download.

Week 20 - an interesting WWII memoir is book number 25

Felt I needed something a bit more serious after Bond! So, I chose a book I'd downloaded onto my Kindle for free which is a memoir of a Ukranian woman who doesn't reveal her wartime experiences to anyone until nearly 50 years after the events! Called The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister (with contributions from Denise George and Carolyn Tomlin), we hear about a girl who has a great childhood within a well to do family (with a Cossack heritage), whose lives are tainted first by the Russian Revolution, closely followed by World War II. It is written in a naive style, taken from a set of diaries she started aged 9 and which she hid by sewing into her pillow or clothing. We follow her through a happy childhood Christmas into the shortages, then random violence that a war brings. She ends up in a labour camp with her mother, but they too become separated. Eventually, Nonna follows her fathers dream and arrives in America where she meets and marries a good man. She leads a happy life, but is very secretive, only showing her husband her diaries as she nears the end of her life. I found this a very enlightening perspective on the holocaust, it is too easy to forget that these unimaginable horrors happened to millions of diverse people. It made me shudder, but I think we all need to be reminded of this human capacity for evil, so that we don't allow ourselves to go down that road again.

I would give this a 3 STAR rating.

The stats bit:
Length: 336 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (but as at today, it's £8.27).
Other formats available in: Print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download.

Week 19 - James Bond meets his match? (Book 24)

Written to celebrate the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth on 28 May 1908, Devil May Care, by Sebastian Faulks which I read in print, picks up where Fleming left off, and we find the world's best known spy back in the depths of the Cold War and pitted against an enemy set upon the destruction of Great Britain. We first find James Bond on enforced leave, recovering from his last traumatic mission - but he is called back early to try and foil the plot of Julius Gorner - an anti-British drug baron with a deformed hand and a scary side-kick who revels in ramming chopsticks in someones ears to perforate their eardrums (I kid you not!). Along the way, we meet Scarlett - a beautiful girl (what a surprise) who has hidden talents and whose twin sister appears to be a prisoner of his enemy.They join forces and Bond can't help but be drawn to her during his death-defying mission! If you are a Bond fan - you will find all the things you would expect in this book - the food, the weapons, the humour and the adventure ... oh, and the girls! It's a light, entertaining read that sweeps you along in a good old fashioned good vs evil tale.



I would give this a 3.5 STAR rating.

The stats bit:
Length: 295 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (borrowed from the library).
Other formats available in: Ebook; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download.

It's week 18 - The Mayor of Casterbridge (book 23)

I've never read any Thomas Hardy before now, despite recommendations from my Mum and my big sister. I have always loved the TV adaptations - usually on the BBC on a Sunday - but had assumed that the books would be heavy going! How wrong I was. The Mayor of Casterbridge, which I read as an Ebook on my Kindle, is not, admittedly, a laugh a minute - tragedy abounds throughout the tome - and yet, you do get drawn into the life of Michael Henchard, and find yourself empathising with a man whose life has a roller-coster aspect - mostly due to his own impulsive nature. From a shocking start where he "sells" his wife and daughter while under the influence of drink - he turns his life around and becomes a successful businessman and the respected Mayor of the small town of Casterbridge. But 20 years later, his past finally catches up with him with the reappearance of the two women he'd left behind in his youth. After a peaceful start to his "second chance", things start to unravel. There are twists and turns aplenty and I really did enjoy this book so much more than I thought I would. I will certainly be reading more Hardy ... bring on Tess of the d'Urbevilles!



Hope you like this cracking portrait of the author - splendid moustache sir, I must say! I would give this book a FOUR STAR rating.

The stats bit:
Length: 400 print pages (depending on the edition).
Price I paid: £0.00 (free on the Kindle).
Other formats available in: print; abridged audio cassette; unabridged audio CD; abridged audio download.

Water for Elephants - Book number 22

Hmm, coming thick and fast at the moment. Had a few days off work (thank you Kate and Wills, plus a May Day Bank Holiday), which, together with some good weather meant I headed out for a few walks with my trusty ipod shuffle and an unexpectedly great audio book - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I had never heard of either the author, or this book, but it was recommended by readers in one of the Audible newsletters I receive and I thought I'd give it a go. It may be advertised as a romance, but there is so much more to this book which is narrated by Jacob Jankowski - who floats between his 23-year-old, and 90-year-old self. When Jacob is orphaned on the eve of sitting his finals at Veterinarian School, his world falls apart and he is left with nothing. He goes on the road and finds himself adopted by the Benzini Brothers Circus - a rough, tough and not always legal travelling show in 1930's America during the Great Depression. However, there is one redeeming feature - Marlene, who, with her dazzling horse act, is the star of the show! Jacob is smitten, but Marlene is married so he keeps well away until circumstances conspire to force them together in the form of Rosie, an elephant who only understands Polish, and will do anything for a gin and ginger ale! Inbetween these interludes of himself as a young man - we hear Jacob as he is now ... 90 (or 93 ... he can't quite remember) and stuck in an old people's home - angry at the world and desperate for something tasty to chew on. When a circus comes to town and sets up opposite the residence, he finds himself reliving his younger days once again. I really enjoyed this book - expertly narrated by two voices - one for the innocent youth and the other for the grumpy old man. I found the scenes in the home exceptionally touching - and made me think that old people have a right to be grumpy! I feel confident to recommend this book to anyone - particularly this narrated edition which sucked me right in within a few minutes. Another FIVE STAR rating from me!

The stats bit:
Length: 11 hours 27 mins (448 print pages).
Price I paid: £7.99 (from Audible).
Other formats available in: Print; Ebook; unabridged audio CD.

Week 17 - Twenty-one today, twenty one today ....!

Unfortunately, NOT my age, but the number of books I have now read during 2011. And what a great book it was too - Sharpe's Fury, by Bernard Cornwell which I read in print. This is book 11 (chronologically) of the series of books featuring Richard Sharpe - a rough, tough - and now Captain - in the British army. It's 1811, and our hero finds himself in Cadiz - the last patch of Spanish territory to hold out against Napoleon's all conquering forces. Sharpe finds himself caught up in a plot to use a set of love letters to blackmail the English ambassador (and younger brother of Lord Wellington) that could split the delicate alliance between the English and Spanish. The architect of the plot, a very unpriestly priest called Father Montseny, is desperate to inflame the locals in order to kick out the Brits and make peace with Napoleon. Into this situation comes Sharpe, fresh from battle and with a gunshot wound to the head, who is tasked with retrieving the letters, working alongside some murderously tough Irish soldiers, his trusty Sergeant Harper and a gay diplomatic spy. Needless to say - there is some dirty dealing and many scrapes along the way. The action (and what a lot of action there is) culminates with the battle at Cerro del Puerco, where the greatly outnumbered Brits, under a wonderfully heroic Scots general, face the French at the Battle of Barossa while the Spanish enjoy a picnic. Once again, Mr Cornwell brings the Napoleonic Wars to life - with fact and fiction merging into one cohesive narrative that leaves me breathless and totally satisfied in equal proportions. I have been reading the Sharpe books in sequence over the last couple of years, and this is a cracker. It's all here - adventure, politics, history, bloodshed, humour and a small smattering or romance. Superb! This is definitely a FIVE STAR rating - a thrilling read that races into my top 10 list too!

The stats bit:
Length: 376 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (borrowed from the local library).
Other formats available in: Ebook; abridged audio CD; abridged audio download.

Week 16 - I've reached book number 20 (32 to go)

Have been indulging myself this week with a book by Terry Pratchett - who is one of my favourite authors and always cheers me up! The Last Hero - which features characters from Pratchett's Discworld that we've met before (if you've been reading the books in chronological order), plus a few new ones - most notably Leonardo Da Quirm ... who bears an uncanny resemblance to Leonardo Da Vinci from our own round world. Full of fantastic illustrations by Paul Kidby it is a short book taking you on what Cohen the Barbarian (not a typo!) - a hero who, let's face it, is a little past his prime and often struggles to remember where he left his teeth - deems to be his last quest. Desperate to remain a true hero and not fade away unremembered, he determines to have one last hurrah and turns all his anger (of which there seems to be an endless supply) at the impending blandness of the world as the administrators take over, into fighting the unfightable - the gods of the Discworld. Joined by his trusty horde of like-minded heroes - all equally moaning about their creaking joints and lack of hair - they kidnap a minstrel along the way who will write a ballad of the saga and thus ensure their immortality. But the quest chosen by Cohen will mean the destruction of the world, but can anyone stop him ..? This is typical Pratchett, and I chuckled my way through this tale and marvelled at the amazing pictures too. Maybe not his best, but I do need a Discworld fix every now and then, and the books are starting to feel like old friends. If you like a good read that will put a smile on your face, then I recommend this collection of weird and wonderful creations from an exceptionally fertile mind (37 and counting!). I give this a FOUR STAR rating - although I will admit that I find it hard to be objective on this topic!

The stats bit:
Length: 160 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (borrowed from the local library).
Other formats available in: unabridged audio download.

Week 15 - Mr Toppit is book 19!

Really good book to report on this week, which I finished about 10 minutes ago! Mr Toppit, by Charles Elton (which I read in print) takes you on the life journey of Luke Hayman, the son of Arthur, author of a series of five books which form the Hayseed Chronicles - where a "Mr Toppit" never really appears but is always a threat lurking in the background. The fifth book ends on a cliffhanger - with Mr Toppit apparently ready to make himself known as he comes "not for you, or for me, but for all of us". Unfortunately, Arthur is killed in a road accident at this point, so the cliffhanger can never be resolved. An American tourist, witness to Arthur's demise, becomes a fan of the man and his writing. His death sets off a chain of events which lead to the books becoming a publishing phenomenon across the globe - the impact of which on the family he leaves behind is to turn their world upside down and not necessarily in a good way. A story of loss, family secrets and finding your own identity, this is a great read - flowing along at a nice pace and leading you down a variety of paths that will converge satisfactorily in the end. This is a FOUR STAR rating in my eyes and enters my top 10 list.

The stats bit:
Length: 343 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.00 (in a bargain bucket in Blackwells).
Other formats available in: unabridged audio (CD); unabridged mp3 CD; audio cassette; preloaded digital audio player; Ebook (Kindle).

Week 14 - 18 books down, just 34 left to read...

Having just completed Revelations of Divine Love, by Julian of Norwich in Ebook format, I am not quite sure how to present a review. Written in the 14th century, this is a work of English mysticism. After falling deathly ill, "Julian", received sixteen different mystical revelations; which she describes and reflects upon in her Revelations of Divine Love. They focus on the mysteries of Christianity, in particular, the vast love of God and the existence of evil. We go through themes of the "motherhood" of God, and how God suffers alongside his creation, as well as beautiful visions of God in the afterlife. I decided to read this book during the season of Lent. I have to admit that I found the language hard to understand - the 14th century is a long, long time ago. However, every now and then there were some "Aha!" moments. Definitely a book that requires a slow read to allow for ideas to mull about and take shape. It's a book that I'll need to re-read to get the best out of it. As a straight "read" - this is not the book to choose - it needs time and space. I'd give this book 3 STARS as a work of spiritual contemplation.

The stats bit:
Length: 240 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.71 (via Amazon Kindle).
Other formats available in: print; unabridged audio (CD).

5 April 2011 - One Day, by David Nicholls (book 17)

Just finished an interesting book which I enjoyed for the most part. There seems to have been quite a lot of buzz about this book, so I thought I'd give it a go. One Day, by David Nicholls, which I read in audio format, has two central characters - Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew. They meet at University in Edinburgh on the night of their graduation - 15 July 1988. The book then catches up with the two over the next 20 years - always on that same day, 15 July (or St Swithins Day). Both go their separate ways - with careers, relationships and all the paraphernalia of your life as it moves from your early twenties, to your thirties and then heading for the big FOUR-O! Across all those years, they always find that there is no-one they can talk to, or indeed want to talk to, quite like each other. Will they or won't they get it together, or indeed, should they or shouldn't they get it together? This book feels very real in places - funny, nostalgic, excruciatingly embarassing and totally maddening at times. The characters get under your skin and you want to throttle one, or other, or both at times and shout "just tell him/her how you feel you idiot!" The thing to take from this book is ... don't let those little moments slip away - seize the opportunities when they come along. I couldn't give this the full monty score because I got so irritated at the male lead that I lost sympathy for him at times. This could have been to do with the narration - where I found that the accent assigned to Dexter really got on my nerves (sorry Anna Bentinck, but Dexter's "voice" was really offputting). So, it's a FOUR STAR book for me - but well worth a read.

The stats bit:
Length: 448 print pages (16 hours, 26 minutes).
Price I paid: £7.99 (as part of my monthly fee with Audible).
Other formats available in: print; unabridged audio (CD); Ebook (Kindle).

Week 13 - 16 books completed, 36 to go!

After what has felt like a bit of a slog, I have, AT LAST, finished The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn, by Alison Weir, which I read in print. This book is a non-fiction account of the last four months of the life of the second wife of Henry VIII. The blurb about the book says that this reads like a novel - do not be fooled! This is much more like a textbook than a novel. Once you start reading it like a textbook, you will appreciate it a bit more. It is packed, and I mean PACKED with references to the source material the author has used. At first I found this very distracting as I felt obliged to keep flicking to the notes section - but as I wasn't getting anything out of doing this, I just ignored them and eventually got into the flow of the book. The author brings together a whole raft of evidence to argue her case for "what really happened" - either agreeing or not with previous historians along the way. I did find out more about the people involved, as well as the political and religious vagaries of the Tudor period. It is hard to feel sympathy with a woman who helped persuade Henry to ditch his first wife, contributing to the schism within the church, and who, by all accounts, was not an easy woman to like! However, it is hard not to have some empathy for a woman who, having just suffered yet another miscarriage, found that her husband's affections had moved to another woman (Jane Seymour), and that any friends she did have had started to evaporate - leaving her isolated and alone, with the knowledge that this was not going to end well. I feel I have learned something more about the Tudor period, which I am very interested in, and am equally glad that I'm not living in those brutal times!   

Whilst I am sure others will find this book a great read, I'm afraid that, personally, I'd only give this book 2 STARS.

The stats bit:
Length: 416 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.00 in a church fete.
Other formats available in: unabridged audio (CD); unabridged audio (download); Ebook (Kindle).

Week 12 - not much to report!

I seem to have been on a bit of a "go slow" this week. I am reading, but haven't been making much progress. Maybe it's because the books I'm currently into are all quite dense - I've got two non-fictions on the go - one book about the last four months of Anne Boleyn's life (in print), and the other is about the revelations of Julian of Norwich (in Ebook) - a title I've decided to tackle during the season of Lent. Neither are easy reads - or at least, I'm not finding them easy. There is so much to try and take in that I'm pining for something like a thriller that will have a bit more pace and where I can actually relax a bit while reading rather than having to concentrate so much that my head hurts! My one truly entertaining read at the moment is One Day, by David Nicholls (on audio) - about two friends over many years which has a "will they won't they end up together" theme running through it. I went on a journey yesterday to visit my Mum and brother, and got about 3 hours of reading in along the way, so am well into this title now and have reached the stage where I am looking for excuses to carry on reading it - I can feel some gentle weeding in the garden and maybe a walk on the agenda for today - with my headphones well and truly locked into my ears!  

Week 11 - 15 books completed, 37 to go!

The next book down is another new author for me - but not a new genre. Oh, how I like a thriller! Sometimes you just don't want to have to think too much, but get carried away by an action-based tale. In this vein, I quickly got into Painless, by Derek Ciccone which I read as an Ebook on my Kindle. Fast-paced this book certainly is pretty much from the get go. We follow Billy Harper, whose dark past is hinted at and slowly revealed as the book progresses. He feels separate from the world and wants to concentrate on his writing - not the obvious choice of child-minder, but that is exactly what he becomes for Carolyn, a precocious four-year-old. As they slowly become friends, he realises that she is a very unusual girl - she feels no pain! This discovery leads to a cross-border chase as they find themselves pursued by a covert organisation running Operation Anaesthesia - a "patriotic" force looking to exploit the biological anomoly of people like Carolyn. Will they ever be safe, and can Carolyn help Billy find his path to redemption? It's an enjoyable read, but not earth-shattering. I would recommend it as a light read - maybe for a trip or a holiday. I would give this book 3 STARS.

The stats bit:
Length: 308 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 in Ebook (this was on offer at the time, it's not free now).
Other formats available in: print.

17 March - the joys of Ebooks

Am enjoying reading with the Kindle much more than I thought I would. It's easy to use (sometimes too easy) - I've got a WiFi that links to the store really quickly and it's so tempting to browse for more titles and find one and order it - and before you know it, it's right there, ready to read on your Kindle. You could spend a lot of money before you realise it. I've got a stack of books on there already - most of them are absolute bargains. However, I am discovering authors I've never heard of and would probably not look at unless they were either free or ridiculously cheap as an Ebook. Some authors, like Stephen Leather, published straight to Ebook, rather than print in the first instance, and offered his initial book for 71p - needless to say, it became a best-seller and he is making money from it because there have been so many sales! Genius! It also gives hope to those budding authors who are struggling to get published in the conventional way.

The other thing I like is the portability of the reader - it's quite light, and now that I've got a cover that has a built in stand, I can prop it up on the stand while I'm eating and go hands-free, or perch it on my belly while I'm in bed and have my hands under the covers on cold nights - only popping them out when I need to turn a page (quick press of a button) -whereas, with a print book on cold nights I have to keep swapping hands to hold the book as they get too cold.

And one more thing - when my eyes are getting tired, I can increase the font size and it helps me to keep reading.

So, on the whole, I am a bit of a convert - the only things I don't like are that if the room isn't very well lit, the screen can be a bit dark to read AND I have an overwhelming fear that if I lost it while on holiday or out and about - what would I read (as opposed to leaving one print book on a train for instance), what will happen to all the books I've downloaded onto it? Will I be able to get them back (probably need to read my instructions again on this last point).

Week 10 - 14 books completed, 38 to read

Not quite as full of myself this week! Only to be expected with me a) being back at work after a few days break in Lille, France where reading was high on the agenda; and, b) having a cold that is lingering. Both of these factors have slowed me right down. Still, I have got another book in the "read" pile. My latest tome is The Zookeeper's War by Steven Conte. This book was a complete punt - I'd never heard of it, nor the author, but had spotted it in a bargain bucket in Blackwell's bookshop in London. This is a really good book. It's the story of Vera, an Australian woman who is married to Axel, a German who is the director of the Berlin zoo. Unfortunately, his tenure there coincides with the second world war. We follow the couple as they try and keep the zoo together despite the destructive bombings, the deaths of their beloved animals and the staff being drafted to the army. To compensate, the authorities assign forced labourers to the zoo, an idea that Vera finds disgusting. However, she surprises herself by being able to empathise with one of the men who is also a foreigner in a strange and dangerous land. As the war progresses, prejudice, fear, greed and love all come together towards a climatic end where no-one can be trusted. This book was a great read, and really interesting - hearing the voices we don't usually hear of the ordinary man and woman of Berlin, trying to stay alive and increasingly fearing the impending end of the war with the Russians taking over the city. Harrowing at times, but I found it hard to put down. Definitely a 4 STAR read.

The stats bit:
Length: 372 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.00 (in a bargain bin in Blackwells, London).
Other formats available in: none!

Week 9 - 13 books down, 39 to go!

Well what a week it's been! I've finished three books in total, so am quite chuffed with myself (oh dear, pride comes before a fall - best not get too smug). My thirteenth book is Airman, by Eoin Colfer (it's pronounced Owen in case you are wondering), which I read as an audio book. I was introduced to this author by a work colleague who recommended the Artemis Fowl books to me - which are witty adventures for the young at heart that have made me laugh out loud more than a few times (what's not to love about a dwarf with destructive farts!). So, it was with high hopes that I set out on this book about a young boy, Conor Broekhart, whose amazing birth in an air balloon in the 19th century is just the start of a roller coaster of a tale about man's obsession with flight, murder, intrigue and politics. There are great characters on both sides of the fence - with a particularly evil baddie who also gets some funny, if dark, lines. It's a bit like The Three Musketeers meets Leonardo Da Vinci - a swashbuckling fantasy with a smattering of real people and places. I kind of wish that I had read this in paper format, as I found the narrator was a bit off-putting at times - with some odd phrasing - I would not read a book narrated by this chap again, which is a shame. I so wanted to enjoy it as much as I had the Artemis Fowl books, but I didn't - although I fear this could be down more to the narrator than the book itself. An easy read and a good adventure with plenty of action and humour, I'd probably give this 3.5 stars. Maybe I'm just getting a bit long in the tooth for this ... hope not! Will still find it hard to resist the next Artemis Fowl should it come along!

The stats bit:
Length: 432 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99 (via Audible download).
Other formats available in: print; audio CD; ebook.

4 March - What's it like to work for Mickey Mouse?

Sorry if you think I've been quiet the last few days ... but I have been in Lille (Northern France) to celebrate my husband's birthday. We had 3 bright, sunny but cold days and took in the sights, sounds and, most importantly, THE TASTES of this charming place. It is so easy to get to from Great Britain via Eurostar - 4 and a half hours from our front door to the hotel! As always, when we go away on holiday or a short break - reading features heavily on our "things to do" list. We are both big readers (NO!), and it's such a treat to be buried in a book for substantial amounts of time during the day as opposed to a snatched few minutes before bed. All this leads up to the fact that I finished two books while away. The first (and book 11 in my target) is Mousetrapped: A Year and a Half in Orlando, Florida by Catherine Ryan Howard, which I read as an ebook on my Kindle. This is a memoir of the authors' time working under the shadow of the massive Disney corporation in Florida. It's really funny in places and eye-opening in others. This girl from Cork, Ireland, first wanted to be an astronaut and then a virologist, but reality eventually kicked in at some point, and she started drifting through a variety of jobs - not really knowing what to pin her hopes on. Then, came a telephone interview for a job in Orlando that she had almost forgotten applying for - and off she flew to work in a hotel under the shadow of two very large mouse ears! All is not plain sailing, and the 18 months is packed with incidents, both funny and slightly disturbing! It's not all about Disney - the Kennedy Space Centre features heavily too, which I found much more interesting. I found myself bowling along with Catherine, and it felt like she was recounting her adventures in verbal form rather than the written word. Not just for fans of Mickey, Daffy and Goofy - this is a great read for anyone, but especially instructive for anyone thinking of living their dream of working abroad! A quick read and enjoyable in most parts.

The stats bit for Mousetrapped!:
Length: 275 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.21.
Other formats available in: print.

So what about book 12? Well, it was Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, which I also read as an ebook on the Kindle. It's a very short read and I expect most people will roughly know the story of this fairy tale where goodness and virtue triumph over evil - thank goodness for fairy tales ... we all need a bit of reassurence about what's right and wrong in a very black and white world compared to our all shades of grey one! A satisfying read if you've got a small amount of time on your hands and don't want to start anything too heavy (I read this while waiting for the Eurostar on the way back from Lille). I hadn't realised that the author had actually adapted the story from another woman - Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, which, apparently is a bit more visceral. The version I have just read (written in 1756) will be recognisable to anyone who has watched the Disney version (but without the songs). An okay read and one I picked because I'm trying to read as wide a range of books this year than I would usually.

The stats bit for Beauty and the Beast:
Length: 48 print pages.
Price I paid: FREE on the Kindle.
Other formats available in: print.

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.