Noll's 2016 Books and Cross-Stitch

[Nollaig]

Glad that you loved The Essex Serpent  . I'm not sure that I will get on with the writing style, but I will keep it on my library wishlist.

 

I loooooooooved the writing, but it was dense. I am really glad I persevered, though. I really hope you enjoy it if/when you get to it!

[Nollaig]

#81 Before I Go To Sleep - S. J. Watson    

 

Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child, thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me... 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.

*** 

Review: Ehhhhh. People are raving about this book and I don't get it. It's pretty well written, in the sense of the sentences are not unpleasant to read. It's not amazingly well written in terms of plot and pacing. The premise is a great one - it's not original (see "Memento" - actually, *I* should see Memento again, it's a good film) but it's one that has a lot of room for creativity. This wasn't an overly creative novel. The first half or so was pretty repetitive - and while the writing was decent enough to make the repetitiveness endurable I would have preferred better writing that didn't make it feel repetitive at all. I guessed the two biggest twists less than two thirds of the way through, pretty much simultaneously, and had to stop myself skimming as I approached the inevitable ending, so there wasn't a huge amount of 'thrill' for me in this book.

The characters.... they weren't amazing. I didn't really care for any of them, I didn't see any real threat in any of them, even the one I suspected and who turned out to be the bad person.Short review because meh. Originally I gave this three stars (it takes me a while to write these reviews, so they usually consist of initial impressions and a rating, expanded upon with reflection), but in an unusual move for me, I'm actually now downgrading it to 2 stars. Normally my rating doesn't change between intial and final thoughts, but this one is barely even memorable.

Rating: ★★✰✰✰ (It was okay)

[Nollaig]

Okay, six new reviews posted. Four more and I'll be up to date. I gotta do better at staying on top of these!

 

I've also put together an Excel spreadsheet with the names of all the authors I've reviewed one or more books for - I've reviewed a total of 190 authors. I'll have to do the same for books eventually but that'll take a while.

 

So close to 200 authors reviewed!

[MrCat]

Added The Essex Serpent to my reading list. It looks like something I would enjoy . 

Edited August 18, 2016 by MrCat

[Athena]

Great reviews ! Well done on catching up (good luck with the last 4).

 

Shame Before I Go To Sleep wasn't great. I have the book on my TBR.

[Nollaig]

Added The Essex Serpent to my reading list. It looks like something I would enjoy . 

 

Yeah I think you might

 

Great reviews ! Well done on catching up (good luck with the last 4).

 

Shame Before I Go To Sleep wasn't great. I have the book on my TBR.

 

Thanks

 

Well, most people seem to be enjoying it, so you might too!

[Athena]

Well, most people seem to be enjoying it, so you might too!

I'll give it a go at some point .

[bobblybear]

I loved I Let You Go (like you say, best twist ever! ) , so I have high hopes for I See You. I've just looked at my libary catalogue and they have one copy, currently out on loan with four reservations pending. So, I will get to it at some point hopefully.

 

I have Apple Tree Yard on my Kindle waiting to be read, so I'm glad you gave it a good review.

 

I read Before I Go To Sleep a while back, and I remember enjoying it, but not much else about it. I recall the twist but that's about it. I wouldn't mind seeing the movie either.

[pontalba]

Excellent reviews.  Sorry you didn't like Disclaimer too much, we'll have to disagree on that one.  

 

Have you read the short story of Memento?  Different, but excellent.  I loved the film and the short story.   It's in this.... https://www.amazon.com/Adaptations-Short-Screen-Stories-Inspired/dp/1400053145/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471668035&sr=1-1&keywords=memento+mori+jonathan+nolan  There is an interesting story behind the creation of both.

[willoyd]

#75 The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry

 

....If you have any interest in non-traditional female characters in Victorian times, and flowery writing, you'll enjoy The Essex Serpent.

 

Rating: ★★★★✰ (I loved it)

I'd echo most of what you said, other than I gave it maximum marks. Whilst the serpent plot was overtly central, for me it was the relationships between the characters that mattered - the way they treated the serpent story being integral to understanding their characters.

 

You're not the first person to comment on the 'flowery language' - indeed that is the reason some say they've been put off. I have to admit that this is a point I disagree (with the majority it seems!) on. Yes, the language is richer than quite a lot of other modern writing, and the author lingers on setting and character development, but she never struck me as overly ornamented, in the way, say, that Dickens or Eliot wrote. Indeed, I was struck with how every word counted and added weight. I think she's thought of as being flowery simply because she doesn't make everything subsidiary to the central plot.

[Nollaig]

I loved I Let You Go (like you say, best twist ever! ) , so I have high hopes for I See You. I've just looked at my libary catalogue and they have one copy, currently out on loan with four reservations pending. So, I will get to it at some point hopefully.

 

I have Apple Tree Yard on my Kindle waiting to be read, so I'm glad you gave it a good review.

 

I read Before I Go To Sleep a while back, and I remember enjoying it, but not much else about it. I recall the twist but that's about it. I wouldn't mind seeing the movie either.

 

I'd maybe take your hopes down a notch about I See You, it's much more run of the mill, imo.

 

Yeah Apple Tree Yard was really interesting. Definitely not without flaws but such a pleasure to read.

 

I'd like to see how they do the film for Before I Go To Sleep!

 

Excellent reviews.  Sorry you didn't like Disclaimer too much, we'll have to disagree on that one.  

 

Have you read the short story of Memento?  Different, but excellent.  I loved the film and the short story.   It's in this.... https://www.amazon.com/Adaptations-Short-Screen-Stories-Inspired/dp/1400053145/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471668035&sr=1-1&keywords=memento+mori+jonathan+nolan  There is an interesting story behind the creation of both.

 

I just thought it made no sense

for a woman to let her life fall apart in order to keep a secret about something where she was the victim. I also thought the father writing an entire book about it was just not at all believable.

 

 

I'd echo most of what you said, other than I gave it maximum marks. Whilst the serpent plot was overtly central, for me it was the relationships between the characters that mattered - the way they treated the serpent story being integral to understanding their characters.

 

You're not the first person to comment on the 'flowery language' - indeed that is the reason some say they've been put off. I have to admit that this is a point I disagree (with the majority it seems!) on. Yes, the language is richer than quite a lot of other modern writing, and the author lingers on setting and character development, but she never struck me as overly ornamented, in the way, say, that Dickens or Eliot wrote. Indeed, I was struck with how every word counted and added weight. I think she's thought of as being flowery simply because she doesn't make everything subsidiary to the central plot.

 

'Flowery' isn't meant as an insult, the writing was gorgeous, it just means the writing is complex rather than simple. I do think the book would have had little going for it without the writing being done that way, which is also fine, some books are like that. I really did not buy Cara and Will at all, though. Also what on earth happened to the girls in that classroom? I never understood that!

[Nollaig]

Two more books which, realistically, I'm never going to write full reviews for as I just don't have that much to say on them:

 

#82 Quarter Past Two on a Wednesday Afternoon - Linda Newbery

 

This was the first adult novel I had read by Newbery, having liked two of her YA books I decided to give this one a go. It's basically a drama about a woman who never gives up hope that her sister, who went missing when they were teenagers, is still alive. It was well written and I finished it, but I gave so little of a toss about any of the characters or the mystery of the sister (which is revealed to have been exceptionally unlikely) that it was really quite an unremarkable read for me. I think I gave it three stars.

 

#83 Disappearance at Devil's Rock - Paul Tremblay

 

This was actually a thoroughly enjoyable novel, I just don't have a huge amount to say about it. It started off a bit like Stranger Things - missing boy, frantic friends and family, a suggestion of otherworldly involvement. It didn't continue down the Stranger Things route, though. I wasn't crazy about any of the characters, but I thought their actions and reactions were pretty believeable. I did quite like the mother. I'm not entirely sure I liked the revelations about the missing boy, some of it worked, some was a bit far-fetched, but following the mystery up to that point was great. Even though it's a modern book, it had a somewhat classic feel to it, and it's very well written. Part mystery, part thriller, part coming of age story. Definitely recommend it, 4/5.

 

#84 The Mist - Stephen King

 

Pretty good. Bit dated. Didn't like a lot of the characters, or the ending. But a fun read. Movie is about on par, but the ending is SO MUCH BETTER.

 

#85 I have no idea what book #85 is, I lost track.

[Nollaig]

#86 Dark Matter - Blake Crouch    

 

Genre: Thriller/Sci-fi
Synopsis: “Are you happy with your life?” Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious. Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits. Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.” In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable--something impossible. Is it this world or the other that’s the dream? And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

*** 

Review: Okay so I read and enjoyed (to an extent) the first two (or one and a half?) Wayward Pines books before wandering off due to indifference. The ideas were fun but the writing wasn't great. Quick, easy reading, nothing spectacular. So, my expectations for Dark Matter weren't exactly high. Definitely a good thing. This book is basically Sliders, but with the potential for serious exploration of identity (which never really happens).

So, I started reading this during a general lull in my reading - I think it took me about a week to read the first third and then I finished it in the last couple of days. It didn't pull me in at the beginning. The characters are thin, and remain so throughout. It's fast-paced, but there's no substance, another trait that carries throughout. The book started off at about 2 stars for me, worked its way up to 3 stars and almost hit 4 stars, but ultimately it just read too much like an in-depth draft of what could have been a spectacular novel in the right hands.

It's not really sci-fi - early on it references a few well-known theories and concepts, like Schrodinger's Cat and the many-worlds interpretation. These turn up time and time again in books and films to varying degrees - so the minimal explanations in this book are all that are needed to set up the adventure about to happen. After that, it's basically all thriller. I don't know about anyone else, but I never felt any real threat throughout this book. Everything happened too quickly for me to really get invested in any of the negative possibilities before some new positive possibility opened itself up. There was one 'twist' towards the end which I didn't see coming, though logically I should have, and it could have resulted in some awesome philosophical discussions, but they just weren't there. Like I said, reads like a draft, or a short story for students to ponder the implications of. It's all action and no intellect. That might have been okay, if I could have given a crap about the characters. I mean, it's not all doom and gloom. The book can broadly be divided into three parts, and the second and third parts were compelling if not well-done. I did, overall, enjoy reading the book. It just simply wasn't substantial enough for me.

It's a shame, because this is an adventure I could have read 600 pages of, had it been written with more detail, intellect and skill. I would actually recommend, for an adventure of substance not too far removed from this - The Man From Primrose Lane, which has just gone up even further in my estimation by comparison.

Rating: ★★★✰✰ (I liked it)

[Nollaig]

#87 Lying In Wait - Liz Nugent

 

 Short review. Basically two people unintentionally murder a girl and the story follows them covering it up while their son and the sister of the dead girl dig deeper. Set in Ireland mostly in the 80s.

 

It was okay, like the previous novel by the same author, but it really wasn't anything special. Everyone who became an inconvenience to the story playing out in the correct manner basically just died or something or other, and there were too many unlikely twists. There was a weird focus on the son's weight throughout the novel (which was really inconsistent) and it turned out to all be leading up to one final, incredibly, well, in-credible, twist at the end. The characters were fairly uninteresting. The writing wasn't bad, it was an easy book to read - apart from poor setting due to the only things that set it in the eighties being constant pop culture references to songs/movies etc released around that time - but it was just too forced. Lifeless, I guess is the word for it.

 

I gave it 3 stars because I did enjoy reading it, I was just left very underwhelmed.

[Nollaig]

I attempted to read the new thriller by T.J. Lebbon - aka Tim Lebbon who wrote Coldbrook and The Silence, which I both enjoyed greatly.

 

The Family Man is just awful. I got a third of the way through, and it took that long for seriously unbelieveable pieces to slot together into anything vaguely logical. But even then, the characters are so utterly flimsy and the plot so off-the-wall that it just doesn't work. It seems to be getting quite a few decent reviews on Goodreads but I guess it's just not for me.

 

My first did not finish of the year!

[Athena]

My first did not finish of the year!

Wow, it must have been pretty terrible for you, to not finish it . I hope your next read will be more enjoyable!

[Madeleine]

The film version of Before I go to Sleep is on TV next week, think it's on Film 4.  I've been waiting for it for ages, read the book but thought the ending let it down a bit, standard woman in peril stuff.

[bobblybear]

My first did not finish of the year!

 

Yikes! It must be bad. What a shame, as I like the two Lebbon books I have read.

 

The film version of Before I go to Sleep is on TV next week, think it's on Film 4.  I've been waiting for it for ages, read the book but thought the ending let it down a bit, standard woman in peril stuff.

 

Ooh, I will keep an eye out for this, as I've been wanting to watch it for a while.

[Nollaig]

88. Monsters - Emerald Fennell

 

Genre: Dark/Comedy
Synopsis:  A blackly comic tale about two children you would never want to meet.  Set in the Cornish town of Fowey, all is not as idyllic as the beautiful seaside town might seem. The body of a young woman is discovered in the nets of a fishing boat. It is established that the woman was murdered. Most are shocked and horrified. But there is somebody who is not - a twelve-year-old girl. She is delighted; she loves murders. Soon she is questioning the inhabitants of the town in her own personal investigation. But it is a bit boring on her own. Then Miles Giffard, a similarly odd twelve-year-old boy, arrives in Fowey with his mother, and they start investigating together. Oh, and also playing games that re-enact the murders. Just for fun, you understand... A book about two twelve-year-olds that is definitely not for kids.

***

Review: This is the book which, finally, after several weeks of trudging through re-reads, poor reads, and did-not-finishes, got me back on track. It's been so long I'm not sure I still know how to write reviews, though. Right from the start this book dumps you into the bizzare and quirky mind of clearly-disturbed 12-year-old (who remains nameless). Possibly due to a lack of affection from her parents who suffer horrific deaths on almost the very first page, she seems to be a bit sociopathic and not a little obsessed with ritual murder and death. Luckily for her, the residents of a sleepy seaside town where she spends her summers have started washing up from the sea, and with her new idol Miles (and his apparent plaything, Mary) she begins uncovering the mysteries of a town is not all as sleepy as it seems.

I adored this book. I didn't come away from it thinking 'definitely 5 stars', though I can't now quite pinpoint what it was that made me knock off a star. Certainly a couple of events seemed a little too unlikely even for my already-suspended disbelief, but then the whole book is quite bizarre. I'm honestly not sure. I wasn't blown away by the ending.

For the most part, though, the quirkiness of the characters and plot are the unique driving force of the book's greatness. Extremely readable, despite subject matter that would be dark and depressing if it wasn't written with such twisted black humor. Certainly unlike anything else I can recall reading in the last couple of years, and I highly, highly recommend it. And I want more of it!

Rating: ★★★★✰

[Nollaig]

Wow, it must have been pretty terrible for you, to not finish it . I hope your next read will be more enjoyable!

 

Yep, and yep! It was terrible, and my next reads have been great

 

Yikes! It must be bad. What a shame, as I like the two Lebbon books I have read.

 

 

Ooh, I will keep an eye out for this, as I've been wanting to watch it for a while.

 

I did too, I loved The Silence and Coldbrook but he needs to stay away from the thriller genre. It all just seemed so off the wall and unfounded til about a third of the way in, and then it retrospectively seemed incredibly forced.

 

The film version of Before I go to Sleep is on TV next week, think it's on Film 4.  I've been waiting for it for ages, read the book but thought the ending let it down a bit, standard woman in peril stuff.

 

For some reason I thought there was a film version of it coming out this year, and that the book was fairly new. What planet am I on?! I'll have to give that a watch, if I haven't missed it. ETA: I missed it

[Nollaig]

#89 was a re-read of Salem's Lot. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first time around, but it's still a four-star read.

[Madeleine]

Noll, there is a new paperback by S J Watson, who wrote Before I go to Sleep, which has recently been published, so perhaps that's the one you're thinking of?  I haven't heard of a film version of the new book though.

 

I imagine the film will probably be on again, they usually show them a few times.

[Nollaig]

Noll, there is a new paperback by S J Watson, who wrote Before I go to Sleep, which has recently been published, so perhaps that's the one you're thinking of?  I haven't heard of a film version of the new book though.

 

I imagine the film will probably be on again, they usually show them a few times.

 

Nope, I looked that up and that definitely isn't it - I'm just a dummy

[Nollaig]

#90 All Fall Down - Tom Bale

   

Genre: Thriller
Synopsis:  It should have been an idyllic day for the Turner family – until a dying man, beaten beyond all recognition, arrives at their home, uttering the words, HELP ME.  Rob and Wendy Turner and their children try to explain away the horrific scene as being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but in the days that follow their lives are threatened in ways they could never imagine. The family is unaware that they are being watched by someone with their own terrifying agenda, who will stop at nothing to fulfil their own twisted desires. But when hidden secrets come rushing to the surface, it’s clear not everything is as it seems in this happy family.

*** 

Review: Due to tons of great reviews I had high hopes for this book. My bad! It's really not very good. It was easy to read, though I'm not going to say it was well written because the quality of the writing didn't really strike me one way or another, other than that maybe some of Rob's thought processes were a bit meandering and repetitive. The premise is great, and it starts off really intriguing. Told mostly from the perspective of Tom, we see him trying to avoid incrimination from the very beginning, as though he has something to hide. This was probably the second biggest downfall of the book - he does have a story in his past, but the implication of what it might be was, for me, very misleading.

The biggest downfall for me of the novel is that the plot essentially amounted to 'some people are broken and mad'. This can be pulled off in some stories, but it's probably best not to wrap it up in the mystery of why, because when you read half a book wondering 'why?' and get 'just because', it's very disappointing. You need compelling characters, who make you feel conflicted about their motives and their actions, if you're not going to provide a solid 'why'. None of the sane characters were very fleshed out, or in my opinion behaved very normally, and the insane bad guys were completely one dimensional, unrelatable and inspired no sympathy. They weren't threatening or scary.  When you're reading a mystery thriller with no actual mystery and no real thrills, it soon becomes boring. One of the bad guys was given a motive, but I still didn't give a toss about him or his plight.

All that said, it was easy to get to the end, and I didn't *hate* reading it, so I gave it two stars. I think it's fair to say Tom Bale has potential, and even though this is his not his earliest novel, many reviewers have had similar complaints of boredom about this novel while wholeheartedly recommending his other novels, so I may give one of them a go.

Rating: ★★✰✰✰ (It was okay)

[poppyshake]

Great review for Monsters Noll. I agree with it all (so will just link ) but I didn't knock a star off .. I thought it was definitely among the best I've read this year. Could not put it down. Woofed it up .. which is sadly rare these days. Made me feel terribly uncomfortable but not so much that I couldn't bear to go on with it. Ruth pointed out to me that Emerald is an actress in Call the Midwife .. I didn't know (well .. I've hardly ever seen it so no surprise there ) .. she has written some children's books but sadly my library doesn't stock them and can't get them in I'll be looking out for her for sure though