David Copperfield (34) - not so humble!

It may have taken me a while, but I have now finished another epic from "the list" - David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, which I read in an audio format. This is the tale of a small boy, who loses his father at a very young age. He adores his mother and his nurse, Peggarty, but his life is really turned upside down when his mother remarries. His new step father is a nasty man, but his step aunt is even worse. David is sent away to school - a formative year where he meets James Steerforth (the charismatic head boy who takes a shine to David) and Tommy Traddles, who is a fellow outcast. But then his mother dies. Now at the mercy of his step father and aunt, David is sent to a new school ... a very different place altogether. All does not go well and he runs away, eventually heading to his real Aunt - Mrs Trottwood - who becomes his guardian and is an all round good egg. Young Davey's life is now much improved, and he forms strong bonds with Mr Peggarty, the brother of his old nurse, and Agnes, the daughter of the lawyer he boards with while at school in London. Time moves on and David becomes a young man, falls in love and marries the pretty, and, quite frankly, pretty vacant, Dora - what an irritatingly silly character! There are times of tragedy, times of joy and times of poverty. Really strong characters abound in this entertaining story - Uriah Heap (ever so humble) and Mr Micawber to name but two - but Mrs Trottwood was my absolute favourite. There is so much going on in this semi-autobiographical book that you do have to pay attention, but that is no bad thing. I felt that there could have been a bit of judicious editing towards the end of the book, which had a bit of a "strung out" feel to me. However, I would have no hesitation in recommending this tome - just make sure you give yourself the time it needs to get the most out of it.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 768 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.99
Formats available: print, audio CD abridged, audio download unabridged, ebook.

Noughts & Crosses (61) - pacey thriller but no laughs

In this fictional, yet familiar world created by Malorie Blackman, the Crosses have everything .... the money, the power, the educational opportunities and the jobs. The Noughts, on the other hand, are only 50 years down the line from being enslaved - but for them, not much seems to have changed. Equality is simply a dream. Most Noughts just keep their heads down and try to stay out of trouble, out of prison and, if they are lucky, well away from the hangman's noose. Within this atmosphere, two youngsters become friends - Callum (a Nought), and Sephy (a Cross). As they get older, the friendship has a chance of developing into something beautiful ... if it wasn't for everyone else trying to force them apart. Noughts and Crosses cannot be friends, let alone lovers. Callum's life changes for good when his sister commits suicide, which pushes his father and older brother to join the Liberation Movement, leading to a bomb blast which very nearly kills Sephy. Can Callum and Sephy ever be together in this world of hate and mistrust? This is a story that pulls no punches, with violence, racism, unhappy marriages, despair, love and joy in equal measures. The author pushes all your emotional buttons, and leaves you begging for someone to tell a joke just to relieve the tension. But there are no jokes. This is a book that exposes the utter ridiculousness of racism, but in a very accessible way (the book being written for young adults). It's gripping and you do root for the characters despite you having a nagging feeling that they are doomed! Noughts & Crosses, which I read in print is a very modern Romeo and Juliet and I can understand why this has become a very popular book and is now studied in British schools.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 443 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (borrowed from my local library)
Formats available: print; audio CD; audio download; ebook.
     

On the road (90) - a novel of its time?

I found myself having enormous deja vu after the first few chapters of On the road, by Jack Kerouac (print). I am convinced that I have actually read this book before ... but as I couldn't be 100% sure, I ploughed on.  Set in the late 40s and early 50s, it's really a bromance between Sal Paradise, the narrator, and Dean Moriarty - a man totally wrapped up in himself who is hooked on drugs, booze, women and jazz. Although, the bromance is very much one-sided - Sal is totally in awe of Dean, and despite the amount of times Dean lets him down, always wants to experience more of what Dean does and says. The book follows Sal as he crosses America on various road trips over several years - trying to hook up with old friends and places that have a resonance to him, or places he wants to "experience". Sal is a writer, so feeds off the odd, the mad and the just plain bad people he meets along the way. Money is always a problem, but invariably, there always seems to be enough to find weed or alcohol. This is supposed to be a seminal work of the "beat" generation. It is a hedonistic, roller coaster ride, that you feel is only going to end in disaster. Not my type of people, not my type of book. I felt no empathy or understanding for the characters - but that's probably because I am a "square". However, there are sporadic passages of pure beauty - like an occasional oasis in a bleak desert. Depressing if this is how people think that this is the only way to get the most out of life. I first thought that this was a book very much of its own time, but when I think about it - this is still going on now, maybe not the big road trips, but just check out any town centre on a Saturday night! Seriously, we, as a species, just don't learn!

All in all, I'd rather listen to Donkey from Shrek singing "On the road again ..."

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 291 print pages.
Price I paid: free (borrowed from my husband)
Formats available: print, audio CD; audio download; ebook

Persuasion (38) - a romance that was never in doubt

I don't know whether I just wasn't in the right kind of mood for this book, but Persuasion, by Jane Austen, which I read on my Kindle didn't quite light my fire as much as I was anticipating it would. It could be that I sort of remembered the essence of the story, or maybe it was because I found myself getting confused between some of the characters, which was irritating. This is the tale of Anne Elliott, a thoroughly decent creature, who, following the early death of her mother, is, for some reason, virtually ignored by her vain father Sir Walter, and her eldest sister, Elizabeth. She has a stalwart friend, however, in Lady Russell, who lives near their home and in whom she confides. We discover that Anne was persuaded by this formidable woman to break off an engagement to a Mr Wentworth when she was just 19 years old, as the Lady didn't think it a suitable match. In the intervening years, her heart would compare any other suitor to her first beau, and they just didn't measure up. Now in her late twenties, Anne was convinced that she would never marry. When her feckless father runs into financial difficulties, he rents out their ancestral country pile and takes a house in Bath. Anne, while looking after her clingy, hypocondriac and married younger sister Mary, stays in the vicinity for a while, and finds the new tenants - Admiral and Mrs Croft - to be fine people, and she soon becomes an intimate of theirs, although she is nervous when she discovers that the Admiral is Mr Wentworth's brother-in-law. Inevitably, she and Wentworth (now a naval Captain) start to move in the same circles, and all the old feelings are stirred up once again. The remainder of the story is a bit of a will they, won't they affair, with a few twists and turns and misunderstandings. It is a romantic tale, but it didn't quite keep me gripped or in any doubt as to what was going to happen. I just wanted to shake the pair of them and get them to tell each other how they felt! Don't get me wrong, it's still a very enjoyable read, but it's no Pride and Prejudice.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 208 print pages
Price I paid: free on the Kindle.
Formats available: print, audio CD abridged, audio download unabridged, ebook.

Treasure Island (36) - yo ho ho and a botle of rum!

If you want a rip-roaring tale that's a real page turner, you could do a lot worse than turning to Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stephenson. The action starts on page one, and just keeps going all the way to the end. Our young hero, Jim Hawkins, becomes embroiled in the hunt for Captain Flint's treasure when one of his crew arrives at The Admiral Benbow (the tavern where Jim lives with his mother and ailing father). Jim is both frightened and fascinated in equal measures by this visitor, but events start to take on a darker hue when this resident pirate is handed the "black spot" by Blind Pew, and promptly drops dead. Jim and his mother have to run for their lives into the night, with Jim taking an old parchment from the dead man's belongings in payment for all the rum he has consumed without reparation. At the house of the local Squire, Jim, with his friend Dr Livesey, hands over the parchment which is revealed to be a map showing where there is a hoard of treasure on a far away island. Unable to resist the promise of such wealth, the Squire determines to get a ship and crew together and find this island - with the Doctor and Jim in tow. Unbeknownst to them, they inadvertently take on Long John Silver as ship's cook - who, together with other old shipmates of Captain Flint, bide their time, but have mutiny in their hearts. This is a great adventure story for young and old alike. And while the tale is a familiar one, it is well worth reading. Recommended - indeed, this could be the start of a run of RLS books if they all measure up to this cracker!

My STAR rating: FOUR

Length: 224 print pages
Price I paid: Free on Kindle.
Formats available: print; audio CD; audio download; ebook.

Memoirs of a Geisha (62) - a different time, a different place

This is another cracking book, and one which truly transports you to a different time and place. Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden gives you exactly what it says on the tin. We hear a firsthand account of a young Japanese girl - Chiyo - who is taken from a small fishing village just before her mother dies, and instead of being adopted as she thinks, she becomes a maid in a house in Kyoto, with a view to becoming a geisha. The resident geisha takes a dislike to her and makes her life a misery. It looks like she will be a maid all her life - but her life turns around after a chance meeting with a man who she feels destined to be with. The change in fortune means that she does indeed become a geisha - whose job is to entertain men in a variety of ways ... not necessarily how you would think. The voice of Chiyo and then Sayuri (her geisha name) is so strong that you feel like she is just chatting to you about her life over a drink or meal. There are beautiful descriptions of the places, the kimonos, the ornaments and, of course, the other characters. The changes that take place, not only to Sayuri personally, but also to the country are vast - the action starts in 1929 and takes us through the hardships in Japan of the Second World War, and then the passage of time that eventually brings healing to all. It's a fantastic insight to a world that we might think we know. It feels like a very truthful tale and is fascinating and well worth the effort.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 435 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.00.
Formats available: print; audio CD; audio download; ebook

The Alchemist (94) - a small slice of heaven

What a cracking little book The Alchemist, by Paul Coelho is. The version I have just finished was on audio, narrated by Jeremy Irons, and the text and his voice made the experience one that will stay with me for a long time. Do not be fooled by the relatively short length of this book - it has deep, deep themes. The central character is constantly referred to as "The Boy" rather than by his name. He is a shepherd in Andalusia, quietly content in many ways, learning about life through his sheep. He became a shepherd because he wanted to travel, but he's only ever done so within Andalusia, moving his sheep from pasture to pasture as the seasons come and go. Then he meets a gypsy who tells him that he will find treasure at the pyramids in Egypt. He dismisses this particular bit of fortune telling until an old man strikes up a conversation with him and tells him the same thing ... at the same time, telling him everything about The Boy's past, including things he'd never told anyone. The Boy decides that he needs to pursue his dream of further travels, or his "personal legend" as it s referred to in the book, and sells his sheep and gets on a boat to Tangier, crosses the Egyptian desert where he encounters "The Alchemist", who helps to bring him to the end of his journey of discovery. The Boy is helped along the way by many guides (not all of them in human form) who keep him on the right path and teach him how to hold on to his dreams and strive to fulfil them. Gentle, thought provoking and with the ability to take you to far off places both physically and spiritually, this is a fabulous read, no matter what your personal beliefs may be. I loved this book and know that I will reread it - particularly when I might be feeling a little down or lost. Follow your heart and live your life!

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 197 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; unabridged audio CD.