Once Upon A River - unsettling, yet compelling!

Once Upon A River, by Diane Setterfield felt almost like a fable or some ancient story that has been passed down the generations by word of mouth. This is not surprising, as the scene is set in The Swan, a public house on the Thames, where the locals delight in telling stories to each other. But one midwinter's night, the door bursts open and reveals an injured man holding the corpse of a drowned child. Rita, a local healer, steps in and tends to the injured man and takes the child into another room and stays with her - but then, to everyone's surprise, the child begins to breathe and opens her eyes! She does not speak and is not injured in any way, but nobody knows who the child belongs to. Word spreads about the child, which results in several families making claim to her - announcing her to be the daughter they had previously thought lost or stolen. Even though there is something otherworldly about the child, everyone is drawn to her - including Rita, and the injured man - Henry Daunt - who is a photographer, and saved the child from the river. Time goes by and the child settles in with a young couple who believed she was their child, but that is not the end of it and the claims and counterclaims continue - with greed, grief and opportunity to make money all  playing their part. But what is the real story and where will it lead? This story ebbs and flows, just like the river, around which the story revolves. Full of emotion, fascinating characters and a touch of the supernatural, it takes you on a journey which shows both the best and worst of humanity. Thoroughly enjoyable, though it would have been nice to have a few more lighter moments as there were passages of relentless dourness where the hope of a happy resolution seemed a million miles away. Gripping, despite the lack of "action", I can definitely recommend this book, particularly the audio edition narrated by the incomparable Juliet Stevenson. 

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 544 print pages.

Price I paid: £3.99.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

Project Hail Mary - Out of This World!

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir is a tour-de-force piece of writing ... in my humble opinion! The book opens with Ryland Grace walking up and not really knowing where he is. He assesses his surroundings and soon comes to the realisation that he is in a space craft, travelling through a galaxy he doesn't recognise and that his fellow crew mates are both dead. He knows he has been asleep a long time, the kind of induced deep sleep that can play havoc with your memory. But as he comes to terms with what supplies he has, how to work the equipment, etc, pieces of his former life start to emerge ... and it is exceedingly worrying. It turns out that he has gone from being a science teacher to being sent on mission to save Earth from an extra terrestrial threat. His personal journey, both before and, now, during the mission is funny, intense and scary in equal measures. And when he discovers that he is not actually alone after all, it sets up an amazing first contact story into the bargain! Full of action, heart, and lots of zingers, this is such a thrilling read where the device of his fuzzy memory enables us, the reader,  to discover things at the same time as the main character - both the good, the bad and indeed, the ugly at times. Packed with science too, but explained in such an accessible way, it's a book for anyone - space nerd, thrill seeker or fans of unexpected friendships. Although set in space, it's a very human story too. Can you tell I enjoyed it? I read the audio edition, narrated by Ray Porter, which was fabulous, particularly the communication between Ryland and his unusual ally. Highly, HIGHLY recommended.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 496 prints pages.

Price I paid: £2.98.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

Dog Stories - Something for Everyone!

Dog Stories, edited by Diana Secker Tesdell is a collection of twenty short stories featuring our four legged friend, the dog. From well known authors like Mark Twain and Anton Chekhov to those who may not be so familiar (or at least not for me!) such as Brad Watson and Rick Bass. It's a real mixed bag of tales (or tails if you prefer), some serious, some funny and some a little dark and spooky. My personal favourites were "The Mixer", by P.G. Woodhouse, "Ava's Apartment", by Jonathan Lethem and "The Oracle of the Dog", by G.K. Chesterton. Although I didn't fully embrace each and every story, this didn't present me with a problem because, being a book of short stories, I knew another one was coming along soon. This gave me multiple opportunities for that hopeful feeling of eager anticipation that happens when you start reading something new. The book is one of the Everyman's Pocket Classics, and it's a beautiful hardback that feels great to hold, with an adorable cover of an incredibly soulful-looking terrier - those eyes just suck you right in! If you are a dog fan, then this is a must. But even if you are not, each story explores the human condition just as much as the canine one, and it's also a great introduction to the writing styles of all the authors included. Well worth the effort.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 378 print pages.

Price I paid: free - this was a present.

Formats available: print only.

False Value - Huzzah!

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch is book 8 in the Rivers of London series and it was an absolute pleasure to be back in the world of the magical underbelly of London, where those crimes and criminals who utilise the dark arts to get ahead are dealt with by a very special unit of the Metropolitan Police. Peter Grant, a PC who became the Met's first trainee wizard in 50 years is about to become a father with his partner, Bev, a river goddess, and is worrying over what this will mean for them as a couple and the new baby. He is sent undercover as a security guard in a tech company - the Serious Cybernetics Corporation - trying to ascertain whether there is link to some dangerous magic/tech incidents that have been taking place. The plot takes us all the way back to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and thrusts us forward to sentient AI ... and who knows where all that will end? I love the character of Peter Grant and his often world weary outlook, which is fantastically brought to life by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith in the audiobook edition which I always use for this series. There is always humour amidst the detecting and criminal behaviour parts, which means that things can be kept a little lighter than your standard straight thriller - though that's not to say that there aren't dark elements too! I'm not sure this one made me chuckle as much as some of the others have, but that may be because I missed out on some of the "in-jokes" referencing Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams - while I do love that tome, I don't know it well enough to catch such things. However, that didn't detract from my enjoyment and I will certainly be diving into the water of this series again before too long!

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 432 print pages.

Price I paid: £5.56.

Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

Various Pets Alive & Dead - Am I Missing Something?

Various Pets Alive & Dead, by Marina Lewycka is the story of a most unusual family. Doro and Marcus (the parents) lived in a commune for 20 years and thought they would change the world with free love and lentils. But that didn't happen. Their children, Serge and Clara rebelled against this - one by being obsessed with making a boatload of money and the other by being ferociously hygienic. Also into this mix is Ollie-Anna, adopted as a baby in the commune, who has Down's Syndrome, and is desperately seeking more independence, mainly, it feels, in order to have sex. To say this family is dysfunctional is an understatement. There isn't really much of a plot, but lots of sequences focusing on the different characters both in the present and in flashback. All of them have struggles and get themselves into a variety of increasingly unlikely situations. The writing is engaging, and I kind of enjoyed reading this at the time, but on reflection, it isn't a book whose characters have stayed with me in any shape or form. I saw loads of reviews from people saying how funny this book is, but I didn't really find it so ... am I missing something ... have I had a humour bypass? I actually found it sad - maybe that says more about me than about the book! Yes, it's quirky, but I found it hard to relate to almost all of the characters and found many of them irritating and a little foolish - maybe that's where the humour can be found, but it just didn't tickle my particular funny bone.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 384 print pages.

Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.

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

Thunderball - back on form!

Thunderball, by Ian Fleming is first of the James Bond books to feature SPECTRE, an international terrorist organisation led by the creepily charismatic Ernst Stravo Blofeld. He has masterminded a plot to steal two nuclear weapons and then demand an enormous sum of money for their return, or, they will be detonated in highly populated areas. Operation Thunderball is launched to stop Blofeld in his tracks. And poor James has to head off to the Bahamas to do so! Here he meets Domino, the female lead, who is the kept women of Emile Largo, Blofeld's number two, who is using the cover of a treasure hunting business on his boat to deal with the the bombs. Inevitably, Domino becomes smitten with 007 - particularly after he sucks sea anemone spines out of  her foot ... well, of course, who wouldn't be ... and James sets her on a path to help him, putting her in mortal danger! In collaboration with Felix Leiter of the CIA, Bond sets out to intercept the SPECTRE operatives ... ending up with an exciting underwater battle! I have to say that I am increasingly finding it hard to ignore the way women and others are spoken about and treated in these books - Bond (and indeed Ian Fleming) do not cover themselves in glory on this point. But, I suspect that these are a product of their time and need to be read with that in  mind. However, I did enjoy it more than the previous Bond, as the plot is well executed,  the action is exciting, the baddies are BAD and you can rest assured that all will be well by the end of the book ... well, maybe not for all the characters, but for Bond and the world in general! 

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 384 print pages.

Price I paid: £2.98.

Formats available: print, unabridged audiobook, ebook. 

Hello 2024!

It's 2024 already ... but you probably know that by now! Happy New Year to you all. 

But what, I hear you cry, has this new reading year got in store for me? Well, after a few attempts of trying to get through piles of books that I think I should probably read and barely making a dent in them, I've made a radical decision: Yes folks, it's time to just READ WHAT I REALLY, REALLY WANT TO READ! Life can be short, and I don't want to waste a second of it on books that make me go meh! For instance, the Game of Thrones series is one I haven't yet started, though has been sitting waiting for years. It's time!

And what about those copious tomes still cluttering up the house from previous challenges ... well, I'm going to go through them all and decide whether to keep or to donate to a charity shop. If I pick up a book and put it straight down thinking ... I wonder what else is there, then it's probably a sign that it's a book I can live without. 

So, I'm going to hurry up and finish the books I'm currently reading and then it's onto the new reading me! 

(Source: Confessions of a book geek)