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Reading with Kat 2015


Lilywhite

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I enjoyed it Noll!  On the outset, this book is a bit crazy, a bit "out there"!  She uses blatantly provocative words and the main character is incredibly loud but underneath, I felt there were the undercurrents of more important social issues just poking through.  If you don't get put off by the odd profanity, it's definitely worth a read.

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Emma Healey

Elizabeth is Missing

 

‘Elizabeth is missing.’ Maud keeps finding notes in her pockets with this message scrawled on it, but she can’t remember writing it. That said, she can’t remember much these days: the time of day, whether she’s eaten lunch, if her daughter’s come to visit, how much toast she’s eaten. Still, the notes about Elizabeth nag at her. When was the last time she spoke with her best friend? It feels like ages ago...
Frustratingly, no one seems willing to help Maud find her: not the police nor Elizabeth’s son - not even Maud’s own daughter or granddaughter. It’s like they’re hiding something.
Maud resolves to take matters into her own hands, and begins digging for the truth. There are many clues, but unhelpfully, they all seem to point to another unsolved disappearance: that of Maud’s sister Sukey just after the war.
Could the mystery of Sukey’s disappearance lead Maud to the truth about Elizabeth? As Maud’s mind retreats into the past at a frightening pace, alienating her from her family and carers, vivid memories of what happened over fifty years ago come flooding back to give her quest new momentum.

 

Started: 04/05/15

Finished: 07/05/15

Rated: 5/5

Comments: I loved this!  I wasn't expecting such a well thought out story from the blurb.  I was expecting more of a murder mystery/thriller type book but this was nothing like that.  It's a slow amble through a frustrating jumble of thoughts and memories, as told by Maud.  Maud is suffering from memory loss.  To help her through her everyday tasks, she leaves herself notes and instructions.  Maud spends a lot of time with her friend Elizabeth but Elizabeth is now missing and nobody else seems to have noticed.  We follow Maud as she as she tries to piece together the whereabouts of her friend through scattered notes and flashbacks to her sisters disappearance when she was a child. Whilst it can be confusing trying to follow the story though past and present events, I felt this was intentional on the writers part.  In a way, she is showing us how Maud feels trying to search through her failing memory to locate vital pieces of information.  In a way, this story has opened my eyes to a side of dementia that I never really thought about and it's so well written and delicately handled. 

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I think that's the general consensus on this one.  As it's fairly new and has been thrust into the limelight by being nominated on three award shortlists, I think people recognise the cover, however, there hasn't been much discussion regarding the story.  We only have the synopsis to go on. 

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Kathy Lette

The Boy Who Fell To Earth

 

Meet Merlin. He's Lucy's bright, beautiful son - who just happens to be autistic.

 

Since Merlin's father left them in the lurch, Lucy has made Merlin the centre of her world. Struggling with the joys and tribulations of raising her adorable yet challenging child (if only Merlin came with operating instructions), Lucy doesn't have room for any other man in her life.

 

By the time Merlin turns ten, Lucy is seriously worried that the Pope might start ringing her up for tips on celibacy, so resolves to dip a toe back into the world of dating. Thanks to Merlin's candour and quirkiness, things don't go quite to plan... Then, just when Lucy's resigned to singledom once more, Archie - the most imperfectly perfect man for her and her son - lands on her doorstep. But then, so does Merlin's father, begging for a second chance. Does Lucy need a real father for Merlin - or a real partner for herself?

 

Started: 11/05/15

Finished:  15/05/15

Rated: 0/5 (unfinished)

Comments: This one has been a massive disappointment.  I usually enjoy Kathy Lette's books as they are quite sassy and funny.  This one isn't.  It's just rammed with one liners and ridiculous metaphors that on more than one occasion, I actually forgot what she was initially taking about and had to go back and reread the previous bit.  I don't like to criticise anyone, because I'm not a writer and I can't do it any better, but based on previous works from Lette, this isn't great. It's not humorous, it's not witty, it could be a great story but I couldn't get passed the sheer amount of one liners in there. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mo Hayder

Poppet

 

The Maude is outside.

It wants to come in.

It wants to sit on your chest.

 

The mentally ill patients in Beechway High Secure Unit are highly suggestible. A hallucination can spread like a virus.When unexplained power cuts lead to a series of horrifying incidents, fear spreads from the inmates to the staff. Amidst the growing hysteria, AJ, a senior psychiatric nurse, is desperate to protect his charges.

 

Detective Inspector Jack Caffery is looking for the corpse of a missing woman. He knows all too well how it feels to fail to find a loved one's body. When AJ seeks Caffery's help in investigating the trouble at Beechway,each man must face a bitter truth in his own life. Before staring pure evil in the eye.

 

Started: 21/05/15

Finished: 04/06/15

Rated: 4/5

Comments: Another thrillingly, terrifying read from Mo Hayder.  I love her books, they are so sinister and creepy. This one is part of the Jack Caffery series which ties in with an ongoing murder case from the last few books, along with this new case of the sinister goings on at the Beechway High Secure Unit. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Caitlin Moran

How To Build A Girl

 

Imagine The Bell Jar—written by Rizzo from Grease.

 

Cool!

 

Great review. I've been a bit curious about this for a while because I've read lots of positive reviews. Is Caitlin Moran known in the UK for something other than writing (like, is she a comedian or something?)

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She's a columnist mostly and has done some TV work as well.  She's quite well known for supporting the feminist movement and love her straight forward, no nonsense approach to writing.  You can really relate to her and her characters. I would definitely recommend any of her books that I've read so far.

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Mo Hayder

Wolf

 

'I believe, from what I can hear, that either my daughter or my wife has just been attacked. I don't know the outcome. The house is silent.'

 

Fourteen years ago two teenage lovers were brutally murdered in a patch of remote woodland. The prime suspect confessed to the crimes and was imprisoned.

 

One family is still trying to put the memory of the killings behind them. But at their isolated hilltop house, the nightmare is about to return.

 

Started: 10/06/15

Finished: 12/06/15

Rated: 4/5

Comments:

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She's a columnist mostly and has done some TV work as well.  She's quite well known for supporting the feminist movement and love her straight forward, no nonsense approach to writing.  You can really relate to her and her characters. I would definitely recommend any of her books that I've read so far.

 

Great, thanks! I'll definitely keep an eye out for How to Build a Girl. :) I love feminist types.

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Great, thanks! I'll definitely keep an eye out for How to Build a Girl. :) I love feminist types.

 

She's also just written a sitcom with her sister, loosely based on their home life growing up, called Raised By Wolves - we watched the first series and it was very funny, and they've recently announced a second series has been commissioned.

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I'd forgotten about that!  I meant to watch it, missed the first few, then meant to find it on catch up and completely forgot again.  Thank you for reminding me, I'll have to hunt it out.

 

I'd be interested to hear what you think of it, if you get the chance to see it … I don't know anyone else who watched it, but we chuckled our way through it, with the old guffaw thrown in too! :D

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  • 4 weeks later...

Fiona Neill

What The Nanny Saw

 

When penniless student Ali Sparrow answers Bryony and Nick Skinner's advertisement her life changes overnight.

She is catapulted into the privileged and excessive world of London's financial elite. At first everything is overwhelming - from twins who speak their own language to a teenage girl with weight issues and a son almost her own age. Then there is Bryony, who has one eye on her dazzling career and the other on Ali's failings.
When boom turns to bust and a scandal erupts that suggests something corrupt has been hatched behind the Skinners' front door, their private life is suddenly public news. And as Ali becomes indispensible, she realizes she's witness to things she probably shouldn't see.
But is she principled enough to keep the family's secrets when the press come prowling for the inside scoop? Or will she dish the dirt on the family who never saw her as anything other than part of the scenery?

re is about to return.

 

Started: 28/06/15

Finished: (abandoned) 31/07/15

Rated: 0/5

Comments: Unfortunately this was one of the rare occasions where I just didn't have enough interest to carry on.  I got about a hundred pages in and felt that I didn't really care where this story was going.  Nothing had grabbed my attention this far in and there were plenty more books on my shelf screaming out to be read.

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  • 2 weeks later...

S J Watson

Before I Go To Sleep

 

Memories define us.

So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story.

Welcome to Christine's life.

 

Started: 16/07/15

Finished: 19/07/15

Rated: 3/5

Comments:  I found this to be a fairly average read.  Very easy to get in to the story and interesting to follow as it develops.  For me, the ending let it down immensely.  The story went from slow and sinister to outright batshit crazy in a matter of pages.  It was just too much crazy for me to get on board with.  However, not a total write off, I would recommend for a light holiday read.

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Yeah, that's the one. I didn't mind that aspect of it, I just think it escalated out of nowhere. One minute it was calm and then the next it's manic. I still enjoyed it, I just think maybe the end could have been better.

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Funny that. I remember it as not being particularly great, but went back to my review in November 2011, and I was far more positive about it than I thought!   So more like you bobblybear.   What I thought of it is here.

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I really enjoyed Before I Go to Sleep - although like Willoyd's review mentions, it's all in the plotting rather than any great writing style as such. 

 

I know what you mean about the batshit crazy but I raced through it and it kept me hooked despite the signposting of the twist. 

 

It's been made into a film now and I believe the reviews were decidedly mixed although I haven't seen it personally. Difficult to translate that plot onto film successfully though I think and build suspense in the way the book can/does. 

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Funny that. I remember it as not being particularly great, but went back to my review in November 2011, and I was far more positive about it than I thought!   So more like you bobblybear.   What I thought of it is here.

 

I just went back to my review, and I gave it 5/5 and said that I was shocked by the twist. :lol: Clearly my memory is a bit faulty. :lol:

 

 

It's been made into a film now and I believe the reviews were decidedly mixed although I haven't seen it personally. Difficult to translate that plot onto film successfully though I think and build suspense in the way the book can/does. 

 

No idea it was made into a film. I must keep an eye out for it.

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