The Secret Life Of Cows - gentle musings

The Secret Life Of Cows is a series of observations made over many years on Kite's Nest Farm where author, Rosamund Young, lived and worked with cows, sheep and chickens. This book focuses primarily on the lives of the cows - of which there are many generations. When the Youngs started to really observe their cows, they realised that each had their own character and was very much an individual, with their own preferences for other cattle and indeed humans. They have friends, they like to play, but above all, they like to eat. The farm is a great advert for looking after livestock in a way that allows them to exhibit their natural instinct for when they want shelter, when they want food and what type of food they want, when they need help from humans ... and when they just need to be left alone. For anyone who has an interest in animals, this is a book that you will enjoy. I would have preferred more of a narrative thread rather than the bitesize chunks that don't really link with each other. This made for a disjointed read. So, more of a coffee table book in my opinion - something you can pick up and put down over a long period of time to absorb short musings on all things bovine. It's gentle, takes no time to read and may change the way you think about cows when you next see one in a field.

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 26: A book with an animal in the title.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 140 print pages.
Price I paid: free, this was a present.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, unabridged audio CD, ebook.

The Night Circus - magically dangerous

Ever wondered what the world could be like if magic was real? Well, in The Night Circus, we get a little taste of such a world. At heart, this book is a love story between two characters (Celia and Marco) who are trapped at an early age into a deadly competition by two "gentlemen" who have, for an interminable amount of time, been debating about which type of magic is the superior. Each child is trained in the different magical methods and, after many years, the results start to appear in the form of The Night Circus - a mysterious circus that only opens after sunset. Now grown up, they each create different attractions in the circus and also start to influence and adapt each others creations. They become aware that they are competing with each other, but cannot help but fall in love - even before they really know who the other is. Their world is full of interesting people - from the performers in the circus, to the audience, some of whom become ardent followers (Les Reveurs). The circus gets bigger, and more people become unwittingly embroiled in the competition, and Celia is the one who starts to really feel the strain of holding all the magical elements of the circus together. When she and Marco discover that the competition can only be won by the death for the other, they desperately try to find a way out. Author Erin Morgenstern has created a story which has a fairy tale quality. At times dreamy, and at others dark, the action weaves around time and space which can leave the reader (well, this reader) a little discombobulated. There is a lot to take in and I am sure I missed things, or didn't quite realise the significance of an event at the time. Full of fascinating characters and imaginative scenes where the magic takes centre stage, there is much to admire about this book. And apart from the odd sense of confusion, I did enjoy The Night Circus - but I think I might have enjoyed it even more if it was told in a more linear fashion.

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 8: A book with a time of day in the title.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 656 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from library as an ebook.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

Look Who's Back - disturbingly funny!

It's always interesting when you read a story about a person who feels a bit like a fish out of water, but what if the author takes this one step further, using a person that history would rather forget? That's the risk Timur Vermes makes in Look Who's Back, when he brings Adolf Hitler back from the grave, 50 years after his death. It's 2011, and Hitler wakes up in a park (we, and he, have no idea how or why). Somewhat disorientated, he slowly realises that this is not the Berlin he is familiar with. He comes across a newspaper vendor who assumes he is an out-of-work actor playing the role of his life by never breaking character, and touting for business in the area. Hitler does not disabuse him of this assumption and finds refuge with this man. The advantage of this for Hitler is that he gets to read all the newspapers and starts to catch up on the events of the present day - barely believing that his beloved Germany is now run by a woman! The vendor makes an introduction to one of his regulars, and Hitler is recruited for a satirical TV sketch show, where he becomes a sensation. Some viewers are offended by what he says (as they should be), but most think it is hilarious ... little do they know that, being who he actually is, he really means every word he says. What his employers think of as burning satire is, for him, a vehicle to reach the masses with his fervent nazi beliefs. Despite it's subject matter, this is a deeply funny book wrapped around a cautionary tale. The people we may think hold the oddest of views, can express themselves in such a way that at first you may think it's funny, and nobody could possibly take it seriously. However, hear it often enough and it can start to take traction and resonate with so many people that it can turn the world upside down. The humour comes in seeing Hitler trying to get to grips with the modern world, and also his reaction to the politicians and society he sees around him. This makes him determined to put the German people "back on track" and makes it his mission to do so. I read the audio edition, narrated by the marvellous Julian Rhind-Tutt, who almost explodes during the increasing rants from Adolf. I really enjoyed this book and felt it was over all too soon.

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 6: A novel based on a real person.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 384 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.99.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

The Devil's Star - Harry Hole, how I've missed you!

It's sometimes hard to like Harry Hole, the alcoholic Norwegan detective who takes centre stage in The Devil's Star, by Jo Nesbo. To say he is on a mission to self-destruct is putting it mildly. He hasn't turned up for work for a couple of weeks. Instead, he's been on a bit of bender following the collapse of his case against fellow detective, Tom Waaler, who, he is convinced, is responsible for the death of his partner. His love interest, Rakel, cannot take his erratic behaviour anymore and has thrown him out of her home. His boss has been incredibly understanding, but can't cover for him anymore and puts him on notice to quit the force. However, it's the height of summer, and due to the high amount of staff on holiday, Harry is hauled in to investigate the murder of a young woman. She is missing a finger, and also has a star shaped diamond wedged under one of her eyelids. Oh, and guess who is also on the case ... yes, the smarmy Ton Waaler! While Harry battles to remain sober, his fog clears, he starts to see a pattern developing that shows that a series killer who seems to have a fascination with the devil's star is on the loose. There are twists and turns aplenty, and lots of red herrings too. The reader feels like they are on the investigative journey with Harry as he sifts through evidence and interviews the witnesses. Just when you think you've worked it out, something knocks you bandy. It's a great read, although it really helps if you have digested the previous books in the series, so that you can understand how Harry has got to where he is, and also how the different relationships he has with people in his working and personal life all fit together. Harry is a troubled, deeply frustrated soul, but you cannot help but root for him, which says something about the skill of Nesbo as a writer. Satisfyingly complex, this is well worth the effort.

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 5: Nordic Noir.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 522 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, unabridged audio CD, ebook.

On The Brinks - darkly funny

Even though I am a big fan of crime and thriller fiction, I was not looking forward to the challenge of reading a True Crime book - I'm strangely happy with bad things happening to people, but only if I know it's not real! Whenever I searched for True Crime, the options that came up were, primarily, books about serial killers ... urgh! So, when I happened upon On The Brinks, by Sam Millar, which was about a famous robbery, I grabbed it with both hands. It is, in effect, the autobiographical account of Sam Millar, from his childhood growing up in Belfast, to his unexpected involvement with the IRA, followed by a long incarceration in the notorious Long Kesh prison. On his release, he goes to America and starts a new life and a new family. Unfortunately for him, he just cannot resist the chance to make a lot of money in one go by stealing from the Brink's Armored Car Depot in Rochester, New York, and manages to get away with $7.4 million. This book is a great read from start to finish. The funny details of childhood and the grim realities of the treatment meted out on political prisoners in Northern Ireland are put before the reader in the same chatty style. There is humour alongside heartache and you keep having to remind yourself that this story is true. The people who populate this book are so well observed that you feel yourself empathising with the most unlikely of characters. I found myself disappointed when I finished, not because I didn't enjoy it, but because it was over too soon! I can heartily recommend this book - yes there are sweary bits, yes there are violent bits, but the journey the author goes on is so incredible, that all is forgiven.

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 2: True Crime.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 464 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from library.
Formats available: print, ebook.

The Power - turning the world upside down!

In this disturbing novel, teenage girls develop the ability to deliver electric shocks ... which becomes known as The Power. Men fear this phenomenon and try to seek ways to control those exhibiting this power. However, when the girls discover that they can trigger the ability in older women, the men lose any control they previously had, and things start to go terribly wrong. Society begins to unravel and the world becomes a very different place. Politics, religion and the criminal underworld are taken over by women, with alarming results. The centuries of male domination and unfair and violent treatment of women comes home to roost as the "gentler" sex  stop being so gentle, and revenge is meted out without mercy. This momentous change is seen through the eyes of several main characters: Allie, a foster kid who was abused by her carers but who has become the focal point of a new religion; Margot, a politician who exploits her position as well as her daughter; Roxy, the daughter of a gangster who is betrayed by her family; and Tunde, a male reporter who sees the writing on the wall as the story unfolds across the world. The Power, by Naomi Alderman is often a tough read, where the premise is, I suppose, that power always corrupts, no matter who holds it. But if women did hold the power, would men be treated so appallingly as women have been throughout history? I would like to think not, which is why I found this book a bit dispiriting at times. It is, however, gripping and the main characters are compelling. I really wanted to find out what happened to them all in the end. This is a book that stays with you, and some parts still give me the shivers. It would be extremely interesting to hear the reaction of men who read this book ... would they recognise the situations the characters find themselves in, and wonder what their fates would be if they were women in today's world?

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 15: A book about feminism.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 352 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.99.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, audio CD, ebook.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - no ruby slippers!

Having seen the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz many, many times, I was curious to find out how that adaptation differed from the book by L. Frank Baum which had inspired it. Whilst the main characters and the story arc are familiar, there are some distinct differences too. We begin with young Dorothy and her doggie companion Toto, who are swept away in their Kansas house to the strange land of Oz. On arrival, she has, quite accidentally, killed the Wicked Witch of the East and is, as a result, feted by the oppressed Munchkins. She is given the witch's slippers - which are silver and not ruby (as in the film). She is desperate to get back home to Kansas, and is told to go to the Emerald City and ask the all-powerful Wizard for help. And so she heads off, meeting three new companions along the way - the Scarecrow who would like to have a brain, the Tin Woodman who is desperate for a heart, and the Cowardly Lion, who needs to find some courage. Dorothy is sure that the Wizard will help them too, and so they join up and head off to the City together. The journey is not a smooth one, and they meet different people and hazards along the way, each helping the other. When they finally get to meet the Wizard, they are told that they must kill the Wicked Witch of the West in order to be granted what they have asked for. Dorothy is against this course of action, but soon understands that there is no other way for her to get home. The Witch is, indeed, wicked and will not go quietly - bringing all her resources to bear to destroy them ... including the Winged Monkeys. There is lots of action and fun to be had in this book, but there is darkness and violence too. A very black fairy tale indeed. I did enjoy it for the most part, but there were sections of the journey that fell a little flat for me and at times it felt a bit like ... and then this happened, and then this happened ... rather than the story flowing naturally. Good characterisation of the main characters and some magical and unexpected elements make The Wonderful Wizard of Oz an enjoyable, but not spectacular read.

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 33: A childhood classic you've never read.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 272 print pages.
Price I paid: free.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.