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.