Mexicola
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Posts posted by Mexicola
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I'm just about to get lost in Water for Elephants.
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I really enjoyed Small Island by Andrea Levy, but have been a bit hesitant about picking up The Long Song. It's good to see positive comments about the book - I shall look on Amazon to see what others say.
Hi bobblybear. Opinion does seem to be divided when it comes to The Long Song. I too loved Small Island, I think that if you go in expecting something in a similar vein to that you might be a little disappointed but if you read it and take it as it is it's a great read
Definitely worth a go anyway! -
The Rebdreast, Jo Nesbo
Started: 04.03.2011
Finished: 11.03.2011
Rating: 4.5/5
Synopsis (Amazon):
Harry Hole, drunkard, loner and brilliant detective is reassigned to surveillance after a high profile mistake.
He’s bored by his new job until a report of a rare and unusual gun being fired sparks his interest because of its possible links to Neo Nazi activity. Then a former soldier is found with his throat cut. Next Harry’s former partner is murdered. Why had she been trying to reach Harry on the night her head was smashed in? The investigation leads Harry to suspect that the crimes have their roots in the battlefields of Eastern Front during WWII. In a quest that takes him to South Africa and Vienna, Harry finds himself perpetually one step behind the killer. He will be both winner and loser by the novel's nail-biting conclusion.
The Redbreast.
He’s your judge, jury and executioner…
And he must be stopped
My thoughts:
I've been reading the Harry Hole series all out of order, just cause I'm clever like that
This is my second Nesbo read after The Snowman and my favourite so far. I loved the historical delve into World War II action. Also to be enjoyed are the little quirks of Nesbo's novels, such as short transcripts of voicemails left by Harry to another character, comprising whole chapters of the book. Hole is your stereotypical detective - alcoholic, a bit of a rogue, always on the brink of being fired but when a story is so absorbing and a character so well written it's difficult to care! -
The Long Song, Andrea Levy
Started: 27.02.2011
Finished: 03.03.2011
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis (Amazon):
Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and longlisted for the Orange Prize, THE LONG SONG is breathtaking, hauntingly beautiful, heartbreaking and unputdownable.
You do not know me yet. My son Thomas, who is publishing this book, tells me, it is customary at this place in a novel to give the reader a little taste of the story that is held within these pages. As your storyteller, I am to convey that this tale is set in Jamaica during the last turbulent years of slavery and the early years of freedom that followed.
My thoughts:
There is great character and narration to be found in Miss July, the protagonist whose life The Long Song describes. Slavery, though a topic of which we're all very aware is brought again to life by Levy and remains as shocking and harrowing as the first time we learnt about it in school. Ultimately the story is an uplifting one and not to be forgotten.
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The Fry Chronicles, Stephen Fry
Started: 05.02.2011
Finished: 19.02.2011
Rating: 5/5
Synopsis (Amazon):
Thirteen years ago, Moab is my Washpot, Stephen Fry’s autobiography of his early years, was published to rave reviews and was a huge bestseller. In those thirteen years since, Stephen Fry has moved into a completely new stratosphere, both as a public figure, and a private man. Now he is not just a multi-award-winning comedian and actor, but also an author, director and presenter. In January 2010, he was awarded the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards. Much loved by the public and his peers, Stephen Fry is one of the most influential cultural forces in the country. This dazzling memoir promises to be a courageously frank, honest and poignant read. It will detail some of the most turbulent and least well known years of his life with writing that will excite you, make you laugh uproariously, move you, inform you and, above all, surprise you.
My thoughts:
Entertaining throughout, sincere and touching. Just when I thought it impossible to have any more admiration and warmth for this man, his very human, unassuming and honest narrative made the impossible possible! I loved reading about Stephen and Hugh Laurie's antics and was quite genuinely moved by Stephen's description of their deep and momentous affection for one another. Bring on book no. 3!
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The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde
Started: 29.01.2011
Finished: 05.02..2011
Rating: 3.5/5
Synopsis (Amazon):
Leaving Swindon behind her to hide out in the Well of Lost Plots (the place where all fiction is created), Thursday Next, Literary Detective and soon-to-be one parent family, ponders her next move from within an unpublished book of dubious merit entitled 'Caversham Heights'. Landen, her husband, is still eradicated, Aornis Hades is meddling with Thursday's memory, and Miss Havisham - when not sewing up plot-holes in 'Mill on the Floss' - is trying to break the land-speed record on the A409. But something is rotten in the state of Jurisfiction. Perkins is 'accidentally' eaten by the minotaur, and Snell succumbs to the Mispeling Vyrus. As a shadow looms over popular fiction, Thursday must keep her wits about her and discover not only what is going on, but also who she can trust to tell about it ...
My thoughts:
I was expecting a fun read and The Well of Lost Plots didn't disappoint. It's clever, surreal and I can't get enough of Fforde's many literary references and crazy notions. I'm eager to read the others in the series to see what awaits Thursday next!
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Ooh, a saga it is! It's great to have enjoyed something, knowing that there's much more of it just waiting to be devoured isn't it?
First volume - ordered 
My first book purchase of the year! I think it's a slippery slope from here 
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Hey Kidsmum. I've just added the Forsyte Saga to my wishlist
Am I right in thinking it's quite a long book? -
This sounds excellent. Thanks for the heads up
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Thanks Kylie and poppyshake. I'll give Middlesex another read one day, picking it up with a more relaxed attitude.. I think in the beginning there were a lot of references that I didn't immediately understand and it threw me
It also affected the way I read the rest of the first part. Sorry, that probably doesn't make sense outside of my head!poppyshake, the cover for The Winter Ghosts is so nice! I kept shimmering it about under the light
I'll look forward to hearing what you think of The Night Watch.I'm enjoying The Well of Lost Plots. Fforde never fails to amuse and impress me with his crazy yet clever ideas. It possibly all gets a little too surreal for me at times though
Have you read the series? -
The Winter Ghosts, Kate Mosse
Started: 28.01.2011
Finished: 29.01.2011
Rating: 2.5/5
Synopsis (Amazon):
The Great War took much more than lives. It robbed a generation of friends, lovers and futures. In Freddie Watson's case, it took his beloved brother and, at times, his peace of mind. Unable to cope with his grief, Freddie has spent much of the time since in a sanatorium. In the winter of 1928, still seeking resolution, Freddie is travelling through the French Pyrenees - another region that has seen too much bloodshed over the years. During a snowstorm, his car spins off the mountain road. Shaken, he stumbles into the woods, emerging by a tiny village. There he meets Fabrissa, a beautiful local woman, also mourning a lost generation. Over the course of one night, Fabrissa and Freddie share their stories of remembrance and loss. By the time dawn breaks, he will have stumbled across a tragic mystery that goes back through the centuries. By turns thrilling, poignant and haunting, this is a story of two lives touched by war and transformed by courage.
My thoughts:
I feel as though I've been a bit harsh giving this book a rating of only 2.5 out of 5. I liked it, but then there's not a whole lot else I can find to say. The story is set in the French countryside and I enjoyed it's descriptions and the atmosphere it evoked. I thought the actual story very basic and lacking; it didn't stir up any big emotions or reactions in me. I'd not previously read any other novels by Kate Mosse and maybe simplicity is her charm, but I'm afraid I don't feel overly compelled to find out.
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Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides
Started: 15.01.2011
Finished: 27.01.2011
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis (Amazon):
'I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver's license records my first name simply as Cal.' So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides, and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of l967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Point, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret, and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, "Middlesex" is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.
My thoughts:
This was a book of two halves for me. The first half I found quite a slog; there were moments when I considered putting Middlesex down for good. However, having heard such rave reviews of the book from many lovely BCF folk, I persevered. Besides, the story had me enticed, I just found the means of telling it rather arduous and long-winded. The second half made me understand why so many people did recommend Middlesex and I couldn't get enough of Cal's incredibly emotive story. I felt sympathy, empathy even for the character and my only regret is that the last part of the story is not as lengthy as the first!
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Hi Ooshie. I have The Winter Ghosts on my TBR pile and having read your comments, have now bumped it up to be read next!
It'll be my first Kate Mosse novel so I hope I like it, but from what you've said, it sounds right up my street! -
The Night Watch, Sarah Waters
Started: 08.01.2011
Finished: 14.01.2011
Rating: 4.5/5
Synopsis (Amazon):
Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked out streets, illicit liaisons, sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941, The Night Watch is the work of a truly brilliant and compelling storyteller. This is the story of four Londoners - three women and a young man with a past, drawn with absolute truth and intimacy. Kay, who drove an ambulance during the war and lived life at full throttle, now dresses in mannish clothes and wanders the streets with a restless hunger, searching ...Helen, clever, sweet, much-loved, harbours a painful secret ...Viv, glamour girl, is stubbornly, even foolishly loyal, to her soldier lover ...Duncan, an apparent innocent, has had his own demons to fight during the war. Their lives, and their secrets connect in sometimes startling ways. War leads to strange alliances ...Tender, tragic and beautifully poignant, set against the backdrop of feats of heroism both epic and ordinary, here is a novel of relationships that offers up subtle surprises and twists. The Night Watch is thrilling. A towering achievement.
My thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book. The very cleverly written characters against the tense wartime backdrop makes it an almost perfect read
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Hey Kidsmum
I absolutely loved The Night Watch, have you read it? I've heard a lot about Sarah Waters' novels before but it wasn't anything like I expected - in a good way! Oh and Jo Nesbo is a guy, had assumed it was a woman! -
The Snowman, Jo Nesbo
Started: 01.01.2011
Finished: 07.01.2011
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis (Amazon):
The night the first snow falls a young boy wakes to find his mother gone. He walks through the silent house, but finds only wet footprints on the stairs. In the garden looms a solitary figure: a snowman bathed in cold moonlight, its black eyes glaring up at the bedroom windows. Round its neck is his mother’s pink scarf.
Inspector Harry Hole is convinced there is a link between the disappearance and a menacing letter he received some months earlier. As Harry and his team delve into unsolved case files, they discover that an alarming number of wives and mothers have gone missing over the years. When a second woman disappears Harry’s suspicions are confirmed: he is a pawn in a deadly game. For the first time in his career Harry finds himself confronted with a serial killer operating on his turf, a killer who will drive him to the brink of insanity.
My thoughts:
I'd not previously read any books by Nesbo but was given The Snowman for Christmas. The cover professes Nesbo to be 'the next Stieg Larsson', which I hear is a little unfair as the first books in Nesbo's Harry Hole series were in fact published before Larsson's Millennium trilogy. Having read the trilogy, however, it is difficult not to compare and contrast the two authors' work. I found Larsson's books much more character-based whereas Nesbo seems more focused on the story.
It does all get a little far-fetched and really rather implausible at times but it's so compelling that you really don't care. I shall definitely be interested in reading more in the Harry Hole series (I believe there is four to catch up on and another due out this year) and would recommend The Snowman to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.
Poles apart from Raymond Briggs' classic tale, The Snowman is a dark, atmospheric and exciting murder mystery and the snowman of the title not nearly as affable as Briggs' loveable character.
(Interestingly though, Jo Nesbo has also written a number of books for children!)
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I've just finished reading Moab is my Washpot and I very much enjoyed it. It's written in a way that makes you feel as though he's just there chatting to you, not too structured or formal. It's honest and touching and I can't wait to start The Fry Chronicles now. Happy reading, Ben
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I've started off the year with The Snowman, by Jo Nesbo. It's quite eerie and atmospheric already, a promising start
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Books Acquired:
1. The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy
2. The Long Song, Andrea Levy
3. The Devil's Star, Jo Nesbo
4. The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters
5. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
6. A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Jules Verne
7. The Redbreast, Jo Nesbo
8. Fingersmith, Sarah Waters
9. The Good Guy, Dean Koontz
10. Mistress of Justice, Jeffrey Deaver
11. Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
12. Phizz Whizzing Collection, Roald Dahl -
Reading List
January:
1. The Snowman, Jo Nesbo (2010)
2. The Night Watch, Sarah Waters (2006)
3. Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)4. The Winter Ghosts, Kate Mosse (2009)
February:
5. The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde (2003)
6. The Fry Chronicles, Stephen Fry (2010)
March:
7. The Long Song, Andrea Levy (2010)
8. The Redbreast, Jo Nesbo (2006)
April:
9. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (1868)
10. The Devil's Star, Jo Nesbo (2009)
Started - 03.04.2011. Finished - 18.04.2011. Rating - 4/511. Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson (1990)
Started - 25.04.2011. Finished - 02.06.2011. Rating - 4/5May:
12. Dark Fire, C. J. Sansom (2003)
Started - 01.05.2011. Finished - 28.05.2011. Rating - 4/5June:
13. Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen (2006)
Started - 28.05.2011. Finished - 02.06.2011. Rating - 4/514. At Home: A Short History of Private Life, Bill Bryson (2010)
Started - 02.06.2011. Finished -15. Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, Peter Hoeg (1992)
Started - 07.06.2011. Finished - 20.06.2011. Rating - 3.5/516. Echoes from the Dead, Johan Theorin (2008)
Started - 21.06.2011. Finished - 30.06.2011. Rating - 3/5July:
17. Faceless Killers, Henning Mankell (1991)
Started - 30.06.2011. Finished - 02.07.2011. Rating - 4/518. The Dogs of Riga, Henning Mankell (1992)
Started - 08.07.2011. Finished - 14.07.2011. Rating - 3/519. The End of Mr Y, Scarlett Thomas (2006)
Started - 14.07.2011. Finished - 24.07.2011. Rating - 4/520. Mary Anne, Daphne Du Maurier (1954)
Started - 24.07.2011. Finished - -
Lots of books to get through this year! I would like to read about a book a week; I'd be happy if I could have 50 read by this time next year.
Books read in 2010: 39
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So to sum up, I've read a total of 39 books this year. Fewer that I would have liked. After starting a new job in late February, my reading frequency decreased and time that would usually have been spent turning pages was replaced with work and sleep! Still, nevermind quantity, the quality of the books I've read this year has been exceptional. There were classics such as Jayne Eyre and The Picture of Dorian Gray read for the first time and now which boast favourable positions on my all time favourites list. The Count of Monte Cristo deserves a special mention. It took me over two months to finish but was well worthy of my time and an incredible tale and overall reading experience. My other favourite reads of the year include A Small Island, Rebecca and The Millenium Trilogy.
I'm quite sure that yet another bounty of good reads await me in 2011, my TBR pile is looking very alluring if I may say so myself
(And with 57 new books acquired this year, I'd better hurry up and get started on them!)Here is the final list of Mexicola's reads of 2010:
1. The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova (2005)
2. Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier (2009)
3. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde (1891)
4. Winston Churchill, War Leader, Bill Price (2009)
5. Small Island, Andrea Levy (2004)
6. The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2004)
7. Macbeth, William Shakespeare
8. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (1847)
9. The Dinosaur Hunters, Deborah Cadbury (2000)
10. The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde (2001)
11. Lost in a Good Book, Jasper Fforde (2002)
12. My Cousin Rachel, Daphne Du Maurier (1951)
13. The Passion, Jeanette Winterson (1987)
14. The Winter King, Bernard Cornwell (1995)
15. Jamaica Inn, Daphne Du Maurier (1936)
16. City of Thieves, David Benioff (2008)
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (1861)
18. Geisha of Gion, Mineko Iwasaki (2002)
19. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen (1817)
20. Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier (1938)
21. Shutter Island, Dennis Lehane (2003)
22. The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas (1844)
23. The Loving Spirit, Daphne Du Maurier (1931)
24. The Dante Club, Matthew Pearl (2004)
25. The Behaviour of Moths, Poppy Adams (2008)
26. Vlad: The Last Confession, C.C. Humphreys (2009)
27. Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Jeff Lindsay (2004)
28. The Angel's Game, Carlos Ruiz Zafon (2009)
29. The Passion of Artemisia, Susan Vreeland (2002)
30. Dearly Devoted Dexter, Jeff Lindsay (2005)
31. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson (2008)
32. The Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
33. The Girl Who Played With Fire, Stieg Larsson (2009)
34. Dissolution, C. J. Sansom (2003)
35. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest, Stieg Larsson (2009)
36. Frenchman's Creek, Daphne Du Maurier (1941)
37. Mansfield Park, Jane Austen (1814)
38. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens (1843)
39. Moab is my Washpot, Stephen Fry (1997)
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December
38. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens (1843)
Started - 21.12.2010. Finished - 27.12.2010. Rating - 4.5/539. Moab is My Washpot, Stephen Fry (1997)
Started - 27.12.2010 Finished - 01.01.2011. Rating - 4/5.Books Acquired
48. The Children's Book, A. S. Byatt
49. When We Were Orphans, Kazuo Ishiguro
50. The Night Watch, Sarah Waters
51. The Fry Chronicles, Stephen Fry
52. The Snowman, Jo Nesbo
53. The Winter Ghosts, Kate Mosse
54. A Week in December, Sebastian Faulks
55. Sovereign, C. J. Sansom
56. Dark Fire, C. J. Sansom
57. Robin Ince's Bad Book Club, Robin Ince
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I was down in Surrey, on business for Lord Cromwell's office, when the summons came.
Dissolution - C. J. Sansom
Mexicola's Reads of 2011
in Past Book Logs
Posted
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Started: 11.03.2011
Finished: 03.04.2011
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis (Amazon):
Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth - four "little women" enduring hardships and enjoying adventures in Civil War New England The charming story of the March sisters, Little Women has been adored by generations. Readers have rooted for Laurie in his pursuit of Jo's hand, cried over little Beth's death, and dreamed of traveling through Europe with old Aunt March and Amy. Future writers have found inspiration in Jo's devotion to her writing. In this simple, enthralling tale, both parts of which are included here, Louisa May Alcott has created four of American literature's most beloved women.
My thoughts:
An endearing tale about four sweet sisters or 'little women', all with their own personalities and foibles. I love the prim and proper turn of phrases the sisters use and just how sweet natured they all are (even when in something of a strop!), thanks to the mother's careful and devoted guidance. Recommended read