C - Not For Me!

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2010, C, by Tom McCarthy, follows the life of Serge Carrefax, who we first meet as a child growing up in the grounds of a school run by his father who is trying to teach deaf mute children to speak. Serge is fascinated by radio waves and has a very close relationship with his sister, Sophie, whose interests lie in natural history, especially insects. But Sophie dies young, and Serge drifts through life, with us, the readers, observing what happens. He spends time in a sanatorium, becomes a pilot at the advent of the first world war, taking observational photos for the cause, during which he becomes a drug addict. Although he cleans up during his time as a prisoner of war, it doesn't take long for him to relapse in the London of the roaring twenties. And finally, we see him being sent to Egypt to help set up a worldwide network of communications. During each "episode", Serge has sexual encounters that never seem to please him overly. Mind you, nothing seems to please him. Reading what I've just written, this sounds like it has all the makings of a romp, but do not be fooled. Serge came over as a detached, cold character, disconnected with pretty much everyone and everything. This may be as a result of him losing his sister - which I was very disappointed about as Sophie engaged me much more than her brother. For such a relatively short book, at just over 300 pages, this took me an absolute age to read (around 2 months), which probably tells you something about how little I enjoyed it! I found the text dense and full of minute detail - only some of which made me sit up and take notice. I know other people who thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I'm afraid it left me cold, and quite glad when it came to an end. This could well be due to the frame of mind I was in when reading it, and I have no doubt missed the point of this book, which seemed to be about communication, but unfortunately for me, failed to do so in a meaningful, heartfelt way that would have allowed me to sympathise with the central character. Hey ho, you can't like everything!

My STAR rating: TWO.

Length: 320 print pages.

Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, audio CD, ebook.

On Animals - comforting words

On Animals by Pam Ayres is a book that flows over you like a big bowl of warm soup on a frosty winter's day. This collection of poems, plucked from the last five decades, brings together a range of Pam's work that displays her love of animals, both domestic and wild, in all shapes and sizes. Accompanied by some joyful illustrations, On Animals is funny, touching and down to earth, and is a book for anyone needing a hug. If you've ever heard Pam Ayres speak, you will hear her voice as you read her words - in fact it's extremely difficult not to attempt her distinctive burr should you be reading one of these beautiful poems out loud to someone (or indeed just to yourself!). If you don't think you are a fan of poetry, I urge you to dip into this book and you might just be pleasantly surprised. Full of old favourites as well as new works, many of the poems are accompanied by a short introduction about how that particular work came about, or what Pam was doing at the time. This helps to add context to the subject matter of some of the pieces as well as the language/sentiment used within them.  My personal favourite is "The Horse's Farewell to His Cowboy" - the last line never fails to amuse! A book that you can dip into and out of when you have a few minutes and you will always feel the better for it.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 216 print pages.

Price I paid: FREE, borrowed from my Mum.

Formats available: print.

Resurrection Men - Rebus goes undercover

It's always nice to return to a character that you've enjoyed reading before, and I always feel that any time with Inspector John Rebus is time well spent. In Resurrection Men, by Ian Rankin, the 13th book in the series, we see Rebus being sent to a kind of reform school for bad police officers. He is not alone. His fellow "bad apples" are known as resurrection men - as this is their last chance for redemption before they are shown the door. However, all is not as it seems, Rebus is actually working undercover to gain evidence against three of his classmates who are suspected of having organised a drugs heist. To try and build their teamwork skills, they are given an unsolved murder to work on ... a murder that may have resulted from Rebus's own mistake. Is this a coincidence? Meanwhile, DS Siobhan Clarke is investigating the murder of an art dealer. When it appears to have links with the case the resurrection men are working on, she and Rebus join forces. The more they dig, the deeper the trouble they get into and the wider the implications are. Are the usual suspects still pulling the strings, or are new and unknown elements muscling in? As always, Ian Rankin gives the reader great characters, pithy dialogue, oodles of suspense with a plethora of twisty turns that illicit page turning well into the small hours. I know Rebus would be a nightmare to live with, but I know who I'd want on my side if I was in trouble!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 484 print pages.

Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio, ebook.

The Time Travel Diaries - Fun in Roman London!

In desperate need of something a little lighter than The Handmaid's Tale, I stumbled upon The Time Travel Diaries (Book 1) by Caroline Lawrence which I found as an audiobook from the library. Alex Papas is a smart London schoolboy who knows Greek (thanks to his grandmother) and a little Latin. One day he is given the opportunity to travel back in time ... and is amazed to discover that it's not a joke! Billionaire Solomon Daisy is obsessed with the skeleton of a blue eyed African girl from Roman London and has funded the creation of a time machine in order to find her. However, time travel is easier for children (as the process ages you somewhat!) and he thinks he's found the perfect candidate in Alex for completing his mission. With the prospect of adventure, and an excellent pay incentive (whether he returns or not), Alex agrees and heads through the portal - naked (well, those are the rules!). Unfortunately, his arch enemy from school sneaks through at the same time. Now both in 3AD, the boys lose contact with each other. Alex finds his blue eyed girl, and falls in with her and her slave, ending up going to the games at the arena where, lo and behold, one of the new gladiators is none other than his arch enemy! Alex must try and rescue him and then make it back to the portal to return to the present day before their time runs out and they become stuck there. Full of fun and adventure, this is a great little page turner. Alex is a fine central character, his sidekick suitably annoying, but with redeeming qualities and the Roman girls he meets are both lively and spirited. Yes, this is targeted for a much younger audience than myself, but if you like history and are in the mood for a bit of fun, then a book like this could be right up your street. After all, what's wrong with getting back in touch with your inner, curious child?

My STAR rating: FOUR

Length: 272 print pages.

Price I paid: free, borrowed from the library as an audiobook.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio, ebook.

The Handmaid's Tale - Bleak but brilliant!

I can't quite believe it has taken me so long to read The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. Shortlisted for the Man Booker in 1986, this dystopian tale is set in The Republic of Gilead, a great swathe of what was once the USA. The book is narrated by Offred, a woman who has been ripped away from her husband and daughter and been trained as a Handmaid for one of the ruling "Commanders".  Her sole role, as a fertile woman, is to produce children for childless couples of the people in power in this totalitarian state which was created in response to increasing levels of infertility in the population. Did she have a choice? Well, the choice was humiliating subjugation as a Handmaid or be shipped off to "the colonies" where life expectancy is short-lived. Now assigned to Fred Waterford (hence, Offred), we sit inside her head as she tries to stay alive and sane while being raped each month by her Commander in the presence of his wife, in the hope that she will conceive. Should the child be taken to full term, and survive the birth, the Waterfords will raise the child as their own, and the Handmaid will be shipped off to a different couple and repeat the process as Ofstephen, Ofbill, or Ofwhoever. This is a shocking and bleak tale, where power has totally corrupted those who had it. No one can be trusted. No one is safe. And the only escape is suicide. However, there are lighter moments as Offred reminisces about her life before Gilead, and then also finds comfort in her relationship with another man from the household. This book is very different to the recent TV series. It is slow paced, and almost dream like in quality, but it is heart wrenching and gut punching at the same time. The daily cruelty and dehumanising of people is unpalatable, but, scarily, doesn't feel that far fetched in today's world. Not a comfortable read, but one that will stay with you.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 324 print pages.

Price I paid: free, borrowed from the library.

Formats available: print, audio download, MP3CD, ebook.

Prague Spring - I Wanted More!

And so onto Prague Spring, by Simon Mawer is set in the summer of 1968. At first there appear to be two different stories. The first sees two English students, Ellie and James, set off on a hitch-hiking adventure across Europe. They are from very different backgrounds, but there is a mutual attraction, although James seems the keener of the two and doesn't try to push things. He is hoping that the journey will end in their relationship blossoming into something more tangible. The other story involves Sam Wareham, who works at the British Embassy in Prague, where the Czechs are enjoying more freedom and the youth, especially is making hay. He falls into the company of Lenka, a local student who embodies the hope for the future of this country. But their budding romance is suddenly encumbered by two Russian musicians who want to defect and Sam becomes responsible for them. The two stories seem to have nothing to do with each other until Ellie decides, on a whim, to go to Prague, with James in tow. Their paths start to cross and they begin to enjoy the culture and the people, but a threatening undercurrent from the Red Army massing on the Czech border becomes increasingly hard to ignore and danger of invasion and the inevitable repression becomes a reality. This is a well written, fictionalised account of a moment in history, and it is easy to see why the author has been shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in the past - although not for this particular title. I found it a book of two halves - I really enjoyed Sam and Lenka's story, but found Ellie and James really irritating. This could well be on purpose, showing how oblivious the majority of the work was to what was happening in Prague that year. I would have loved to have gone deeper into the details of what the Czech people were going through,  and have been able to get under the skin of some of the characters, but instead, I was left feeling a bit like a voyeur and uninvolved. The narrative does draw you in and there are some surprises along the way. This is a good read, but not a great read. I just wanted a bit more.

My STAR rating: THREE

Length: 400 print pages.

Price I paid: free, given to me as a birthday present.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

Everything Under - kind of exhausting!

Everything Under by Daisy Johnson was shortlisted for the Man Booker in 2018. This is the story of Gretel, who was raised on a houseboat in a backwater canal by her mother, Sarah. They don't have much contact with others and develop their own private language. But when her mother disappears when Gretel is 16 and she is taken into foster care, she tries to move on. Now, 16 years later, she is a successful lexicographer, updating entries in the dictionary. But a phone call from her mother sets in motion not only a hunt to find her, but also to finally understand the events leading up to her abandonment. The narrative slips between the past and present, and has a dreamlike (or rather nightmare like) quality at times when you aren't really sure what's real and what's imagined. Everything revolves around Marcus, a youngster who took shelter with Gretel and Sarah and became part of their lives. Things seem a bit more normal, but all three are haunted by "the bonak" - a "creature" who is the personification of the thing you most fear. And maybe the bonak caught up with them, when both Marcus, and then Sarah disappear. Gretel is convinced that Marcus is the key to finding her mother, and sets out to find him. What unravels reads like a Greek tragedy. It is painful and heartbreaking and sometimes a little frightening. The build up of dread as the book goes on is palpable. I really didn't like what happened, and it certainly isn't for the faint hearted - but it is a book that I found hard to put down. It's a true tragedy on so many levels, although I suspect it will divide the audience, but books should challenge us from time to time! 

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 272 print pages.

Price I paid: free, borrowed from library.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, MP3CD, ebook.