Week 49: Double cross in times of war (Book 50)

Eddie Chapman, career criminal, ladies man and no friend to the British establishment, finds himself in prison on the island of Jersey. When World War II breaks out and Jersey is invaded - nothing much changes for Eddie until he decides that he really has to get out of jail. So, he offers to spy for the Germans. At first his offer seems to be spurned, but months later, things start to change and he finds himself in France at a training camp for the Abwher. In Agent ZigZag, by Ben Macintyre (which I read in print), we then follow Eddie as he learns Morse code, sabotage techniques, parachuting, and, of course, German! He becomes close to his spymaster (Von Groening) - a relationship that lasts into their old age. However, on his first mission behind "enemy" lines, where he is tasked with blowing up De Havilands factory, he immediately hands himself into the British authorities and begins his career as a double agent. Chapman seems to be able to charm most people he meets, and he eventually persuades his new British spymaster that he is on the level and that he will make a useful contribution to the war by going back and spying on his old employees. We follow Chapman on his adventures during the remainder of the war and after as he slowly drifts back into his old ways. This is an interesting, but not totally gripping tale of a most unusual hero. It's just a shame that it takes a war to bring out the best in people!

My star rating: 3 STARS.

The stats bit:
Length: 384 print pages
Price: free (given to me by a friend)
Other formats available: Audio CD (abridged); Audio download (abridged); Ebook (Kindle).

Week 48: Laugh out loud with Michael McIntyre (Book 49)

I've been a lucky girl ... following on from last weeks triumph of The Help - I settled into an autobiography as my next book to read in an audio format. And what a great choice I made - Michael McIntyre's Life and Laughing is an intimate and, of course, incredibly funny take on what has been a long and difficult road to success in his chosen career as a stand-up comedian. His childhood started well - a well-to-do family background and a wealthy, if eccentric Hungarian grandmother (hello darlinks!) with whom he would play scrabble for money to fund his schooldays. But then his parents divorced, there was a change of schools, absolutely NO luck with girls despite many efforts and his father dying at a young age. There are exceptionally touching moments in the book, made more poignant by Michael reading it all to you himself. He does not shy away from the most intimate of details during puberty - I'm sure you can imagine! Many opportunities come and go, usually because Michael has an uncanny knack of messing them up. Eventually, he finds the love of a good woman (the description of his wife Kitty going into labour with their first child and the car trip to the hospital is hilarious) and, after 7 years on the comedy circuit, finds fame and fortune - becoming the household name he is today. This is a great journey to take with the man himself, and you will laugh out loud, and start to talk a bit like him when telling a story ... or maybe that's just me! I was sorry when the book came to an end which is always a good sign. Highly, highly recommended.

My star rating: FIVE.

The stats bit:
Length: 384 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99 (with Audible subscription)
Other formats available in: print, Ebook, unabridged audio CD.

Week 47: The Help ... book 48

What a fantastic book! The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, which I read in audio format is a great slice of life in 1960's Jackson, Mississippi. This is a world where segregation between the races is very much a reality - and no well-to-do home would be complete without a black maid. We follow Aibileen, who is raising her seventeenth white child following the tragic death of her own son; her best friend, Minny, who has a tongue so sharp she is in danger of never getting another job; and Miss Skeeter, a white girl, just home from College, who needs to know why her beloved maid has disappeared. Skeeter wants to be a writer and this leads her to forming a friendship with Aibileen, a gentle spirit who loves all the children she has raised for white employees. As she finds out more about life as a maid, both good and bad, she grows increasingly alienated from her family and white friends. This story is sad, funny and uplifting in equal measures. The three main characters each have a different narrator in the audio edition, which works really well. You are drawn into each woman's story which slowly but surely cross boundaries of age, race and law. I heartily recommend this book - especially in audio. I know it's just out as a film but I can't imagine the tale being better told than it is in the edition I've just read.

My star rating: FIVE.

The stats bit:
Length: 464 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99 (through Audible monthly subscription)
Other formats available in: print; unabridged audio CD; Ebook.

Week 46: A Hard Landing (book 47)

After a quiet couple of weeks, I've just finished A Hard Landing, by Stephen Leather, which I read as an Ebook. It's a fast-paced thriller and the first in a series of books featuring Dan "Spider" Shepherd - an ex-SAS trooper and now, undercover policeman. The action gets going from the very first page and the tension builds up leading to a big finish! We follow Shepherd on an operation that he thinks has come to an end, but finds himself in prison as a result and is asked to maintain his undercover character while starting a whole new investigation to try and find a mole who is helping a particularly unsavoury drug baron who is on remand inside the same prison. All Spider wants to do is get home to his wife and son, but cannot resist this new case. As more witnesses seem to be disappearing, so making the case against the drug baron become weaker and weaker, the pressure mounts. Can Spider maintain his cover and his sanity and find out what's really going on before the baddie goes free? If it's a thriller you are after that carries you along on the crest of an action wave, then Stephen Leather is for you. A good read, although sometimes a little confusing with huge gaps between the time some of the characters are mentioned again and you find yourself thinking ... who was that, and where do they fit into the story again? But despite this, I enjoyed it - but it's not for the faint-hearted (as you would expect with these types of characters), with a smattering of brutality thrown into the mix. It's such a shame that the rest of the books in the series are not priced as nicely as the first ... but it's a great marketing ploy, price the first one cheaply and get you hooked into the character so that you buy the next!

My star rating: FOUR.

The stats bit:
Length: 384 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.49 (Kindle).
Other formats available in: print; audio (cassette).

Week 44: Timeless love triangles (Book 46)

As if one love triangle wasn’t enough, there are two in The Things We Cherished, by Pam Jenoff, which I read in print. Sixty years ago, in war torn Poland, Roger goes to live with his brother Hans and his wife Magda, who, he discovers is a Jewess. Hans is hardly ever at home, either with his official work, or his secret underground activities trying to save Jews from the concentration camps. In their isolation, Roger and Magda are slowly drawn together, but their lives are torn apart when Magda and her daughter are arrested by the Nazis. Roger is offered the hope of rescuing them by the Gestapo - but only if he betrays his brother.

Fast forward to the present, where Roger is being accused of a war crime – and in a bizarre twist of fate, two brothers, Brian and Jack, enter the arena to defend him. The former asks for extra help in the form of Charlotte, an idealistic public defender, who has had her heart broken by him in the past. Despite her reservations, she jets off to Europe to help with the case and finds herself being sucked into not only the heart-breaking case of Roger and Magda, but also the confusion of feelings that surface following her contact with her former lover and his brother. 

I have to warn you now, there aren’t many laughs in this sometimes confusing but ultimately satisfying tale – but then tragedy and romance are always close allies.

My star rating: THREE


The stats bit:
Length: 288 print pages
Price I paid: £0.00
Other formats available in: Large print, eBook

Week 43 - is kidnapping a goat ever a good idea? (Book 45)

What a cracker of a book I've finished ... Getting Sassy, by D.C Brod, which I read in audio format, starts with a dilemma for our heroine, Robyn ... how is she going to afford to keep her elderly mother Lizzie in the local care home when the money is running out, and she's just not getting enough freelance writing work to cover the expense! Enter her accountant - who helpfully points out the difficulty she already knows she is in. Robyn is then tasked with writing about a new medium in the city, and goes to a seance for research. Thus sets off a train of events that eventually lead her and her mother down a long and twisting path that ends with finding out about her father - a man she had never known. In the meantime, she gets ever closer to her accountant and somehow, they manage to come up with a plan to steal a goat - name of Sassy - and ransom it for money! There is a lot going on in this book, but not to the extent that it confuses or bothers the reader. Full of humour and humanity - the conversations between Robyn and her spiky mother have an authenticity that is refreshing. I highly recommend this book for anyone struggling to take care of an elderly relative, or maybe those who likes goats!

My star rating: FIVE.

The stats bit:
Length: 264 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.95 (on iTunes).
Other formats available in: standard print.    

Week 42 - blog one: A mercy killing (book 44)

I've not been around to blog over the last couple of weeks - what with family visitors and then a trip to France ... but I'm back and have two books to tell you about. In this first blog, I'll talk about Mercy, by Jodi Picoult, which I read in print. I think Jodi Picoult is an author who divides people - you either get her, or you don't. Her books usually contain challenging themes that might not necessarily appeal on first glance, but I do recommend giving her a go. There have been maybe two books that have actually made me cry and also completely taken me by surprise - and one of them was by this author. However, enough general preamble. Mercy is set in a small town in Massachusetts, where the population are almost entirely descended from one Scottish clan, the head of which is also the chief of police. Into this quiet and peaceful town, enters Jamie MacDonald (also a member of the clan) in a pick up truck. Sitting next to him is his wife, his dead wife, who he has just smothered with a pillow to relieve her of what remained of her painful, cancer-ridden life. As Jamie is taken into custody, so begins a legal debate about assisted suicide versus murder ... was this a mercy killing? Not that Jamie cares what happens to him - as his beloved Maggie is no longer with him. Meanwhile, the chief of police is going through a personal crisis of his own - drawn to a woman who is not his adoring wife, but who has a freedom of spirit that he longs for. Is this his chance to break away from the tradition and responsibility of being the head of the clan?

I wouldn't say this is one her best books, but at the same time, the story telling is good - I just didn't quite warm to the characters as much as I usually do. I'd still recommend it - there is always something to recommend in a Jodi Picoult!

My star rating: FOUR.

The stats bit ...
Length: 449 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.00 (from a charity shop)
Other formats available in: Audio CD; Audio Download; Ebook.