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Esiotrot's 2010 reading list


Esiotrot

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Hi folks ~

It has been a while :smile2: hope everyone is well?

I have had a lot going on and my reading mojo has been in hibernation but has now awoken and my appetite for books is back :) Hence my new shiny reading list to record and rate the books I have read. I will also be adding some reviews as I go along but doubt I will ever find the time to add Mount TBR as it rather large!

 

 

1. The Secret by Rhonda Byrne ~ Dip Reading

2. My **** Life So Far by Frankie Boyle ~ Unfinished but will go back to

3. We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver ~ 4/5

4. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatjeh ~ 3/5

5. The Pools by Bethan Roberts ~ 3.5/5

6. All The Things We Didnt Say by Sara Shepard ~ 4/5

7. One Day by David Nicholls ~ 4.5/5

8. The Daughter Game by Kate Long ~ 3/5

9. The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith ~ 4/5

10. The Graft by Martina Cole ~ 3.5/5

11. The Winter House by Nicci Gerrard ~ 5/5

12. A Partisans Daughter by Louis de Bernieres ~ 3/5

13. The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh ~ 3.5/5

14. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters ~ 5/5

15. Behind The Scenes At The Museum by Kate Atkinson ~ 3/5

16. Lullaby by Claire Seeber ~ 4/5

17. What Ever Love Means by David Baddiel ~ Abandoned

18. The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite by Beatrice Colin

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All The Things We Didnt Say by Sara Shepard 4/5

 

Synopsis

Emotional, issue-led fiction perfect for all fans of The Memory Keeper's Daughter and Jodi Picoult Tragedy came as if so often does: a teenage party, emotions running high, followed by a horrific car crash. A girl is left dead and a boy is forced to leave his home town, with a secret that he will carry with him forever! Years later, when Summer's mother disappears one summer, she is left with her father. Obsessed with an accident from years ago, he slowly descends into mental illness. And as he becomes more disorientated, he reveals small fragments of a secret that has been hidden since his youth, a secret that changes everything. Summer supports her father as much as she can but eventually realises that she has to escape. She finds refuge with her great-aunt, Stella. Feisty, fun-loving, and dying of cancer, Stella holds parts of the family secret. Slowly, things fall into place for Summer - or at least so she thinks! This is a story of the importance of family, of the damage a lie can do, and of how nothing is ever what it seems.

 

Early reviewer copy from Library Thing.

I enjoyed this book ~ its a coming of age story of detailing Summer, her clinically depressed father and various members of their family. There are a few bit of the story which are really insightful, humerous and tender, but unfortunatley in other areas the story falls flat, this left me wondering if the author had lost the thread of her idea. There are a few things that fall too neatly together, I personally think the author tried to cover too many things and would have been focusing on just a couple and developing those further.

All in all it is a good read but its not a book I would have picked up as the cover infers a light and fluffy chick lit romance type novel and this is a disservice as the book is better than the cover suggests.

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The Winter House by Nicci Gerrard ~ 5/5

 

Synopsis from Amazon

When Marnie receives a phone call that summons her to the side of a once-beloved friend, she is wrenched from her orderly London life and sent back into a past from which she has fled but never escaped. Ralph, Marnie and Oliver once knew each other well and are still inextricably bound by ties of love and betrayal. Now they meet again in Ralph’s secluded cottage in the Scottish highlands, to spend the precious days that Ralph has left with each other. As they reminisce, Marnie is taken back to the summer years ago when everything changed between them and heartbreak and desire broke up their little group. Will Ralph have the chance to say what needs to be said before it’s too late? And can they put the devastating events of twenty years ago to rest and rekindle the intimacy they once shared?

 

Review

The Winter House is a beautifully written book about of 3 friends who reunite after almost 20 years to care for Ralph who is dying, they spend their last days together retelling the story of their friendship. Marnie the main character tells the majority of the tale with Ralphs memories interjecting in thoughts rather than spoken voice.

 

A remote cottage in Scotland provides the backdrop to this heart renching story in which the main characters recall their shared memories of childhood. Their history complicated and intertwined with the summer setting of most of the memories reflecting the hotbed of feelings, emotions and confusion of the characters teenage years. The contrast of the wintery, snowy cottage the characters are in effectively conveys the bleakness of their situation.

 

The cover of the book initially attracted my attention - the deep blue drew me in and I spent some time looking at the picture taking in each detail considering the cold isolation of the cottage and the warmth within. After reading I was struck by how effectively the cover conveys both the main characters.

 

This is a poignient and touching novel which makes you consider your own teenage years, lost or forgotten friendships and all the experiances which are the building blocks of your character. Gerrards writing is exquisitely tender and the characters are warm and believable.

 

A wonderfully haunting book which I adored - highly recommended.

Edited by Esiotrot
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Sounds like my kind of read adding to my TBR/must buy....I was looking for it on a booksite, but couldn't find it, but it appears that you have misspelt the name Nikki....Nicci Gerrard came up when I looked for it. I see what you mean about the cover too....it would have drawn me to the book also.

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:smile2: Ooopsie!! Thanks Diane (lovely to see a familiar face) - I stand corrected

 

Nicci is actually the female half of the Nicci French thriller writing couple - I havent read anything else by her but will certainly be keeping an eye out for her other books.

 

x

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A Partisans Daughter by Louis de Bernieres ~ 3/5

 

Synopsis from Amazon

Chris is in his forties: bored, lonely, trapped in a loveless, sexless marriage. He's a stranger to the 1970s youth culture of London, a stranger to himself on the night he invites a prostitute into his car. Roza is Yugoslavian, recently moved to London. She's in her twenties, but has already lived a life filled with danger, misadventure, romance, and tragedy. And though she's not a prostitute, when she's propositioned by Chris, she gets into his car anyway. Over the next few months Roza tells Chris the stories of her past. She's a fast-talking Scheherazade, saving her own life by telling it to Chris. And he takes in her tales as if they were oxygen in an otherwise airless world. But is Roza telling the truth? Does it even matter?

 

 

Review

This is the first book by De Bernieres I have read and from his reputation it sadly wasnt what I expected.

 

Chris is a medical salesman who appears to be having a midlife crisis, he becomes obsessed with a younger immigrant woman called Roza, who encourages him to visit her. These visits consist of Roza telling some almost unbelievable stories of her past and result in Chris becoming all the more obsessed with her. Chris is a sad character and the result of his relationship with mysterious Roza is more unanswered questions. Despite the focus on Roza and her history, I completed the book doubting the truth of her stories and feeling like I knew little about her present.

 

I personally felt this book would have been improved if Chris had been the only narrator, rather than jumping between both Chris and Roza. This would have added to the mystery of Roza and gave a broader understanding of Chris's feelings.

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The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh ~ 3.5/5

 

Synopsis

When Rilke, a dissolute and promiscuous auctioneer comes upon a hidden collection of violent, and highly disturbing photographs, he feels compelled to unearth more about the deceased owner who coveted them. What follows is a compulsive journey of discovery, decadence and deviousness.

 

Review

I picked up this book in a charity shop and decided to buy it based on the many awards it has won and the fact it was 50p! Personally I think I am pretty broad minded but I found myself raising my eyebrows on a few occasions while reading The Cutting Room.

 

I expected a gritty Glaswegian thriller type mystery but got a bit more. Yes, in the main it is a mystery set in Glasgow but this book also has a much darker erotic side with some graphic passages describing 'snuff' photos, pornography and homosexual encounters. The authors intention is clearly to shock the reader and display her originality in character creation but I felt that some of the description passages went a bit far. (referring to the 2 pages of gay and lesbian condemnation found by Rilke).

I dont have a huge amount of experience of tartan noir - just Stuart McBride - but as a mystery novel I found the book entertaining and intriguing. The story loses itself a bit in the middle and there are some additional characters which dont add much but its a good read. Overall I am glad I read it, but not sure I would rush to read anything else by the same author.

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Fingersmith by Sarah Waters ~ 5/5

 

Synopsis

'We were all more or less thieves at Lant Street. But we were that kind of thief that rather eased the dodgy deed along, than did it . We could pass anything, anything at all, at speeds which would astonish you. There was only one thing, in fact, that had come and got stuck - one thing that had somehow withstood the tremendous pull of that passage - one thing that never had a price put to it. I mean of course, Me.' Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, is born among petty thieves - fingersmiths - in London's Borough. From the moment she draws breath, her fate is linked to another orphan, growing up in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away ...

 

Review

A fantastic book, my favourite book this year so far!

 

The devil is in the detail and Sarah Waters nails it ~ I love her writing style and the pace of the story is spot on. I cant say much about it the plot without spoiling it but suffice to say I think anyone interested should give it a go.

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I see you have We need to talk to Kevin by Lionel Shriver which is on my TBR list. I see you gave it a 4/5 so I must read that book next. Also on on that list is 5 Martina Cole books but The Graft is not one of them.

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Hi Heather ~ thanks for the reply - I hope you are well.

 

I found We Need To Talk About Kevin quite tough going for personal reasons and had to read it in stages, with other books in between- in fact I still have a bit left to finish. I feel like I have under rated this book a bit as my judgment was clouded, I have friends who absolutely raved about it and I am sure you will thoroughly enjoy it and probably rate it higher than I have.

 

Re. Martina Cole ~ I also have another 5 on Mount TBR ( http://www.librarything.com/profile/Esiotrot ) The Graft is the first MC I have read and TBH I have read better books but lots of the reviews The Graft mention its not one of her best so I will definitely try more. Have you read any MC previously?

 

kx

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  • 2 weeks later...

Behind The Scenes At The Museum by Kate Atkinson ~ 3/5

 

Synopsis

Ruby Lennox was conceived grudgingly by Bunty and born while her father, George, was in the Dog and Hare in Doncaster telling a woman in an emerald dress and a D-cup that he wasn't married. Bunty had never wanted to marry George, but here she was, stuck in a flat above the pet shop in an ancient street beneath York Minster, with sensible and sardonic Patrica aged five, greedy cross-patch Gillian who refused to be ignored, and Ruby...Ruby tells the story of The Family, from the day at the end of the nineteenth century when a travelling French photographer catches frail beautiful Alice and her children, like flowers in amber, to the startling, witty, and memorable events of Ruby's own life.

 

Review

This book came very highly recommended to me and I feel almost sad to admit I wasnt bowled over. I enjoyed the main story but found the footnotes began to get confusing as I lost track of which generation was being recalled and who cousins, aunts, uncles were. This led to a lot of backtracking through pages (a family tree in the back of the book would have been helpful) which reduced my enjoyment and I had to really push myself to finish it.

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Lullaby by Claire Seeber ~ 4/5

 

Synopsis

What should have been a happy family day out quickly becomes a nightmare! The chilling debut from a bright new talent. What should have been a happy family day out quickly turns into a nightmare for Jess Finnegan. One minute she is thankful for a few minutes' peace away from the demands of motherhood. The next she is frantically searching for husband Mickey and 8-month old Louis.They have disappeared, nowhere to be seen. As the police launch a massive manhunt, Jess's panic intensifies. Then Mickey is found, badly beaten - and alone. Where is Louis? Is he still alive? Could he be the victim of child trafficking or something much closer to home? Just how well does Jess know her new husband? And when her wayward brother turns up out of the blue, what is he after? As the investigation unravels, Jess discovers that the people closest to you are not always what they seem!

 

Review

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Yes I do have a few more on shelf TBR, Emotionally Weird, Case Histories and One Good Turn, the last two I think you have to read in order. I read the first chapter of Case Histories, but haven't gotten far into it as I have other bookrings to read and finish.

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What Ever Love Means by David Baddiel ~ Abandoned

 

Synopsis

Like most people, Vic Mullan - once described by his best friend Joe as 'a man whose sense of social responsibility is exhausted by pulling over to let an ambulance by' - can remember where he was and what he was doing on the day of Princess Diana's death. Yes, he can remember it particularly well: he was at home, beginning an affair with Emma, Joe's wife. The opening sections of David Baddiel's second novel chart the history of an intense and passionately sexual liaison set against the background of the most hysterical time in recent memory. But as the months wear on, and life and love return to normal, so things become more complex between Vic and Emma. And then, tragedy - a real, local, small-scale tragedy, as opposed to a national, iconic, mythological one - intervenes. Part-satire, part-love story, part-whodunnit, and part-meditation on the nature of sex and death, WHATEVER LOVE MEANS confirms Nick Hornby's assertion that David Baddiel has 'gone straight into the First Eleven of young contemporary British novelists'.

 

It takes a lot for me to abandon a book - I am very thrawn and get annoyed with myself for not completing things. I took this book out of the charity shop pile twice befor deciding but I just couldnt take it any more - there are too many good books out there waiting for me to spend time on this.

The characters are uninteresting, the plot non existant (I ditched after 1/3) the writing over indulgently descriptive and I felt the author was very patronising to his readers.

Sorry David but not for me, I hope the new owner from the charity shop likes it.

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