Athena Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 That is odd! I'm glad you're enjoying your reading . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 Not doing terribly well with my "reduce reading pile by 1' challenge! I have acquired 44 books this year to my TBR. Of that 44 :- 7 were gifts 5 were free kindle ebooks and the rest were bought cheap when deals on, so it isn't the cost that concerns me, it's the sheer size! Of my TBR (including books acquired 2014) I have read 21 so far this year, leaving me with a TBR increase of 23 books. My love of library books is not helping the situation... GAH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 It's a disease that affects most of us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 It's a disease that affects most of us! I've stopped adding my new books to my books bought this year list because it makes me feel guilty ( i did the same last year....... & the year before) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 It's a difficult problem.. I also buy more than I read. I'm not sure if I have any tips really. It's good at least that you got the books on deals and gifts and free ebooks of course are something different entirely. But it all increases the TBR. Good luck Alexi . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 I've stopped adding my new books to my books bought this year list because it makes me feel guilty ( i did the same last year....... & the year before) I keep thinking I should do this, but I'm at least trying to make myself accountable! From next year, I'm going to organise my TBR into years bought, and try get the oldest ones off the TBR where they have been languishing! It's a difficult problem.. I also buy more than I read. I'm not sure if I have any tips really. It's good at least that you got the books on deals and gifts and free ebooks of course are something different entirely. But it all increases the TBR. Good luck Alexi . Thanks Gaia what's not helping is my book reading mojo has ground to a halt, but book buying mojo is in full swing!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 It's a disease that affects most of us! That is somewhat comforting! But I think we all make each other worse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 Behind on reviews So going to rattle through a few! #27 Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy Synopsis: Is it morally wrong to have a blow-dry when one of your children has head lice? Is technology now the fifth element? Or is that wood? Is sleeping with someone after 2 dates and 6 weeks of texting the same as getting married after 2 meetings and 6 months of letter writing in Jane Austen's day? Pondering these, and other modern dilemmas, Bridget Jones stumbles through the challenges of single-motherhood, tweeting, texting and redisovering her sexuality in what SOME people rudely and outdatedly call 'middle age'. The long-awaited return of a much-loved character, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is timely, tender, touching, witty, wise and bloody hilarious. Thoughts: I was a bit apprehensive about reading this, because I read the first two novels when I was a) much younger and b) read a lot more chick lit than I do now. But I shouldn't have worried, this is brilliant. I laughed out loud a number of times while reading it in bed so had to explain to OH exactly what the joke was! Somehow, I managed to avoid the MASSIVE SPOILER, and it hadn't really occurred to me that Ms Fielding would set the novel in the present day, which of course required aging Bridget somewhat given the previous ones were published in the 1990s. It shouldn't work, because a 51-year-old Bridget is at a very different lifestage to when we saw her last, but it does. It really does. I found her grappling with twitter especially hilarious, the situations she gets herself into are just as ridiculous and it's glorious. Sure, the ending is cheesy but so were the ones to the previous two! Bridget remains her spectacular self, as does her larger than life Mum! The only thing that jerked me out of the reading world somewhat was realising Bridget is actually only 10 years younger than my Mum, when I last read the novels they seemed years and years apart! Incidentally, my Dad has a twitter account but my Mum refuses to entertain the very idea! 4/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted June 15, 2014 Author Share Posted June 15, 2014 #28 Be Careful What You Wish For by Simon Jordan Synopsis: Owning your childhood club - that's the dream, isn't it? Simon Jordan made his fortune building a mobile phone company from scratch. When he sold it for £75 million, he bought Crystal Palace FC, the club he'd supported as a boy, and led them into the Premier League. Ten years later Palace was in administration and Jordan had lost nigh on everything. Be Careful What You Wish For lifts the lid on being the owner of a football club and how the game really works. Hopes and dreams sit alongside greed, self-interest, dodgy transfers, boardroom fights and dressing room dressing downs. Throughout no one is spared, least of all Jordan himself. Thoughts: While most football autobiographies are rather standard fare and I cherry pick now (or indeed buy them for 50p and then discard if they're rubbish) this one sounded a bit different. Someone who owned a club, and lost everything trying to make it work. (Although I think everything is a slight exaggeration here, from the glossing over at the end I surmised he kept his range of personal houses, Spanish property business and fleet of cars at least). And it is interesting to see football from the other side. The man who pours money into his youth system, only to see the graduates walk away for nothing without a backward glance. Who will tell you his thought process behind hiring managers - and I did think it was a bit odd he trusted himself to do this pretty much entirely when he had no background in football other than as a fan. It is interesting, and well-written, but where this falls down is Jordan himself. He's an odious toad. He loves himself far too much, tells me all about how fabulous he is (hint, he isn't) and the famous women he's dating (I couldn't care less). This is good, and a departure from the regular football fare, but he is so annoying it does detract from the book somewhat. And no, Mr Jordan, I never dreamed of owning my football club - as you suggest multiple times every child must have - I dreamed of being Peter Schmeichel or Alessandro Del Piero. (My Mum drummed it into us that gender was no barrier to career choices ) 3/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Great reviews! I'm glad you enjoyed the third Bridget Jones book, I really liked that one too. My parents both have Twitter accounts, as do I but I stopped using it while they are using it a lot (my dad has over 5000 followers). They mainly use it for work related things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted June 16, 2014 Author Share Posted June 16, 2014 Thanks Gaia - it properly reignited my reading mojo after a bit of a slump - I think it does help to vary the genres and return to something familiarish when the mojo goes walkabout. I mix my twitter between work and personal - it's a fine line I do tred! Impressed your Dad has 5000 followers though! Still 2 reviews to go... #29 The Blackest Streets by Sarah Wise Synopsis: In 1887 Government inspectors were sent to investigate the Old Nichol, a notorious slum on the boundary of Bethnal Green parish, where almost 6,000 inhabitants were crammed into thirty or so streets of rotting dwellings and where the mortality rate ran at nearly twice that of the rest of Bethnal Green. Among much else they discovered that the decaying 100-year-old houses were some of the most lucrative properties in the capital for their absent slumlords, who included peers of the realm, local politicians and churchmen. The Blackest Streets is set in a turbulent period of London's history when revolution was in the air, and award-winning historian Sarah Wise skilfully evokes the texture of life at that time, not just for the tenants but for those campaigning for change and others seeking to protect their financial interests. She recovers Old Nichol from the ruins of history and lays bare the social and political conditions that created and sustained this black hole which lay at the very heart of the Empire. Thoughts: I find social history fascinating and picked this up at the library after a recommendation on here - can't for the life of me remember who it was now though! Wise manages to weave her way through non fiction while presenting the reader with a logical story with great skill. She's evidently a fantastic historian and has done a lot of research on the topic - and her passion for the subject exudes through her (excellent) writing. The start and end of the book are particularly strong. She shocks readers with grim facts and stats, before bringing the period to life through human stories. The Nichol was grim, grim, grim. Thousand of people kept in dangerously unhealthy hovels while the people meant to be their guardians got richer. It's truly horrifying and depressing. I also thought her explanation of the proposed solutions and the eventual demolition of the dreaded Nichol was very strong - together with the epilogue explaining how it didn't really help the poor at all! We also see the beginning of the mass London commute and suburbs here as it is cheaper to house the poor outside the City limits and have them come in each morning on trains. I did feel the book lost its way somewhat in the middle, particularly with the focus on religion which rambled on a bit and din't really fit in with the flow of the rest of the book, hence a slightly lower mark. But on the whole, this is an excellent read for anyone interested in late Victorian social history and the horrors the poor faced during those times. 3.5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted June 16, 2014 Author Share Posted June 16, 2014 #30 Pied Piper by Nevil Shute Synopsis: John Howard is determined to brighten up his old age by taking a fishing trip to France. However, during his stay the Nazis invade and he is forced to try to escape back to England with the two small children of some friends who are forced to stay behind in order to help the Allied war effort. As the conflict grows closer the roads become impassable and Howard also comes across five more children who need his help. He ends up leading this motley group of youngsters through the French countryside, constantly beset by danger yet heroically protecting his charges. Thoughts: Wow, absolutely loved this! So simply told, yet so eloquently and with a fantastic storyline leading the way. Super stuff. I instantly warmed to the character of John Howard. He was elderly and struggled with travel, but he accepted the responsibility of the initial two children without question, and after that continually added to his brood. He could easily have escaped France himself if he had left the children behind, or indeed hurried Sheila along when she became ill, but his sense of responsibility to children he barely knew was wonderful. No wonder Nicole had her faith in human kindness reaffirmed! He was also a hell of a lot more patient with those children than I would have managed. I think I'd have throttled Sheila before they reached Chartres to be honest "I like speaking English" I think my reply might have been "Well, do you like it enough to be captured and possibly killed by Germans" I did think that was interesting though, how much they tried to shield the children from the realities of the situation, trying to escape though an occupied France as British citizens. At first, this really frustrated me. I did think it might have been more helpful if they had been a bit more explicit in the dangers of the situation to try and help prevent the children from unmasking them accidentally. But then we meet the last child that John picks up. So scarred by the effects of war at such a young age, it's horrendous to read and suddenly the actions all made sense. This is a wonderful book, made even more interesting because it was written at the time (published in 1942). Read it, read it! 5/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 I loved Pied Piper too, Alex. Do you know it was a Reading Circle book on here? The Blackest Streets sounds right up my street. I don't think it's on my Wish List so I'll go and add it now. Great reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted June 18, 2014 Author Share Posted June 18, 2014 Thanks J I didn't realise (or maybe forgot!) that Pied Piper was a Reading Circle book, but now that I recollect, it went onto my wish list after a lot of recommendations from people on here at around a similar time so that makes sense I'm reading My Uncle Silas for the English Counties Challenge at the moment. Enjoying reading before work gets mental again around mid July! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted June 30, 2014 Author Share Posted June 30, 2014 #31 My Uncle Silas by H E Bates Synopsis: The deeds and misdeeds of Uncle Silas, the rural reprobate, were renowned in the short stories H E Bates published in the 1930s.In this collection the stories are presented in full, accompanied by the original drawings by Edward Ardizzone that perfectly capture the little reed-thatched house atop a violet-banked lane.Over the course of ninety-five years Uncle Silas found the time to do most things: He boasted of the villains he had knocked to kingdom come as he boasted of the women whose hearts he had truly captured. Crotchety, vainglorious, occasionally wicked, he maintained a devilish spark of audacity which made him so attractive to everyone he met. Thoughts: I'm glad I'm doing the English Counties Challenge because this isn't the sort of book I would have ever picked up without it. I enjoyed this. It's not packed full of action, in fact it's rather slow in places, but it harks back to an earlier time when people did wander in and out of each other's houses, and growing food/flowers was a preoccupation for many rather than twitter and Amazon. Silas is a brilliant creation, and I would love to know how much is based on the real life relative of Bates', and how much is fictionalised. He's great - devilish, affectionate, prone to great exaggeration and lying, a great storyteller, boastful, vain and hilarious. It's a collection of short stories, so of course I did prefer some over others - my favourite was the Lily, which was clever and showed off Silas' character and sense of humour to perfection! I've rated it as a 3, because while I did get a feeling of an earlier time, and indeed Bedfordshire, I wanted to ear more about Silas and less about his house and garden. I think my main issue was that these were a set of short stories originally designed to be serialised, not put together in one collection like this. That does mean the "scene setting" of the house, garden and vegetable growing did get a bit repetitive, but probably not unexpected given the original serialisation. On the whole, an enjoyable read thanks largely to a great cast of characters. 3/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted June 30, 2014 Author Share Posted June 30, 2014 #32 Bluestockings: The remarkable story of the first women to fight for an education by Jane Robinson Synopsis: In 1869, when five women enrolled at university for the first time in British history, the average female brain was thought to be 150 grams lighter than a man's. Doctors warned that if women studied too hard their wombs would wither and die. When the Cambridge Senate held a vote on whether women students should be allowed official membership of the university, there was a full-scale riot. Despite the prejudice and the terrible sacrifices they faced, women from all backgrounds persevered and paved the way for the generations who have followed them since. By the 1920s, being an 'undergraduette' was considered quite the fashionable thing; by the 1930s, women were emerging from universities as anything from aviation engineers to professional academics. Bluestockings tells an inspiring story - of defiance and determination, of colourful eccentricity and at times heartbreaking loneliness, as well as of passionate friendships, midnight cocoa-parties and glorious self-discovery. Thoughts: I was terribly affected by this book from page 3 onwards. I have two degrees, and I owe the women in this book everything for my ability to be able to do so, and that was never far from my mind during this exploration of late 19th and early 20th century female education. It seems incredible that men rioted when Cambridge went to the polls to ask if they should be enrolled alongside everyone else. But it's true. It seems incredible that it was considered that women should not have an education because it would harm their offspring - but it was. Of course, it now seems incredible that people considered the world to be flat, but it was less than 100 years ago that the women in this book were being treated as second class citizens. We don't enjoy full equality today, but we've made a hell of a lot of steps towards it and it's to women like these that people like me can work in the industries we do (even if my industry is still about 90% male and people can occasionally be surprised when I turn up!). Jane Robinson is possibly a bit too biased towards Oxbridge (she herself attended Oxford) but the story does lend itself to that - Cambridge was among the first to see women at lectures and the last to award them degrees! But I would have liked to learn more about the other universities that do get a passing mention but aren't filled out to nearly the same extent. The author has a brilliant passion for her subject and has done some meticulous research, but the book affected me so much because it is rooted in the human experience. How certain women felt empowered, how others floundered, the sacrifices people made to send women to university with little prospect of a job at the other end before 1914. It's fabulous, heart rending stuff. There was never any question that I would go to university - I would have found it more difficult to explain to my parents why I was not going! - but for my Mum in the 1970s that was certainly not the case. She got a double page spread in the local paper when she left her small town for university because she was so unusual, and on her first day was asked by the man sitting next to her what a nice girl like her was doing there! We owe a hell of a lot to the women on each stage of the journey to get to where we are today, and this book is a fabulous, well-researched, well-written reminder of that. 4/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Great reviews! I fully agree with you, we owe so much to those women who stood up for themselves and got us where we are today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julie Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 Alexi Nice review of Bluestockings. I've heard others say great things about it too . I'll have to hunt it up one of these days . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 5, 2014 Author Share Posted July 5, 2014 Thanks Gaia and Julie. I had to laugh at the men rioting at the idea of women being introduced into the system - can't imagine many men enjoying segregation at college/university these days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 #33 By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie Synopsis: While visiting Tommy's Aunt Ada at Sunny Ridge Nursing Home, Tuppence encounters some odd residents including Mrs. Lancaster who mystifies her with talk about "your poor child" and "something behind the fireplace". When Aunt Ada dies a few weeks later, she leaves Tommy and Tuppence a painting featuring a house, which Tuppence is sure she has seen before. This realization leads her on a dangerous adventure involving a missing tombstone, diamond smuggling and a horrible discovery of what Mrs. Lancaster was talking about.(Goodreads) Thoughts: You know what to expect with Agatha, and when mojo is taking a ride through the woods somewhere I find she is one of the best people to bring it back. The characters of Tommy and Tuppence return larger than life and as fabulous as ever, although the hints of post war sexism do continue to annoy me just below the surface. While Tommy is away at a conference, Tuppence is led a merry dance as she tries to locate the house and whether it has any connection the mysterious musings of Mrs Lancaster, who of course no one else would take seriously! As usual, it's a clever solution, and just when you think you've worked it out, Ms Christie throws a curveball. I would like to read all her works one day, and I'm making reasonable progress. She never disappoints. 4/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 How many of her books have you read? I haven't read any yet , I have a few on my TBR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 28, so I still have a way to go! (She wrote 66 according to wikipedia, plus some short story collections) Start with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd! That's her best I've read so far IMO. Catching up on a couple more reviews... #34 Gargling with Tar by Jachym Topol Synopsis: No synopsis, because all the ones I could find (apart from the book jacket which I cannot locate right at this minute) are too spoilery for my liking. Hopefully, the review ill go someway towards rectifying Thoughts: This counts for the Czech Republic in my World Challenge. (Author born in Prague, although obviously the book is set pre-divide into CR and Slovakia). Ilya is a young orphan, whose life is torn upside down when the Soviets invade, the nuns who look after his 'Home from Home' are escorted away and a Communist commander turns up to teach these small children the way of war, sabotage and weapons. Chaos and brutality reign, leading to violence and even murder. As civilisation starts to break down, Ilya takes up with some Soviet troops for whom he becomes a guide and interpreter, and must learn to survive in an unfamiliar world in which he has lost his friends and has taken up with 'the wrong side'. I suspect rather a lot of this is lost in translation, because it reads like it should be satire. However, it is interesting in places. Particularly, we learn within the first few pages that the title is a reference to lying, so just how reliable is our narrator? It may sound odd, when you have just read a synopsis detailing war, violence and murder to complain that not a lot happened for long periods, but Ilya spent far too long IMO leading the Soviets round the countryside, and it felt slow and repetitive. Basically, I think the pacing was wrong, because so much happened in a few pages followed by nothing for 50. The character of Ilya is interesting, mainly because I'm not sure the author sufficiently fleshed him out to us to explain his actions. I get he was just trying to survive in a land torn apart by the invasion and uprising, but he did certain things he didn't have to do, which were not really rooted in his character or past experiences. Was I just supposed to write them off as "war" or "narrator exaggeration"? (Why can I never spell exaggeration without spell check). It is unique, and intrigued me sufficiently to earn a 3 rating, but is a bit hard work to get through. 3/5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 #35 Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin Synopsis: When Naomi tries to piece back the fragments of the last three and a half years of her life, she discovers a lot. She has a boyfriend but can't remember him, her mother and father are divorced, and she has forgotten that she is supposed to hate her mother. She also has a group of friends which simply doesn't seem that attractive any more and, despite having meticulously kept a diary, she only mentioned what she ate every day in it! But it's not all bad, because when a girl loses three and a half years she gets a chance to reinvent herself. After all, who is to say that everything has to be the same? Thoughts: I picked this up from the quick selection shelf in the library. I enjoy plots that revolve around memory loss. I really enjoyed this one. It's aimed at young adults, but there is definitely enough here to keep us older adults entertained! Naomi has the unique experience of waking up without her memory, and rather than feeling like a 12 year old, she feels like a 16 year old with no memories who doesn't like the person she has become or the friends she has. She's quite an annoying character at times - selfish, impulsive and just plain naive! - but she reads like a teenager struggling with her situation, which is nice. She was a character I could root for and could understand, despite the flaws. I know it rings true, but I cannot stand teenagers claiming they have been in love more than once. Once I'll allow, but twice or more? Naaaah. /snobby twenty something I didn't really like the ending, but I thought the book was great and I will be looking for more of the author's work. 4/5 Last book I will finish for a while I think, I'm away on work stuff for ages now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Great reviews! Good luck with the work stuff! Do you get some time off later in the summer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 I'm just back now for a couple of days and then away again from the weekend for the rest of the month, so sorry for missing your post Gaia! I'm taking 2 weeks in September to head to the US and I can't wait Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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