Jump to content

Alex's 2016 Reading


Alexi

Recommended Posts

The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Synopsis: Holmes and faithful Dr. Watson are summoned to a country house by a coded message. They arrive too late to save a life, but pursue the trail to unmasking the murderer. (From Goodreads)

 

Thoughts: I had forgotten much of this story (read in August, curse review back log), but fortunately Amazon was there for me with a dull description of the tale in the synopsis(!). Do not read the synopsis if you are yet to read this tale. Please. 

 

Anyway. This isn't one of my favourite Holmes. Apart from the Hound of the Baskervilles, I prefer the short story collections to the novels like this one, but there we are. I have now read the entire canon and feel the richer for it. 

 

This one is in the style of A Study in Scarlet, with the first half of the book showing Holmes deciphering the clues, and the second half taking us back in time to explain how it all fit together. The first half is what you've come to expect, but the second, while a very good yarn, doesn't feature Holmes at all and therefore feels a bit disconnected. 

 

Still, it's Holmes, so glad I read it to complete the full series. 

 

3/5 (I liked it)

Edited by Alexi
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 135
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett

 

Synopsis: A man is walking down a country lane. A woman, cycling towards him, swerves to avoid a dog. On that moment, their future hinges. There are three possible outcomes, three small decisions that could determine the rest of their life. (From Goodreads)

 

Thoughts: Seen Sliding Doors? This is a similar premise, but better for being in book form rather than a cheesy movie. Plus less annoying Gwyneth Paltrow. 

 

Eva and Jim are students at the University of Cambridge in the 1950s when they have a chance meeting, Eva on a bike swerving to avoid a dog. From there, there are three possible outcomes from that incident which determine the rest of their lives. In one, they meet and get together, in one they don't really meet properly, and in another they meet but Eva is forced back to her original boyfriend. 

 

And so we see the rest of their lives unfurl in each scenario for the next 60 years. How differently their lives turn out, and how love ebbs and flows in each scenario. 

 

This book took me a long time to get to grips with, because ultimately the timeline becomes very confusing. Each chapter is a different scenario, and we jump forward in time with each chapter as well, so by the time you get back to version 1, for example, you've got to remember where you were, what's happened, and what happened in the other versions but not that one. Phew. 

 

That really affected my enjoyment of the book for the first half, before I got my head around each scenario. 

 

However, once in I couldn't escape these characters. When I wasn't reading the book, I was thinking about the book and the two leads really got under my skin. Always the sign of a good novel, in my book. However, love and roses this isn't and it left me feeling very down for long periods! Do not follow my lead and read in the month before you get married!!

 

4/5 (I really enjoyed it) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Enjoyed reading your review of the Mary Hooper book, Alex. :)  I've read a few of her books, and she's great at historical YA, and I'm happy to read her over a literary historical fiction author, if I'm honest!  I haven't read At The Sign of the Sugared Plum, but will add to my wishlist, although that's becoming a bottomless pit of books I want to read at some point.  I'm sure I'll get to it at some point. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Alex; I see from your post on page 1 that you read the Bobby Moore biog. Can you remember what you thought of it? I noted you gave it 3/5. I only ask as I came across his autobiog from the 60s the other day online and googling that led me to finding out about the one you listed.

 

You have quite a range of reading material! I have many of the Poirot novels here - old paperbacks inherited from my Nan - that I have yet to have a go at. Not really one for fiction but loving the tv series, I thought they'd be worth a go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Enjoyed reading your review of the Mary Hooper book, Alex. :)  I've read a few of her books, and she's great at historical YA, and I'm happy to read her over a literary historical fiction author, if I'm honest!  I haven't read At The Sign of the Sugared Plum, but will add to my wishlist, although that's becoming a bottomless pit of books I want to read at some point.  I'm sure I'll get to it at some point. :D

 

LOL at bottomless pit. I have an identical one. I think my ultimate goal is to live forever just so I can get to the end of my wish list ;) 

 

Hi Alex; I see from your post on page 1 that you read the Bobby Moore biog. Can you remember what you thought of it? I noted you gave it 3/5. I only ask as I came across his autobiog from the 60s the other day online and googling that led me to finding out about the one you listed.

 

You have quite a range of reading material! I have many of the Poirot novels here - old paperbacks inherited from my Nan - that I have yet to have a go at. Not really one for fiction but loving the tv series, I thought they'd be worth a go.

 

I went back to look at the Bobby Moore biography, but I didn't write a full review for here - often the case with sports books, unless they really stand out or cover culture/history as well as sport, like the Sid Lowe one for example. 

 

I gave it a 3.5, which means I enjoyed it but it didn't stand out enough for a 4 mark. I remember it challenging a lot of misconceptions about Bobby Moore this perfect thing - the cliche phrase is 'what would Bobby Moore have made of Wayne Rooney out on the razz in an England hotel' - well actually, he would probably have been leading the charge to the bar. 

 

Definitely worth a read I would say. It's also interesting on his life after the game, and his decision to work for Sunday Sport. 

 

Glad you enjoyed The Versions of Us, that's one on my wishlist.

 

I must start reading Sherlock short stories, I've only read the novels so far (well, two of them).

 

Definitely the short stories are better I think! 

 

Great reviews :). The Versions of Us sounds interesting, I'll be putting that one on my list.

 

I would advise both of you to give The Versions of Us some time - it took me a while to really get to grips with the timeline, but it's worth it :) 

 

I've read four books by Mary Hooper ( and they were all great).  :)

 

This was my first one by her! I haven;t heard of any of her other books but I will definitely go and track them down now. I think there is a sequel to At the Sign of the Sugared Plum.

 

Started to think about the New Year this year, and that made me realise I haven't reviewed any of the books I have read since September, so now on a rush to get them all done before the end of the month... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A Child Al Confino by Eric Lamet

 

Synopsis: Eric Lamet was only seven years old when the Nazis invaded Vienna - and changed his life and the lives of all European Jews forever. Five days after Hitler marches, Eric Lamet and his parents flee for their lives. His father goes back to his native Poland - and never returns. His mother hides out in Italy, on the run from place to place, taking her son deeper and deeper into the mountains to avoid capture. (From Goodreads) 

 

Thoughts: This is an interesting premise. Most people are familiar with the horrors of the Holocaust, and its survivors, even if we cannot ever understand what they went through. 

 

But Lamet and his mother ran from Hitler and eventually ended up in Italy, where they were put i an internment village and had to ask for permission to leave. His experiences are fascinating, and it's very interesting story about loss. Lamet and his Mother may have survived, but other family members were not so lucky, and their relationships with other survivors were forever changed. 

 

The problem here lies in the editing - or lack thereof. I downloaded this free years ago so it may not have had a serious editor. It jumps around a lot, some of the chapters are collections of incidents with no clear theme, the wording is sometimes incorrect and it needed to be cut down a bit. This seriously affected by enjoyment, which is a shame because it had serious potential and Lamet's story deserves to be told. 

 

2/5 (It was ok)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

 

Synopsis: No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes.

Until now.

As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. ‘I nearly missed you, Doctor August,’ she says. ‘I need to send a message.’

This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.
  (From Goodreads)

 

Thoughts: I genuinely love time travel stories - with a couple provisos. They have to 'fit in' with every day life - ie. time travel could exist in the world I currently live in, I just don't know about it. 

 

This fits that perfectly - but it is one of the more original interpretations of time travel I have yet come across. Harry lives his same life over, and over. When he dies, he returns to babyhood and gets the chance to live again. I read this on the plane to Canada in September, and I spent about four hours considering exactly what I would do if faced with this situation. What a chance to keep the best bits of your life, try a new career, genuinely see all the world... Wow. Awesome. 

 

Anyway, so it is for Harry except that the world is ending - and it's getting quicker with each life that is lived. There is science fiction and spy novel elements to this, and the plot unravels deliciously slowly. The pace is a little slow at times - although I think I dealt with this better than most because I read it largely in one sitting, rather than keeping coming back to it - but it is worth it with a brilliant set-up. 

 

The main character isn't that interesting as a lead, which is probably the biggest flaw here. This is definitely plot, rather than character driven, but it doesn't hurt to give the lead a little personality to help us through the first half of the book. You also have to accept a couple of stretching plot points - which I can't talk about for fear of spoilers, so trust me - but it was a really enjoyable read. 

 

Looking at the reviews on Goodreads, there are lots of 4 or 5 star reviews, then lots of 1s for a slow, boring read, so clearly a bit marmite! But I was one of the former, with the get-out clause that it might be because I had an 8 hour plane ride to get through it. 

 

4/5 (I really enjoyed it)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...