bobblybear

I finished Revenge of the Tide this morning. The ending was a bit weak, but I still enjoyed it (and it kept me up past my bedtime last night).

Nice review! Sounds like an interesting read; glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks. Blimey, reading Pet Sematary at 12?! That would have terrified me....I'm not surprised you had nightmares!

I started Revenge of the Tide last night by Elizabeth Haynes. Interesting so far.

Thanks, Athena. It's not a pleasant read, yet it's a good book...if that makes sense!

Thanks, Pontalba. Pet Semetary - Stephen King The story of this one is probably familiar to most people, as it’s one of Stephen King's better known stories. Louis Creed and his family move to a small town in a rural part of Maine, where Louis is appointed as the doctor based at the local university. Their new town is very peaceful, aside from a busy main road at the front of their house which is frequented by lorries passing through. The family are befriended by Jud Crandall, an elderly man across the road who warns the Creed family about the dangers of the road. Shortly after, Jud shows the Creeds around their plot of land, and takes them to an old pet cemetery (misspelled as Semetary on the sign) behind their house. It’s probably somewhat obvious as to what happens next.....so I'll leave the plot summary there. This is a very creepy book and I read it with a sense of dread. It was a re-read, so I knew what was going to happen, which is probably why I felt uneasy as I was reading it. It’s very disturbing, and the kind of book you don’t really want to read yet you can’t put down. In his introduction, Stephen King refers to this one as the most frightening book he’s written, and it’s easy to see why. When he wrote it he thought he’d gone too far and only reluctantly sent it to his publisher at the urging of his wife (or so the story goes). He also took a few pieces from his own life and his own experiences (or rather his daughters') and put them into the story, which he mentions in the intro. I’d recommend it, but with caution, as it is disturbing and you really don’t want to read it when you are on a downer. 4.5/6

I've just finished Flowertown by SG Redling and really enjoyed it. No idea what to read next, though.

Nice review! Blood Work was also made into a movie starring Clint Eastwood.

Roast pork dinner. It was yummy but I'm all sleepy now.

Actually, scrap that....I gave up on it last night. Life's to short to stick with rubbish books. I started Flowertown by SG Redling. Pretty decent so far.

I was going to start On The Beach last night, but wasn't in the mood for anything heavy, so I started Missing Gretyl by Si Page instead. It was raved about a little while ago on the Guardian book blog, with so many people recommending it. It's not my cup of tea at all really, but I will stick it out as it's only a fairly short read.

It's very strange, isn't it? Yeah, the two covers are totally different.....maybe it's because they are his best known books (at least, I can't think of any others off the top of his head ).

Both sound interesting, and I love the cover of Lexicon! Hope you get on well with them.

Oh man, I really want to read these spoilers, but I haven't watched any of current season as it's not on Freeview.

I don't know....maybe it's in the loft. The strange thing is that I thought I knew exactly where it was on the bookshelf, but when I turned around to get it, it wasn't there. I also have The Bonfire of the Vanities, and that's sitting on my bookshelf, so perhaps I'm confusing the two as well.

Nice review! I have this on my Kindle and have nearly started reading it a few times, but something else always distracts me (which is easy when you have a huge TBR list! ).

Great review! I'm so sure I've read this book (in fact I'm sure I used to own it), but it's not ringing any bells and I can't find it on my bookshelf. I remember enjoying it, but I don't seem to recall anything about it.

Great review! Add me to the list of people who will most likely be annoyed by it's preachiness. I have it on my Kindle - I have a feeling it was a freebie - and will probably get to it someday, but it's pretty low on my TBR pile.

If I remember rightly, we tend to have very differing views on a lot of books anyway (The Crimson Petal and the White, and World War Z....there was another one, but I can't recall it at the moment). Yes, Barracuda is his other book. It has also received mixed reviews, but not as many negative ones as The Slap. I wouldn't mind reading it just to see what the characters are like and if they are as vile as the ones from The Slap.

Stephen King Margaret Atwood Maggie O'Farrell Interesting to see how this turns out!

The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas During a barbeque hosted by Hector and Aisha for their friends and family, an unruly 3 year old child is slapped by one of the adults, after misbehaving one too many times. Following this incident, The Slap then has eight chapters, each telling a point of view of eight people who were at the barbeque. There was a lot of publicity about this book a few years ago, and I had been waiting to read it for a while. I managed to borrow it via Amazon Prime, and I'm glad I did, rather than buying it as it's not a book I would read again. So.....where do I start? I pretty much hated all the characters. I thought they were poorly written, far too black and white, with everyone having a very extreme personality. There were no 'ordinary' people, and so it was very difficult to relate to them as genuine people, let alone be interested in any of their thoughts or opinions. It's as though the author wanted to show the two most extreme points of view about corporal punishment, and created a bunch of ridiculously over the top characters in order to express his opinion through them. I thought there was a little bit of bias as well; the impression I got was that everyone in favour of the slap was described as depraved in all other areas of their life (spousal abuse, drugs, affairs), while the anti-slappers ( ) were the calmer and more sane characters. There was also far too much descriptive sex for my liking - very graphic and I thought unnecessary, told almost for shock value. I don't think the controversy about the book was over the subject matter, but rather the extremes of the characters. I found myself quite angry as I was reading it, because of how these people behaved. It was like a description of life with all the nice bits taken out of it. The book itself was mediocre. It’s described on the cover as thought-provoking, but not for me. Frankly I forgot about it as soon as I finished it. Perhaps I missed the point of the book, but that is perfectly fine by me! Give it a miss, I'd say. 1.5/6

The First Time: The True Tales of Virginity Lost and Found - Kate Monro As the title says, Kate Munro set out to interview people from all walks of life about how they lost their virginity. It isn’t a titillating book, despite the subject matter. There aren’t really any graphic details; it’s more about the individual persons circumstances and how they felt and thought at the time. I suppose in a way it’s like a social commentary of sorts, as the people telling their stories come from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, with differing views on sex and relationships. The book also covers people from many different decades and that was probably the most interesting part, to see how people's attitudes have changed over time. All in all, a pretty interesting read. 3/6

Hello Yuri! Welcome to the forum!

First and Only - Peter Flannery Psimon is the first and only true psychic. When he was 8 he witnessed the murder of a local priest, who was also a family friend. Fourteen years on, the murderer is still on the loose and still doing his killing. Psimon has visions of his own death at the hands of the killer and hires someone to protect him, in order to avoid the inevitable. In steps a former soldier, Steve Brennus, who is going through a personal turmoil of his own and is somewhat sceptical of Psimons claims. Via the James Randi Institute, they set out to claim that Psimon is a true psychic and thus hope to draw the killer in. Well, this was a pretty run-of-the-mill thriller. I guess Psimon being a genuine psychic was a bit of an interesting change, but there wasn’t much remarkable about this book. There weren't any major plot twists, and it was all rather 'ploddy'. That's not to say it wasn’t good, but it just didn’t stand out as different from the many others in it's genre. 2.5/6

The Earth Hums in B Flat - Mari Strachan Set in a small town in Wales in the 1950’s, Gwennie is a 12 year old girl, who has a somewhat strained home life with her parents and sister. Gwennie is convinced she can fly in her sleep, and the book occasionally provides evidence that she can (or that she at least has visions in her sleep). When a local man – the father of two children she babysits – goes missing, she sets out to find where he is and what happened to him. This ends up unraveling secrets relating to her own family, which will change her life and her view on the world. The first half of the book is quite slow as it’s mostly the introduction of the characters and a look into their lives. I did find myself wondering if there was actually a plot that ran through the whole book, or if it was just about Gwennie’s life. However once things start happening, they really start happening, and a tremendous amount is packed in to the second half of the book. After the turning point - just over half way through the book - it really did become difficult to put down. Fortunately the book is a manageable 350-odd pages, so there isn't a huge amount of exposition before the story kicks in. Gwennie is a likeable character, and as events unfold you realise how much she has to deal with at such a young age. There are some painful moments from Gwennie’s childhood, such as being rejected by her best friend, and the rumours surrounding her mother, but all through it she still remains a plucky and enthusiastic character. Well worth a read. 4/6