Nollaig

I wound up not taking part in this, my mojo has gone a bit finnicky. Struggling to get trough my current read. Next month, hopefully!

Wow you really have been reading a lot! I've read a few Dresden Files but I'm not a massive fan of faerie stuff so I didn't get past Summer Knight.

Three new reviews posted above: The Door That Led To Where - Sally Gardner (3*) Doll Bones - Holly Black (4*) Feed - M. T. Anderson (2.5*) I still have to review Seed by Lisa Heathfield, and am currently reading Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw.

Feed - M. T. Anderson Synopsis: Identity crises, consumerism, and star-crossed teenage love in a futuristic society where people connect to the Internet via feeds implanted in their brains For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon - a chance to party during spring break and play with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who has decided to fight the feed and its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires. *** Review: Books like this irritate me, because I end up feeling left out and/or stupid. I just cannot relate to them. Before I write any more, I am pointing out that I gave this book a low mark not because I think it's a bad book, but because it did not work for me. I don't rate books on objective quality. I also realise I am probably taking it far too literally and as such am missing the entire point, but the below is what I felt while reading it. I read the whole thing, which says something for it, especially considering I can't stand the kind of made-up slang that features in it, or in A Clockwork Orange, or in any book. I've never encountered a book that did it well enough for it to seem natural to me, it simply grates and distracts me from the story. I understand the point of it is to immerse the reader in a different world, and by the end of it have them adapted to slang the way we actually adapt to new slang in the real world. I will admit my own casual use of the slang word 'bae', which started (as these things do) ironically, has turned into borderline sincere use of the word in greetings to a close friend and I hate myself a little bit for it. I do only use it with the one friend who also uses it semi-ironically, so I think there's actually more to be said there on the topic of adapting one's personality to slot into varying company and social situations. As such I don't think the slang thing will ever ring true with me. There are basically two characters in this novel of relevance, and a third who is underused, and all three fail to capture my interest. Titus, the product of his time, is an impassive guy who goes with the flow and never really questions anything until he meets Violet, a remnant of a time when people used their brains as more than an internet connection. Her role is to occasionally jerk Titus's attention out of its usual hazy stupor and illicit momentary clarity about the state of the world which is, literally, collapsing around them while what's left of the human race is soothed into annihilation by consumerist comforts. This collapse is further exemplified quite literally by the physical degradation of human physiology in the common and aesthetically popular lesions most people are sporting. The third, underused character is Violet's father, who is a prototype Violet who gets through life somewhat more quietly, by trying to avoid letting the feed simplify him. The general gist of the novel is that people are already pretty susceptible to becoming stupid, and that their descent into total stupidity and blandness is being facilitated by the narcissistic and materialist attitudes espoused via technology and the internet, even to the point of not seeing the world around them collapse. This is not something I can relate to. Sure, I'm addicted to the internet. Sure, I'm a materialist, and I too am surrounded by people who are too fixated on the new Urban Decay palette of extortionately ridiculous cost to think about global warming or corrupt governments - I myself am guilty of both at times. But the one thing I would say about technology and the internet, is that they have facilitated my access to people who do not think like that in a way nothing else ever could. There will always be people who act the way the people in this novel do, with or without technology, and perhaps there is a cautionary tale about government control and who has the power to censor and control what we see and hear. But to reduce the whole human race to mindless consumers who will willingly lie down and care about nothing, because of technology and convenience, is not something I can relate to. At all. I feel like there might have been a better book in the bases of this one - perhaps exploring the world of Violet's father, on the cusp of becoming this mindless consumerzombie race, while a legion of rebels fight back - but the final product, I think, does not account for the sheer volume of Violets and Violet's Fathers in this world. Rating: 2.5/5

Doll Bones - Holly Black Synopsis: Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing . . . and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice. But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll – who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity . . . *** Review: I'm on a roll with Holly Black books lately. I make no secret of the fact that my introduction to her via Tithe was an underwhelming, and almost entirely off-putting, one. I am so glad I gave more of her books a chance because here is another beautifully original story written with that unique style Holly has which I thoroughly enjoyed, accompanied by stunning illustrations. My favourite thing about Doll Bones is that, because the story starts with three children who practically live in the worlds of their own creation, you can never be entirely sure (and neither can Zach and Alice) that Poppy is telling the truth about the Queen. Is the Queen genuinely possessed, or is it an elaborate ruse by Poppy to get Zach back into the game? Regardless, this story explores imagination and bravery by these children in their attempt to see this last adventure true. Black beautifully captures the essence of being a child on the cusp of growing up, and walking that line between the games of childhood and casting them off to step into a more adult reality for the first time. I wasn't crazy about Alice, I didn't feel she brought much to the story, but Poppy and Zach are both headstrong characters and the dynamic between the three brilliantly encapsulates that newness and uncertainty of transitioning into adulthood, both in themselves and in each other. There are a couple of elements that I actually found quite creepy in this book, which is typical of Black - her stories are always just that little bit darker than most. I would love to have seen the Queen from the perspective of the passers-by, because their description of her is one of the best things about this book. Not a particularly long read but definitely a worthwhile one. Rating: 4/5

The Door That Led To Where - Sally Gardner Synopsis: AJ Flynn has just failed all but one of his GCSEs, and his future is looking far from rosy. So when he is offered a junior position at a London law firm he hopes his life is about to change - but he could never have imagined by how much. Tidying up the archive one day, AJ finds an old key, mysteriously labelled with his name and date of birth - and he becomes determined to find the door that fits the key. And so begins an amazing journey to a very real and tangible past. Although life in 1830 is cheap, AJ and his friends quickly find that their own lives have much more value. They've gone from sad youth statistics to young men with purpose - and at the heart of everything lies a crime that only they can solve. But with enemies all around, can they unravel the mysteries of the past, before it unravels them? *** Review: This is another of those books in which I found fantastic writing which was an absolute pleasure to read, but which also contained a plot and/or characters which I wasn't overly fond of. It was easy enough to read, and all of the little details were great - I quite liked AJ and I really enjoyed how his story started. However I found that once he (and later his friends) travelled through the door into 1830, the plot became a bit scatter-brained, and the settings under-developed. I never really felt like I was being taken to 1830, and it never seemed like that big a deal to go or stay there. As for the crime, that is described in the synopsis as being the mysterious central piece of the novel, and honestly until I re-read the synopsis I didn't realise that at all. The mystery of the death felt like an off-handed side-plot thrown in on top of the real plot about finding out where the door and the key to it came from. Ultimately, I found my attention drawn in a different direction, I think, than the writer intended, and I came out of it feeling underwhelmed and dissatisfied. There were a few things about this book that just didn't work for me, but I did love Gardner's writing and originality in coming up with the basis for the story. I would definitely be willing to read more by her, this one just might not have been for me. Rating: 3/5

I am exactly the same!

Quite nice and sunny out this morning, lots of cloud around but its all white. Ground is wet though so not long since its rained!

That sounds very unpleasant, I remember a supervisor I once had about 10 years ago who totally had it in for me, but loved the other girl who started the same day as me. The other girl was lovely, but very outspoken, and I was very quiet. The supervisor was miserable anyway, for her to like the other girl was unusual, but it really bothered me. Good luck finding something new

Watched Interstellar. It was good enough, and very very pretty, but it had a lot of problems too. Not sure why people went as doo-lally as they did over it. Then again some people thought Inception was really intelligent, as opposed to just complex or confusing.

Me too, I want to meet everyone! *sits forlornly on her little island*

Today in the post I got The Toymaker by Jeremy De Quidt, sent to me by the lovely Janet who just happened to see my add it to my Goodreads wishlist right before she took it to the charity shop! I'm delighted, it looks awesome

Four of the five votes are in and..... The winner is...... CHALIEPUD! Chalie is however on holidays for the week, and I need her vote before I can award second place because there could be a draw for second place, and I don't want to just award it to the current second place person as that would be unfair to Chalie's vote. SO, second place winner, you'll have to wait a few days, and Chalie's gonna have to wait a few days to see this! Well done to everyone who entered!

I'm delighted you enjoyed this, Pooh Bear was one of the cornerstones of my childhood and I still love the books and cartoons dearly to this day.

Very dull and overcast, but it has stayed dry at least. Meant to be raining tomorrow for my trip back to Cork

Well done Laura!

Glad you're enjoying it, its a good little read I'm reading Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw. Not far in but good so far.

Three warnings! I didn't know we had a cellar, where is it?!

It's like when someone goes, 'I must tell you something - actually no, never mind'. I MUST KNOW!

I clicked all the spoilers for Beside Ourselves, I couldn't resist. I still want to read the book though!

Never actually seen it!

Watching a documentary on how the London tube was built. Incredible stuff. I had always wondered how it was done.

I'm reading a book called Seed by Lisa Heathfield. It's actually pretty good.

I'm glad you liked The Girl On The Train, it's been such a divisive book, but I loved it!