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).