Northanger Abbey - a gentle end to the year

Catherine Morland is an impressionable young lady who loves the thrill of a gothic novel. Leaving a somewhat sheltered life behind, she goes to Bath to stay with the Allens, her neighbours from the country, and her real life adventures soon begin. She becomes best friends with Miss Thorpe, a star of the social set, and is delighted to discover that her brother has also become besotted with Miss Thorpe through his friendship with her brother. Catherine is avidly anticipating the day when they become "sisters", but there is a fly in the ointment in the shape of the boorish John Thorpe who seems to have designs on Catherine, but she is having none of it! Into this mix come brother and sister, Henry and Eleanor Tilney, who are gentle and humorous and Catherine is very much drawn to them both. When the Tilney's invite her to their home at Northanger Abbey, she readily accepts. At first, she is treated exceedingly well by their father, the General, but, heavily influenced by her addiction to gothic novels, she becomes convinced that the General has a dark secret concerning his departed wife...  Whilst I did enjoy this book on the whole, I do not feel that it is of Jane Austen's best works. Catherine was just too gullible, too silly and too willing to go with the flow. I like my heroines with a bit more fire in their bellies. That said, there are a lot worse ways to spend a few hours in the company of these characters, particularly when you read the audio edition narrated by Juliet Stephenson, who is a dream of a narrator to listen to.  

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 224 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.99p.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Insurgent - a bit on the flaccid side

Having thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the Divergent Series, I was expecting great things from Insurgent, the second outing for Tris and Tobias. The action picks up from where the last book ended, with Tris injured and wracked with guilt following the attack on her original faction, the Abnegation, by her chosen faction, the Dauntless, who were acting under the influence of the Erudite. In this dystopian world, people have been split into five different factions according to their particular aptitude. However, there are some people who do not conform to a faction - these are the Divergents, which is what Tris and Tobias are. Into this mix is added a large group of people who have been kicked out of the different factions - the factionless - who are becoming more and more powerful. There is soul searching and misunderstanding and it seems that no one can be trusted. Who will come out on top? I felt that the opportunity to really get under the skin of the two main characters, and develop them further was completely lost by author Veronica Roth. We do get to meet the mother and father of Tobias, but again, what should have been really big scenes fell a bit flat for me. Yes, there is plenty of action - which, for regular readers of this blog usually means a big tick from me - but it all felt a bit like going through the motions. It reads more like a movie than a book, with no real depth. We keep being dangled the gigantic carrot regarding a dark secret that will change the world forever. But when, FINALLY, it is revealed, I was underwhelmed to say the least. This book seems to spend almost its entire time setting the scene for the next book, but takes a long time to get there. Disappointing.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 544 print pages.
Price I paid: Free, borrowed from library as an ebook.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; unabridged audio CD; ebook.

The Long Song - the triumph of the human spirit

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, The Long Song, by Andrea Levy is the epic tale of Miss July, who was born into slavery in Jamaica, but who ends her days as a free woman. Persuaded by her well-to-do publisher son, July writes her story in her own words. She tells of her mother, Kitty, who is abused by the overseer on the sugar plantation of Amity, the result of which is July, a pretty girl who, as she grows, comes to the attention of Caroline Mortimer, the widowed sister of the plantation owner. She removes July from her mother, as she wants her to be her housemaid, and renames her Margueritte. Through the eyes of July, we witness the heart-breaking treatment dealt out by white men and women on their fellow human beings. I find it so hard to comprehend how a life could be deemed to be so worthless by those in power, and that people were totally at the mercy and whims of the plantation owners, who grew fatter and fatter while their slaves withered and died. July grows into a young woman and finally sees the abolition of slavery - but it is not the joyous event they all felt it would be, for not much really changes. Almost everyone stays where they were, doing what they were doing. Things do change over time, and a new overseer to Amity brings love into July's life. But this can't possibly last! This book does not hold back on the grim nature of slavery, but manages to do it in such a way that the reader is not hit over the head with it. There is plenty of humour which bring bright shards of light into the dark and heavy subject matter. But do not think that this is a slog to read, for it is not. I loved the device of the narrator coming to what might be a natural end, but then moaning that she must continue because her son is telling her that she must write about some of the things she has merely touched upon, or not even mentioned. This helps the reader to see that no matter how grim things are appearing to be for July, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I read the audio edition and I think that the narration by the author herself really helped bring this book to life. I was so eager to keep going with the story that I found myself putting it on first thing in the morning whilst I was doing my yoga session. If you want a book that contains pretty much the whole range of human emotions and are not afraid to look the evil of slavery in the eye, then The Long Song should suit you very well.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 432 print pages.
Price I paid: Free, it was a gift.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD: unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Return of the Native - Love on the Heath

Life is hard ... life is VERY hard if you happen to be living it within the pages of a Thomas Hardy novel. So thank your lucky stars that you are not a character in The Return of the Native, which is set on the forbidding Egdon Heath, where it's tough to make a living, and opportunities for entertainment are few and far between. The action opens with the revelation that the sweet and homely Thomasin has been let down on her wedding day by the shifty Damon Wildeve. It all seems to be a misunderstanding that will soon be mended, but we discover that Damon still holds a torch for his former lover, the beautiful but haughty Eustacia Vye. Damon had turned to Thomasin when Eustacia had grown bored of him, but with his affections now apparently elsewhere, Eustacia's interest has rekindled and with her encouragement, Damon's feelings for her resurface. Into this tense atmosphere enters Clym Yeobright, the "native" who has returned from several years in Paris. Eustacia sees Clym as an escape route from the Heath that she detests, and sets her cap at him. He is smitten and despite protestations from his mother, they are married. Damon finally fulfils his promise to Thomasin and they are also married. Needless to say, there is no happy ever after, with Eustacia's plan to head to Paris being thwarted by Clym's desire to stay put and open a school ... and Damon still can't leave her be! This book is dark, foreboding and if you are looking for laughs, don't bother. Tragedy begets tragedy, most of which is totally unavoidable and can be hard to comprehend in this modern age where women have choices and are, or at least should be, able to determine their own destiny. There are so many wasted opportunities for people to say what they actually mean that I found myself becoming frustrated with some of the characters, and I could not bring myself to warm to Eustacia or Damon one little bit. The bright star shone out from this book for me was Diggory Venn, a reddleman who, due to his trade, is one step removed from society, but is Thomasin's guardian angel and a quiet man of honour. If only there were more Diggory Venn's out there! Some might see this book as a tragic love story, but I saw it as a book about selfishness, pride and dishonesty. Fantastic moods are created by the descriptions of the Heath, which is a character in its own right, influencing and shaping the mood of its inhabitants. These descriptions bring the book to life and the writing was ably assisted by the immense vocal talent of Alan Rickman who narrated the audio edition I was reading. His dulcet tones transported me to a different time and place and helped to get me through a challenging book that, once I'd finished, realised that it had been worth the effort.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 400 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair - Uncomfortable but intriguing

For my birthday this year, my big sister sent me an Amazon voucher with the instruction that I was to use it to buy The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, by Joel Dicker in whatever format I chose to. Well, I plumped for the ebook edition, which turned out to be a bargain of massive proportions. It's a lot of book for a small amount of money, and there is a heck of a lot of story packed into it. Having never heard of the book or the author before, I wasn't sure what to expect. At it's core, it is a murder mystery full of twists and turns that keep the reader guessing and guessing and guessing again. Harry Quebert is a famous author, whose life is turned upside down when the body of Nola Kellerman, a 15-year-old girl who disappeared 33 years ago turns up on his property. She had been brutally murdered and buried with a copy of the manuscript that had made Harry's name. The police have no option but to arrest him as their prime suspect. Enter Marcus Goldman, Harry's protégé and a celebrated author in his own right. Marcus is shocked to discover that Harry had fallen in love with Nola the summer he moved to the small town of Somerset, and that they had planned to leave together on the day of her disappearance. Marcus, as is only reasonable, is shocked to hear this news, but is also convinced that Harry is innocent (of the murder at least) and sets out to investigate. This sets in motion a train of events that slowly reveal the secrets and lies of what had appeared, on the surface at least, to be a sleepy town where nothing much happened. The tale is told by referencing the past, the present and utilises extracts from the "famous" book written by Harry all those years ago, as well as the book Marcus writes about the case as he is investigating it ... which cures him of the crippling writer's block he had hoped to speak to Harry about! It would be difficult for the love story element between an author in his 30's and a 15-year-old girl to be anything but uncomfortable for the reader, but it is all referenced by feelings rather than physically explicit scenes which helps a little. I think this aspect might well put people off, but if you take this book on its merits as a murder mystery, it really works. All in all, thanks sis, for getting me to read something that otherwise could quite easily have passed me by.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 658 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.96.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Black and Blue - Rebus on the wagon!

There is a killer on the loose, who has been nicknamed "Johnny Bible". He seems to be paying a grim homage to the infamous killer named Bible John who was active some twenty years previously, but was never caught and seemed to just stop killing. This stirs up bad memories for John Rebus (in this, his 8th outing), the troubled detective based in Edinburgh, who had known one of Bible John's victims and has always felt the failure of never bringing the killer to justice. Is there a connection between the two killers, or could they indeed be the same person? Whilst itching to be put onto the Johnny Bible case, Rebus is, instead, assigned to investigate the grim discovery of a body impaled on some railings ... bad enough one would think, but the man was also tied to chair and had a plastic bag over his head. Was this murder or a bizarre accident? Not only that, but he is hounded by the press and is put under investigation when a person he helped to put away commits suicide in prison, still claiming his innocence. Rebus can't help but antagonise pretty much everyone around him and is given a baby sitter in an attempt to keep him out of mischief ... it kind of works in that it helps keep him off the bottle, but his baby sitter gets sucked into helping Rebus with the many threads to the investigation. Ian Rankin does a great job of combining the personal and professional lives of those in the police force and brings into focus the difficulty of keeping those two things separate with any great success. With plot twists by the bucketful and comings and goings involving the North Sea Oil Industry, the reader is led in all sorts of directions but slowly and gradually, everything starts to come into focus. The writing is, as you would expect from Ian Rankin, realistic and engaging. The ending is not the one that Rebus would have chosen, and, I suspect, not all readers will like it either ... there is no clean tying up of all loose ends here, but then, life's like that! Black and Blue does not leave Rebus a happy chappy  ... but then, that's just as it should be, any other way just wouldn't suit him!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 516 print pages.
Price I paid: Free, borrowed from my husband.
Formats available: print; audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Treasure Island - Yo Ho Ho!

Due to the numerous TV and film adaptations of this classic tale of buccaneers and buried treasure, many people will be familiar with this adventure story. I certainly was, but have never actually read it, so when I spotted a freebie audio version a few months ago, I couldn't resist. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson begins in a nondescript public house run by Mr and Mrs Hawkins. They are just about scraping a living together in this quiet West Country backwater when their lives are rudely interrupted by the arrival of a loud and paranoid seafarer ... who turns out to be a pirate on the run from his former crew mates. Much rum is imbibed and endless verses of Yo Ho Ho And a Bottle of Rum are sung, but in quiet times, the rough and ready pirate engages young Jim Hawkins as a kind of lookout. However, following the death of Mr Hawkins, lookout duties are forgotten, and the grim Blind Pugh turns up and delivers the dreaded Black Spot to the resident pirate, sending him into a tail spin, which leads to his sudden death. Before Pugh and his rabble return, Jim finds a treasure map amongst the pirate's belongings and he and his mother flee. When the local Doctor and Squire see the map, a plan is hatched to go on a treasure hunt, and Jim gets to go too. Unfortunately, the Squire does not chose his crew wisely and ends up recruiting Long John Silver and his cohorts who were part of the crew looking for the map. Now the adventure really kicks off with a long sea journey ending up at Treasure Island. Jim overhears talk of mutiny, and those loyal to the Squire club together to try to save themselves ... but what will become of the treasure, and is there someone already on the supposedly deserted island? This is a real adventure and there is plenty of action, with Jim getting into all sorts of scrapes. There are two stand out characters, Jim and Long John Silver, the latter being particularly engaging as he veers from kindness to viciousness, and cunning to treachery with alarming speed ... and don't mess with the parrot! The audio version, narrated by David Buck, worked well for me, as what could have become a bit too stagy was dealt with in a largely understated manner. Overall, an enjoyable (but not exceptional) time was had by all ... except for the pirates! It buckles the swashes and shivers the timbers in fine, if a little dated, style.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length:122 print pages.
Price I paid: FREE.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Fault In Our Stars - too many faults, not enough stars!

I don't get it! Is there something wrong with me? I chose to read this book because I'd kept seeing really great reviews about it and didn't want to miss out on what everyone else seemed to be saying was a fabulous read. However, The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green has left me with the feeling that I am on a different wavelength to all of those people. The plot is brave - basically, a love story between two teenagers - Hazel Grace, a 16-year-old terminal cancer patient, and the devilishly handsome Augustus, a 17-year-old cancer survivor - surely, this can't end well. Hazel is clever but quite insular and seems to be hanging onto life purely for the sake of her parents. Augustus is athletic - despite the loss of one of his legs to cancer - smart, funny and has a heart the size of Alaska. She initially resists his advances as she does not want him to suffer the inevitable loss when she dies ... but of course, she fails. His dogged persistence and his overwhelming and quite unbelievable awesomeness(!) wear her down ... as if we didn't know! At this point, I will say no more about what happens so as not to give any more of the plot away ... but I suspect that most people will guess. The underlying theme of living with cancer and what it does to the individual and those who love them is laudable, but the two central characters are so unrealistic in how they talk to each other that it ruined it for me. No two people are THAT smart, THAT funny and THAT wise at THAT age. I'm all for love stories, but this one left me cold. It's fiction yes, you do have to suspend your disbelief on occasion, but this story pushed me way beyond the limit. It's all too contrived and I felt like it was just trying too hard. Does this make me a bad person? Maybe in some people's eyes, but when an author doesn't seem to trust the reader to have any intellectual connection with their work, I feel a little let down. Many will love this book, but my heart strings were left well and truly un-pulled. If you want a tragic love story that will stay with you for ever, then look no further than Birdsong.

My STAR rating: TWO.

Length: 336 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from library as an ebook.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Juliet, Naked - obsessive fan vs reclusive rock star

Annie and Duncan have been living together for 15 years in Gooleness, a sleepy seaside town where the most exciting thing to happen was when a dead shark was washed up onto the beach in 1964.  Neither seem happy, but have stuck it out together partly through a mutual interest in music, but mostly through inertia. The object of Duncan's real affection is Tucker Crowe, a rock star who suddenly disappeared from the public eye many years ago after creating a masterpiece of an album. Annie puts up with this obsession because she is a bit of a fan too. One day, a CD is delivered to the house, which contains the raw, bare demo tracks for that album. Annie listens to it first and is not impressed, but Duncan thinks it is THE best thing he has ever heard and writes an incredible review on the fan website. When Annie writes a counter review, completely dissing it, the gulf between them finally cracks open and a major fallout ensues! Annie is wondering how she could have wasted all those years on such a freak as Duncan, when she receives an email in response to her online review ... and the email is from Tucker Crowe himself. They begin to correspond and this leads us into Tucker's life and we start to find out more about why he dropped off the radar and what he's been doing since then. Can this electronic relationship ever become anything more or, as Annie fears, is this all in her mind ... has that 15 years with Duncan affected her own sense of reality? In Juliet, Naked, Nick Hornby brings together a cast of characters who are letting life slip them by for a variety of reasons. Despite their many flaws, the author has written them so that you can feel for each and every one of them and there is also some crackling dialogue between the main protagonists. There is a Seize The Day feel about the book, and there is an urge to grab at those second chances should they come your way. Life goes by so quickly, try not to waste too much of it with the wrong people! This is an easy, quick read - ideal for a holiday or a cold and rainy evening when there's nothing on the telly!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 256 print pages.
Price I paid: Free, borrowed from library as an ebook.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Rosie Effect - outstanding follow up!

The Rosie Effect is a welcome return for the unique Don Tillman, an Australian man whose particular mental condition means that he is pretty much socially inept. He is a professor of genetics who, in his first outing, set out to find himself a wife. Incredibly, he was successful and ended up marrying Rosie. The two Aussies are now in the USA, Rosie is still studying medicine, and Don is professor at Columbia University. Don, a man who needs routines to keep him from the meltdowns he is apt to have is actually happy. Everything is "on schedule" in his life, and it is good. However, when Rosie falls pregnant, this upsets his equilibrium and his own way of coping is to read up on pregnancy, and then inform Rosie about what she can and cannot do. Rosie, a strong individual herself, does not take too kindly to this and things go from bad to worse when Gene, Don's only real friend and Rosie's supervisor, comes to live with them (unbeknownst to Rosie) after he splits from his wife in Australia. Don, who takes everything literally, but who has no natural empathy with anyone, even his wife, keeps on getting himself into deeper trouble with Rosie and, in his attempts to understand what it means to be a father better, ends up getting arrested in a children's playground. Desperate to keep any possible stress away from Rosie, he tries to tackle all the scrapes he gets into by himself, and things start to spiral out of control. All of which helps to convince Rosie that while she might be able to cope with Don, there would be no way that a baby or child would do so, and therefore, he is not good father material. Will their marriage survive? Author Graeme Simsion brings the familiar characters from the first book back to life, and by transporting them to a different place, takes the opportunity to add a couple of cracking new ones. There are some really amusing scenes, and some heart breaking ones too. Don is such a frustrating man that you want to be able to reach into the book to stop him making yet another poor choice or decision - decisions which seems totally logical, but only to him! Whilst Don is the main feature, I would have liked to have seen more of Rosie. She, by default, has to be a strong person in her own right to put up with Don, but she seems too much in the background and we don't really get to engage properly with what she is going through. I just wanted to scream JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER! Maybe that's the whole point of the book ... to remind us that communication is everything in a relationship and that things can go horribly wrong when the talking stops and the assumptions begin! Take heed ... for there's a little bit of Don and Rosie in all of us! I didn't enjoy this book as much as The Rosie Project, which blew me away, but it is still a great read, particularly the audio edition which I read, narrated by Dan O'Grady.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 432 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Empty Throne - once more into the shield wall dear friends, once more!

Uhtred, the central character of The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwell, is starting to feel his age. He is in constant pain from a less than fragrant wound inflicted during the battle described at the end of the previous book. The wound just will not heal, and Uhtred is starting to think that death will be a happy release. His son, Uhtred (not at all confusing for us readers!), is coming along nicely in terms of becoming a rough and tough fighter, but is he ready to take on the heavy burden of responsibility from his once fearsome father? In The Empty Throne, the eighth book in this epic series, Uhtred's life seems to hang in the balance but he is determined to battle until the end, especially when the future of the kingdom of Mercia is threatened by the death of the estranged husband of King Alfred’s daughter, Aethelflaed. Somehow, Uhtred manages to foil a plot to bring in a de facto leader who is in the pocket of the neighbouring kingdom. Can he bring about the election of Aethelflaed, the Lady of the Mercians (and his former lover) to become ruler instead? Will the Mercians accept a woman as their leader? Oh, and also on his to do list is stopping a threatened invasion by the dreaded Norsemen, which could completely derail the whole scheme if he's not up to the job. And finally, can he NOT end up dead in the process? This is an absolute tour de force of a book. Full of political intrigue, action and revenge, intermingled with some humour and tenderness ... and not forgetting the odd shield wall to contend with. Bernard Cornwell is so at the top of his game that it's enough to make me go giddy with excitement whenever I pick up one of his books. I thought it couldn't get any better than his Sharpe novels, but in this Saxon versus Norseman, Pagan versus Christian epic, it actually has. The BBC have just produced a TV Series based on these novels which starts tonight in the UK ... happy days!!! If you haven't yet ventured into The Last Kingdom, and you like the action to come thick and fast, and feel like you are learning a bit of history too, then please take the time to do so. I would recommend this book in any format, but I found the audio edition (my first in this series), which is narrated by Matt Bates, to be a particular treat.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 352 print pages.
Price I paid: Free, borrowed as an audio book from local library.
Formats available: print; audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Peculiar Life Of A Lonely Postman - Haiku Heaven!

I stumbled across The Peculiar Life Of A Lonely Postman, by Denis Theriault, completely by accident when browsing through the ebook offerings from my local library. And what a happy accident that turned out to be! Set in Montreal, we are introduced to shy and lonely Bilodo, a postman who is living his life vicariously through the letters he steams open to read every evening. After which, he reseals them and delivers them to their intended recipients the following day. Of particular fascination for him are the letters from Segolene, a young teacher from Guadeloupe, who sends and receives haiku from scruffy academic, Grandpre. Through reading her poetry, Bilodo falls in love with Segolene, and his quiet life bumps along until one fateful day when Grandpre is knocked down and killed while trying to post his latest haiku to Guadeloupe. Unable to face the prospect of no more correspondence from Segolene, Bilodo decides to step into Grandpre's shoes ... which means he has to learn more about haiku and how to write them! The deception works and the postal exchanges become more frequent and more intimate. As Bilodo retreats further and further from real life, is he in danger of losing his own identity and sanity for the sake of his perfect dream world? This book almost has a fairy tale quality about it, helped enormously by the presence of many haiku strewn throughout the prose. It holds a stark warning about losing sight of reality, but also has a reassuring twang about the circle of life. There is much to enjoy in this short book, with the heartstrings being pulled which leaves you rooting for the unfortunate Bilodo despite his less than admirable methods of finding the girl of his dreams ... or does he? Worth a few hours of anyone's time!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 128 print pages.
Price I paid: Free, borrowed from library as an ebook.
Formats available: print; ebook.

Nemesis - keep your wits about you!

Jo Nesbo is a master at the type of thriller that grips you within the first couple of paragraphs and lets you know that you are in for a good time. In Nemesis, the fourth outing for Harry Hole, we find that our troubled detective is not only off the booze, but is actually in an adult relationship with the lovely Rakel. She, however, is in Russia, trying to prevent the dodgy father of her son from taking him away from her. Harry misses his new little family, and is continuing to brood over the death of his partner, Ellen, a year ago. He is not convinced that the whole truth has been uncovered and wants to keep investigating. However, when a bank robbery ends up with one of the female tellers being shot dead, he is assigned the case. Joining him is Beate, a young police officer whose father was killed in the line of duty by a bank robber, and who has the ability to remember every single face she has ever seen. At the same time, Harry happens to meet an old girlfriend and stupidly accepts her invitation to a drink in her apartment. When Harry wakes up the next day, he cannot remember a thing, but has got the mother of all hangovers! Unfortunately for Harry, the girlfriend turns up dead and he is not entirely sure that he didn't do it. And so begins an incredibly complex novel, full of twists, turns, revelations and dead ends. Just when you think you know who did what, you are thwarted once again. To keep all these threads going and keep the surprises coming is an epic feat. Very well written and full of great characters, in which it is never safe to assume which side anyone is on. I found this book to be highly imaginative, but you do have to keep your wits about you in order to make sure that you keep up! I was confused a couple of times but was able to get back on track and I found Nemesis to be an edge-of-the-seat tale that kept me guessing and then guessing some more right up to the last page. It's only a matter of time before I turn back to Harry Hole!
 

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 706 print pages.

Price I paid: Free, borrowed from my husband.

Formats available: print; audio cassette; unabridged audio download; ebook. 

My Dear, I Wanted To Tell You - More WWI drama!

It is a bit unfortunate that I had started to read this book at the same time as Toby's Room, because not only is this set during World War I, but it also features artists, a facial injury and even two of the same characters!!! However, this did not deter me from continuing with My Dear, I Wanted To Tell You, by Louisa Young ... Riley Purefoy comes from humble beginnings, yet finds his way into the rarefied life of artists by first becoming a model in his youth and gradually making himself indispensable to this artist and finally becoming his pupil. Also being tutored is the very well-to-do Nadine Waveney. They become firm friends and that friendship turns to love, but with the class divide between them, Riley never vocalises his feelings. The war starts and Riley joins up, and finds that he is a remarkably good soldier and works his way up the ranks under the guidance of Peter Locke, his commanding officer. One time on leave, Riley and Nadine meet up and their love can no longer be hidden. Meanwhile, Peter is slowly falling apart, as is his wife, Julia, who is desperately trying to hang onto her beauty, convinced that unless she does so, Peter will never want her when he returns from the war. When Riley receives a terrible facial injury, he is shipped home and decides that he will not be a burden to Nadine, and ends their relationship with a cruel letter. Distraught, she heads to France as a nurse, and experiences the horrors Riley had been protecting her from. Will the war ever end, and can there ever be a happy ending after the inhumanity it has wrought ... This book is a love story, but also encapsulates the ceaseless determination of the human spirit to triumph over adversity despite all attempts to grind it into submission. The dreamy idyll of life before the war is juxtaposed by the senseless destruction of human life in the trenches. It's the story of those who are left at home as much as those who go to war, with each fighting their own personal battles. There is much to recommend in this story, though the ending will not be to everyone's taste. I read the audio edition, narrated by Dan Stevens (pre Downton Abbey fame), and he does an excellent job in conveying all the characters. Worth a punt!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 33 print pages.
Price I paid: Free, it was a gift.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story - Still fresh!

Almost everyone knows a bit about The Jungle Book, although maybe mostly, like myself, through watching the fabulous Disney cartoon ...Get with the beat Bhaggy ...! Could the original work by Rudyard Kipling be as good? In a word ...YES! In The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story, all the tales of the young Indian boy are brought together in one edition. We first meet our hero as a toddler, who is saved from the jaws of the tiger, Shere Khan, by the timely intervention of a pack of wolves. Amazed at the lack of fear shown by this man-cub, they take him into the pack and raise him as one of their own, giving him the name of Mowgli. As he grows, he is given lessons on the law of the jungle by Baloo the bear, Bagheera the black panther and Kaa the python. We follow Mowgli through his childhood, which include a kidnapping by Monkeys and several near misses with Shere Khan. But all too soon, his wolf mother and father feel that the time is right for him to go back to live with his own kind again, but Mowgli struggles to fit in and cannot help but return to what he calls home. Will Mowgli ever be able to feel human, or will he always want to swing around in the trees with his adopted family? And will he ever be able to escape the threat of his stripy nemesis? This is a book that can bring you back to your childhood within a few pages. It is full of the growing pains we all experience in our youth, with both dark and light moments, but always, there is an immense amount of love.  I thoroughly enjoyed the slightly dramatized version from Audible which included Tim McInnery as the narrator and Bill Bailey as Baloo. I found it an evocative and touching book with themes as relevant today as they were when it was written, but then maybe I'm just a sentimental old Hector. Maybe this is why Disney are producing a new live action version as we speak!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 160 print pages.
Price I paid: Free offer from Audible.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; unabridged audio CD; ebook.

Slaughterhouse 5 - oddly fascinating

I have been sitting here, looking at a blank computer screen for some time now, trying to work out what to say about Slaughterhouse 5, by Kurt Vonnegut. I am not sure where to start ... I think I need a bit more thinking time ... (some 15 minutes later) ... okay, here goes! This book is unlike anything I have ever read before. It may be relatively short, but it packs so much in that, like the central character of Billy Pilgrim, I found myself disorientated and not always 100% sure about where or indeed when I was. The author, who witnessed the horrific bombing of Dresden during the Second World War, and has taken that experience as his inspiration, using the life and times of Billy Pilgrim as his vessel. We travel with Billy through space and time, where he jumps between the key events in his life. This includes the time when, he believes, he was abducted by aliens who have subsequently instilled in him the philosophy that both time, and more importantly, death is irrelevant - if you existed at one point on the time line, then you will always exist, and death just happens to be a different point on that time line. So it goes. Billy can be on his honeymoon and in the blink of an eye, back in Dresden surrounded by his fellow prisoners, but already knowing what is going to happen to each and every one of them. Billy seems to take some kind of comfort in this heightened self-awareness, and tries to keep his focus on the good things he is, has, or will soon be experiencing - taking guidance from his alien abductors. The book is written in a short, clipped style - not dwelling for any length of time in one place or time. It tells the story of the Dresden bombing, but in short snippets. Is the author protecting us, or himself by using this technique? Could anyone tell, or hear, the full blown version in one uninterrupted sitting without falling into despair? Slowly, and surely, we go back to Dresden, but the horror is broken up by the other events from Billy's life, the banal, the joyful, the proud and the ludicrous moments too. Which of these events are fact, and which are just protective constructs of Billy's mind is not always easy to determine. It is a book that is hard to put down, but, at the same time, can be hard to pick up again. It's not always an easy read, with the style taking a bit of getting used to, but it is definitely worth the effort ... So it goes. So it goes. So it goes.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 192 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from local library as an ebook.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; ebook.

Grave Peril - revenge is a dish best served by ghosts!

In this third outing for the deeply caustic wizard/private-eye, Harry Dresden finds himself thrown from one perilous situation into another. Grave Peril, by Jim Butcher, opens with Harry fending off a violent ghost in the maternity wing of a Chicago hospital who seems determined to harm the babies. By his side is a new character to us, Michael, a man with the strongest faith in God who wields a powerful sword on His behalf to combat evil in the world. Together, they send the ghost back to the Netherworld, but find that she was under a powerful torture spell ... no wonder she was so full of anger. It soon becomes apparent that there is a dark force at work, and that the barrier between the worlds has become dangerously thin, thus allowing far too many ghosts to return "topside" to take revenge on those who wronged them when they were alive. Into this mix come some lusty, and very hungry vampires, who seem intent on luring Harry to his death, and, as if that wasn't enough, Harry's Godmother - a powerful Faerie named Leah - also has designs on him. Harry thinks he knows who and what is pulling the strings, but is shocked to his very core to find that he was wrong, in the process of which, he is badly weakened when some of his magic power is ripped from him. Around him, Harry's friends are becoming targets and he knows he has to fight with everything he's got left to protect those who have had his back in the past ... This book is a great addition to this series and, if you didn't know that there were more books to come, you might well believe there's no way Harry can escape from the mess he's soon in. The action is full on, the atmosphere dark, the future unsure, but the sarcastic comments of Harry bring little pearls of humour into what could otherwise become a relentless assault on your senses ... particularly if you read the audio version with headphones, which is what I was doing. Superbly narrated by James Marsters, the audio will not disappoint. This story is a great romp if you like your action supernatural. While it cleverly wraps up this particular adventure, it has also sown the seeds for the future ... and for Harry, you just know that the future won't be a walk in the park! Oh, and take a tip from me, NEVER make a bargain with a Faerie!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 384 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.84.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; MP3 CD; ebook.

Toby's Room - will the truth out?

Toby's Room, by Pat Barker opens in 1912, with Elinor, an aspiring artist studying at the Slade School of Fine Art, having gone back home for a visit. After being badgered for details about her exotic life in London, and the men she must be meeting, she blurts out the name of the first man she can think of - Kit Neville - a man who makes an impression wherever he goes, although rarely a positive one! Her brother Toby, who she has always been extremely close to, seems to feel threatened by this news of a potential beau, and his later reaction almost destroys their relationship. They strive to bury what happened between them, and life goes on, with Elinor eventually becoming involved with Paul Tarrant, another artist at The Slade. At the outbreak of the First World War however, all the young men in her life enlist, including Toby, who serves as a Medical Officer. When the family receive news that Toby is "Missing, Believed Killed" Elinor refuses to accept this. She retreats to her family home once again, and paints all of Toby's favourite places, and sleeps in Toby's room to feel closer to him. In her quest to find out the truth, she then seeks the help of Paul, who is back home with a leg injury. Together, they track down Kit Neville, who served with Toby and is also back home after suffering a horrific facial injury. Kit is saying very little, which only adds to the conviction that the real story is being hidden from her. Elinor finds a new role in helping the medical staff at The Queen's Hospital, Sidcup, where she provides anatomical sketches before, during and after the pioneering operations taking place on the soldiers by Harold Gillies (a real life figure, thought to be the father of plastic surgery). As the surgeons try to rebuild shattered faces, Elinor tries to rebuild her life ... will she find what she is looking for? Pat Barker has worked an intimate family story into the broad fabric of the First World War. Mixing fact and fiction she has created a novel that is disturbing and visceral, but also quiet and thoughtful. The horrors of war, both immediate, and long lived, are laid out for all to see. I found this book (which I read in print) unsettling at times, both in the themes and the detailed descriptions. Not all the characters are sympathetic ones, but then that is much more true to life. A book to make you think. A book that warns of the dangers of secrets. A book that anyone who thinks that war is a glorious thing should be made to read.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 264 print pages.
Price I paid: Free, borrowed from my husband.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Divergent - totally gripping!

What was I thinking ... I've only been and gone and started another trilogy when I still haven't finished a whole host of series that I'm already in the throes of. I was just having a mooch within the ebook section of my local library, and Divergent, by Veronica Roth popped up. I had heard good things about this and I just couldn't resist ... and for once, I am really pleased that I was so weak-willed! I was gripped from pretty much the first few paragraphs. This story has parallels with The Hunger Games in that we are in a dystopian world, and our central character is a young girl. In Divergent, the population is divided into factions which display particular human leanings - Erudite (clever), Amity (peaceful), Candor (honest), Abnegation (selflessness) and Dauntless (brave). The factions don't really mix and each have their place in society. However, what was originally set up to prevent catastrophic wars has slowly fermented into discord and resentment. Enter Beatrice Prior, raised within the Abnegation faction, she has now reached a critical point in her life ... aged 16, she must chose the faction she will spend the rest of her life in. To her own surprise, she chooses Dauntless and begins her life as "Tris". She begins her training and soon displays an amazing aptitude for many of the tasks laid out before her. She is obviously so much more than either "Dauntless" or "Abnegation" ... she has skills across many factions and we discover that she is, in fact, Divergent! This is a dangerous thing to be as you can think and act for yourself ... and in doing so, you might just disrupt the status quo. Her trainer, Four, recognises her for what she is, but tries to help her duck under the radar ... otherwise, the powers that be will find some way to make her disappear. Together, they discover a plot to use the Dauntless faction to batter the ruling faction into submission. Can Tris and Four work together to find a way to stop the bloodshed ...? This book is really enjoyable and is so action-packed that you hardly dare put it down in case it throws itself off the bedside table and carries on the story without you. It may not be literature in its highest form, but boy oh boy, this author really knows how to keep you turning those pages. There are so many themes to keep you engaged ... politics, jealousy, danger, romance, family, loyalty, and the pains of growing up too. Highly recommended for anyone who likes their books to race along at 100 miles an hour with barely time to take in the view. Looking forward to part two ...

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 496 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed as an ebook from my local library.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Buried Giant - Erm!

To say I am a bit befuddled as a result of reading The Buried Giant, by Kazuo Ishiguro is putting it mildly. I have spent a couple of days pondering its content, but am still finding it hard to put my finger on what this book is actually trying to say. Set in a mythical Anglo-Saxon time after the reign of King Arthur, it seems, at first, to be the story of an elderly couple (Axl and Beatrice), who have fallen out of favour with the rest of their community. They decide to head off to find their son who lives in a village several days walk away. Events and memories are, however, a bit hazy, which you might expect from an elderly couple, but it soon becomes apparent that no one can keep a firm picture of anything, even from the very recent past. The couple are aware that they, and everyone else, has forgotten the majority of their lives, but the two things that they are sure of is, firstly, that they love each other profoundly, and secondly, that their son is eagerly awaiting their arrival. So, off they go, and thus begins a bit of a quest. As they travel, they meet strange people and hear frightening tales of a boatman who promises to take couples over to an island, but always leaves one behind. Taking shelter in a village Beatrice has some memories of, they come across Wistan, a warrior, who has just rescued Edwin, one of the village boys from some marauding ogres. The four find themselves on the road together, and bump into Sir Gawain and his trusty steed, Horace. They have been on their own quest for many years, which involves the local dragon. Memories start to be stirred, and some of the party are sure that they have met before. They team up, but is everyone on the same quest? If the dragon is killed, will their memories be restored, and how will that change the relationship between Axl and Beatrice, let alone the Saxons and the Britons who have been living harmoniously for many years, but of late, tensions have emerged out of the "mist" that covers the land? I want to say that I can't say any more without ruining the end ... but I'm not sure I would. I found this book frustrating and unsatisfying. Is it about shared memory? Is it about the danger of digging up the past? Is it about the kindness of strangers? Is it about moving past old grievances? Or is it about enduring love and how to let go? Maybe it is all of those things, or maybe it is none of them. Maybe this ambiguity (or at least, that is my perception) is the point of the book ... its meaning is what each individual reader needs/wants it to be. Maybe that is its genius! I just don't know. I often read this book with a puzzled look on my face, but at the same time, I never got the urge to give up on it. I really wanted to find out how the quest would finish. Despite my misgivings, however, The Buried Giant is staying with me and I'm still pondering ... and there aren't many books you can say that about!

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length:384 print pages.
Price I paid: Free, borrowed as an e-book from my local library.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; audio CD; e-book.

The Ask and The Answer - Come on feel the NOISE!

Patrick Ness could teach many a wrestler a thing or too about securing someone in a firm headlock and not letting them go until you are good and ready! In The Ask and The Answer, the second book in the Chaos Walking trilogy, we are thrust back into the confusing and frightening world of Todd and Viola. After their breakneck flight to find the safety of Haven, the two youngsters find that it has all been for nothing. Haven is no haven at all, and has become New Prentisstown, and is being run by their archenemy, Mayor Prentiss, the mad and dangerous despot who now calls himself "President". Without knowing whether Viola is alive or dead, Todd is forced to join the new regime. She, meanwhile, is kept separate with all the other women, and slowly recovers from her injuries. Both are brought under the influence of powerful individuals who try to manipulate and forge them into images of themselves. For Todd, this means becoming the Major's second son, and for Viola, this means training to become a healer initially, and then a freedom fighter for the collective known as The Answer, led by the ruthless Mistress Coyle. Todd finds himself doing unspeakable things, and is haunted by his actions, particularly where the Spackles are concerned. In despair, he tries to stop himself feeling anything at all, which has the side effect of controlling his NOISE (the disease affecting men only, which causes all their thoughts to be broadcast). This almost works ... that is, until Viola reappears. Can Todd and Viola be reconciled and work together to bring peace to the New World in time for the arrival of the rest of the new settlers, or will civil war bring about the end of everything? Oh, and watch out for the return of the Spackles!

I cannot recommend these books highly enough - particularly the audio edition narrated by the splendiferous Humphrey Bower. This is a dystopian world, full of violence and unrest, but also full of good, good people and humour too. On the surface, there are two opposing sides, and whilst their stated intentions sound fairly reasonable, it soon becomes apparent how much power can corrupt the soul, and how good people can be lead down bad paths before they become aware that the "cause" they are fighting for is every bit as damaging as the other. Not only a great adventure story, but a warning to all those who might think about taking up arms to fight for what they believe in ... don't believe everything you hear! This book will have you on the edge of the seat, rooting for Todd and Viola and hoping against hope that there will be a happy ending ... it's just not yet ... as this book, like the first, ends on an almighty cliff hanger! Bring on part III!

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 576 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.92.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

A Memory of Light - The Wheel of Time turns for the last time

Ring the bells! Roast the fatted calf! Finally, oh joy of joy, I have reached the end of the epic fantasy marathon that is The Wheel of Time series. A Memory of Light, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson brings the conclusion of the story of Rand, Matt, Perrin, Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve all together in one humongous, complex and emotionally draining tome. The world is on the brink of disaster. Evil, in the form of The Dark One, is seeping into every corner. It seems that no one can escape its grip. The Final Battle between good and evil is about to start, and the outcome teeters on the balance to the bitter end. Our main characters lead the charge, whether they want to or not. Through political wrangling, charm, gambling and a touch of bullying, they unite pretty much the whole of humanity together, alongside Ogiers and wolves. Old enmities are left to one side as they struggle against overwhelming odds to defeat The Dark One and his hordes of trollocs, fades, darkfriends, shadowspawn ... the list goes on! Rand is embroiled in a one-on-one battle with the shadow, whilst everyone else keeps the hordes busy on several fronts and try to watch his back. As usual with these books, there are countless characters, and it can be almost impossible at times to keep track of who is who, where they fit into the story and which side they are on! You definitely have to keep your wits about you as the action moves swiftly between the different battle fronts and the various realities that the characters jump in and out of. There are brutal scenes of warfare and destruction, and I experienced genuine surprise and shock when some of the main characters do not make it to the end of the last page. The body count is horrific! This is the 14th book in the series and I have to say it is probably one of the best. I am really pleased that I didn't give up on this series during it's flaccid phase (around books 7-10), and the shot in the arm that Brandon Sanderson has given to the last few titles has made it all worthwhile. Maybe, just maybe, when Game of Thrones comes to an end, someone might take up the challenge of trying to bring The Wheel of Time onto the small screen too ... I wonder if anyone is brave enough?

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 1007 print pages, yes, that does say 1007!
Price I paid: Free, borrowed from local library.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; unabridged audio CD; ebook.

When God Was a Rabbit - Childhood makes us what we are

When God Was a Rabbit, by Sara Winman is the intimate story of the Portman family from the perspective of the youngest member, Elly. Born in 1968, we meet her when she is very young and she develops a friendship with the old man next door which goes on to affect her whole life. We see her grow older and find that she worships her brother Joe, but does not make friends easily, except with her rabbit, which she names God, and the irrepressible Jenny Penny, who bursts into her life one day at school. Elly and Jenny share everything ... well, almost everything. When the Portman's win a fortune, the family up sticks and move to the countryside. When Jenny suddenly stops communicating with Elly, she is devastated. We move forward in time, with the Portman's gathering unusual friends along the way who become part of an extended family. Joe is now working on the other side of the Atlantic and still seems unhappy. When Elly receives a letter out of the blue from Jenny, we find out what has happened to her. Can their friendship be rekindled? Will Joe and Elly ever be happy? This is a strong, but intimate story, beautifully written, about family, friendship, love and loss. I read the audio edition, narrated by the author herself, which I felt worked very well - I suppose it helps that she is an actress! It is heart-breaking and funny by equal measure and I can heartily recommend it. Personally, I felt that the ending was a little strung out and could have been rounded up a little quicker, but that is only a minor point.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 352 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Sharpe's Siege - a masterful piece of writing

Bernard Cornwell has done it again with this classic Sharpe adventure. In Sharpe's Siege, our hero, Major Richard Sharpe, is called upon to assist the British Navy in the capture of a fortress on the French coast. This does not bring him happiness, for, in the first place, he is leaving behind is new, and sick wife, Jane, who he fears has "the fever." And secondly, he has to take orders from an incompetent Naval Officer. What should be a fairly routine piece of action behind enemy lines becomes much more complicated by some underhand goings on by both the French, in the shape of his long-time adversary, Pierre Ducos, as well as the British army itself. And guess who gets caught up in the middle of all the politics once again! This leads to his small band of men being abandoned in the fortress they had captured, and facing overwhelming forces of the enemy. Desperate times call for desperate measures ... one of which may be that he has to put his trust in an American privateer who has no love for the British! The action is fast, furious and brutal at times, but we also see the softer side of Sharpe in this book, something which I'm very happy to see. Sharpe fans needn't worry overly, he certainly hasn't lost any of his edge when it comes to the battle. This book is raw at times, showing that there may be victory, but there is certainly no glory or glamour in war. Sharpe's Siege is the eighteenth in the Sharpe series, and I've only got three more to go! I feel like I should ration myself as I am dreading the day when I have no more Sharpe books to look forward to devouring!

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 319 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.50 from a charity shop.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Persuader - Jack Reacher on fine form

Persuader, by Lee Child, is an action packed treat for any fans of the rough and incredibly tough anti-hero with the name of Jack Reacher. This is his seventh outing, and for anyone who has missed the story so far, here is a quick recap ... Jack left the US Army where he was a Major in the Military Police. He has been drifting around America ever since, never staying in one place for very long and taking the time to visit the out of the way places of that vast country. In between times, he keeps getting embroiled in sticky cases with either the FBI or other law enforcement agencies, who use him as a consultant to bring the bad guys to justice. Usually this is off the books, which is just as well, as it usually results in a substantial body count! Persuader, the seventh book in the series, is no exception. Reacher is approached to infiltrate a gang of gun smugglers, but he has an agenda of his own, for one of the protagonists just happens to be an ex-military traitor, who has crossed paths with Reacher before. I was hooked from the first line and from that moment I knew I was in for a bumpy, but enjoyable (from the safety of my Kindle) time. There is much violence and very little mercy on show, and Jack isn't someone you'd invite round for Sunday lunch. However, there is something about him that is irresistible, and I just can't stop myself from plunging into his manly maelstrom every few months. Lee Child is frighteningly prolific and scarily consistent at producing true page turners that make you wince, but at the same time, not make you want to put the book down ... a rare skill and long may he reign!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 544 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed as an e-book through local library.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; unabridged audio MP3 CD; abridged audio CD; e-book.

The Thrill of It All - so you want to know what it's like to be in a band ...

For those who may have always wanted to be in a band, then The Thrill of It All, by Joseph O'Connor can give you an insight into the highs and lows of all that such a life can offer - undoubtedly using some insider knowledge from the experience of his sister, Sinead O'Connor! We follow the formation and disintegration of The Ships in the Night, a band whose eclectic bunch of musicians make it hard to place them in a particular genre. In the very un-rock and roll setting of Luton Polytechnic in the 1980's, Robbie Goulding becomes aware of the exotic creature that is Francis Mulvey - an Vietnamese orphan who was adopted by an Irish couple living in Yorkshire! Fran wears make up, Fran wears dresses, and Fran seems to respect nothing and no one, except maybe music. When Fran discovers a kindred spirit in Robbie, they start to skip lectures and perform music together, eventually busking to bewildered passers by in the local shopping centre! Also at the Poly is Trez, a beautiful creature who plays a mean cello, but can turn her hand to pretty much any stringed instrument. When she calls on her twin brother, and drummer, Sean, the band finally comes together. Many gigs in many towns follow, with countless knock backs before they get any kind of a recording contract. Eventually, things turn around for them on a tour in the USA, and suddenly, it's all systems go. The pressure of four people, living, eating, sleeping, and making music together 24/7 starts to make cracks appear. Drugs and drink and unforeseen pregnancies begin to take up more energy than the music. It is made plain from the opening of the book, that things do not end well for the band. However, that journey is an entertaining roller coaster of emotion, and is told primarily from the viewpoint of Robbie. This may be a book about the music business, but it is also about family, with much humour to be had from the exchanges between Robbie and his Irish father who is less than impressed by the choice of career his son has made. But even more so, this is a story of the type of friendships that go so deep that despite the mammoth efforts made to ensure mutual destruction, somehow, that friendship can survive. Great characters and touching moments, there are a couple of flabby moments, the trimming of which would have kept it tight as a snare! Overall, a really good read - and if you get the chance to read the audio version narrated by Ciaran Hinds, then you will not be disappointed!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 416 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.72.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Hogfather - Death meets Christmas

In Hogfather, by the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett, strange things are happening. The Hogfather (the Discworld equivalent of Father Christmas) seems to be missing... and it's the night before Hogswatch when all the children are hanging up their socks on the mantlepiece. Why no Hogfather ... well, it seems that children have stopped believing in him, and if people don't believe, then maybe he can no longer exist. But hang on ... isn't that the great man himself coming down the chimney - except he looks a bit skinny and his HO HO HO is a bit on the scary side. Yes, it's Death Himself, disguised and doing his best to act like Hogfather, and get people believing in him again. For every world needs a Hogfather. This book takes a swipe at the childhood beliefs and fears that we all have ... things like The Tooth Fairy and The Bogeyman, and puts them in the parallel universe of the Discworld. Danger is lurking in that there are grey figures called The Auditors, who run the world, but don't like the mess and inefficiency that humans have brought to it, so hatch a plan to tidy things up a bit! Death and his granddaughter Susan bring all their guile and stubbornness to bear in order to stop them. As always, the Discworld is full of silliness and laughs, but also makes you think about the world in a slightly different way. Imaginative and with plenty of action, readers should sit back and let their minds enjoy the flight of fancy that this book will bring to them.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 456 print pages.
Price I paid: 95 pence.
Formats available: print; abridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Forgotten Garden - Secrets never remain secret forever

In The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, be prepared to experience a fair amount of disorientation as the action takes you both back and forward through time as well as across two continents. There are three narrators - Nell, Cassandra and Eliza - each are strong women, and each have suffered great loss. Cassandra is trying to finish the quest that her grandmother, Nell, started 25 years ago, a quest to find out who her real parents were and why she was put on a boat and then abandoned by a lady she knew as the Authoress when she was just four years old. After discovering Nell's journal and that her grandmother has left her a house in England she knew nothing about, Cassandra sets off for Cornwall too see it for herself. Slowly, but surely the lives of each of the three women are revealed, as well as how their lives are intertwined. As mentioned before, there is a heck of a lot of toing and froing, and you definitely need to keep your wits about you to avoid getting lost ... have just thought ... there is a maze which features heavily in the titular garden ... a coincidence ... I think not! Overall, this is a family saga, but tied up around a bit of a mystery. There are some strong characters, but I felt that the male characters, with the exception of one, were totally unsympathetic, which meant they didn't provide any depth. It is also overly long and could have done with some sympathetic editing to tighten up the flabby, repetitive parts. I also found one of the main events somewhat unbelievable. For such a long book, there were still a couple of loose threads left behind unless I managed to miss them in the maze! It is an easy enough read, good for a holiday (which is what I am on right now), but it didn't stimulate my mind in the way that it could have.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 645 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from a friend.
Formats available: print; unabridged mp3 CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Act of Roger Murgatroyd - Light Entertainment

I was in the mood for something light, and happened upon The Act of Roger Murgatroyd, by Gilbert Adair in a pile of books my husband was going to donate to a charity shop. It looked like just the job, and it certainly was. It is a bit of a spoof on Agatha Christie - set up as a classic whodunit - but it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's Boxing Day, in a snowed-in manor on the edge of Dartmoor in the mid 1930's. All the characters you expect to see are there - an author, an actress, a vicar and his wife, a colonel and his wife and of course, the body in the attic - an attic which is locked from the inside! The body is that of Raymond Gentry, a gate-crasher to the Christmas Festivities at the manor and who, in the space of 48 hours, managed to turn everyone against him with his vicious tongue. When he turns up dead, no-one is too upset, except when they realise that there must be a murderer amongst them ... and one of them might be next. The guests decide that the best thing to do while waiting for the police is to try and persuade their neighbour, a retired police inspector, to come to the manor and wait with them. Needless to say, as the snow continues to fall, the police inspector decides to perform his own investigation, aided and hindered in equal measure by the author, one Evadne Mount, a formidable lady who writes crime thrillers for a living! Slowly we hear about the possible motives for murder from almost everyone at the manor ... but with so many suspects, will the real culprit ever be brought to justice? This is a book that will both entertain and keep you guessing. The characters are familiar yet have a little extra spice to them than your classic whodunit, and although the action, so to speak, is primarily people relating their own stories, it has a decent pace to it. This is the first in a trilogy featuring Evadne, but I fear I won't be venturing into book two any time soon. Not one that will stay a long time in the memory, but if you wanted something for a journey or for a holiday, then you could do a lot worse!

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 286 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (borrowed from husband).
Formats available: print; unabridged audio cassette; ebook.

The Knife of Never Letting Go - Totally Awesome!

Patrick Ness is rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors. I read A Monster Calls, about a year ago and loved it. And so when I spied the first two books in his Chaos Walking series in a Buy One, Get One Free offer on audible, I could not resist. In The Knife of Never Letting Go, we meet Todd Hewitt, the only boy left in Prentiss Town, a small settlement on New World - a planet sparsely populated by humans who settled there a few years ago. Todd will, according to the rules of Prentiss Town, become a man in one months' time, at the grand old age of 13. However, Prentiss Town is an ugly, unhappy place, only populated by men. When his mother died while he was tiny, Todd was been raised by Ben. Todd has always been led to believe that she, and all the other women and girls on New World, died as a result of catching the Noise Germ. This Germ, which affects the entire population, renders everyone's private thoughts, public - whether you are man or animal. It is a constant cacophony of sound that could drive anyone mad ... but it also killed every woman and girl in Prentiss Town, leaving the men to fend for themselves. When Todd is out one day and comes across something that has "no noise" he is confused. Unfortunately, he cannot keep his confusion to himself and so begins his extraordinary journey from a boy to a man. You'd think in a place where you can hear other people's thoughts, there would be no secrets, but you couldn't be more wrong. As Todd is sent away by his guardian, in order to protect him from what reaching manhood means in Prentiss Town, he is unsure where to go and what to do. Armed with a knife, a book his mother had written and the spectacularly brilliant character of his dog, Manchee, he heads off and finds that the source of the "being" with no noise is ... a girl! But both Todd and the girl are being stalked ... for no one is allowed to leave Prentiss Town. This is a fast-paced, touching, violent and yet humorous book. It does everything you want - transports you to a different time and place, challenges your perceptions and your moral values and keeps you on the edge of your seat, and also has some heart breaking scenes too. I read the audio edition, narrated by Humphrey Bower, who is totally fabulous and really brings the different characters to life. There are also some nifty sound shifts to help the listener identify what images and words are "noise" and what are verbal. Okay, so it may be a book aimed at the Young Adult market, but it is a superb novel on every level. I cannot praise this book highly enough and I will be diving into the next one very soon.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 512 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.92.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio book; ebook.

The Black Jackals - the chaos of Normandy 1940

The Black Jackals, by Iain Gale is a novel of war. It is not pretty. It shows all the things I imagine war to be - violent, dirty, exhausting, exhilarating, ugly, heroic and most of all, chaotic. Set during the retreat of the British army in France during the summer of 1940, the action opens with Lieutenant Peter Lamb leading his Black Jackals as they try to delay the advance of German tanks overs a bridge by blowing it up ... but this throws up his first dilemma, as the bridge is teeming with refugees. We see him struggle to balance honour, duty and his own moral core with the tasks he is ordered to do. In the face of overwhelming odds, unreliable information and orders which either don't make sense or contradict each other, he tries to get as many of his men through a series of short, but dangerous sorties in the hope that eventually, they will get to the coast and be picked up and taken back to dear old Blighty. Along the way there are acts of true heroism, cynicism, cruelty and madness. This is a gripping story, that feels very real - it is woven around events from history and the author has created characters that are totally believable. Not always a comfortable read (no book about any war should be a comfortable read), it is well worth the effort and I was not disappointed, even learning something new ... this is NOT about Dunkirk, but a much lesser known evacuation that took place a little later down the coast. I can heartily recommend this title to anyone who is likes to be transported to another time and place, but who doesn't mind getting their hands dirty in the process. I am happy to report that this is not the only outing for the character of Peter Lamb, and I will definitely be seeking him out again.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 328 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00, it was a gift.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook

Thursdays in the Park - never too late for love!

Thursdays in the Park, by Hilary Boyd is a lightweight book that will not tax your brain cells too much. Jeanie is almost sixty and her life is plodding along in a comfy, but less than thrilling manner. The main highlight of her life is her granddaughter, Ellie, who she looks after on Thursday afternoons and always takes to the park. One day, she bumps into Ray, a man on grandfatherly duties - and their two grandchildren start to play very happily together and they get talking. This chance encounter shakes her up and brings her life into focus. She is in a stale marriage, her husband George is overbearing and non communicative - and left the marital bedroom 10 years ago without explanation. He wants her to give up her whole life - the shop she runs, the closeness of her daughter and granddaughter and retire to the country. She has kept saying no, but no one is listening. The charming Ray sets her heart a flutter and makes her feel like a teenager ... is this real or is she just reacting to the unhappiness in her life "before Ray"? It is nice to have an older woman as the central character of a book for a change, and more especially one who still has all her faculties and passions. There are also traumas and tension and soul searching a-plenty. I did find myself caring about Jeanie and wanting her to be happy, but at the same time, I wanted to shake her for her pliability and apparent "hey ho" attitude that had seemed to be her forte up to this point. However, I could have done with a bit more depth to all the supporting cast, some of whom felt a bit like caricatures to me. A book maybe for a holiday or with nothing better to do - great for the Kindle! One that will not be staying with me for very long I suspect ... but sometimes, that's what your brain needs!

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 352 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.20.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Redbreast - gripping to the end

I have decided that it is just not safe to be around Harry Hole for any length of time. The Redbreast, by Jo Nesbo, is the third outing for the Norwegian detective, but the first one set in his own country. The action starts with Harry shooting someone who he believes is threatening the life of the visiting American President. When it turns out that they were part of the US security detail, rather than an assassin, Harry is quietly assigned to another department to keep him out of the way of the media! Here, he misses, Ellen, his partner, who has been helping him to get and keep off the alcohol which, in his dark moods, threaten to overtake his life completely. (If he wasn't such a good detective, he would be out of a job in 10 minutes!) He is now investigating the neo-Nazi movement, and whether the recent smuggling in of a rare rifle favoured by assassins, has something to do with them. When a former WWII Nazi sympathiser is found with his throat cut, Harry feels that there are links with a murder he and Ellen had previously started to investigate. However, right on the point of a breakthrough, Ellen is murdered, and Harry slips back down into his self-destructive pit of alcoholic despair, but not for long. He strives to find the key that will provide the link to all the events going on around him. And so begins a journey which started 50 years ago, and one which could leave a deadly legacy ... I have to say that I am starting to really like Harry Hole, despite his numerous faults. This book demands your attention from the first page and you really have to remain focused throughout. Don't get me wrong, it is a very enjoyable read, but there are many threads that you have to keep a hold of as the book progresses. The writing is sharp, the dialogue realistic and often witty and Harry is becoming a more rounded character, with a little hint of better times to come! Jo Nesbo has really got into his stride with this series and it will not be long before I am reaching for more. After all, there is a massive thread that has not been tied off as yet, and the reader is left dangling and wondering ... a great strategy for an author if they can pull it off!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 626 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.50
Formats available: print; unabridged audio cassette; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky - something and nothing

Hmm ... am feeling ambivalent about The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, by Simon Mawer, which I read in audio format. It started well ... when Marian Sutro, half French, half British, brought up in Geneva and fluent in French, is recruited by SOE to go undercover in occupied France, she suddenly feels that her life has finally got some purpose. She goes through intense training, learning about sabotage, and how to kill someone up close and personal. She meets fellow recruits Yvette and Benoit - the former, a vulnerable French women who just wants to "go back home"; the latter, a cocky French man, who takes a shine to Marian and with whom she decides to have a one night stand prior to them being shipped out. However, Marian has been holding a candle for an old family friend and scientist, Clement Pelletier, who she fell in love with when she was still at school. Clement, it turns out, is of special interest to the British, who hope to extricate him from France to help the allies create a nuclear bomb in order to "bring the war to an end faster" - and Marian is told that she may well be asked to help with his extraction! Marian is finally parachuted into South West France and settles into her work with the French Resistance, feeling useful and safe, and hooking up with Benoit from time to time. She is then sent to Paris for two reasons ... to make contact with Clement and persuade him to escape to Britain, and also to try and make contact with Yvette, whose own Resistance Group have been uncovered. Paris is a dangerous place and she finds it difficult to be aloof in the presence of Clement, who is now married. Things, inevitably get complicated! I was enjoying this book, the recruitment phase and then the training, but I became a bit disenchanted as it progressed once our heroine actually got to France - which is when I thought the action would really go up a level. However, Marian seemed to become a weaker character from that point on and I stopped warming to her and just wanted to shake her! Don't get me wrong, there ARE patches of real tension, with danger lurking around every corner, and there is a really threatening undertone in Paris, where no one is able to feel safe. But as the threat got bigger, Marian seemed to get smaller ... it was as if all that training was totally wasted! It may be that I was overly influenced by the narration of the audio version I read, but I felt the book kind of fizzled out right at the end, and I was left a bit deflated and disappointed. But as always, that could just be me!

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 320 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.00.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Towers of Midnight - Trollocs a-plenty!

Towers of Midnight, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson is the penultimate book (and number 13) in The Wheel of Time fantasy series. There is, at long last, real pace and a great sense of urgency running throughout this part, something which had been lacking in books 7-11. Everything and everyone is being pulled together in readiness for The Last Battle ... which will determine the fate of the entire world. The Dragon Reborn - Rand Al'Thor - has finally defeated his inner demons, and has flowered into a calm, but determined, leader. His power is truly awesome, but he is no longer in danger of being distracted or tempted away from his main goal which is to defeat The Dark One, once and for all, and free the world of such evil. Most of the world is barren, food is scarce and mostly rotten, the weather is awful ... except for when Rand appears - then the sun shines and the food tastes good once again, and people start to hope once more. However, the grizzly Trollocs - the endlessly vicious creatures sent to cause suffering and mayhem throughout the land - are more widespread and numerous than ever. Desperate skirmishes are taking place everywhere to try and prevent them from over-running the entire world. And even Rand cannot defeat such hordes by himself. And so, we find that all those companions who were with him at the very beginning - Mattrim, Perrin, Egwene and Elayne - start to gravitate towards the same place, at the same time. And, amazingly, Moraine, the Aes Sedai who first recognised Rand and his friends for what they are, is found alive and is bravely rescued from captivity. She will no doubt have a vital part to play in the denoument. It's not going to be plain sailing, there is still disagreement with Rand about how to tackle The Last Battle, and there are powerful people still determined to try and manipulate him for their own gain. Despite this, nearly all the pieces are in place for what I'm really hoping is going to be a cracking finish to this epic of all epics!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 861 print pages.
Price I paid: Free, borrowed from local library.
Formats available: print; audio download; audio CD; ebook.

The Last Hundred Days - a curate's egg

I finished The Last Hundred Days, by Patrick McGuinness, a couple of days ago, and I have to admit, I am struggling a little with what to write about it. It's not that it is a bad book, it's just that I didn't find it particularly memorable ... which I'm not sure whether is a little damning for me or the book! And even now I'm being distracted by the sudden hail storm happening outside my window ... March is definitely going out with a bang in the UK! The story is narrated by a recent university graduate, who finds himself being offered a job at Bucharest University, despite the fact he hasn't actually had an interview. He takes the job and soon finds himself mixed up with the corruption and politics of the last few months of 1989, when communist dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu was desperately holding onto power within Romania. Very much in the shadow of the previous incumbent of both the job and the flat he is living in, he is befriended by the larger than life Leo, who is a bit of a wheeler-dealer black marketeer, with a hand in many pies, but whose main focus of attention is to try and keep a record of the fantastic buildings in the city which are being systematically destroyed, only to be replaced by grey, miserable and poorly built blocks of concrete. The country is broke, but not according to the propaganda output by  Ceausescu, a communist who would have made Stalin proud! As the weeks go by, the country slowly disintegrates and our narrator is swept up in the chaos and characters. There is brutality, fear, food shortages, back-handers and treachery all around, but never does our narrator want to leave the country, despite everyone telling him he should do so. I think I found the narrator way too passive ... he just seemed to let stuff happen, not initiating nor even having a strong opinion on anything much. Perhaps this way a deliberate ploy to enable the author to paint such vivid characters and action around him, without the narrator getting in the way ... thus he was able to shine a light on the last days of a horrible regime that ruled with an iron fist without the narrator getting in the way. I read the audio book which was ably voiced by Cameron Stewart. Others have given this book 5 star reviews and it was long listed for the Man Booker Prize, but I'm a bit ambivalent towards it, and I feel slightly guilty about that.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 356 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Terry Pratchett - goodbye and thank you for the joy that is Discworld!

The Half-Life of Hannah - light and airy

I have been experiencing disrupted sleep over the last few days, and to while away some of the wee wakeful hours in the morning, I needed a book that wasn't going to tax me too much, or require a great deal of concentration. In this frame of mind, I happened upon The Half-Life of Hannah, by Nick Alexander which I had purchased on Kindle ages ago for just 20p (can't really go wrong at that price can you?) and, for some reason, its cover spoke to me at 3am. For my energy levels right now, I could hardly have chosen better. Hannah Parker is on holiday in the South of France with her husband - the boring Cliff - and her beloved son Luke. The rest of the party is made up of her wild sister, Jill, together with her grumpy, teenage daughter and their gay friend Tristan. Things are going okay, with the sister setting her cap at the "pool guy" and Tristan (a chef by trade) cooking up tasty meals to help the holiday go with a swing. So far, so good. However, mixed in to the "now" are some vignettes from Hannah's past, specifically the time when she and Cliff were about to get married ... and Cliff's brother James bounced into their home and almost changed her life completely ... almost! When James disappeared, went travelling and then was killed overseas, Hannah put all those "what if" thoughts behind her and got on with her married life. When the villa receives a phone call, from James, to ask if he can come to see them, Hannah is more than a little gobsmacked, and things start to unravel. This is a very quick read, light and airy, but totally enjoyable. A bit of fluff it may be, but this book got me just at the right time. The bickering between the two sisters is totally believable, as is the tension between Hannah and Cliff, who try to keep up appearances in front of the others, particularly the children, but the stress and strain of doing so soon bubbles up. Whilst I might have guessed where some of the story was going, it didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of the book. A great book if you are on holiday, or, like me, too tired to be doing with Dickens! I will definitely look out for the sequel, Other Halves, as I would like to know what happens next.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 256 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.20.
Formats available: print; ebook.

Without Fail - Jack Reacher on cracking form

I was a little disappointed by the previous book in the Jack Reacher series, so I approached Without Fail, by Lee Child, with a little trepidation. I need not have worried. This is an excellent thriller, with the action coming thick and fast. When threats are made against the new Vice-President of the USA, his protection detail are, understandably worried. His head of security, M.E. Froelich, wants someone from outside the services to test how tight their security really is, and she hunts down Jack Reacher and persuades him to take on the role. Why Jack? Well, M.E. had dated his brother Joe for a number of years and had heard tales of our favourite maverick's prowess at handling difficult and dangerous situations. Reacher decides to help - for a fee - and asks an old colleague to tag along. Almost as soon as they take on the project, things start to escalate and the body count begins! But can the threat be coming from inside the Security Services, or is it something more personal? This is a taut tale and pushes many of the right buttons to keep the reader gripped from the outset. Amongst the action, the thorny issue of Jack's estranged relationship with his brother Joe, and his guilt over Joe's death are tackled. Jack is forced to confront these by M.E. who, it seems, hasn't really got over Joe. The only weak element for me is the "romantic interest" - though it could hardly be called that - which I felt was not entirely believable and was the weakest part of the book. Unfortunately, this is often the case within thrillers ... the writer seems to feel obliged to let the male lead, no matter how unlikeable they might be, to be a wow with the ladies and always manage to get someone into bed. There is no heart in this particular element of the story and I think it could have been omitted completely. That aside, this is definitely one of the better books in this series to date (this is number 6) and had a few surprises and I especially enjoyed the interaction with the female sidekick who I hope we'll see again. This has put Lee Child back in my good books and he will now rest on my "go to" pile for when I want to be pulled along at breakneck speed by a man who travels so light that he regularly has to stop and buy new clothes (surely he could invest in a couple of changes of outfit?)

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 560 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from library as an ebook.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; unabridged audio CD; ebook.

Me Before You - surprisingly enjoyable

Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time will have got the distinct impression that the books that tick all my boxes are more than likely going to be either a good thriller, fantasy, crime procedural or a humorous tome. However, it is always good to branch out now and again and for this reason, I delved into a book that kept popping up on bestseller lists over the last couple of years and slowly attracted my attention. Me Before You, by Jojo Moyes is, at its basic level, a romance. However, it is so much more. Louisa Clarke is a home loving girl, still living with her parents, still with her boyfriend of 7 years and still working in the local cafe. She is comfortable with her life. This all changes when the cafe closes and, with limited employment opportunities available, she accepts a 6-month contract as the daytime carer of Will Traynor, a quadriplegic who is tired of his life. Once a high-flying all-action business man, Will cannot come to terms with how his life has changed. Louisa is at first scared of him, but then determines to try and make his life a bit more bearable in her own inimitable fashion. Slowly but surely, they start to enjoy each other's company and form a real bond. When Louisa finds out however, that her contract is only for 6 months because Will is planning to commit suicide at the end of this time frame, she is devastated. Can she change his mind? At first, I wasn't at all sure about this book and thought I knew exactly where it was going, but as I persisted, it slowly got under my skin and I started to care about the characters. This is a romance with a real difference, and tackles very challenging issues, such as disability and assisted suicide. At times uncomfortable and at others uplifting, this is not always an easy book to read, but is one that will surprise and touch the heart of anyone who tackles it. Oh, and it may not sound like it, but there is plenty of humour in it too. I read the audio edition, which had multiple narrators, not all of whom I liked, which I think detracted from the story for me, it might be better to stick with the print or ebook editions for this one so that you can create your own voice for the characters. Have just found out that there is a sequel planned for Autumn 2015, which I might delve into.

My STAR rating: THREE (due to the narration).

Length: 528 print pages.
Price I paid: £4.00.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.