Matilda (74) - a little girl with a big brain

This is more like it ... I feel I'm back on track with another book under my belt this week. It's Matilda, by Roald Dahl (get used to the name, there will be more) which I read in print. This is a great little book about a small girl who is badly treated at home - neither of her parents think much about her, if, indeed, they think of her at all. Her father, who is a dodgy car salesman, has taken a particular dislike to her for some reason, calling her stupid and a cheat on numerous occasions. Despite this poor treatment, she is a happy girl and keen to explore the world about her. As her parents won't do anything with her, or take her anywhere, she decides to take things into her own hands. She wants to read books (having taught herself to read) and one afternoon, when she is left alone in the house yet again, she heads off the library, where she begins to devour all the children's books and then, with the help of the librarian, delves into the realms of authors like Charles Dickens. So, by the time she starts school, she has accumulated a lot of knowledge. Her teacher, Miss Honey, recognises her intelligence and encourages her. But the headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, a veritable demon in a smock and breeches, starts to bully Matilda, her classmates and Miss Honey. Matilda is determined to work out a way to take revenge and, in the process, discovers that she has an exceptional talent! This book made me laugh out loud and you can't help root for Matilda as she takes on a great literary baddie in a classic case of brain versus brawn. I can highly recommend this book - good fun, where good triumphs over evil.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 232 print pages.
Price I paid: free - borrowed from local library.
Formats available: print, audio, ebook.

The Twits (82) - a bit of light relief!

After many, many weeks spent on two books (Gone with the Wind and War and Peace), I felt the need to get a few short books under my belt to keep me on track for my target of having completed 50 of the Best 100 Reads by the end of 2013. On this quest, I spotted a few Roald Dahl books on the list, and decided that this would provide some quick reads as well as a bit of light relief. And so I found myself finishing The Twits within an hour or so. It's the story of a horrible couple (The Twits) who only have nasty thoughts, never seem to wash and the only thing they seem to get pleasure from is playing nasty tricks on each other - hiding worms in spaghetti is one of the classics! Worst of all, they keep a family of monkeys in a small cage in their back garden. They are not treated well, and Mr Twit is "training" them to stand on their heads all day, everyday, and do everything standing on their heads. His aim is to then offer them a s a circus act. The monkeys would love to escape and their chance comes in the form of an exotic African bird who has flown north for the summer. In cahoots with other birds in the area (all of whom would be on the menu if the Twits could catch them), they come up with a plan to not only escape, but pay the Twits back for all the horrible things they have done. Guess what - they come to a sticky end! This is a book that children of a certain disposition will love, and I can see how much fun it would be to read aloud to a small child. For an adult, it made me smirk a few times. It is a light read that whiles away an hour or so and, I suspect if you were read this by a parent in your childhood, rereading it as an adult might well bring back warm and comforting feelings. (By the way - still going with War and Peace).

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 87 print pages.
Price I paid: free - borrowed from my local library.
Formats available: Print, audio.

Gone with the wind (21) ... is finally GONE!

Oh happy day ... I have, at long last, finished one of the epic books I have been reading. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell is a big book with big themes. Set during the American Civil War and its aftermath, the action focuses on Scarlett O'Hara - a beautiful, but unimaginative Southern Belle - she loves her dresses, she loves the parties, she loves Tara, the cotton plantation that is her home, and she loves being the most desired girl in the region, with a myriad of beaus constantly surrounding her. Life is good and going pretty much to plan - until the North and the South go to war over the issue of slavery. All the men go off to war - including the real object of her affection - Ashley Wilkes. Scarlett isn't interested in the war and tries to carry on as if it wasn't happening. However, when Ashley announces his forthcoming engagement to Melanie - a quiet, plain cousin of his - Scarlett does not take this well. After declaring her love for him, she is rejected, and in a fit of pique, goes off and marries another man. War then seeps into her life, when she is left a widow after a only a few weeks, but expecting her first child. She ends up sharing a house in Atlanta with Melanie, and hates it! Then a certain Rhett Butler starts to visit more and more often. Sparks fly as he is not taken in by any of her tricks, which drives her crazy. When Atlanta is overrun by the Yankees, Rhett helps them escape back to Tara, but then heads off to war himself. Scarlett rebuilds her life and becomes a hardened and determined woman who will "never be hungry again". The action continues and Scarlett, Rhett, Ashley and Melanie are all inextricably linked. The book never lets off and you never get comfortable. There is a lot to admire in Scarlett, but many a time you just want to give her a good, hard slap! It is a good read, though I did find it hard at times with the language used to describe the slaves - it was a very different time and place to now, that's for sure. If you can get your head around that, then I can recommend this book to anyone who loves strong leading characters and star crossed lovers ... with several stings in the tale.

My star rating: FOUR.

Length: 1010 print pages.
Price I paid: free - borrowed from my local library.
Formats available: print, audio (I think), ebook.

It's been a while ...

So, it's been a while since I posted a blog - almost a month! In case some of you had started to think I'd dropped off he edge of the world, I thought I'd better put down a few lines. I am STILL reading War and Peace on audio (not even halfway through yet), as well as Gone with the Wind in print (about 5/8ths through). I cannot believe how long these books seem to be taking me. I sometimes wonder if the very length of them is somehow having an unforeseen consequence in my reading performance. As I'm thinking "This is going to take me ages to read" every time I pick them up ... am I fulfilling my own prophecy, but even more so? The thing is, I am enjoying them both, but it does make my heart sink a little that I haven't finished either of them as yet, and my challenge for this year is very much slipping through my fingers. I have been very busy both at work and socially over the last month - which tends to mean that my normal reading time hasn't been too productive. At bedtime, I'm too tired to read more than a few pages, and the long lie in on a Saturday hasn't been as long as normal due to a full "dance card". I need to set some serious time aside to crack on - really don't want another month to go by and STILL be reading the same two books. That would make me a very glum girl!

Winnie-the-Pooh (7) - a smile on my face!

So, it's been a bit quiet from me on the blog over the last couple of weeks - it's not that I've not been reading, it's just that I'm reading a couple of monsters ... Gone with the Wind (print), AND, War and Peace (audio). Boy oh boy - they are a bit on the daunting side, just because of the sheer size of them. I am enjoying both books but was starting to feel that I wasn't getting anywhere in terms of "the list" - so, for a bit of light relief, I've just spent a couple of hours reading Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne. I chose the print edition so that I could get the full benefit of the words plus the glorious illustrations by E.H. Shephard. What an absolute treat. I read the whole book with a smile on my face. It is sweet, touching and funny. For those of you who may not know, our eponymous hero is a bear of little brain but a big love of honey (or hunny as he would say). He lives in a wood with a whole host of neighbours - nervous Piglet, know-all Rabbit, wise Owl and sad and sarcastic Eeyore. There are various adventures, usually involving their best human friend - Christopher Robin. It is a study of friendship, language and community. Each chapter is a different adventure - from Pooh trying to disguise himself as a cloud in order to fool the bees guarding their honey, to the whole cast going on an expedition to find the North Pole. I cannot praise this book highly enough and can completely and utterly understand why this book lives long in the hearts and minds of anyone who has read it. A tonic for anyone feeling down in the dumps. I just wish I had children of a certain age to give me an excuse to read it to them (and me) time and time again!

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 161 print pages.
Price I paid: free (borrowed from my local library).
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Good Omens (68) - not so sure myself!

For anyone who has been following this blog for a while, you will already know that I am a self-confessed fan of Terry Pratchett and have been an avid reader of his Discworld novels for many a year, so I was really looking forward to reading Good Omens by the great man himself and Neil Gaiman, which features in 100 Top Reads list. I had no fear that I wouldn't enjoy this book immensely, having also read previous works by Mr Gaiman, however, I found this an "almost" book. Subtitled "The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch", we find ourselves realising that according to Agnes's predictions, the world is about to come to an end. Enter into the arena, the four horsemen of the apocalypse (pestilence has changed his name to pollution to reflect the modern era), a bizarre witch hunter and his new apprentice, the long distant relative of Agnes, and a young boy called Adam, who is actually the son of the Dark Lord - but isn't aware of his prophesied fate. Adam just wants to carry on being the leader of his little gang of friends, but when the opposing forces of good and evil start to close in on him he comes up with a cunning plan which belies his earthly years. There are jokes and I did chuckle - but not nearly enough. It takes a while to get going, and I found it overly long for the actual situation. The last quarter of the tale really perked up, but not enough to salvage it in my eyes. I did enjoy the characters of an angel and a demon who, behind the scenes have been trying to steer humanity to good/evil over the years. They are supposed to be adversaries, but are really the only friends the other has got and the lines between right and wrong are often a bit blurry .. which is maybe the point of the book. However, other characters just didn't do it for me and I didn't think they brought anything to the table. I felt, overall, that this was less than the sum of its parts. Maybe I'd expected too much, or the subject matter was just not for me. Disappointed!

My STAR rating: THREE

Length: 402 print pages.
Price I paid: Free - borrowed from a friend
Formats available: print; audio CD unabridged; audio download unabridged; ebook. 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (30) - off with his head!

I have seen a few adaptations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll on screen, but had never actually read the original work itself. It starts off great - Alice, intrigued by a glimpse of a rabbit who appears to be muttering to himself - falls down a hole, and keeps falling and falling and falling - but remarkably, she isn't at all scared. What begins, as she falls, is an internal dialogue that I found highly entertaining. She bucks herself up and gives herself a good talking to at times, and then at others, pats herself on the back when she realises she understands a tricky word or situation. However, Alice isn't a totally lovable character and her impatience comes out - you can almost feel her stamping her foot in frustration at times - just like a real little girl. This book is a total flight of fancy - with talking creatures such as the white rabbit, the mad hatter and the dormouse, and of course, the royal household of Wonderland - a pack of cards - which has the unenviable task of dealing with the despotic Queen of Hearts who is forever instructing her minions to chop the head off yet another unfortunate soul. Alice finds herself meeting all sorts of creatures in this strange land and manages to keep her head before finding herself back where she started. I found much of this classic children's fantasy amusing, and although I felt it lost its way a little about halfway through, I did enjoy it on the whole, although as the Kindle version I read was just the plain text, I felt I missed out on the glorious illustrations of the print copy.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 160 print pages.
Price I paid: free.
Formats available: print; abridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.