Ooshie

I usually only mark out of 5, but have decided that this year I will add a 6 for books that I not only really enjoy at the time, but that are on my list of all-time best reads! Books read in 2014: January - March The Secret History by Donna Tartt 6/6 The Golden Egg by Donna Leon 5/6 (one of my favourite series) The Last Dance and other stories by Victoria Hislop 2.5/6 Kind of Cruel by Sophie Hannah 4/6 The Chosen One by Sam Bourne 3.5/6

I have heard of it, and it interests me a lot as I used to live in Shetland, but I haven't read them at all. It's good to hear you are enjoying the first book - I will need to get round to ordering it, or see if the library can get hold of it for me. There was a BBC detective series in the last year or so set in Shetland, was it based on the books do you know? I didn't like the series much, but wouldn't let it put me off the books!

Well, I am getting quite into it now - but I'm only able to read a chapter or maybe two maximum at a time, so I'm not quite sure when I will finish it!

Off to bed early with a hot drink to see if getting a big chunk read while I'm in a lovely happy relaxed state helps me get into it

I'm a bit late starting this month's book, so I'm only about 30 pages or so in. And these 30 pages have been a struggle I don't really like much description in my books as I very rarely visualise what I'm reading, and in a normal book will just skip over paragraphs with lots of description to get back to the story, but I quickly realised that if I do that with this book then there will only be about one sentence on every page worth reading! I'm persevering for now though, as I hate giving up on a book and usually insist on reading them to the end no matter what I think of them - and I do have the sequels, too...

I read Joyland a few months ago and really enjoyed it. I have read Stephen King books since the 1970s, although he went through a period in the middle where I didn't enjoy many, but this is a short read and I thought a good one.

You are quite right! I was the opposite, and never thought of the word in a watery context!

From my point of view, he definitely could - I would have liked either much more about the bathies, or nothing at all! I wonder whether I would have minded so much if the book title hadn't alluded to some kind of monster awakening; I think that, like you, I was expecting much more about the monster, and for me (with hindsight) that was down to the title of the book.

1. Were you engaged immediately with the story, or did it take you a while to get into it? It took me a while to get into it; in fact I'm not sure I ever got that into it at all! It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it exactly, but there wasn't anything in it that made me rush to get back to it - in fact, the last six pages or so stayed unread for about a week. 2. Did you have a favourite character? And a least favourite? Not really - I should probably have liked Phyllis or Mike, but as I was falling asleep on the first night I started reading the book, my mind made them start talking in the sort of clipped received pronunciation used in 1940s films, and I was unable to read any of the dialogue after that without hearing it that way, which rather put me off all the characters! 3. Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest? I enjoyed the descriptions of how people got ready to cope with the rising waters - stockpiling of food, moving to higher ground etc. and liked thinking about how that would happen - I guess the flooding was quite a slow-moving disaster, which made it easier to make plans for than if it had been a sudden, out-of-the-blue occurrence. 4. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? The slow-moving nature of the whole book. I decided to see it as a literary example of the British "stiff upper lip" idea, which meant that I tried to see it as deliberately understated rather than slow, but as you can tell I wasn't entirely successful at that! 5. Was this the first book you've read by this author, and has it encouraged you to read more? I have read The Day of the Triffids, and thought I had read either The Chrysalids or The Midwich Cuckoos, but on reading their summaries I can't remember either, so maybe I never got round to reading either. I still have both of them on the shelves, so I will read them as the storylines look interesting. If The Kraken Wakes was the first Wyndham book I read I'm not sure I would have bought any more, though. 6. The book opens with Rationale where Mike and Phyllis the book he is thinking of writing. Did you feel it took away the sense of peril to the two leads throughout the story, as you knew they had survived? That's an interesting idea. I have thought about whether that was what took away any tension in the writing for me, but I don't think so. I think it was just that the writing style didn't engage me particularly. 7. Also in Rationale, Phyllis suggests an opening for the proposed book, using an excerpt of poetry, but Mike has decided that he prefers The Kraken by Tennyson. Which did you prefer? I preferred Phyllis's suggestion, but if Wyndham had decided he wanted to call the book The Kraken Wakes then he had to choose that! I see from Wikipedia that in American it was published as Out of the Deeps, and I'm not sure whether that wasn't just as good a title for it. 8. The "kraken" itself was relatively unknown throughout the book, and the effect of its actions on the human race took precedence. Did you find it believable as a villain, for want of a better word, or did you think it was less important and that the purpose of the story was more about how man would cope in a global crisis? In theory I feel that an unknown terror should have been even more frightening than a known one, but as I have already said I just didn't feel engaged with it. The story about how humankind would cope in a global crisis was definitely the more interesting part of the book to me, and I would actually rather have had more about that and less about the mystery bathies. 9. Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? Well, I didn't hate it, but saying I found it enjoyable would probably be an exaggeration. It was a sort of neutral experience for me. I don't regret reading the book, but I would be surprised if I ever reread it. 10. Would you recommend the book to others? I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it, no. Unless perhaps to someone that I knew read a lot of classic fiction, which tends to be a bit more slow moving; they might find it a more enjoyable read that I did.

I haven't read the Barsetshire Chronicles series, but read The Small House at Allington as a kind of prequel to the Pallisers series, as one of the characters (Plantegenet Palliser?) makes a first appearance in Small House if I recall correctly. I enjoyed it very much, and have been planning a reread of the series, so I know I will read it again at some point. I have enjoyed the Henry James books I have read (The Portrait of a Lady and The Ambassadors), and have a couple more of his books (The Golden Bowl for sure and The Wings of the Dove I think) on my shelf waiting for me; I haven't heard of The Spoils of Poynton before, it does sound a good read and just my sort of thing

Good idea - it's ages since I have used the library, and I really have no excuse, since it is in the same building as the gym and I have to pass it every time I go

It depends a bit on how much of a completist you are regarding sets, pontalba - I really didn't gain any essential knowledge about Harry Hole (apart from how to pronounce his surname which I don't remember noticing before ) so I can't find a good reason to say you should read what was a very mediocre book - but I would always have been disturbed knowing there was a first book out there that I hadn't read...

I love Stephen King, although like you thought a few books around the time of Bag of Bones weren't up to his usual standard, but somehow I have completely missed Cycle of the Werewolf! 5/5? Off to Amazon I go... Edit: over £10 for 128 pages? not today then, will have to wait until I'm feeling richer

Wow, lots of nice books, Athena! It was good to read your review of Howard's End Is On The Landing; I have wanted this book for ages but hated The Polysyllabic Spree so that put me off getting it. But now I'm swinging back to really wanting it again...

I wonder if the Mary Stewart books went out of print for a while? I certainly don't remember seeing any for years and years. Good news about The Book People bundle, they do some great bargains when there are authors you like

I'm glad I read your comments about the Under The Dome series - I read the book and enjoyed it and have been recording the series, but I don't think I will bother watching it. I am a big fan of Stephen King and his books (with a few exceptions) and I agree, peacefield, Joyland was great! One of the best he has written in a long while.

Thanks, pontalba As you say, it is a varied list - I keep looking and wondering if I should really have rated the Danielle Steele book as 4/5 when I was being so harsh with others but, hey, she has been a guilty pleasure for about 30 years and I enjoyed it as a nice, easy escapist read, so... The Bat did pick up about half way through, but not enough to leave me with overall good feelings about it; I couldn't help wondering how he managed to get the rest of the series published with that as the first example! Thanks, Athena! I maybe haven't been keeping up with my reviews, but at least I didn't let my reading lapse!

Pompei sounds very good indeed. I read The Sunne in Splendour years ago and remember it as being a great read, hope you enjoy it too.

I read quite a few Mary Stewart books years ago, and found them really good reads. I don't think that was one of them, though, so if I come across it I will pick it up I think; it sounds very entertaining.

Oh, I loved Possession! I have to confess that I didn't read all of the poetry, I just kind of skimmed over some of it, but I really enjoyed the whole book. So come back, poppyshakes mojo, it really isn't that bad!

I have The Good Soldier near the top of my TBR pile, thanks for reminding me about it - it sounds a really intriguing book.

Me too! Glad you enjoyed them as much as I did, poppyshake

Oh my, I had forgotten about the flesh healing thing I'm all for other countries' traditions but, yes, a nice aspirin sounds good...

Well, everybody, did you think I had completely forgotten about my reading list for 2013? Oh no, at least that would have given me an excuse!t was just that the pile of books I had read and not added to my list had got so long I knew there was no chance I would ever catch up with it. So, I finally decided to just make a list with my scores and start properly again with my books from September I should say that lots of books have suffered from my having read Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies this year. Both of those got 5/5 from me, and are two of the best books I have ever read. So my 5/5 scoring is now ... ok, it was great ... but did I enjoy it as much as those? And the answer is usually a resounding no. So the books that have scored 4.5/5 would usually have got 5/5. Maybe I should have made Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies 6/5, and just put them in a category all on their own! OK, enough Mantel-inspired gushing, here is my list with scores: March - August Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel 5/5 The Sea Change by Joanna Rossiter 3/5 Gerald's Game by Stephen King 2.5/5 The Zero Game by David Baldacci 2.5/5 Phantom by Jo Nesbo 4/5 Fever of the Bone by Val McDermid 3.5/5 Fault Line by Robert Goddard 3/5 The Winding Road by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles 4.5/5 Stonemouth by Iain Banks 3.5/5 Lisey's Story by Stephen King 3/5 Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov 4/5 Beastly Things by Donna Leon 4.5/5 The House by the Sea by Santa Montefiore 2.5/5 Eloise by Judy Finnigan 2.5/5 The Complaints by Ian Rankin 4/5 River of Destiny by Barbara Erskine 3.5/5 King Solomon's Carpet by Barbara Vine 4.5/5 The Sea Sisters by Lucy Clarke 3/5 Summer by Edith Wharton 4.5/5 The Racketeer by John Grisham 4/5 The Bat by Jo Nesbo 2.5/5 Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell 4/5 Close My Eyes by Sophie McKenzie 3.5/5 Hotel Vendome by Danielle Stelle 4/5 The Bone Bed by Patricia Cornwell 3.5/5 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder 3/5 Joyland by Stephen King 4/5 The Red House by Mark Haddon 4/5 The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton 4/5 The String Diaries by Stephen Lloyd Jones 4.5/5 The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain 4/5 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner 4/5 A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene 3/5 Clarissa Oakes by Patrick O'Brian 5/5 Bitter River by Julia Keller 4/5

1- Who was your favourite character? Like Poppyshake, I didn't really have a favourite, although I liked the stories of Ying-Ying best. 2- Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest? No, I enjoyed the whole book really. The thing I liked most was thinking about the mothers' stories and comparing them to life nowadays in the West. 3- Was this the first book you've read in this genre/by this author/has it encouraged you to read more? I'm not that sure what genre it was! I know it had come up in a search for food-related fiction, but there wasn't as much of that as I had expected. I would probably pick up a book by Amy Tan to glance through and see if it appealed to me now, whereas before I would have been unlikely to have looked at them at all. 4- Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? I had trouble keeping track of who was who too, and actually didn't really bother, just enjoyed the stories as I came to them If I read the book again (which I might well do, because I did enjoy it) I would make more effort to sort out which mother belonged to which daughter. 5- Did you enjoy the shared narration? I did actually enjoy the different voices telling their stories, even though I did get confused. 6- Did you find it easy to connect the mother's stories with the daughter's? No, definitely not! I was just being lazy, though, as there was actually a list at the start of the book, I had just decided to go with the flow of it all. 7- Why do you think the mothers felt that it was important to relate their histories? I think that when their daughters were growing up into lives that were so drastically different from the mothers, it would be natural to want them to know what things had been like for their mothers, and not that long ago. 8- Did the daughters benefit from learning about their heritage? Apart from Jing-Mei, who actually travelled to China and connected with her heritage, I'm not sure whether they did. 9- Overall was reading the book an enjoyable experience? Yes, I found it easy to read and enjoyed reading about a culture so different from my own. 10- Would you recommend the book and if so to whom? Yes, I would recommend it to anyone who reads a wide range of fiction. Someone who is used to reading just one type of book might find it a bit more difficult I think.