2015 here we come ...

So what's the theme for 2015 ... well, the theme is READ WHAT YOU DARN WELL WANT! Whilst I have really enjoyed setting myself specific reading challenges over the last few years, it can become a little restrictive. When friends and family say ... you must read ... if I'm in the middle of a challenge, I can't! I have got such a back catalogue of books hanging around on my "to read" list that I really am going to make the effort to get through as many of them as I can and clear some shelf space again! However, I'm not going to be too prescriptive, if something takes my fancy, I will go for it! What am I reading right now? Well, Moonraker, by Ian Fleming (continuing the James Bond series) which I'm reading in print, and The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss - which is book one of The Kingkiller Chronicles. I am reading the latter in audio format and am really enjoying it, although it is a bit of an epic and Audible have done a bit of a naughty thing by splitting the original printed work into two audio books, which you have to pay for separately! The narration thus far is brilliant, but I'm not sure I will listen to the whole lot in audio because of this sneaky marketing ploy.

Goodbye to 2014 ...

2014 has been a bit of a whirlwind year. My reading theme of Sequels and Series kept me reading books that I really enjoyed by authors that I have come to love, like Bernard Cornwell and Ben Aaronavitch, but also to discover some new ones, like Lee Child. I had envisioned completely finishing the Rebus, Sharpe and Harry Potter books, but only managed the latter as I became slightly distracted by new series such as the Dresden Files, and the Lewis Man Trilogy (which I started and finished this year). I wonder if, subconsciously I don't really want to finish the Sharpe books ... because I just love them so much? My personal life has taken a major shift in direction, with being made redundant from my place of work after 25 years! This event has enabled me to pursue other ambitions over the last few months, which has been absolutely brilliant (I won't bore you with the details). So, favourite book of the year has to be Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantell (I can't wait for the final book in this trilogy about Thomas Cromwell and the intrigues and politics of the court of Henry VIII). Coming in a very close second is The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - this is truly a laugh out loud book that if you haven't read yet, you MUST! I have spotted a sequel to this latter book, so it will be on my new list very soon! The thing about a series of books is that you have to care about the characters to come back for more, otherwise it becomes a very short-lived series. There are so many more books out there featuring the fabulous creations from Terry Pratchett's Discworld, the dark and threatening atmosphere of Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole books and the strangely alluring world of James Bond that I can't see myself stopping reading "more of the same" in 2015 ...

Feet of Clay - great comic touches

Feet of Clay by Sir Terry Pratchett is part of the "City Watch" series set on the very weird and very wonderful Discworld (it's the nineteenth Discworld novel). The City Watch of gloriously smelly Ankh-Morpork is led by Commander Samuel Vimes. The Watch is becoming increasingly diverse - with trolls, dwarves and werewolves now settling in amongst the ranks of the humans (well, some humans and some barely-humans that is). And it's also becoming increasingly busy ... the levels of crime seem to be rocketing ... or is it just that with more officers, more crime is being noticed? Lord Vetinari, the Patrician of the city is being poisoned but Vimes cannot work out how. Two old men are murdered, one an old priest and the other the curator of the Dwarf Bread Museum, but what could possibly be the link? And what is going on with the golems - the man-made clay figures, created to do all the jobs no-one else wanted to do? They firstly take a few hours off, and then start to commit suicide - although they aren't technically alive in the first place. Helping Vimes to solve the case is Captain Carrot, his werewolf girlfriend Angua who is getting increasingly hungry and twitchy as the full moon approaches and a new recruit, Cheery Littlebottom. Cheery is not only a dwarf, but a female dwarf keen to explore her femininity, which completely throws everyone around her, particularly other dwarves. As with pretty much all Pratchett novels, what is, on the surface, a light and fluffy piece of fantasy nonsense always has a deeper message. How important is class? What is the definition of being "alive"? Really big themes, all wrapped up with huge ribbons of comedy. I do like a book that can make me laugh out loud, and there were a few such moments in Feet of Clay. What often appear to be ridiculous flights of over-indulgent fancy all come together in the end and create an immensely satisfactory conclusion. Thanks Sir Pratchett for brightening up these long and dark nights of deepest winter.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 415 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.50.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; abridged audio download; audio CD; ebook.

Live and Let Die - Bond is back!

Live and Let Die is the second official outing for James Bond, the world's most famous fictional spy created by Ian Fleming. Bond is put well and truly back in the saddle after a slow recovery from his near-fatal torture in the previous book, Casino Royale. Gold coins from an infamous pirate horde are turning up and they appear to be funding the nefarious activities of a gangster known as "Mr Big" - who has been trained by SMERSH, the Soviet Intelligence Agency and sworn enemy of 007. Mr Big oversees a huge network of minions who are terrified of him, believing him to be the incarnation of a Voodoo spirit. Bond is sent first to Harlem, where he teams up with his old CIA pal, Felix. No sooner do they start to sniff around when they are captured by Mr Big who warns them off in no uncertain terms and also introduces Bond to Solitaire, a beautiful woman with second sight. They head off to Florida, where things get messy and Solitaire and Bond become involved (no shock there!), and the final scenes are set in Jamaica. As you would expect with 007, there is violence, danger and plenty of action - punctuated with the details of food and drink, landscape (Jamaica is particularly well-described), clothing and guns. These descriptions and the language used in this book definitely place it in its time. This is a book that would not be written in the same way today. If you are not able to get past what might be seen as racist terminology, and the inevitable dodgy love scene, then you would be wise to skip this book altogether. This would be a shame, as the climax to the book is a real humdinger. The Bond books are short on length but full of excitement. I can thoroughly recommend the audio edition read by Rory Kinnear, which I raced through at a fine gallop due to a pre-Christmas car journey.

My STAR rating: THREE (due to the language which is uncomfortable for a 21st Century reader).

Length: 336 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Visitor - excellent page-turner from Lee Child

I think I might be getting addicted to Jack Reacher. The Visitor is the fourth book featuring the rough and tough ex-military policeman created by Lee Child that I have read this year, and I've already downloaded the next one onto my Kindle! Reacher has an inordinate capacity to get himself into "situations" from which he then has to use his guile and/or muscle to extricate himself from. Whilst the sensible side of your brain is telling him to just walk away, the bit of your brain that wants to be able to follow an exciting thriller tells him to charge straight in! Lee Child takes you straight into the action - when Jack is having a quiet dinner in a restaurant, he witnesses two heavyweights putting the squeeze on the owner in order to extract protection money out of him. When our hero intervenes in the alley beside the restaurant (where else?), it leads him to being taken into custody by the FBI and pretty much blackmailed into helping them out with a case involving the murder of two women who have one thing in common - they left the army after making allegations of sexual harassment, something of which Reacher had had to investigate in his time as an MP. The FBI had produced a profile of the killer - an army man, a ruthless loner and someone not afraid to take the law into their own hands ... in fact, someone just like Reacher! Backed into a corner, he reluctantly agrees to help. This takes him away from Jodie, the love of his life, and from the house he has inherited from her father. He is really happy, but also feels guilty to be so happy to be "back on the road". He realises how frustrated he had been to be tied down to one place and starts to reassess his life during the investigation. With bucket loads of action and lots of misdirection, this is a really good read. In some ways, the style is reminiscent of the James Bond books - with loving descriptions of weaponry, cars, food and of course, the delightful distraction of an attractive woman or two - Reacher is a cake and eat it kind of guy on that score! Most definitely in the "page-turner" category, this is a series I am really happy to have found ... can't believe it's taken me so long! Even better, I can borrow these as ebooks via my Kindle from my local library - so I can finish one book, and be downloading and reading the next one within 5 minutes ... for free! All of which makes it ridiculously easy to get my next fix of Reacher.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 512 print pages.
Price I paid: FREE, borrowed from library via Kindle.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio; ebook.

Walking Backwards to Christmas - a bit of reading during Advent

Okay, so this isn't exactly part of the sequels and series I've been focusing on this year, but Walking Backwards to Christmas by Stephen Cottrell is a book that was recommended to me as a tool that helps you to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas during the season of Advent. The author helps readers to take a fresh look at the well-known story of Christmas by focusing on different characters and giving voice to how they might have been thinking and feeling. So we hear the inner workings of people such as Casper (a king), David (a shepherd) and Joseph. This is an imaginative way of telling the story and gives life to what may seem like some of the "bit players" that get a passing mention in the scriptures. What were the shepherds thinking and feeling before the angel appeared, and how did that change? How close was Joseph to abandoning Mary when she told him she was pregnant? Each chapter focuses on a different person and puts flesh on their bones and helps the reader to really think about how they might react if they were the ones being thrust into this momentous event. This may be a work of fiction, and we will never know what Mary really thought at that exact moment in time, but this book brings the humanity of all of those people into focus and really does help you to think ... what if? I found this short book compelling and know that I will read it again next year.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 128 print pages.
Price I paid: £4.79.
Formats available: print; ebook.

Let It Bleed - gritty to the core

If you haven't yet come across John Rebus, then you really don't know what you are missing. Rebus is a dishevelled, grumpy police inspector based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He drinks too much and cares too much, which inevitably leads him into conflict with higher authorities, and many of his own colleagues. In Let It Bleed by Ian Rankin, you are straight into the action with a frantic car chase which ends in tragedy as two young suspects jump off a bridge before Rebus can get to them. But what has happened to the girl (the daughter of the Lord Provost) that the police thought they had kidnapped? When this is closely followed by what appears to be a totally unrelated, but spectacular suicide in front of a local councillor, Rebus is convinced that something deeper is afoot. And boy, is he right! He is told to drop the case, but of course, that is like a red rag to a bull and not even an enforced period of leave stops him from continuing to investigate. Full of politics, economics and everyday life, this book paints a grim picture of the seedy and shady deals that might go on in the upper echelons of Scottish politics. As with all of the Rebus books I've read so far, there is a depth to the narrative, not only in the back story of the main character - whose love life is never simple - but also within the twists and turns that eventually lead to the conclusion. Sometimes, I feel that there is often such a vast array of characters that you can get a little lost, but the author does tend to bring everything together towards the end. The books are often messy, just like life, and there isn't always a nice clean ending - which, I suspect, is also true of many complex criminal proceedings. Indeed, this book raises the spectre of the possibility that certain people may be above justice. This may not always be completely satisfying to the reader, but brings a certain reality to the books which is hard to knock.  Rebus isn't someone I'd choose to be friends with, but is someone I don't mind spending time with, as long as that time is spent between the covers of a book!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 360 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.
Formats available: print; abridged audio CD; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook