rwemad

Crime by Ivine Welsh **** A friend of mine has been putting some pretty severe pressure on me to read Trainspotting as he is certain I will like it. The library didn't have a copy so I picked up 'Crime' and 'Crime' has convinced me that I may like Trainspotting too. I have never seen the film or read any if Welsh's books before. The story is all about Lennox, a Scottish copper who has suffered a nervous breakdown after leading a child murder investigation. Lennox hides behind drink and drugs to help him cope with the horror of paedophilia and child cruelty but eventually it all catches up with him and he takes leave to deal with his problems. He goes on holiday with his fiancee to Miami and gets tangled up in a paedophile ring involving bent cops and disadvantaged women. The story itself isn't that unique: good cop/bad cop, old friend cop, cute kid, single struggling Mom, childhood issues. Some of the passages though are quite graphic and raw and paint a very depresing picture of how evil and calculating people can be. There are also parts that offer some depth into what role 'Crime' plays in society and how intelligent one has to be to be truly evil, rather than too stupid and/or naive to get unwittingly tangled in too deep to escape. However, the depth isn't consistent throughout and sometimes seems to lose it's way a little. I enjoyed this book and I think it could be described as a thumping good read. The Life & Soul of the Party by Mike Gayle* Oh dear. page 2 ................He stretched and yawned. 'I haven't missed anything have I?' 'And what woud you do if you had?' ''Nothing much. It's not like it's worth crying over spilt milk is it?' I should have put it away then really. However, I needed something cheery after 'Crime' and thought a Mike Gayle might be just the ticket. However, it was not cheery at all. It wasn't anything very much. A little too full of inappropriately placed cliches and lots of very strong cheesy lines. It is written in the first person by a set of, edging towards middle age, friends in a sort of 'cold feet' fashion, set around a series of parties. The reader knows immediately that one chap is killed in a car crash and it is all about their lives/relationships (and there are a few) up to his death and how it effects their lives afterwards. Although it is always sad when a person dies young, it is hard to understand why this group 'loved' this fellow so much. I found him distinctly unlikeable, actually I wasn't particularly keen on any of them as they all seemed very self absorbed but perhaps that was the point. Perhaps this book has a depth and meaning that I just didn't recognise. Should you be looking for a read to make you groan and roll the eyes then read this but otherwise, sorry, pretentious twoddle would sum it up nicely I think.

Too many to list. I shall list what has bugged me today - My husband waking me at 5am when he came in off nights - My husband falling asleep immediately after having woken me - My husband snoring like a foghorn so I can't get back to sleep - Driven from my bed at 5:05am - Rain - wet dog refusing to shake excess rain off coat until in the living room - son forgetting where the dishwasher is.... again - son forgetting where the towel rail is..... again - son's friend leaving car across driveway blocking in husband's car so that we have to drive across lawn to escape .... AGAIN!! - toast crumbs in the butter - butter in the marmite - cars speeding to work down the road outside my house HELLO!!! 30mph!!!! ...................................... bearing in mind this is all before 9am .... shall I go on? I am such a moody ol' cow:smile2:

awww double shucks

Awww shucks

I thought this was the best of his I have read. I find his books so variable, should I like one does not have any bearing whatsoever that I will like any more. I have really struggled through a couple of his others.

Jerome K Jerome: Three Men in a Boat Laugh out loud funny. It is one of the few books that I will re read, if ever I feel down it never fails to cheer me. I love it and hope you enjoy it just as much.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo.... not a review!!!! It's my thoughts...... a review would include the blurb etc.... please please please.... NOT a review!!!! You scaring me.... I STILL haven't got to the top of the library list for the grave book.

oooooooo Lord of the Flies is a book that I really do think deserves to be loved. I had to read it when I was in Primary schoo, I was about 10 I think, but thought it was much better when I read it as an adult.

I am going to bare a little of my soul here . I sometimes think that books are my escape from my life. As a young person I was a bit of a rebel and constantly sought to escape 'real' life. This led me into all sorts of sticky and quite shameful situations . Not that my life was/is 'bad' but it was/is never enough for me, at least it wouldn't be if I didn't have the books to bury myself in. However, I don't mix with people very well. It has been suggested that I may be slightly autistic. I am happy to grasp this diagnosis as it excuses me a little from being a miserable old battleaxe who would rather stay home and read than go to the party .

Ha ha........ It's I who don't 'do' reviews . Way too much responsibility. I write what I think about the book I have just read... self indulgent nonsense most of the time. But yours are in a different league. They really are proper reviews... at least I think so, I like them, and they are very helpful to my picking out reads and that's what reviews are about.

Oh my goodness. Ten times. I have this book but I can't seem to get past the first few pages. I really struggle with it. I just can't understand myself as it seems to be well loved and recommended by all, I have yet to find anybody with a bad word to say about it. I'm worried about myself. I think I may be a bit weird. Do you think it was hard to get into to start off with? Or did you love it from the first line? I think it's the whole time travel bit... it is a fantasy isn't it? I always struggle with fantasy.

Like Mac I lost interest in Harry Potter too....... the middle of the third book, whichever that one was, apparently it's the best one . Unlike Mac, I have never felt the need to pick up a Phillip Pullman book. I think I am bored of them before I even start . That makes me sound awful I know. I have been thinking about having another go at the HP as they are filming a scene for the new movie near where I live next month. There is options for locals to be 'extras'. Not me I hasten to add, I would HATE it. I would like to read the book before I see the film and of course I am going to HAVE to see the film to see if I can spot anybody I know in the crowd.

ooooooooooo I was thinking of looking out for The Historian....... I'm not so sure now.......... vampires.... oooooo. You write great reviews Charm. I enjoy reading your thread.

The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall **** Well, this short book is interesting and thought provoking. It is set in the, not too distant, future when floods and climate change have wreaked havoc in the UK and society, as we know it, has broken down. There is no fuel and the economy has collapsed (uh oh) leaving the British dependent on food parcels from the US. The govt is controlling the people: where they work, where they live, how they live, birth control and there are curfews and utility restrictions. A modern day twist to 1984? The lead runs away from the oppressive, controlled living area into the uncontrolled countryside and finds the Carhullan Army which has a self sufficient base. It is women only, although there are a handful of men for breeding and recreation purposes living nearby within the army's control. The story is mainly about the running of, and relationships within, this army and their quest to lead a revolution when their small world becomes threatened. I picked this book up at the library without having ever heard of it. Since reading it, I have read some mixed reviews and have learned that many think it is all about feminism and poses questions such as: are women as strong, as ruthless, as powerful, as capable as men? Whilst I can see (now) why this is so, I thought that the story had developed into a sort of modern and adult Lord of the Flies. I thought that, although them being female was clearly important, the book would have worked equally well had the army been all men. I suppose now thinking about it the 'all women' gave it an extra dimension but it could have just as likely been about perhaps regression of society as men reverted to keeping their women etc. See, I am a true equalitist (another new word?). Anyway, I thought it was more about the self imposed limits and lack of socialisation/outer stimulation that seemed to create a haven for insanity to breed and develop. It was really quite disturbing.

ooooooooooooooo only an 8 out of 10 for After Dark eh? I am looking forward to reading his other books even more now.

Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters I'm going to steal this one off you Gyre. It reads like I would really enjoy it. Thanks for sharing.

Ahhhhhhh I struggled with it but once I perservered and finished it, I thought it was a great book....... not a 'nice' book and yes... it is a very disturbing book... but a great book none the less.

Live a Little by Kim Green *** I have given this book a generous 3* - part of me wanted to only give it a 2* as I found it a little... well... odd. Should anybody decide to read it, be prepared for a proper girly book with all the silliness, inconsistencies and nonsense that entails. There were some cracking one liners that were laugh-out-loud funny and there were some real tender moments that, had they been in more sombre surroundings, may well be very moving. But the story is about the lead lying.......BIG lies about how she is dying from breast cancer and I found it difficult to like her very much. Some of the more raunchy scenes and language seemed a little out of place too, unnecessary maybe. Providing this book is taken for what it is... 'fun', then it deserves the 3*. I will be reading more of her books as I think she writes very entertainingly. It's just that some of the writing in this one felt wasted on such nonsense: the funny bits wasted in a book with such a serious storyline, the tender bits wasted in a funny story... it just didn't gel too well; almost as if she had all these ideas and she made them into a book, rather than wrote one story. Am I making no sense again? That must be ironic then:roll:

Ahhhh........ you discovered that too eh? To be honest (should you really want too much information) a bikini isn't up to the job either these days. This is the internet and my subconcious intention to imply that I had no need to purchase new swimwear as I can still wear the bikini of my late teens with some sort of respectable allure, has now fallen a little on it's face. In truth, to ensure my family are prepared to sit with me, I need to wear those two piece swimsuits that are marketed as being 'magic' (trust me they ain't!). I'm sure you would look great in a bikini........ .........we'll just let that image rest a little in the back of our minds shall we girls? OK the books that I have chosen to take with me are: *fanfare please* - A wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami... I mean he has to come doesn't he? - Never Let Me Go by Kazio Ishguro... I have HUGE hopes for this one - This Charming Man by Marian Keyes... for the beachy bits. We are going for a week and I doubt if I will get through all 3 as I hope to do a fair amount of looking around and just an itsy bitsy bit of partying too. Have a nice day everybody.

Ahhh Andy. You are so refreshing. I too have been put off many a book because of the suspected aristicratic, period drama, Austenesque element. I thought I was just a moody ol' battleaxe. I wasn't overly fussed on Atonement either. I have never considered Brideshead Revisited as a book I may like, however, I may just give it a try now. I am also going to have a look for the Great Crash of 1929 .... I think there are a couple of us in our house that will find that interesting. See.... you have real clout.

Oh my goodness. Unless I missed the post you are referring to I can't see where you were rude. I haven't joined in here .... but I will, when I've decided. I'm a bit of a ditherer and just can't make up my mind which books are my favourites, which should be read or those which I think are best. Recent discussion regarding pedantries has added to my ditheriness (thinking of pedantic... is ditheriness a word?).

Oh I hope so too. I am new to this author and can't wait to read more. I love finding a new author to enjoy. Sometimes I go through a bit of a barren patch where I can get quite depressed at reading the same old same old. Is it considered 'sad' to get so excited over books? I worry about myself sometimes.