Vodkafan's 2012 Reading List and Genre Challenge

[vodkafan]

Notes:

(k) denotes kindle ebook.

(G) denotes book read as part of the Genre challenge. To make things easier for Kell, my Genre Challenge books will also be listed separately below at foot of page.

(F) denotes book read as part of my Amazon Freebie Challenge.

TBR pile are books that I have already purchased that need to be read.

Wish List are books I am interested in but not yet purchased.

 

January:

Big Planet - Jack Vance (k)

Under A Texas Star - Alison Bruce (k) (G)

The Odin Mission - James Holland (G)

One For The Money (Stephanie Plum #1) - Janet Evanovitch (k)

Coraline - Neil Gaiman (k)

The Penal Colony - Richard Herely (k) (F)

Two For The Dough (Stephanie Plum #2) - Janet Evanovitch (k)

The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon (k)

Mistress Masham's Repose - TH White

 

February:

Three to Get Ready (Stephanie Plum #3) - Janet Evanovitch (k)

Autobiography Of Malcom X ​ - Malcom X (k)(G)

The Lady And The Locksmith - Cody Young (k)(F)

Hollowland - Amanda Hocking (k) (F)

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie (k) (G)

Pied Piper - Neville Schute (k)

Before I Die - Jenny Downham

 

March:

Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal - Jeanette Winterson (k)

Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime And The Lunatic Asylum - Mark Stevens (k)(F)

A Helmet For My Pillow - Robert Leckie (k)

Uncertain Destiny - Carole Mortimer (G)

Self Made Man - Norah Vincent

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (k)(G)

 

April:

Catcher In The Rye - J D Salinger (k) (G)

A Moment Of Silence - Miss Anna Dean

The Fifth Child - Doris Lessing

The Knife Of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness (G)

I Capture The Castle - Dodie Smith (k)

The Emo Bunny That Should - John H Carrol (k)(F)

 

May:

Bruce Lee Fighting Spirit - Bruce Thomas

The First Person And Other Stories - Ali Smith (k)

The Princess Bride -William Goldman (k)

Resistance -Anita Shreve

The Lions Of Al-Rassan -Guy Gavril Kay (k)

Velocity - Dean Koontz (G)

The Naked Civil Servant -Quentin Crisp (G)

Lesbian Coming Out Stories - Dey Diaz (k)(G)

The Atlantis Code - Charles Brokaw

A Gentleman Of Fortune -Miss Anna Dean

The Gathering -Anne Enright

 

June:

Things My Girlfriend And I have Argued About - Mil Millington (G)

King Arthur Man Or Myth? - Paul White

The Accidental - Ali Smith

The Jewel In The Skull - Michael Moorcock (G)

 

July:

The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi (G)

The Weaker Vessel- Antonia Fraser

The Nightmare Chronicles - Douglas Clegg

A Short History Of Tractors In Ukranian - Marina Lewycka (G)

The Wench Is Dead - Colin Dexter

Beautiful Stranger - Hope Donahue

Dunkirk The Men They Left Behind - Sean Longden

Across The Universe- Beth Revis

The Woman In Black - Susan Hill

Sexing The Cherry - Jeanette Winterson

The Venus Fix - M J Rose

The Rome Prophecy- Jon Trace

I Choose To Live - Sabine Dardenne

 

August:

A Short History Of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

The Hungry Ghosts - Anne Berry (G)

The Good Thief -Hannah Tinti

D-Day Lieutenant Andy Pope Normandy 1944 - Bryan Perrett

Last Light - Alex Scarrow (G)

 

September:

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters

The Bourne Identity -Robert Ludlum (G)

Star Of The Sea - Joseph O' Connor (G)

Lighthousekeeping -Jeannette Winterson

The Cassandra Compact - Robert Ludlum/Richard Shelby

Truth Or Dare -Celia Rees

 

October:

Trullion -Alastor 2262 - Jack Vance

The Man Of Property (Forsyte Saga 1) - John Galsworthy (G)

The Book Of God -Walter Wangerin (G)

 

November:

This Is Me,Jack Vance! - Jack Vance (k)

Wonder - R J Palacio (k)(G)

Crossing The Line - Toni James (k)

Letters Between Six Sisters - ed. Charlotte Mosley (G)

Truth or Tell (abandoned, not counted)

Packing For Mars - Mary Roach (k)

Fasting, Feasting - Anita Desai

Sightlines - Kathleen Jamie (k)

Anna Dressed In Blood - Kendare Blake

 

December:

The Vanishing Act - Mette Jakobsen

The Summer Tree (Fionovar Book 1) - Guy Gavril Kay (k)

Android Karenina - Leo Tolstoy and Ben H. Winters (G)

Woman's World - Graham Rawles (G)

God Is Not Great - Christopher Hitchens

Berlin The Downfall 1945 - Anthony Beevor

Born On The Night Of THe Living Dead - David Young (k) 85

Edited December 22, 2012 by vodkafan

[vodkafan]

MY 2012 GENRE CHALLENGE

 

 

Jan:

Western! Under a Texas Star - Alison Bruce

War! The Odin Mission - James Holland

 

Feb:

Autobiography! Autobiography of Malcom X

Crime Fiction/Mystery! And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

 

Mar:

Classic! Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Romance! Uncertain Destiny - Carole Mortimer

 

April:

Modern Classic! The Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger

Childrens/Young Adult !The Knife Of Never Letting Go

 

May:

Gay/Lesbian Lit! The Naked Civil Servant - Quentin Crisp

Horror /Thriller! Velocity -Dean Koontz

 

June:

Lad Lit ! Things My Girlfriend And I Have Argued About - Mil Millington

Fantasy/Urban Fantasy! The Jewel In The Skull - Michael Moorcock

 

July:

Science Fiction/Steampunk! The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi

Comedy/Satire ! A Short History Of Tractors In Ukranian

 

August:

Supernatural/Paranormal ! The Hungry Ghosts -Anne Berry

Speculative Fiction ! Last Light - Alex Scarrow

 

September:

Historical Fiction (Pre WWII)! Star Of The Sea -Joseph O'Connor

Action/Adventure ! The Bourne Identity - Robert Ludlum

 

October:

Saga ! The Forsyte Saga volume 1 - John Galsworthy

Religion! The Book Of God - Walter Wangerin

 

November :

Letters and Diaries ! The Mitfords: letters between six sisters- Charlotte Moseley

Newly Published In 2012! Wonder - R J Palacio

 

December:

Mash-up ! Android Karenina - Leo Tolstoy and Ben H Winters

Graphic Novel ! A Woman's World - Graham Rawles

 

Mash-up

Android Karenina

Leo Tolstoy and Ben H Winters

 

I had already read one mash-up book (P &P with Zombies) and although I enjoyed it, I didn't really want to read another one, so I looked at everything in this small genre before picking this book. I had not read the original which I hoped would be an advantage, I could just read it as it came with out any prejudgement.

There are not a huge number of characters, but even so their names became confusing at times because Russians have 3 names apparently which get used interchangably .

The book is set in an alternative Russia in the very early 20th century, (ie how it would have been before the communist revolution?) . A new miracle metal named Groznium has put Mother Russia at the very forefront of technological advancement . Space cruises, , magnetic super trains, anti-gravity dancing, a colony on the moon and robots for every conceivable purpose. There is no middle class , just peasants and the fashionable upper class.

Every person of worth has their own personal class 3 robot, which is attuned to their own personality and needs. The peasants do not have companion robots, but even so it is not too bad being a peasant in these days as robots have taken over all the hard dirty jobs.

Government control is stringent however (this is Russia after all) as the country is threatened from within by a terrorist organisation called UnConSciya (Union of Concerned Scientists).

Don't look for any explanation of how the robots and other stuff work- there isn't any. You just have to enjoy the idea.

There are also a cult of people who believe in the imminent arrival of benificient aliens (the so-called Honoured Guests, who when they arrive are anything but benign)

Anna Karanina is the beautiful wife of a high government official . Almost against her will she is sucked into a love affair with dashing Count Vronsky, which causes him to jilt Kitty, the young girl he has been seeing.

The descriptions of the emotional turmoil of all the characters are quite remarkable to me in their intensity and truth. I am guessing that this is the pure Tolstoy. It was worth reading.

So how about the mash up part?

Not having read the original novel, I at first I found the SF elements quite natural. It was like reading a 1940s or 50s novel from the golden age of pulp SF. Also quite humourous. For instance Anna's robot Android Karenina does not speak but is set to glow in complementary colours according to Anna's mood and clothing to make her look good. Kitty's robot is dressed in a tutu and leaps about doing ballet. Levin's serious robot Socrates has useful tools hanging from his chin like a beard.

After a while though, as the central love story developed , the SF side of the story didn't seem to be going anywhere. The motivations of UnConSciya remained mysterious. The various terrorist acts had no purpose. The appearance of the aliens seemed pointless.

But then, about 10 pages before the end, it all suddenly does have a point. And it is not bad. I have read many worse SF novels.

 

 

 

Graphic Novel

Woman's World

Graham Rawles

 

This book was nothing I expected. It was collaged by the author over five years , the sentences constructed from printed words cut out of thousands of 1960's women's magazines. That fits completely with the story in more than one way. It is amazingly clever.

Norma has led a sheltered life at home with Mary, her mother who she likes to pretend is her housekeeper. She has always stayed in, as Mother doesn't like Norma to go out. Norma's world view is totally constructed around the women's magazines she reads, a world of glamour and fashion and wonderful home decor .

Then one day Norma makes a momentous decision: she thinks the world is changing and she must step outside the front door and get a job....

This is really the funniest book I have ever read.

 

 

Letters/diaries

The Mitfords Letters Between Six Sisters

edited by Charlotte Mosley

 

This is certainly quite a unique and worthy book, I am glad I have read it but at times it was a bit of a chore to pick it up and read a chunk. Having just finished it, my overriding emotion at the present moment is one of relief that I can now read something else.

It really is quite extraordinary that this one upper class English family of girls , none of whom went to school (one went for one term) made such an impact on their time. They were either related to, or knew many of the key historical figures, for instance Winston Churchill, JFK , the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Maybe it was their lack of formal education which made some of them easily led and prone to extreme political ideologies. Unity's complete adoration of Hitler comes over as quite spooky . I felt sorry for Nancy for her rotten unlucky love life but also thought she was a nasty piece of work and a little two faced. My favourite was Deborah, who was not interested in anything political and just got on with things; I also liked Pamela who was a gentle soul, when any of the others were in real desperate need she was always there to help.

The book has 4 sections of glossy black and white photos and quite a few extra photos in amongst the text. It is split into sections of 6-10 years. At the beginning of each section the editor presents an overview of the events in that time. As the book went on I started to find these notes more interesting than the letters themselves.

The best parts of the book for me were the first four sections, which covered up to the end of WWII. Unity's gushing letter's about Hitler and other Nazis and her complete acceptance of what was happening to the Jews made compulsive reading. However after she died the most entertaining (nutty) Mitford was gone and the other sisters were more or less set on their different paths, so the letters became rather boring after that.

 

 

Newly Published In 2012

Wonder

R J Palacio

 

This is basically a feel-good book. It is about a little boy, August who has a seriously deformed face , who has been protected from the reactions of the outside world by his family. But now he is seven years old and it is time for him to go to school and be with other children his own age.

The book is about his first year and how it changes him and how he changes others.

I liked this book although I did find it a bit overly sentimental at times. Also the seven year olds seem to speak and think in much more older ways than I considered realistic, but then again a book written in a seven year old's vocabulary would not be a good read. If this had been a film I probably would not watch it because the thick treacle would be unbearable.

I liked the author's method of having different people as well as August telling their viewpoints. For instance his elder sister's take on things was a much needed balance.

It was a short book and an easy read.

 

Religion

The Book Of God

Walter Wangerin

 

Wow how to start reviewing this book? I guess, quite simply I must say that I did not like it. It is basically the Bible written as a a novel.

It does not start with Creation and misses out the flood and Noah but instead the author chooses to start with Abraham who in his childless old age one day is told by God that he is going to be the start of a whole nation chosen by God as his own.

Apologies to God but I could not help but put this in context . He ignores the rest of the human race and suddenly focuses on one rather wretched little group of people in the Bronze Age. who he singles out for complete obedience and quite a lot of misery.

These people are surrounded by more powerful historical empires on every side. When something good happens to the tribes of Israel, it is attributed to God; but when something bad happens (ie they are enslaved or invaded) then God says he did that too on purpose to teach them a lesson.

It has to be said on examination that for Somebody who is watching the whole time God is not very hands-on; on average he makes a pronouncement through a prophet about once every 40 years. Sometimes he will have a little dialogue but very often he will just say a couple of words (usually to tell them off and command obedience) and then Israel goes its own way for another 40 years until the next punishment.

Also it calls the whole omnipotence of God into question for me; God is supposed to know all past, present and future; and yet He consistently acts as if he does not know what is going to happen next. He "tries" different solutions to Israel's disobedience. This does not make sense. Meanwhile the rest of the world is free to do what it wants, have orgies and worship cows seemingly without censure.

I also hoped to understand the culture of why God demands blood sacrifice but there is nothing to explain it. Only that it seems to be common to all cultures and worshipping of all gods at this time.

Yehova is also very small minded and spiteful. He takes the Tribes of Israel out of Egypt. Now from Egypt to Canaan the promised land is only a few hundred miles. A year in the desert getting there would be reasonable. But, because somebody moaned God declares that No! Just for that he is going to make them wander about in the desert for 40 years. He provides food in the form of Manna which drops to the ground at night and can be gathered every morning. Now, after thirty years of eating nothing but this holy candy floss some of the people are getting a bit bored and quite reasonably petition God for some meat. God replies by a massive purge and kills a large section of the population.

The book is stuffed full of episodes like this. God only is happy when his little group of chosen people are completely miserable. I see no love. When He tells them to conquer a place He demands they kill every man woman and child without pity. What sort of God is that? It reads like a dull fantasy novel. There is only one witch in it. When God will not reply to King Saul's pleas he goes to find a sorceress to find out the future and she tells him. Now that is interesting. Why does God tolerate a witch if they are so bad? And witchcraft obviously works as Saul gets told the truth.

Another bone of contention was history. King Solomon is supposed to have had a huge prosperous Empire , and taken an Egyptian Princess as a wife. Surely this would have left some historical record? Egypt was on the doorstep and Assyria was to the North. but they don't seem to have been aware of Solomon.

So, I found it impossible to believe any more in this small version of God. I do believe in God, but not this one.

King by king and prophet by prophet I plodded my way through the Old Testament.

I was eager to get to the New Testament, if only because I am more familiar with reading that, and at least it is rooted in some known history , Romans and Herod and stuff.

To my dismay I found that the first part of the book was actually the best. The story of Jesus is so caked with sentimentality I could hardly read it. About how Joseph and Mary were so in love and how they loved baby Jesus so much. Jesus had golden flecks in his eyes.

I was shouting at the book "Oh , come on Walter give me a break!"

I am sorry to report that this book did nothing for me except turn me against the idea of mindless obedience to a Holy Book of any kind. Seek God by all means but if you are going to seek a moral code in a book you may as well follow Harry Potter.

That is my opinion.

 

Saga

The Man Of Property (Forsyte Saga book 1)

John Galsworthy

 

I did not expect to enjoy this at all and began it dutifully. However it soon grew on me and I found it right up my street, I enjoy anything Victorian. The style of writing I found to be very similar to that of William Thackery in Vanity Fair, but without that author's device of breaking off the story and addressing the reader, which I detested.

The Victorian world of the Forsytes is all about keeping up outward appearances and maintaining proper standards. The men are completely stiff and seemingly unable to express any emotion but at least they have the freedom to come and go as they please. The women are constrained to stay at home -sometimes for a whole lifetime if they do not find a husband- and their emotions and feelings do not matter much in the scheme of things.

Galsworthy uses the Forsytes as a metaphor for that whole class of Upper Middle Victorian society and alludes to it often.

Like the family in A Suitable Boy , I soon found the Forsytes grew into real people for me. They do not stay as they are at the outset but are changed by events in the book.

One warning: if you do not want to know the main events of the book before reading, don't look at the family tree at the beginning of the book. I myself could not help it, but it did not in the event ruin anything for me.

Young Jolyon has been ostracised for the last 15 years for divorcing his wife and marrying an actress. He has already put love before family so I liked him straight away, although he is only mentioned indirectly at the beginning.

His father, old Jolyon, also as it turns has a very un-Forsyte like streak which comes out later in the book. He is capable sometimes of seeing both sides of a situation, but nevertheless has cut off his son from his inheritance and brought up his granddaughter alone . He was also a favourite character for me.

The marriage of Irene and Soames, Jolyon's nephew (and the man of property of the title) is the main meat of the story and the catalyst for events that will change the family forever and also reflect the changes in British society at the time.

I will certainly read the whole series of books.

 

Historical Fiction (Pre WWII)

Star Of The Sea

Joseph O'Connor

 

This turned out to be not only a good choice for this genre, as it taught me a lot of history, but also a cracking story. It is 1847 during the potato famine and a ship (the Star Of The Sea of the title)is setting sail to America overloaded with starving Irish refugees, plus a few 1st class passengers. The journey will last 26 days and many will die on the way from sickness and starvation. The story focuses on three main Irish protagonists, all on the ship whose past lives are linked: Lord Merridith an Anglo-Irish landowner, his maid Mary Duane and Pius Mulvey a low criminal. The story is told both directly and indirectly in various ways: the captains notes in his log; letters (found later) and allegorical stories and articles from an American writer who is on board. From the blurb on the back of the book I assumed that it would all be about what went on during the journey; in fact most of the book deals with past life events. We get to know the three characters very well. There are plenty of twists and unexpected revelations that keep everything interesting and the book sails along at a fair pace. As I was reading I was interested in the history and googled the Irish potato famine; this must have been an awful thing to live through, and could have been almost entirely prevented, if only the British government of the time had considered the catholic Irish to be human beings. I liked the way the author tried to show that not all the Anglo-Irish landowners were bad; everybody was being squeezed by forces bigger than themselves.

 

 

Action/Adventure:

The Bourne Identity

Robert Ludlum

 

I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy this novel as much as it may have deserved. The reason was that my perception of the Jason Bourne character has been completely coloured by the recent 21st century film version, which I prefer.

I found the original novel very dated. It was all about Vietnam,and fabled 70's assassins and international banking. It was all cleverly thought out but the plot seemed to move at a snail's pace, there was not too much excitement. Of course being the 70's there was none of that clever stuff with mobile phones that would have speeded it up.

Fatally, I did not like the main character or that of Marie St Jaques. Bourne in the book seemed to have a strategy of blocking bullets with his body rather than avoiding them, he must have been shot about 9 times in the story, had his fingers crushed and his throat half cut but he was always up and about after a little rest and/or a cuddle with Marie which was a bit ridiculous.

I won't be reading any of the sequels but will continue to enjoy the film versions.

I would not have finished it, I was on the point of giving up when there was a big twist just after half way.

 

 

Supernatural/Paranormal:

The Hungry Ghosts

Anne Berry

 

I am glad that I chose this book for my excursion into the Supernatural, rather than one of the dozens of vampire or werewolf stories. This is a modern day ghost story. We meet the ghost right at the beginning of the book, a Chinese girl who is murdered by a Japanese soldier during WWII. It is sort of an accepted idea that most dead folks do not become ghosts, the few that do stick around because they don't want to cross over yet; they have unfinished business. To this Anne Berry adds another very logical reason for them to stay earthbound, bound up with Asian traditions; they are jealous of the living and hungry for more life. 25 years after her death Lin Shui is attracted (by a shared sense of melancholy?) to a lonely young English girl who's father is high up in the British Government in Hong Kong.

Without asking permission she slips inside Alice and becomes her constant companion, living her unhappy life with her and becoming a sort of observer to all that happens in her disfunctional family.

Cleverly , the ghost in this way also becomes a sort of dispassionate narrator in parts of the book ; other characters also tell parts of the story themselves in the first person.

The mother is a true horror, she loves none of her children but reserves a special hatred for Alice who is her scapegoat.

The book spans many years and almost all of Alice's life.

The title of the book does say Ghosts in the plural which is not a mistake, but I don't want to give too much away. The book is sad but has lighter even comical moments.

I liked it a lot. It is the author's first novel so I will watch out for her next one.

 

Speculative Fiction:

Last Light

Alex Scarrow

 

This is a cracking good book, a novel but with a plot based on logical predictions. It really does make you think what if...? Forget a zombie apocalypse or a nuclear war, all that needs to happen is for the oil supplies to stop flowing for a week and Western civilization will collapse in on itself . Parts of it were truly chilling and it was all completely plausible. I think I will get in a stock of tinned beans and some candles just in case....

 

 

Comedy/Satire:

A short History Of Tractors In Ukranian

Marina Lewycka

One of the best books I have read this year. This book was not only very funny but also quite moving as it focused on that thing we all know a bit about; the secrets inside families. Two middle aged Ukranian sisters who are completely opposite (one a left wing socialist feminist, the other a right wing Thatcherite ) who have not got on for years have to unite to try to save their eccentric octagenarian father from marrying a 36 year old gold digging Russian woman. On the way the younger socialist sister finds out family secrets that have been buried since WWII .

Doesn't sound funny? It is. Every scene with the father in it is hilarious. It even taught me some history!

 

Science Fiction/Steampunk:

The Windup Girl

Paolo Bacigalupi

I bought this on Karsa's recommendation and it was great. It is set 200 years in the future. The world is no longer powered by oil as it is all gone. The sea level has risen and destroyed most major coastal cities of the world. Western based GM food companies have control of the food supply of most of the governments in the third world by selling them high yield but sterile varients of rice and other staples. The danger of this is that new plant and human diseases have arisen and the scientists must stay one step ahead . Also most of the animal species have become extinct but some new types of animals have been created by genetic manipulation.

The one place the food (Calorie) corporations do not own is the independent kingdom of Thailand. The Thais have built a huge sea wall to protect their sacred coastal city . But not only that, they are sheltering a renegade western gene scientist who has enabled the Thais to create a huge (and to the calorie companies, illegal) seedbank of disease resistant fruits and veggies.

The Calorie Corporations want to get their hands on this seedbank at all costs. They have a spy in place in Bangkok pretending to be a factory owner, Anderson Lake. He hopes to take advantage of the unstable political situation to get what he wants.

There are a handful of other major characters, all of whom you get to like and want to see survive; they are on opposing sides and they give the novel it's wonderful balance. You will decide for yourself who you want to root for.

The "wild card" is Emiko-the windup girl of the title. She is a type of artificial created human (like the replicants in Blade Runner- in fact the whole of Blade Runner's world would fit neatly into Paolo's, which I think is great). She is a product of the Japanese, a sort of Geisha/companion, but she has been left behind by her businessman owner when he returned to Japan. The Thais fear windups because they believe they have no souls. However, Emiko has emotions and feelings like a normal person. Now illegal , she has to survive as best she can.

Anderson meets Emiko. And the stage is set for terrible events nobody foresaw.

The ending is brilliant.

 

Lad Lit:

Things My Girlfriend And I Have Argued About

Mil Millington

Most Lad Lit books leave me a bit cold, I "get" them but they just don't do it for me, seeming a bit formulaic . This one was genuinely funny though, I could equally have put this under the genre of comedy.

Against the background of his demanding German girlfriend wanting to buy another house (he only likes the one they are living in now because it is cheap)The hero Pel gets unexpected promotion when his manager disappears in mysterious circumstances and Pel starts to get phone calls from sinister Chinese gentlemen .

Can Pel keep his relationship together , move house and hold his job down and avoid being chopped up with meat cleavers?

The key to this book scoring for me where others did not is that he starts off with situations that are quite reasonably possible in reality and in true male fashion tries to bluff and blag his way out rather than admit to anybody he is out of his depth. Even after the situations start spiralling madly into surreal territory.

 

 

Gay/Lesbian Lit:

The Naked Civil Servant

Quentin Crisp

I thought I would enjoy this book much more than I did. The problem for me was not only that I found Quentin Crisp very irritating as a person - I am sure we would not have got along in real life- but his method of speaking/writing meant that I was unsure what was on the page was anywhere near the truth or just made up. He had that very English manner (of the time) of self-effacement but carried to an extreme. For instance he said many times that he was completely useless at anything and could never hold down a job for long till he got found out. He seemed to enjoy repeating this as if it was a virtue. So I never really knew if he was making it up to be his idea of witty or whether he really was completely useless. At one time he wrote that he did not even know how to open a bank account.

As a child he admits to being completely addicted to fits of tears and wetting or pooing himself in order to get attention. This did not finish even when he started school. I think his parents more or less gave up on him early. His style of speaking he copied from a very theatrical woman friend of his mothers who indulged him . He also admitted that he could not hold a normal conversation when he met a new person but had to go into "a full cabaret act". That also made me suspicious of what he was writing, I thought the whole book was like that.

Crisp actually had quite a boring life apart from being occasionally chased /beaten up (once badly) He spent quite a lot of his life as an artist's life model.

Although he expected hetero people to not like or understand him, he was upset by the fact that homosexuals did not like him either. Most sensible gay men were hiding at the time and his Crisp's outrageous dress sense , died hair and painted fingernails brought anybody he mixed with unwelcome attention.

When unemployed his weekly visits to the labour exchange to draw his dole cheque were a nightmare of abuse till a kindly official eventually took pity on him.

One episode summed up Quentin Crisp for me. He wore only women's shoes and related a time when he walked into a shop to buy some in a style he liked. The female assistant measured his feet and came back with a pair that fitted him perfectly. He turned them over to find they were size 6, his proper size. He berated the young woman and eventually hobbled out in a pair two full sizes smaller. If this is true I find it quite pathetic.

 

Lesbian Coming Out Stories

Dey Diaz (editor)

This was the book I originally had lined up for my Gay/Lesbian read but then I happened on the Quentin Crisp book . In the end I read both because I thought one male/one female would be a good contrast. This one was real women describing their feelings and experiences about coming out to friends and family. Some of the stories were a little sad and others were very positive. It was interesting. Not one of them regretted coming out though.

 

Fantasy:

The Jewel In The Skull

Michael Moorcock

This was a rollicking fantasy read. It could equally be termed scifi though, as the events happen in this world in the far-flung future. Europe has descended into a new Dark Age with a basically medieval level of technology, despite some bits of dark science here and there. Britain- now Granbreton- is a dark twisted, possibly insane society which has dedicated itself to conquering all of Europe and then the whole world. It's methods, aided by its strange sorcery-like science, are both insidious and brutal.

The old war hero Count Brass wants nothing more than to live out his old age in peace in his province in what used to be the South of France. But Granbreton will allow no one to remain neutral and trouble comes to his castle in the form of the evil Baron Meliadus of Kroydon.

This was a quick read and great fun, I think this is just how fantasy should be, and was before authors in this genre started to take themselves way too seriously.

I will certainly read the rest of this series, of which this is the first.

 

 

Western:

Under A Texas Star

Alison Bruce

I read my first Genre Challenge book- like Ooshie and Kell I was keen to try a Western. Under A Texas Star by Alison Bruce. I am not sure I chose a story that was very representative of the genre though- it was really a romance set in the west. A 21 year old girl masquarades as a boy in order to travel safely as she tracks a man from town to town to recover the money he stole from the people of her town. She is taken under the protection of a Texas Ranger who happens to be following the same man. She starts to fall for the handsome Ranger. The Ranger is asked to stop in a town to solve the murder of a US marshal and although by now he has discovered her secret, they must keep up the deception to avoid danger for the girl, and for the sake of decency, as they have been sleeping in the same room. The girl is a natural tomboy and learns to shoot and ride and even gets into fights with cowboys. The Ranger assumes the role of town Marshal temporarily and makes the girl his Deputy. He is also falling in love with her, but he is struggling because he thinks she may be the accomplice of the criminal he is tracking, so maintains his role of mentor. All the normal gender bending fun things happen which seem to when a woman dresses up, she has the town's most beautiful teenage girl falling in love with her and has to go along with this to protect the girl from the powerful cattle ranch boss who is set on marrying her, who becomes her enemy. As if this wasn't all enough for a girl to deal with she is being driven crazy by her feelings for the Ranger who treats her like a boy when she really wants to go put a skirt on and act girly when they are alone. Anyway they solve the murder , and all the town's problems when she shoots the nasty cattle boss through the head . There ya go, job done: that wasn't so difficult was it? Any girl could tell who needed shooting in the first place. Then they move on and conclude their business in El Paso where they arrest their criminal, she puts on a skirt then takes it off again quite quickly along with everything else. This was a fun read, a little ridiculous at times . Also the whole novel seemed obsessed with food preparation, every meal they ate gets mentioned which got a bit annoying.

 

War:

The Odin Mission by James Holland.

 

This was my "War" category book for the Genre Challenge.

Somebody recommended and reviewed it back in 2011. it caught my attention because although fiction the background is the events of Norway 1940, which really happened , and which I have read a lot about. Some of the characters are real people., as are some of the army units mentioned, while others are not.

And Holland has stretched the truth a bit in places, for instance although there were French Chasseurs Alpins in Norway they were nowhere near the action along the Gudbrandsdalen. , being much further North at Namsos and Narvik. He also gets the names of some of the equipment and weapons wrong.

However , that's enough of me being an anorak.

The story itself is quite exciting, a brilliant chase across the mountains by a few desperate men . Veteran Sergeant Jack Tanner has given his word to a dying Norwegian officer to get an important civilian scientist to safety , either that or kill him to prevent him falling into the hands of the Germans. His men are untrained and scared recruits, he does not know the country, the scientist is elderly and he has to deal with an arrogant French officer who makes bad decisions and is a pain in the bum.

Oh and they are cut off behind enemy lines and being chased by some elite German mountain troops who know all about the scientist and to cap it all Tanner has ran out of cigarettes.

I did not like the main character in the first few pages because he seemed to do nothing but moan, but he grew on me later.

The author concentrates on the action and tells us very little about Tanner's background, I am sure that is deliberate and more will be revealed in subsequent books. I did like the way he made Tanner a man of his time rather than just plonking a modern character in WWII . He is out of colonial India and is awed by the modern developments in tanks and fighter aircraft. We found out more about Corporal Sykes and his pre-war "career".

The author has obviously done his homework about the actual campaign . I was really impressed when he got to the description of Tretten. I have seen maps of Tretten, I know the position of the bridge in the centre of town and I could even pinpoint the bend in the river south of the town where Tanner's men crossed over to the West bank . I have never, ever been able to visualize like that in a book before.

I enjoyed the book, although I probably won't read any of the rest of the series because I am only interested in Norway..

 

Autobiography of Malcom X

 

( Warning contains spoilers!!)

 

This is quite a difficult book to review so I am just going to bash on and get started and amend it as I go on till I feel I have got it right.

I am glad that I read the book. I don’t think it is a book that you can “enjoy” as such.

My personal opinion of Malcom X changed as I worked through his story. (I never saw the film and knew nothing about him, what little I had heard was negative)

Also very helpful is that there is a foreword by a white journalist (who Malcom himself respected) and a long afterword (20% of the book) by Alex Haley who helped him write it and became his friend.

These help put Malcom X’s own words and actions into perspective.

The first part of the book is not what I expected at all, it rips along at a good pace detailing his early life and how he gradually got sucked into a life of crime. Obviously this was not very nice for him , but it is great fun to read .

One bit made me laugh out loud, Malcom credits himself with turning his first girlfriend aged 16 into a lesbian because she was so upset when he jilted her for a white woman. What an ego!!

This first phase of his life ends when he gets sent to prison for a long time. There , ashamed at his own lack of education and barely able to write he educates himself by reading, sometimes all night in bad light, which ruins his eyesight. (See our parents were right about that after all !)

Malcom always sees everything through a prism of black and white. He is never able to see any good in white people. This is understandable given what his own family went through , and the situation of American blacks at the time.

He was always angry, but now he becomes incandescent with a cold rage.

One of his brothers comes to visit him who recently converted to Nation Of Islam, a religion exclusively “for blacks”.

This version of Islam teaches him that white people are not even human beings, but a race of white demons that were artificially created 6000 years ago by an evil scientist.

Well, this is right up Malcom’s street and he becomes the movements most enthusiastic convert after he gets out of prison.

This bit was the most difficult for me to read because you can only ingest so much race hate at one time. He hated white people. He did not agree with mixed marriages . Any blacks who co-operated with whites were race traitors and “Uncle Toms”. Black Christians he despised , because he reasoned that Christianity was only a tool of white oppression.

However there is no doubt that a lot of the things he said at this time against white society were completely true. Things needed to change.

Although he was misguided he had integrity. He spoke his mind. That is what kept me reading. I had to know if he kept those ideas to the end.

The third phase of Malcom’s life began when he began to see that the leader of the Nation Of Islam was a con man. Also others were jealous of his charismatic appeal to poor blacks. The organisation sidelined him and things began to look ominous. Nation of Islam assassins were appointed to kill him. But these same assassins tipped him off.

A turning point came when he travelled to Mecca on a pilgrimage . There he came into contact with all sorts of people of all colours worshipping “true” Islam.

He realised that white people were human beings after all. He wrote and spoke of his change of heart. But he was still just as forthright about speaking out against injustices in American society, which he considered to be sick with racism.

I like some of the speeches he made in this part of the book. He also came to have a respect for Martin Luthor King.

Anyway, eventually the assassins got him. Nation of Islam of course denied responsibility.

 

I think I would like to read more about Malcom X .

 

And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie

 

This was my choice for the Crime Fiction/Mystery category. It was only my second Agatha Christie book. It is difficult to write a review without giving the plot away so I will talk more about the writing. I cannot get over how well crafted the story feels . It is simply a joy to read. I also liked very much the Englishness of it all, that bygone England where a woman gets slapped if she is hysterical then says "thank you" to the slapper; where even though a murderer is afoot everything must stop for tea and if you get whacked by the murderer it is "jolly beastly luck".

There is also a flip side to that bygone world though, Christie was born in a time it was acceptable to use the terms "nigger" and "jewboy" ; even though it is only a couple of times it shocked me a bit.

I did not guess the identity of the murderer , I didn't have a clue.

 

Romance: Uncertain Destiny

Carole Mortimer

 

This was a Mills and Boon book I picked up from a free -for-all stash at work for my contribution to the Romance genre. It took me so far out of my comfort zone I was coming back again. I did enjoy it immensely. It wasn't pretending to be good literature or anything. What did I enjoy about it? Well the plot was thin and the major twist such as it was I saw through straight away but that fizzled out anyway. It was the overt and almost masochistic emotional antics of the heroine that were so entertaining. She had married a man who made her melt sexually but who told her from the first he did not love her.

From that point on though I was totally on the side of the husband, who's actions seemed completely logical , whereas the heroine pouted , cried and sulked in copious amounts . Whenever he said or did anything she would immediately draw the conclusion that would give her maximum self inflicted emotional distress, rather than just ask him what he meant. How on earth can somebody live like that?

Honestly they could have sorted out all their problems in one five minute conversation.

Everything turned out well in the end though.

 

Classic: Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte

 

I enjoyed this book very much. It is worthy of the epithet "classic". Although I knew a little of the story I did not realise there was so much more in it. For instance I didn't know it started off during the main characters childhood. Jane Eyre was a very likeable character, always interesting, never bland. When shown coldness and disdain she learned to rebel and hate; later when shown the example of forgiveness (by her first friend Helen Burns) she learns patience and compassion for others. She grows into a sensible young woman who nevertheless has a wild streak that yearns for freedom.

I found the plot meaty and it never flagged for me.

I thought Mr Rochester was a very silly man, also quite selfish and devious. He only ever saw his own wants. In a way he was a large child who had never grown up and faced his responsibilities. I almost laughed at his attempt to "explain" to Jane after his scheme was rumbled that he considered himself free to marry in his own mind . In his self delusion he was almost as mad as his wife.

However, Jane's cousin St John was truly much worse.

Through all her troubles Jane always acted properly and according to her principles. I didn't really understand why she did what she did at the end, she could have found someone much better but at least it was her own choice.

I might mention that I had read Wide Sargasso Sea some years before.

 

One thing I also found interesting was how the language had started to change more towards the modern from Jane Austen, who was writing about 1805

 

Modern Classic

Catcher In The Rye

by J.D. Salinger

 

I found this book hard work and ultimately did not like it. I got it about the teenage angst thing, I did but I still did not like it. Adolescents are big on emotions but short on common sense. That's a given. This book just was simply labouring the point and for me, was ultimately pointless.

 

Childrens/Young Adult

The Knife Of Never Letting Go

Patrick Ness

 

At the beginning I was enjoying this story, it reminded me very much of books I read as a kid by Andre Norton and others. In fact the plot had many similarities with two books in particular although I cannot now remember the titles.

However after the death of the main character's dog it started to drag for me as the same events kept repeating as they went from one settlement to another. The ending annoyed me greatly as it just stopped with nothing resolved and one main character seemingly dying, I thought it was a stand alone book not first of a series.

I don't care enough about the characters to read the second book.

I think it has many elements which were good and relevant to children of the intended age group, 12 onwards, but also seemed a bit preoccupied with killing as a rite of passage into manhood. References to God and faith and religion throughout should promote some thought and debate so that is a plus.

The seeming indestructibility of Aaron after he gets half eaten by a croc is a bit farfetched.

 

Horror/Thriller

Velocity

Dean Koontz

 

As I have decided I do not like Stephen King, Dean Koontz seemed the natural choice for a book in this genre. I was hooked by the front cover, which relates to the events of the first couple of pages. Billy Wiles, a normal bartender in a sleepy town who has given up on life, comes out of work to find a message on his car windscreen, giving him a choice of two actions, either of which means that someone will be killed as a direct result. He is upset by the note but thinks it must be a prank so does nothing.

A person is brutally murdered just as the note dictates.

Now Billy gets a second note and his nightmare begins.in earnest. Billy must use all his intelligence to try to discover the identity of the killer without himself being implicated; he must stay free to protect the one person he does care about, his girlfriend who is in a long term coma in the local hospital.

The writing is quite tight, unlike Stephen King Koontz doesn't have to put in a huge amount of irrelevant backstory, although there is a little bit it serves the needs of the story and is not sloppily sentimental as King is. Tension builds up very fast and it was neccessary to keep reading as the killer seems in front of Billy every step of the way.

At four-fifths of the story I could not see how Billy was going to get out of this at all.

I liked the book and would read another by this author.

Edited December 16, 2012 by vodkafan

[vodkafan]

Moving my wish list to here.

Ones with a line through have been purchased and moved to TBR pile

 

2012 Wish List Recommended by BCF Friends

 

Red Leaves

Restless

Vanished Kingdoms

What's Wrong With Eating People

Bonk

Last Light

Afterlight

Wedlock

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Before I Die

The Dead Of Winter

God Is Not Great

Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal?

Oranges are Not The Only Fruit

UR

Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children

Stiff

A Little Girl In My Room

Sexing The Cherry

Lighthousekeeping

Rosie's War

The Girl Who Couldn't Say No

The Weaker Vessel

If Walls Could Talk

The Book Of Human Skin

The Sisters Brothers

Bleak House

Woman In White

Toms All Alone

Girl Meets Boy

A Beautiful Blue Death

Apocalypse Cow

Sister

Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

The thoughts and happenings of Wilfred Price, purveyor of superior funerals

Dancing in a distant place

Whispers underground

Pure

Edited July 7, 2012 by vodkafan

[vodkafan]

I read my first Genre Challenge book- like Ooshie and Kell I was keen to try a Western. Under A Texas Star by Alison Bruce. I am not sure I chose a story that was very representative of the genre though- it was really a romance set in the west. A 21 year old girl masquarades as a boy in order to travel safely as she tracks a man from town to town to recover the money he stole from the people of her town. She is taken under the protection of a Texas Ranger who happens to be following the same man. She starts to fall for the handsome Ranger. The Ranger is asked to stop in a town to solve the murder of a US marshal and although by now he has discovered her secret, they must keep up the deception to avoid danger for the girl, and for the sake of decency, as they have been sleeping in the same room. The girl is a natural tomboy and learns to shoot and ride and even gets into fights with cowboys. The Ranger assumes the role of town Marshal temporarily and makes the girl his Deputy. He is also falling in love with her, but he is struggling because he thinks she may be the accomplice of the criminal he is tracking, so maintains his role of mentor. All the normal gender bending fun things happen which seem to when a woman dresses up, she has the town's most beautiful teenage girl falling in love with her and has to go along with this to protect the girl from the powerful cattle ranch boss who is set on marrying her, who becomes her enemy. As if this wasn't all enough for a girl to deal with she is being driven crazy by her feelings for the Ranger who treats her like a boy when she really wants to go put a skirt on and act girly when they are alone. Anyway they solve the murder , and all the town's problems when she shoots the nasty cattle boss through the head . There ya go, job done: that wasn't so difficult was it? Any girl could tell who needed shooting in the first place. Then they move on and conclude their business in El Paso where they arrest their criminal, she puts on a skirt then takes it off again quite quickly along with everything else. This was a fun read, a little ridiculous at times . Also the whole novel seemed obsessed with food preparation, every meal they ate gets mentioned which got a bit annoying.

Edited October 25, 2012 by vodkafan

[Ben]

Hey VF, just wanted to wish you a good 2012 reading year, I look forward to reading your thoughts and reviews.

[vodkafan]

Hey VF, just wanted to wish you a good 2012 reading year, I look forward to reading your thoughts and reviews.

 

Thanks Ben you too.

[vodkafan]

I have decided that I am going to try and double up on my Genre challenge, and read 2 genres per month. I need two more genres though to make 24, any ideas anyone?

[Easy Reader]

I read my first Genre Challenge book- like Ooshie and Kell I was keen to try a Western. Under A Texas Star by Alison Bruce.

 

I'm looking forward to the Western one so I will be saving it for later on in the year give me time to do a bit of research on what book(s) to choose. And also to see what others have read for this genre

 

I have decided that I am going to try and double up on my Genre challenge, and read 2 genres per month. I need two more genres though to make 24, any ideas anyone?

 

how about: - Political, Urban, Religious, Self Help (I'm not saying you need it just a suggetion), diary

Edited January 5, 2012 by Easy Reader

[vodkafan]

Good ones! Thanks Easy Reader.

[ladymacbeth]

I'm interested to see what you think of Coraline - it was so scary I'm amazed it's a children's book

[chaliepud]

True stories? Non-fiction?

 

Good luck VF!

[pickle]

What about travel books both fictional and non fiction.

[Hyzenthlay]

Good reading year, VF!

[poppyshake]

What about letters/diaries? or is it mainly us women that love reading those .. we do have the nosy gene (or I do anyway, I read abandoned shopping lists in supermarket trolleys ) I have no idea what mash-up is and only the tiniest inkling about steampunk. Look forward to being enlightened.

 

The very best of luck in 2012 VF I have the feeling that your lists are going to help me shake my safe reading habits ... please be gentle with me

[vodkafan]

Thanks for everybody's genre suggestions...loads of good ones. Think I am going to go for Religion and Letters/Diaries of somebody famous. Poppyshake I think you only need a little nudge to set you off in a different direction, just like me.

Lady Macbeth, I think I will read Coraline soon.

 

[vodkafan]

Enjoying picking out books for my Genre Challenge . Could do with a little help picking out a romance. Although a lot of books I have read could be called romances, I want something completely typical, maybe Mills and Boony. What authors should I go for?

[Janet]

It's not a genre a read, but Mills and Boon (and I think Harlequin too?) would definitely fit the bill. I know my Aunt likes these types and she's read Diana Gabaldon and by Nora Roberts.

 

Good luck with this challenge.

[vodkafan]

Thanks Janet.

[chaliepud]

I quite like Nora Roberts, not her Mills & Boon ones as they are far too smushy, but her books definitely fit the bill though, generally starting with male and female characters that are not obviously matched/do not get on, female usually of strong character with a possibly dodgy past that catches up with her, male character with strong character, generally strong silent type, they end of getting it on (written with reasonable amount of detail), male usually saves female from bad events, then happily ever after. That said there is usually a decent story running along with all the above. I just read 'The Search' which I really enjoyed, partly because the story is centred around search and rescue dogs.

 

Enjoy!!

[vodkafan]

That's two mentions for Nora Roberts so I will go for one of hers. Thanks Janet and Chaliepud.

[julie]

I can't help it, I have to chime in here .

I'm not sure what the Mills & Boon books are but I know what Harlequins are . (YEK)

 

The Harlequins over here are about 120 pages of hogwash .

 

They have a cover with a half nekkid man and lady on it.

 

The man's shirt is always off,and he looks like a french fry that has been dunked in the grease and overcooked and not dried off ( including his hair ...gross)

 

The lady HAS a shirt but it is ripped .

 

They all start with man meets lady, lady hates man, end of book ? They live happily ever after .

 

The main reading audience over here for Harlequins look like this :

 

Grey permed hair with sometimes a tint of purple or pink .

 

Lipstick smeared over top lip and under bottom lip. (Cheaper than BOTOX)

 

Rouge in 2 bright red circles on cheeks .

 

A sweater with a BROACH .

 

Clip on earrings from the 60's .

 

Pearls (fake).

 

A sweater to match all the other items .

 

Carrying : A notebook listing all 8,290 OTHER Harlequins she has read,so she can leaf through it to see if the store has a NEW one that will tell her the same story with the same cover ,for another $4.95 (Which is $5.00 too much )

[vodkafan]

Yep that's Mills and Boon as well. I am just going to read ONE so I won't need a notebook....

[julie]

Yep that's Mills and Boon as well. I am just going to read ONE so I won't need a notebook....

 

Lucky you ! I cannot imagine having to read even one Harlequin . Maybe you can find a romance that has more of a story line to it .

Good luck !

[vodkafan]

Lucky you ! I cannot imagine having to read even one Harlequin . Maybe you can find a romance that has more of a story line to it .

Good luck !

 

Well I found the Linda Gillard ones pretty good. But for the Genre Challenge I wanted to go more mainstream.

[Janet]

Yep that's Mills and Boon as well. I am just going to read ONE so I won't need a notebook....

 

That's a relief! Unless you become a convert...!