A re-awakening of political consciousness in Portugal

Pereira Maintains, by Antonio Tabucchi is an unusual book. It's written as if it is the report of a third party who has been interrogating the central character - Doctor Pereira - about his life. This brings a certain menace from the very beginning. Set in a sweltering summer of 1930's Portugal during the Spanish Civil War and the early days of the fascist regime in Germany, we find Doctor Pereira, editor of the cultural page of The Lisboa newspaper, just getting on with life. He talks to the photograph of his dead wife, eats omelettes almost exclusively and drinks lemonade, in between translating French stories into Portugese for the paper. That's pretty much it. Morbidly obese and with a heart problem, he is drifting along in his own little world until he meets a young couple who slowly but surely turn his life upside-down. They open his eyes to what is starting to happen in his own country and wake him up to  the insidious march of fascism - and that he can no longer turn a blind eye to it! I read this in audio with Derek Jacobi narrating, which was an absolute pleasure. He brought all the poetry of the text to life (this is translated from a Italian novel) and it slowly sucks you in and is an absolute pleasure to read. I will definitely seek out more books by this author who sadly died earlier this year.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 208 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: print; ebook; unabridged audio download.

Death of Kings ... a treat from the master of historical fiction

Ahhhh, Bernard Cornwell, you are an absolute hero. There are some writers that never seem to put a foot wrong. And Mr Cornwell is one of them ... at least in my eyes anyway. I have just finished Death of Kings, which I read in print. It is part of his Saxon series, which has Uhtred of Bebbanberg as it's main character. Uhtred is Saxon, but was brought up by Vikings and is still very much a Viking warrior at heart, despite him becoming embroiled in Alfred the Great's attempts to unite all the people of  England under one Saxon kingdom. In this book, we are at the end of Alfred's life - a man who Uhtred dislikes, but admires in equal measure - and the fear is that the Danes are going to exploit this event and take over Wessex and Mercia in the anticipated void that his death will leave. Uhtred is known and feared by the Danes, and hated by many of the men who Alfred had surrounded himself with - particularly the clergy. Uhtred readies himself for battle, but it doesn't come, despite the Danes not hiding the fact that they are amassing their forces around Chester. After surviving an ambush, and fighting for his place in the new King's court, the inevitable happens. Will Uhtred prevent disaster to the fledgling kingdom and be able to keep the hordes at bay? Fantastic writing brings the dirty, smelly and dangerous world of Uhtred and his contemporaries to life. I laughed and winced, and my heart rate went up in the heat of the battles. It's visceral stuff, and I simply can't get enough of it. I raced through this book and am gutted to have finished it so quickly. Come on Bernard, writing one book a year is just not enough!

My STAR rating: FIVE

Length: 335 print pages.
Price I paid: Free - borrowed from my local library.
Other formats available: Ebook; audio CD; audio download.

Bleak House shuts its doors at last

Yes, I have finally finished Bleak House, by Charles Dickens which I read as an Ebook. It has felt like a bit of an epic I have to admit. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't enjoy it, but it just seemed to go on and on and on. This is the story of Esther Summerson, an orphan who finds herself the unwitting participant in the madness that is the Chancery case of Jarndyce v Jarndyce - basically, a dispute over which of several wills written by the same person is the one that should be followed. This case has been going on for years and years and years - with the lawyers being the only people gaining from it. Almost everyone who is in any way connected with this case, and therefore, might be in for a bit of the inheritance when it's finally settled, gets sucked in and tend to lose their marbles in the process. Esther becomes the companion of two young potential inheritors (Ada and Nicholas), who are taken under the wing of John Jarndyce - an entirely sensible soul who has virtually ignored the legal case. She becomes his housekeeper, and the confidant of Ada and Nicholas, who have fallen in love with each other. Her goodness shines out from the pages and she cannot but help empathise and assist anyone she comes into contact with. I like Esther because when she starts to feel a bit down she gives herself a good talking to! When the cold and formidable Lady Dedlock comes into her sphere, she feels like she has met her before, but thinks she is imagining it. She is not ... and we soon find out about their joint past. There is tragedy, silliness, murder, obstinacy, loyalty and love to be found within this book. Practically the kitchen sink has been thrown on it ... including a case of spontaneous combustion! For my taste, there is a little too much going on - often stuff that distracts you from the main feature and we could have lived without. There are passages that are just fabulous to read, but I found with this book that there was just too many of, what I felt were totally unnecessary passages that detracted from the whole. Still a good read, but one that I would recommend that you give yourself time to have good run at. Five minutes here and there just won't do, otherwise you risk getting lost and confused with the myriad of different characters and sub-plots.



My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 1088 print pages (told you it was long!)
Price I paid: FREE on Kindle.
Other formats: print, audio CD, audio cassette, audio download.

The Last Four Things... right up my street

If you thought this would be a blog about me finishing Bleak House ... think again! The end of the other book I've been reading came upon me quite suddenly yesterday, leaving lots of unanswered questions and a few cliffhangers.The Last Four Things, by Paul Hoffman, which I read on audio picks up where its predecessor - The Left Hand of God - left off. Our anti-hero, Thomas Cale, is back in the hands of the much-hated Redeemers, and in particular, one named Bosco - a heavyweight in this perverted religious order, whose interpretation of how best to serve God leaves much to be desired. Thomas is now persuaded that he is indeed "The Left Hand of God" - in other words, he doles out retribution among the enemies of The Redeemers at any given opportunity. This is all part of Bosco's plan to become Pope so that he can enforce his own partcular brand of Redeemerism on the masses. Much bloodshed and violence ensues, but Thomas breaks away and escapes to a place called Spanish Leeds, thinking he might get some sanctuary there. It is not to be. He discovers his old enemies are also there, plus he bumps into the now heavily pregnant Arbel" swan neck", who was the love of his life, but who, in the previous book, handed him over to the Redeemers. I felt we were building up for a mighty bust up, but then the book ended. I have to admit, I was not expecting such a suden ending and I am now eagerly anticipating the third book in the series whenever it comes out. An atmospheric book with some of the baddest baddies I've ever come across, plus a central character that is hard to love, but you can't quite help root for him. There are also lighter moments and the odd chuckle did break forth at times. A special mention must go to Sean Barrett for another great narration - his interpretation of Kitty the Hare (or is it Hair? - hard to tell with an audio edition) gives me the willies! A rampaging tale set in a world not wholly disimilar to our own ...maybe a "what if" kind of a world, this book will keep you guessing and wondering and keen to keep turning those pages.



My STAR rating: FOUR

Length: 448 print pages
Price I paid: £7.99 (Audible monthly subscription)
Formats: print; Ebook ; audio CD; audio download.

Bleak House is taking its toll!

Is it me or does Bleak House, by Charles Dickens seem to be a very long book. I seem to have been reading it for absolutely ages! That's not to say that I'm not enjoying it - but to be honest, if I'd been Charlie's editor, I think I would have tried to persuade him to do some judicial cutting of what, to me, seem like superfluous sections. Maybe I'm just used to reading more modern prose which is a bit more to the point. Anyway, onwards I go - thank goodness I've got a bit of light relief on the reading front with The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman, which I'm reading on audio. There's a tad more action going on and at least the occasional laugh!

A book that might just change your life!

I have just read a book that really resonated with me and has already started to transform my daily routines. It's called How to save an hour every day, by Michael Heppell which I read as an audio book, narrated by the author himself. The concept is to look at the things you do during a day and how you approach doing them and assess whether a) you really NEED to be doing them (do you really need to hoover the house every day); b) you really SHOULD be doing them (can you delegate, or push back); c) you could I be doing them in a more EFFICIENT way (do a job, just that job, until it's finished). I have really, REALLY found this little book useful. I have got very stressed by "not having enough hours in the day" to do all the things I think I should or want to be doing. I know it's early days, but this book has already helped me to be more focused. My biggest weakness is to start a job, then let myself get interrupted by emails or other people or by another job that's also on my to do list ... and then try and restart that job later, or maybe next week, So, I spend time going over stuff I've already done to remind myself of where I was ... anyway, you get the picture. This book has helped me to turn a corner with this tendency and I've already completed jobs that have been loitering for ages. It's a real sense of achievement to actually feel like I'm making positive steps every day. I've also dumped my massive TO DO list, which I diligently wrote out each day, rewriting things that were on it from the previous day, and then adding more things every day - and then, just to make sure I'd ticked something off, do a couple of  the really easy things. Now I focus on the MUST DO's - up to 5 a day (and they can be work and home related ... this is NOT just about your working life, but home too), and they become the centre of your attention. I have found that on most days, I not only do those five, but other things also get done as if by accident. The aim of the book is to save you an hour a day which you can spend on something you really would rather be doing - whether that's exercise, more quality time with the family, taking up a hobby, gardening, whatever. There are some liberating ideas, and I know I'm going to be revisiting the book from time to time to pep myself back up again if I feel I'm flagging once again. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone struggling to find time they didn't think was there for them.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 192 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.99 (Audible)
Other formats available: print; ebook.

Can love really triumph over all adversity?

This is the question at the centre of Harvesting the heart, by Jodi Picoult which I read as an audiobook. We open with Paige trying desperately to catch a glimpse of her son and estranged husband through the window of what used to be her home. What follows is her journey to that point and beyond. Paige was abandoned by her mother when she was five, but adores her inventor father who then brought her up single-handed. Aged 17, she runs away from home, abandoning her hopes of attending art school, but too ashamed of her recent actions and unable to face her father. She ends up working in a diner, where she meets, falls for and marries an ambitious young doctor who couldn't have had a more different upbringing. Delirously happy until the birth of her son, she becomes untethered by exhaustion and overwhelmed by memories of her mother, and starts to convince herself that she is set to repeat the mistakes of her own mother. Can she reconcile herself with her past and find her way back to her husband and child and convince them that no matter what has happened, her love for them is strong enough to bring a reconciliation and get their lives back on track? Jodi Picoult is an author who tackles difficult issues, often using unsympathetic characters, but her skill as an author is to keep you following their story and try to put yourself in their shoes and ask the question ... so what would you do? I think you either love her books or hate them. I'm in the former category. Sometimes a hard read, but always interesting, this edition was helped hugely by having a female and male narrator, flipping the viewpoint between Paige and her husband. Time with this book is time well spent.
My STAR rating: FOUR

Length: 512 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.99 (Audible)
Other formats available in: print; audio CD; ebook.