When God Was a Rabbit - Childhood makes us what we are

When God Was a Rabbit, by Sara Winman is the intimate story of the Portman family from the perspective of the youngest member, Elly. Born in 1968, we meet her when she is very young and she develops a friendship with the old man next door which goes on to affect her whole life. We see her grow older and find that she worships her brother Joe, but does not make friends easily, except with her rabbit, which she names God, and the irrepressible Jenny Penny, who bursts into her life one day at school. Elly and Jenny share everything ... well, almost everything. When the Portman's win a fortune, the family up sticks and move to the countryside. When Jenny suddenly stops communicating with Elly, she is devastated. We move forward in time, with the Portman's gathering unusual friends along the way who become part of an extended family. Joe is now working on the other side of the Atlantic and still seems unhappy. When Elly receives a letter out of the blue from Jenny, we find out what has happened to her. Can their friendship be rekindled? Will Joe and Elly ever be happy? This is a strong, but intimate story, beautifully written, about family, friendship, love and loss. I read the audio edition, narrated by the author herself, which I felt worked very well - I suppose it helps that she is an actress! It is heart-breaking and funny by equal measure and I can heartily recommend it. Personally, I felt that the ending was a little strung out and could have been rounded up a little quicker, but that is only a minor point.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 352 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Sharpe's Siege - a masterful piece of writing

Bernard Cornwell has done it again with this classic Sharpe adventure. In Sharpe's Siege, our hero, Major Richard Sharpe, is called upon to assist the British Navy in the capture of a fortress on the French coast. This does not bring him happiness, for, in the first place, he is leaving behind is new, and sick wife, Jane, who he fears has "the fever." And secondly, he has to take orders from an incompetent Naval Officer. What should be a fairly routine piece of action behind enemy lines becomes much more complicated by some underhand goings on by both the French, in the shape of his long-time adversary, Pierre Ducos, as well as the British army itself. And guess who gets caught up in the middle of all the politics once again! This leads to his small band of men being abandoned in the fortress they had captured, and facing overwhelming forces of the enemy. Desperate times call for desperate measures ... one of which may be that he has to put his trust in an American privateer who has no love for the British! The action is fast, furious and brutal at times, but we also see the softer side of Sharpe in this book, something which I'm very happy to see. Sharpe fans needn't worry overly, he certainly hasn't lost any of his edge when it comes to the battle. This book is raw at times, showing that there may be victory, but there is certainly no glory or glamour in war. Sharpe's Siege is the eighteenth in the Sharpe series, and I've only got three more to go! I feel like I should ration myself as I am dreading the day when I have no more Sharpe books to look forward to devouring!

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 319 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.50 from a charity shop.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Persuader - Jack Reacher on fine form

Persuader, by Lee Child, is an action packed treat for any fans of the rough and incredibly tough anti-hero with the name of Jack Reacher. This is his seventh outing, and for anyone who has missed the story so far, here is a quick recap ... Jack left the US Army where he was a Major in the Military Police. He has been drifting around America ever since, never staying in one place for very long and taking the time to visit the out of the way places of that vast country. In between times, he keeps getting embroiled in sticky cases with either the FBI or other law enforcement agencies, who use him as a consultant to bring the bad guys to justice. Usually this is off the books, which is just as well, as it usually results in a substantial body count! Persuader, the seventh book in the series, is no exception. Reacher is approached to infiltrate a gang of gun smugglers, but he has an agenda of his own, for one of the protagonists just happens to be an ex-military traitor, who has crossed paths with Reacher before. I was hooked from the first line and from that moment I knew I was in for a bumpy, but enjoyable (from the safety of my Kindle) time. There is much violence and very little mercy on show, and Jack isn't someone you'd invite round for Sunday lunch. However, there is something about him that is irresistible, and I just can't stop myself from plunging into his manly maelstrom every few months. Lee Child is frighteningly prolific and scarily consistent at producing true page turners that make you wince, but at the same time, not make you want to put the book down ... a rare skill and long may he reign!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 544 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed as an e-book through local library.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; unabridged audio MP3 CD; abridged audio CD; e-book.

The Thrill of It All - so you want to know what it's like to be in a band ...

For those who may have always wanted to be in a band, then The Thrill of It All, by Joseph O'Connor can give you an insight into the highs and lows of all that such a life can offer - undoubtedly using some insider knowledge from the experience of his sister, Sinead O'Connor! We follow the formation and disintegration of The Ships in the Night, a band whose eclectic bunch of musicians make it hard to place them in a particular genre. In the very un-rock and roll setting of Luton Polytechnic in the 1980's, Robbie Goulding becomes aware of the exotic creature that is Francis Mulvey - an Vietnamese orphan who was adopted by an Irish couple living in Yorkshire! Fran wears make up, Fran wears dresses, and Fran seems to respect nothing and no one, except maybe music. When Fran discovers a kindred spirit in Robbie, they start to skip lectures and perform music together, eventually busking to bewildered passers by in the local shopping centre! Also at the Poly is Trez, a beautiful creature who plays a mean cello, but can turn her hand to pretty much any stringed instrument. When she calls on her twin brother, and drummer, Sean, the band finally comes together. Many gigs in many towns follow, with countless knock backs before they get any kind of a recording contract. Eventually, things turn around for them on a tour in the USA, and suddenly, it's all systems go. The pressure of four people, living, eating, sleeping, and making music together 24/7 starts to make cracks appear. Drugs and drink and unforeseen pregnancies begin to take up more energy than the music. It is made plain from the opening of the book, that things do not end well for the band. However, that journey is an entertaining roller coaster of emotion, and is told primarily from the viewpoint of Robbie. This may be a book about the music business, but it is also about family, with much humour to be had from the exchanges between Robbie and his Irish father who is less than impressed by the choice of career his son has made. But even more so, this is a story of the type of friendships that go so deep that despite the mammoth efforts made to ensure mutual destruction, somehow, that friendship can survive. Great characters and touching moments, there are a couple of flabby moments, the trimming of which would have kept it tight as a snare! Overall, a really good read - and if you get the chance to read the audio version narrated by Ciaran Hinds, then you will not be disappointed!

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 416 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.72.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.

Hogfather - Death meets Christmas

In Hogfather, by the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett, strange things are happening. The Hogfather (the Discworld equivalent of Father Christmas) seems to be missing... and it's the night before Hogswatch when all the children are hanging up their socks on the mantlepiece. Why no Hogfather ... well, it seems that children have stopped believing in him, and if people don't believe, then maybe he can no longer exist. But hang on ... isn't that the great man himself coming down the chimney - except he looks a bit skinny and his HO HO HO is a bit on the scary side. Yes, it's Death Himself, disguised and doing his best to act like Hogfather, and get people believing in him again. For every world needs a Hogfather. This book takes a swipe at the childhood beliefs and fears that we all have ... things like The Tooth Fairy and The Bogeyman, and puts them in the parallel universe of the Discworld. Danger is lurking in that there are grey figures called The Auditors, who run the world, but don't like the mess and inefficiency that humans have brought to it, so hatch a plan to tidy things up a bit! Death and his granddaughter Susan bring all their guile and stubbornness to bear in order to stop them. As always, the Discworld is full of silliness and laughs, but also makes you think about the world in a slightly different way. Imaginative and with plenty of action, readers should sit back and let their minds enjoy the flight of fancy that this book will bring to them.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 456 print pages.
Price I paid: 95 pence.
Formats available: print; abridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Forgotten Garden - Secrets never remain secret forever

In The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, be prepared to experience a fair amount of disorientation as the action takes you both back and forward through time as well as across two continents. There are three narrators - Nell, Cassandra and Eliza - each are strong women, and each have suffered great loss. Cassandra is trying to finish the quest that her grandmother, Nell, started 25 years ago, a quest to find out who her real parents were and why she was put on a boat and then abandoned by a lady she knew as the Authoress when she was just four years old. After discovering Nell's journal and that her grandmother has left her a house in England she knew nothing about, Cassandra sets off for Cornwall too see it for herself. Slowly, but surely the lives of each of the three women are revealed, as well as how their lives are intertwined. As mentioned before, there is a heck of a lot of toing and froing, and you definitely need to keep your wits about you to avoid getting lost ... have just thought ... there is a maze which features heavily in the titular garden ... a coincidence ... I think not! Overall, this is a family saga, but tied up around a bit of a mystery. There are some strong characters, but I felt that the male characters, with the exception of one, were totally unsympathetic, which meant they didn't provide any depth. It is also overly long and could have done with some sympathetic editing to tighten up the flabby, repetitive parts. I also found one of the main events somewhat unbelievable. For such a long book, there were still a couple of loose threads left behind unless I managed to miss them in the maze! It is an easy enough read, good for a holiday (which is what I am on right now), but it didn't stimulate my mind in the way that it could have.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 645 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from a friend.
Formats available: print; unabridged mp3 CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Act of Roger Murgatroyd - Light Entertainment

I was in the mood for something light, and happened upon The Act of Roger Murgatroyd, by Gilbert Adair in a pile of books my husband was going to donate to a charity shop. It looked like just the job, and it certainly was. It is a bit of a spoof on Agatha Christie - set up as a classic whodunit - but it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's Boxing Day, in a snowed-in manor on the edge of Dartmoor in the mid 1930's. All the characters you expect to see are there - an author, an actress, a vicar and his wife, a colonel and his wife and of course, the body in the attic - an attic which is locked from the inside! The body is that of Raymond Gentry, a gate-crasher to the Christmas Festivities at the manor and who, in the space of 48 hours, managed to turn everyone against him with his vicious tongue. When he turns up dead, no-one is too upset, except when they realise that there must be a murderer amongst them ... and one of them might be next. The guests decide that the best thing to do while waiting for the police is to try and persuade their neighbour, a retired police inspector, to come to the manor and wait with them. Needless to say, as the snow continues to fall, the police inspector decides to perform his own investigation, aided and hindered in equal measure by the author, one Evadne Mount, a formidable lady who writes crime thrillers for a living! Slowly we hear about the possible motives for murder from almost everyone at the manor ... but with so many suspects, will the real culprit ever be brought to justice? This is a book that will both entertain and keep you guessing. The characters are familiar yet have a little extra spice to them than your classic whodunit, and although the action, so to speak, is primarily people relating their own stories, it has a decent pace to it. This is the first in a trilogy featuring Evadne, but I fear I won't be venturing into book two any time soon. Not one that will stay a long time in the memory, but if you wanted something for a journey or for a holiday, then you could do a lot worse!

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 286 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.00 (borrowed from husband).
Formats available: print; unabridged audio cassette; ebook.