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Hayley's Reading in 2017


Hayley

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On 21/07/2017 at 3:24 PM, Nollaig said:

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on His Bloody Project, it's on my TBR! :)

It's definitely worth reading, I think you'll like it. I'll be looking out for when you've read it, I'll be really interested to see what you think!

 

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His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet

 

Comment: Innovative and believable

 

This book was genuinely unlike any book I've ever read and I think I would have enjoyed it for that reason alone. It was also very well written and so believable that after a couple of chapters I actually checked the back of the book because I couldn't remember whether it was a true story!

Unlike other books centred around a murder, the point of this one is not to work out who the murderer was, that is clear from the start, it's even stated in the blurb. The question is why Roderick Macrae committed the murders, what actually happened and who is telling the truth. Beginning with conflicting police statements about Roderick, the book moves on to Roderick's own memoir (which is the majority of the book) and then medical reports, part of a psychologist's memoir about the case and finally the trial, which is partly made of newspaper reports. All of this seemed very well researched and, as I said before, very believable. I think sometimes use of an untrustworthy narrator can end up being frustrating and unsatisfactory, but here it makes every statement more interesting as you end up trying to read between the lines and piece the stories together. It's a very psychological book and almost makes the reader work as part psychologist, part detective. It's also a little disturbing at times, there's some very dark subject matter and moments which are probably best described as uncomfortable.

It is definitely worth reading, particularly if you're looking for quite a thought-provoking book and it would be a great book for discussion.

 

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Summer Knight by Jim Butcher

 

Comment: Great story development

 

This is the fourth book in the Dresden Files series and it was definitely my favourite one yet. The characters seemed to be much more developed, unique and interesting. The concept of the magical worlds also seemed to be more thought-out and better explained than previous books, as did the wizards's council. This one also definitely provided the most interesting account of the various magical creatures that exist. The mystery at the heart of the book was itself very good, very compelling and I couldn't guess the answer before the end. It also felt like it was part of a bigger story, which was something the first couple of books didn't really have.

There are still some little things that annoy me slightly about the books, which I've probably mentioned before. Like the fact that every book has to have an instance of Harry holding the door for a woman and hoping they don't mind, because "he's very old fashioned like that." And that fact that nearly every female in sight seems to be stunningly beautiful and wearing very tight clothes, very little clothing, or nothing at all. But, at the same time, the plot is good, I like the variety of characters, the magical world, the magic itself, and in comparison to those good points the little negatives are easy to ignore.    

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  • 2 weeks later...

I do have some reviews to do soon, I finished reading The Railway Detective by Edward Marston and Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch since I last posted. I've been on holiday and had so much to do since I got back but I will write them soon :lol:

 

Reading The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde at the moment and loving it. I was worried I wouldn't like it as much as the Thursday Next series but it's brilliant, just as funny.

 

I've added three new books to my 'recently acquired' list too. I did try to tell myself I really shouldn't buy any more books until I've read more that are already on my shelf... but then I went to a charity shop with my sister and they had about 5 lovely hardback China Miéville books (an author I've wanted to try for ages) and a really nice hardback of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which I've wanted to read for ages. They're all quite big books and I have no idea where they're going to go but I was quite proud of myself for only buying those three :P

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 14/09/2017 at 10:46 AM, frankie said:

But they are such pretty books, surely they needed your rescuing and you were well deserving of them :giggle2:  I hope you will like Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell! :smile2: I really enjoyed it. 

Yes! I like your thinking :giggle2:. I'm glad you enjoyed Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, the book seems very thick so I think it will take me a while to read but it definitely sounds like my kind of book :)

 

I thought I better come and do a quick review of my last three books before I completely forget...

 

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The Railway Detective by Edward Marston

 

Comment: An easy good read

 

This is the first book in the Railway Detective series and (luckily, since I bought the first five in a set) I really enjoyed reading it. There's nothing really groundbreaking or new in it, it follows a very traditional detective story format, but that's not really a bad thing if you like a good old-fashioned mystery. The book is set in the Victorian period and I think perhaps the author was purposely drawing on detective novels from that time. The pace was good, with a well-developed mystery and the main character was quite interesting, although maybe a little typical. Overall it was just a good, easy-to-read book and I am looking forward to seeing how the characters develop in the next one.

 

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Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch

 

Comment: Magical but heart-breakingly real

 

I was first attracted to this book by the cover, which is beautiful, and then by the fact that it's set in the Victorian period. There was also mention of dragons but I think it's worth pointing out (and it's honestly not a spoiler) that the dragon mentioned on the blurb is not a magical creature and there isn't actually any magic involved in the book. Even so, it does feel magical and that's probably because we follow (in first person) the main character, Jaffy, from a very young age and see the wonder with which he experiences Jamrach's menagerie and the array of animals to be found there. Then, as he gets a little older, we see the adventures of sailing to unknown lands. With all that in mind I expected this to be a fairly fun and light-hearted book when I picked it up but it really is not. It is probably the best portrayal of working class Victorian childhood I've ever read though and the innocence that Jaffy approaches and accepts his early life with is slightly heartbreaking in itself. As the book progresses things get really dark and quite deeply psychological, far more than I was expecting. For me, this was one of those books that really makes you feel something even after you've put it down. Even though it wasn't what I was expecting I'm very glad I picked it up and would definitely recommend it.  

 

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The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde

 

Comment: Clever, witty and unique

 

There's a review from the Observer on the cover of this book that says 'It is great not just because it's very funny but also because it works properly as a whodunnit' and I think that sums up the very thing that's so perfect about this book. It's so funny and has such a crazy cast of characters, but somehow it's never ridiculous either. Jack Spratt, the detective of the series, is brilliant and so well developed you often forget about the joke of him being a nursery rhyme character, he's actually very likeable. The mystery itself was very well done, I had no idea what the conclusion was going to be and the detailed functioning of the police department was again very funny but also genuinely gripping. Fforde is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors, I can't wait to read another one of his books and see what he does next. :lol:

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Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

 

Comment: A brilliant concept.

 

This is very much a book for people who love books. It's also very political and had what I thought was quite a unique way of portraying political activism, showing how you might be both disgusted by and sympathetic for certain actions. There was something that just stopped me loving this book and I think it's just that I felt as though it lacked a bit of necessary depth. There are some interesting features, like steampunk vehicles and automatons and brief mentions of huge conflicts in the past... but then they're never expanded on and for that reason they sort of fell a bit flat. I would say the same of some of the relationships in the book too, there are small hints at things developing but overall it just felt like after a tiny bit of hinting certain couples were just paired up for the rest of the book and that's the end of that. I would have loved it so much more if it just had that extra depth. Maybe things will be further explained in later books though, since I now know there are two more out and another on the way in the future. 

I did enjoy reading this though and the whole idea behind it is really interesting. It actually reminded me quite a lot of Trudi Canavan's Black Magician trilogy, which I loved but haven't read for years. I will be looking out for the next book in the future :).

 

 

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The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

 

Comment: Traditional, magical, philosophical

 

I acquired this book completely by chance when I finished Ink and Bone while I was on a weekend camping trip. I went to look at a board of nearby walks at the campsite and realised they had a bookshelf labelled 'take a book, leave a book, they're free!' so I couldn't pass that perfect opportunity :lol:.

I had looked at this book in the past and couldn't decide whether to buy it. The first thing I will say is it's not what I expected. My only experience of Ishiguro is The Remains of the Day which I read some of for my university course. If I had read the two books without knowing the author though I would never had guessed it was the same person. The Buried Giant is a cross between a traditional fairy tale (which it's told in the style of) and an Arthurian legend. There are dragons and ogres, pixies and knights of the round table and I loved that. I also loved the traditional fairy tale style, as though the narrator is telling you a story of the past. The reason I included 'philosophical' in my comment is because, at the heart of the story, it is about memory and truth. It really gets you thinking about questions like would things be better if we could forget the past? Is it better to know a truth that hurts? And even, if you knew that hurtful truth, how would you deal with it? There is a bigger, somewhat political angle to those questions but also a very personal one. I really felt for the couple at the centre of the story and their journey together that's both sweet and sad.    

It's an unusual book but I'm really glad I picked it up.

 

I think I'm going to read my Edgar Allan Poe 'Selected Tales' next, since Poe seems an appropriate choice for October :)

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I have quite a few updates today so I'll try to keep it all short! 

 

Firstly... I bought some books :D. I was in London and passing an Oxfam book shop I found some great books in a few years ago, so I couldn't resist. I found Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, the second book to A Discovery of Witches (my sister wants to read that one too so technically I got it for both of us!), The Dream Merchant by Isabel Hoving and Weaveworld by Clive Barker.  Then I spotted The Invisible Library in another charity shop, I've wondered whether to get it for a while so ended up getting that too!

 

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Now onto reviews:

 

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Selected Tales by Edgar Allan Poe 

 

Comment: Surprisingly Varied

 

This is a really pretty selection published by Heron books, pictures don't really do it justice because the light reflects off the gold pattern on the front. I had read some of the stories in the selection before (The Fall of the House of Usher, The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Tell-Tale Heart) and knew I could expect some really atmospheric, creepy tales perfect for the approach to Halloween. What I wasn't expecting was science fiction reminiscent of Jules Verne, though predating him (The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfall) and a treasure-hunting adventure (The Gold-Bug). There were plenty of creepy atmospheric stories too but I genuinely didn't know Poe wrote such a variety of styles and I really enjoyed them. 

I know there are quite a lot of collections of Edgar Allan Poe's stories but I would definitely recommend this one, Heron books are always really good value too.

 

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Black Country and Birmingham Ghost Stories by Brendan Hawthorne

Comment: Short but interesting

 

I actually bought this book for my boyfriend from a stand of books by local authors but I thought I'd give it a try for October. It;s a very short book, only 78 pages long and that's with photographs and illustrations. There are some interesting little stories of ghost sightings and strange experiences, written quite simply but with some obvious attempts to add some atmosphere to the scene. I wouldn't say it's the most amazing thing I've ever read but it was interesting to see some local legends and it was perfect for Halloween. The back of the book shows that there's a few different areas covered in this series, although I think they're all in the UK. It was worth a read.

 

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A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor

Comment: Shocked and confused but still loved it

 

This is the third book in the Chronicles of St Mary's and after the first two I knew it was going to be good. I loved it for the same reasons as the first two, the fast paced narrative weaving through a variety of well-researched periods of history and the slightly crazy edge the whole thing has. On the other hand I did find this one slightly more confusing than the others. I can't really say more without spoilers, which I'll include for those who've read it:  

Spoiler

As sad and traumatic as it was, I didn't understand what actually happened to Leon - did he just have a random heart attack? And what happened to that phone call? Max speaks to him a couple of minutes before she sees him dead and it tells you he's been dead for a while when she gets there... so she couldn't have spoken to him surely? But the Leon in the alternative world did call her... so did she speak to him? Surely you can't make a phone call to an alternative world??

And then there's the whole alternative reality thing anyway, if Max is meant to have died there (of a heart attack as well?) won't people think it's a bit odd when she's suddenly not buried any more? 

And as for Helios... Max works out that, like objects, Leon was able to move Helios out of his timeline because he was going to be imminently destroyed in his anyway. So technically couldn't you save anybody who died by going back to the moments before they died and moving them ahead in the timeline? Like Leon...

For those who haven't I'll just say things got very complicated and I sort of lost the logic behind it. Despite that though it was still a really fun read and I'm really looking forward to getting the next one!

 

 

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Witch and Wizard by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet

Comment: An interesting concept but a lot of flaws

 

I picked this book up from a library discard sale for 20p knowing that (although I'd never read anything by him before) James Patterson is famous for his thrillers and the dystopian fantasy concept of the book sounded interesting. I actually didn't even notice the book had a second author until I got it home because her name is so tiny and not included on the spine or the back. 

It has a slightly 1984 edge, where a new order has taken control and is banning books, art and music, creating a sterile and frankly boring environment. As the most free and imaginative of the community, they consistently target young people. The story follows two teenage siblings, Whit and Whisty, who've been arrested on suspicion of witchcraft. All this sounded really interesting and I still feel like it should have been but it had a lot of little issues that added up. The story is told in short sections which are narrated alternately by Whit and Whisty, but not necessarily one after the other. Sometimes there's a break and a new section but the same person is still narrating. I couldn't see any reason for this and it sometimes made it difficult to remember who was narrating. My second issue was in the dialogue and word choice generally. The way the teenagers speak in this just feels like someone much older imagining how teenagers speak, giving you occasionally odd and cringey moments which did not help the characters to feel very realistic. The magic also didn't seem very believable. Sometimes it's like an uncontrollable, internal, emotional force (which it really should have stayed) and sometimes it's like 'poof! you're a frog.' The lack of depth made it quite hard to care about the characters very much. And, finally, I felt like it copied some things from other books, which just felt a bit weird. As a character was being told to run as hard as they could at a brick wall to pass through to another world, all I could think about was Harry Potter's platform 9 3/4. At another point it practically lifts the 'speak friend and enter' scene straight from Lord of the Rings.

It wasn't actually terrible. The idea behind it was good and I did want to find out what happened at the end. I also finished it in a couple of days - but I won't be rushing out to find the second book.    

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Hayley, I got very confused by the events you mention in A Second Chance as well, and like you think it's a bit of a cop-out how she handled those events.  However I still enjoyed it and it didn't stop me reading the next one, which does sort of expand a bit on those events, but I agree it is a bit muddled and I've lost track of  the timelines a bit now.  Still good fun though.

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@Madeleine I'm glad it wasn't just me, I've been trying to work out whether I'd missed something ever since I finished the book! You're right though, the books are just so much fun it's easy to forgive the confusing parts :lol:

 

I've started reading another book I got from the library discard sale, The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman. I'm only 29 pages in but it's not going great so far, I'm hoping it picks up and doesn't end up as the first book of this year I couldn't finish! 

 

 

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14 hours ago, Hayley said:

I've started reading another book I got from the library discard sale, The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman. I'm only 29 pages in but it's not going great so far, I'm hoping it picks up and doesn't end up as the first book of this year I couldn't finish!

 

Wow, it would be the first one? I've abandoned 5 books this year so far! While I don't know The Geographer's Library, I hope it does pick up for you!

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On 16/11/2017 at 9:26 AM, Athena said:

 

Wow, it would be the first one? I've abandoned 5 books this year so far! While I don't know The Geographer's Library, I hope it does pick up for you!

 

Yeah, I've been lucky this year! Unfortunately this one didn't pick up, I've decided to give up on The Geographer's Library. The main character is so not bothered about anything that it makes it very hard to care what happens to him. To be honest it's hard to care about any of the characters. For a murder mystery the plot is incredibly slow and actually doesn't even make you wonder who the murderer was. It was becoming a chore to read, which is just pointless. So, I decided to start The Watchmaker Of Filigree Street instead, which I've been looking forward to and I'm really pleased with it so far :) 

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13 hours ago, Little Pixie said:

Congrats on your book haul. :) I found A Discovery of Witches in a charity shop a few years ago ; I think I'd class it as one of my top cheapie purchases. :)

 

Thanks :) Have you read the other two? I've heard really mixed reviews about Shadow of Night.

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17 hours ago, Little Pixie said:

 

I loved Shadow of Night ; it`s the third book I felt let down by. :( 

 

Well it's good to hear you loved Shadow of Night! What was it about the last book, was the actual ending disappointing or it just wasn't as good as the others as a whole?

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5 hours ago, Hayley said:

 

Well it's good to hear you loved Shadow of Night! What was it about the last book, was the actual ending disappointing or it just wasn't as good as the others as a whole?

 

It felt like a rush job ; there were too many other people`s points of view, rather than just from Diana`s perspective, and I didn`t feel that the characters still rang true. I`d still buy the next book, whenever it comes out, but only when it`s quite cheap. :) 

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On 25/11/2017 at 5:29 PM, Little Pixie said:

 

It felt like a rush job ; there were too many other people`s points of view, rather than just from Diana`s perspective, and I didn`t feel that the characters still rang true. I`d still buy the next book, whenever it comes out, but only when it`s quite cheap. :) 

 

There's another one coming out!? I thought it was meant to be a trilogy. Looking forward to trying the second one anyway, I'm hoping we get to discover more about the book this time, I thought it was frustrating how little was revealed about it in the first one.

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The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

Comment: Unexpectedly thought provoking

 

This book really wasn't what I expected. I thought it would be an interesting mystery with a steampunk twist but that's actually only a very tiny part of it. The book is mostly about quite a big moral question, which is hard to fully discuss without spoilers but basically regarding control. It was interesting and definitely thought-provoking but actually I found the ending of the book quite unsatisfactory. It felt as though the author was presenting a solution to this moral dilemma that I just couldn't fully agree with, it felt very over simplified. On the other hand, I have since found out that there's a second book being written, so maybe the intention was always to explore it more in the next one. 

One more little issue I had with this book was that there's a significant event, near the end, which marks the point at which everything starts moving very quickly towards the conclusion. The event which triggers this though requires one of the characters to do something which seemed, well, entirely out of character. I found it very hard to believe they would have acted this way. On the same point, the events from that moment happen so quickly I actually got a bit lost. A couple of times I turned back a page to make sure I hadn't missed something or had read it correctly.

On the other hand I thought it was a really interesting concept with some wonderful settings. I absolutely loved Katsu the clockwork octopus! The ending left me feeling torn though.

 

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On 27/11/2017 at 1:06 PM, Hayley said:

 

There's another one coming out!? I thought it was meant to be a trilogy. Looking forward to trying the second one anyway, I'm hoping we get to discover more about the book this time, I thought it was frustrating how little was revealed about it in the first one.

 

Book 4 is, I think,  set during the first or second book, timeline-wise. Its called the Serpents something ? :)

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  • 5 weeks later...

I forgot how behind I was on here!

 

First, three very quick reviews to catch up...

 

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The Frost Fair by Edward Marston

Comment: A good mystery

 

This is actually the fourth book in a series, following detective Christopher Redmayne. I didn't realise it was part of a series when I bought it but it didn't really make a difference. There are some characters which are obviously introduced in previous books but I never felt like I was missing anything. There's nothing particularly outstanding about the book but it was a good 'whodunnit' type mystery with an interesting set of characters. I enjoyed reading it but I think I prefer the Railway Detective series by Marston. 

 

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Little Women by Lousia May Alcott

Comment: A sentimental classic

 

I already knew the story of little women when I started this because me and my sister used to watch the film. Imagine my surprise when the book ended and a lot of very important events had still not happened! I genuinely didn't realise that Little Women was published in two volumes, or that there are further two sequel books in the series. Apparently the edition I have (Collins Classics) is only the first volume.

Aside from that shock discovery though I really enjoyed reading Little Women. It has such a fantastic cast of individual and memorable characters and, although it's very obvious in delivering moral messages throughout the story, it also has a very sweet way of showing people with various temperaments and personalities just trying to be good people.

It's easy to see why this is a classic and I'm really glad I read it. 

 

 

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.A Christmas Journey by Anne Perry

Comment: short but interesting

 

I spotted this in the discard pile at my local library and bought it for 20p, mainly because I recognised the author from her mystery novel Bedford Square, which I read earlier this year. It does feature a character from the same series as Bedford Square, and gives them an interesting background, but you definitely don't need to have read anything else from the series before A Christmas Journey.

It's a very short book, only 154 pages long and very easy to read. It wasn't exactly what I expected. I thought it would be a short little murder mystery set at Christmas but it was actually more about the social, financial and emotional struggles of women in the early 1800s. The actual journey of the story is really just a way to explore these themes. There is a bit of a mystery to be solved but it's more fitting the pieces of the story together (and it's harder to explain than I thought without giving a major plot point away). It was interesting and worth a read anyway.

 

I didn't read much in the couple of weeks before Christmas but I'm about a quarter of the way through Neil Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors and I now have lots of new books to add to my list! One of my sisters gave me Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, which sounds amazing. Another sister gave me a beautiful edition of I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett, which is the only Tiffany Aching book I haven't read. And another sister gave me a Waterstones voucher! (I have amazing sisters). My fourth sister traditionally gives me pyjamas every year, so I also have something comfy to curl up and read my new books in :D.

With my Waterstones voucher I got...

Mask of Shadows by Oscar de Muriel (the third book in the Frey & McGray series - I loved the first two)

The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde (third in the Thursday Next series, very excited about this)

A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor (fourth book in the Chronicles of St. Mary's)

The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch (this is on sale in Waterstones too so I was particularly pleased)

Lyra's Oxford by Phillip Pullman (such a pretty little book with a short story and various little things in relating to the Dark Materials world!)

 

I have no idea where to start with them all but I predict a great reading start to 2018! 

     

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