shelley.s

The Penultimate Truth by Phillip K Dick 4/5 About the book (Amazon) World War III is raging - or so the millions of people crammed in their underground tanks believe. For fiteen years, subterranean humanity has been fed on daily broadcasts of a never-ending nuclear destruction, sustained by a belief in the all powerful Protector. Now someone has gone to the surface and found no destruction, no war. The authorities have been telling a massive lie. Now the search begins to find out why. My Thoughts Another genius book from PKD, wrapped as ever in government deceptions and conspiracies . It was a great read though perhaps slightly missed some of its potential. Id liked to have know what would of happened when everyone found out about the war being ended (barely begun) but the book ended before the main character announced it. However the murder mystery was good and there were some incredible and clever plots (as always with PKD) I certainly enjoyed it although i did prefer A Scanner Darkly and The World Jones Made.

Thanks for the interesting back ground Yes the story of The Black Cat seemed very convincing, almost recollecting of something he'd done so certainly the alcoholism at least rung true in this story. He was a very good writer. I always find it such a shame when an author dies before their work becomes well known and celebrated. I think that's a case with a lot of the classics

The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe 4/5 Everybody has bad dreams. Horrible things move towards you in the dark, things you can hear but not see. Then you wake up, in your own warm bed, and turn over to go back to sleep. But imagine that you wake up on a hard floor, in a darkness blacker than the blackest night. You listen to the silence, and smell a wet dead smell. Death is all around you, waiting . . . In these stories by Edgar Allan Poe, death whispers at you from every dark corner, and fear can send you mad . . . My Thoughts I preferred these short stories alot more than the last. There's more to them and they have better plots but they are also written better. The black Cat was probably my favorite story although very disturbing! The beating heart and The premature death was also very good. The pit and the pendulum was my least favorite but not for any reason other than the others interested me more. Its a really good book when your spending hours on and off coaches! Its small enough not to be a burden and you can read a story then put it down with forgetting where you are. I still haven't been persuaded to read short stories at home yet though.

I hope you enjoy it! There was just so little to it for me that i couldn't really enjoy it.

The Haunted dolls house by M R James/R L Stevenson 3/5 About the book This is a little book made up of 3 short stories, two by M.R. James and one by R.L. Stevenson. All three are ghost stories, M R James' stories are The Haunted Dolls' House and The Rose Garden and R L Stevenson's story is The Body Snatcher. Its hard to give a description of the stories without giving the whole thing away what with each story being around 20 pages long, so i'll leave it to the titles and your imagination! My thoughts I've never been a fan of short stories and this book sadly hasn't done much to sway me. I found a whole stack of Pengiun 60's books in a charity shop and i'm off to Paris tomorrow so decided to get a couple for the journey, i didn't want a long book that would need my complete attention or take up space in my bag. So i bought this one and The pit and the pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe which i plan to read on the trip. Out of the three stories Stevenson's The Body Snatchers is defiantly the best. It offers a lot more in such few pages than either of the stories by M R James. Whilst i didn't expect too much from the book, i did actually really enjoy The Body Snatchers. The Doll's House and The Rose Garden however really didn't bring anything to the table for me. Maybe its the older style of writing although easy to read and get to grips with, i didn't find myself in suspense or curious or actually bothered about either story at all. Maybe Stevenson is a much better writer but having not read any other books by either author i cant really judge that. I am however glad that a story by Stevenson had been included, it would have been rather disappointing if it hadn't based on the other two short stories.

Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn 4/5 About the book (Amazon) No one really knows who Andrew Winston Winters is. Least of all himself. He is part Win, a lonely teenager exiled to a remote boarding school after a family tragedy. The guy who shuts the whole world out, no matter the cost, because his darkest fear is of himself . . . of the wolfish predator within. But he's also part Drew, the angry boy with violent impulses that control him. The boy who, one fateful summer, was part of something so terrible it came close to destroying him. My Thoughts I was a bit apprehensive about this book, a lot of the reviews said that you never really knew where you were or what was going on throughout the story then it just kind of ends. Well i can see how maybe people did get a bit lost as the chapters go back an forth between the past and present without actually telling you so you could get half way through the page before you realize your in the past again however this didn't throw me at all, its easy when you get used to reading it after a few chapters. I thought it was really good, there isn't a chapter where something exciting isn't happening, its shrouded in mystery and again it was another book i found difficult to put down, especially as the chapters are quite short, you can always squeeze another one in and before you know it you've read half the book! It is kind of fantasy the whole way through until you get to the ending and every thing clicks into place and it becomes really sad/dark and actually not fantasy at all. Although it reads slightly as young adult its definatly not for children. I'm glad i read it, its very different and i wasn't expecting the ending at all.

I hope you enjoy it as much as i did!

Dark Eden by Chris Beckett ~ 5/5 About the book (Amazon) You live in Eden. You are a member of the Family, one of 532 descendants of Angela and Tommy. You shelter beneath the light and warmth of the Forest's lantern trees, hunting woollybuck and harvesting tree candy. Beyond the forest lie the treeless mountains of the Snowy Dark and a cold so bitter and a night so profound that no man has ever crossed it. The Oldest among you recount legends of a world where light came from the sky, where men and women made boats that could cross between worlds. One day, the Oldest say, they will come back for you. You live in Eden. You are a member of the Family, one of 532 descendants of two marooned explorers. You huddle, slowly starving, beneath the light and warmth of geothermal trees, confined to one barely habitable valley of a startlingly alien, sunless world. After 163 years and six generations of incestuous inbreeding, the Family is riddled with deformity and feeblemindedness. Your culture is a infantile stew of half-remembered fact and devolved ritual that stifles innovation and punishes independent thought. You are John Redlantern. You will break the laws of Eden, shatter the Family and change history. You will be the first to abandon hope, the first to abandon the old ways, the first to kill another, the first to venture in to the Dark, and the first to discover the truth about Eden.[/size] My Thoughts[/size] So this has been one of my favorite books of the year so far. It completely refreshed scifi as a genre for me. The story is gripping, i spent so many days being tired because i didn't put the book down when i should have and that's always a good sign! The settings are beautiful and totally original and everything in the world is creative and imaginative. I really don't have a bad word to say about this book at all. The ending kind of leaves it open for another book but i don't know if that would really benefit the story though saying that i would absolutely love to go back to Eden for another installment! If your a scifi fan id definalty have a look at this book!

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut 3/5 About the book (Amazon) Prisoner of war, optometrist, time-traveller - these are the life roles of Billy Pilgrim, hero of this miraculously moving, bitter and funny story of innocence faced with apocalypse. Slaughterhouse 5 is one of the world's great anti-war books. Centring on the infamous fire-bombing of Dresden in the Second World War, Billy Pilgrim's odyssey through time reflects the journey of our own fractured lives as we search for meaning in what we are afraid to know. My Thoughts Quite a few people recommended this book to me so i decided to bump it up the list and read it sooner. Whilst it was a good read it didn't really excite me all that much. The war side of the book really interested me but i didn't really think that the time travelling aspect of the book fitted in. It would have worked perfectly well with out it In my opinion the 2 random 'scifi' parts of the books where not interwoven properly and there wasn't really much need for them, if he'd gone into more detail about the war and introduced some more characters it would have made for better reading. It was good but i don't think the hype was justified.

Yeh i'd defiantly borrow it from the library. I like the cover, the illustration is kooky and it fits in with my array of random books but if you aren't a 12 year old girl your probably not going to appreciate it all that much.

Doll Bones by Holly Black ~ 3/5 About the book (Amazon) Twelve-year-old Zach is too old to play with toys. Or at least, that's what his father thinks. But even though he stops hanging out with Poppy and Alice, stops playing with his action figures, it's no good. There's one toy that still wants to play with him. A doll that's made from the bones of a dead girl. The only way to end the game is to lay the doll to rest forever. It's time for a journey to Spring Grove cemetery. It's time to grow up. My Thoughts I read the Spiderwicke Chronicles when i was younger and was really excited to discover doll bones as id really enjoyed the other books by Holly Black. I was however slightly disappointed. The book should have felt really nostalgic, the characters reminded me of myself, not wanting to grow up and still trying to play games that really i was too old for but it just didn't. The plot is good and there's times where its exciting but it never really gripped me as not much actually really happened in the way of the doll doing things. I can see that the main story line was about the fact they were having to grow up and deal with their relationships with their parents etc but that part of it wasn't loud and clear enough. Its a nice simple read, very much so more for children than YA's. I'm glad i read it, just for old times sake but i probably wont pursue any more of her books just because i felt just a bit too old to be reading it. It would be a good read for children between 9-12yrs i think.

I look forward to seeing what you think of Slaughterhouse 5, two of my friends recommended it to me and its on my wish list but ive seen a few reviews saying its not what its hyped up to be so i haven't actually purchased it yet

It was a good read, have you read A Scanner Darkly? If not then thats an absolute must read. I personally think that A Scanner Darkly is PKD's overall masterpiece

The world Jones made by Philip K Dick 4/5 About the book (Amazon) Floyd Jones is sullen, ungainly and quite possibly mad, but he really can see exactly one year into the future. And this talent means that in a very short time he rises from being a disgruntled carnival fortune-teller to convulse an entire planet. For Jones becomes a demagogue, whipping up the ideal-starved population into a frenzy against the threat of the 'drifters' , enormous single-cell protoplasms that may be landing on Earth soon. But, in a world of engineered mutants, hermaphrodite sex performers in drug-fuelled nightclubs, Jones is a tragic messiah. His limited precognition renders him helpless because he cannot bring himself to fight against what he knows will happen . . . My Thoughts Another awesome book to add to the Dick pile. I've been slowly but surely working my way through PKD books, sometimes i really cant connect with them and they are just a bit too crazy for me to understand such as Valis and to an extent Ubik but The world Jones made was a really enjoyable breeze to read, as well as still being a genius idea like A Scanner Darkly and Do andriods dream of electric sheep. I love the slightly easier books, i read to enjoy and relax not work hard on trying to understand the plot! This book is one i'd recommend to people that haven't read PKD before because it will really ease you in to his bizarre mind, its the tamest one i've read.

Thanks i enjoyed both books a lot. I probably preferred Hunting Lila a tad more just because there was more going on

Loosing Lila by Sarah Alderson 3/5 About the book (Amazon) Alex and Lila are on the run, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the Unit, which is somehow tracking their every move. While Alex is determined to keep Lila safe and her ability secret at any cost, Lila's only thought is of finding a way back to California so she can rescue her brother and mother from the military base where they're being held. Struggling to control both her growing power and her deepening feelings for Alex, Lila decides the time has finally come to stop running and start fighting. Together with Alex, Demos, and the others she's come to think of as family, Lila plans not only to save her brother and mum, but also to completely destroy the Unit and everything it stands for. But the plan requires Lila to return to California alone, and to make friends with the enemy - and in doing so, she risks losing everything: Alex, her family...even her life. My Thoughts I thought the book was really gripping (hence reading this book straight after the first one) however i have only given this one a 3/5. The story was really good and i loved all of the characters but i just felt the ending was really predictable and there wasn't really much of a struggle, too much went to plan. We also weren't given much back ground or any thing to character build the other characters with which i thought we might get in the second book as it was lacking in the first. Its a good book and finishes off the first one well but the first book was a bit more exciting.

Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson ~ 4/5 About the book (Amazon) 17-year-old Lila has two secrets she's prepared to take to the grave. The first is that she can move things just by looking at them. The second is that she's been in love with her brother's best friend, Alex, since forever. After a mugging exposes her unique ability, Lila decides to run to the only people she can trust - her brother and Alex. They live in Southern California where they work for a secret organisation called The Unit, and Lila discovers that the two of them are hunting down the men who murdered her mother five years before. And that they've found them. In a world where nothing and no one is quite as they seem, Lila quickly realises that she is not alone - there are others out there just like her - people with special powers -and her mother's killer is one of them... My thoughts I loved this book. The characters are so well written and easily believable. The love between Lila and Alex is something i think everyone has experienced at some point, that major crush when you desperately want to be around someone that doesnt know you love them, the emotions are down to a tee. Whilst the love story runs throughout the veins of every page there's also the main story which is exciting throughout. There wasnt a dull page in this book at all and a twist at the end which was fairly unexpected. Cant wait to read the second book

Mixtape for the apocalypse by Jemiah Jefferson ~ 3/5 About the book (Amazon) Meet Squire. He's your average music-obsessed twenty-three-year-old Portlander, juggling a job as an internet support technician, an indie comics gig, and a long-simmering crush on his best friend, Lise. He smokes too much weed, drinks too many cocktails, and watches too much Star Trek. And when his co-workers, baristas, and friends begin to turn on him one by one, his good-natured paranoia expands into a chilling, terrifying certainty about the end of the world. A darkly comic novel about a young man who slowly but surely loses his grip on reality, but never on his taste in music. My Thoughts I really liked this book. I have no idea how to categorize it though. Weirdly I quite like reading about characters that descend into psychosis as i find its very different to read which if done well, although in some cases it makes no sense what so ever, its completely gripping. This book was done well. Its really just a story of friendship, growing up, ever increasing paranoia, tons of weed and lots of The Bunnymen but i literally couldnt put it down. I read it in three days and my need for a bazaar character was definitely satisfied afterwards.

Ive just ordered Mixtape for the apocalypse and Hunting Lila, i'll read which ever lands on the door step first. Im getting really bad at ordering things on time for when i run out. Probably going to be bookless for a few days now, sad times! Im still struggling to find things i really want to read. Im totally looking forward to Mixtape for the apocalypse as i've waited for this to be available on amazon for about 6 months now, the joys of out of print books, but other than this one ive literally just been picking stuff randomly because i really cant decide what else i want. I think ive got readers block Everything i have picked has been good but the only book that has really wowed me recently was Nod. Its the only book that ive still been mulling over a few days after i finished it. The others ive sort of forgotten as soon as ive put down. I really want something with a massive & impressive/genius twist, like A Scanner Darkly or Shutter Island, any ideas?

The girl who chased the moon by Sarah Addison Allen ~ 3/5 About the book (Amazon) Emily Benedict came to Mullaby, North Carolina, hoping to solve at least some of the riddles surrounding her mother's life. But the moment Emily enters the house where her mother grew up and meets the grandfather she never knew, she realises that mysteries aren't solved in Mullaby, they're a way of life. Here are rooms where the wallpaper changes to suit your mood. Unexplained lights skip across the yard at midnight. And a neighbour, Julia Winterson, bakes hope in the form of cakes, offering them to satisfy the town's sweet tooth - but also in the hope of rekindling a love she fears might be lost forever. Can a hummingbird cake really bring back a lost love? Is there really a ghost dancing in Emily's backyard? The answers are never what you expect. But in this town of lovable misfits, the unexpected fits right in. My thoughts I wasn't sure about this book when i first got it. I needed a new book and i really didn't know what to read so i just randomly picked one off of my tiny wish list and this happened to be it. I read the first couple of pages and it looked like the book was going to be awful, it was really sort of heat magazine/gossip column, the content i mean not the way it was written. Once i got out of the first few chapters i realized it had sucked me in without knowing it! I was like a Venus fly trap. I literally ate through the book and read it within a few days. It was a really nice little read. I wish i could say the ending was better, the big Coffey secret wasn't really all that big and i knew what was going on way before the secret came out so its predictable but there's a nice little piece at the end i didn't expect which left me quite happy and warmed. This would be a great holiday read, more so for a teenager (id say its a YA novel though not sure if it comes under that) or for someone that wants to eat through a tonne of books round the pool or beach. I liked it though i cant give more than a 3 star as the wasn't enough wow content for me but its a charming read.

Yeh it was awesome! Let me know what you think of it!

Yeh its defiantly worth a read! I don't normally go for those sort of books (i don't really like reading about religion) but it was really good and i was pleasantly surprised.

Nod by Adrian Barnes ~ Rate 4/5 About the book (Amazon) Dawn breaks over Vancouver and no-one in the world has slept the night before, or almost no-one. A few people, perhaps one in ten thousand can still sleep, and they've all had the same strange, golden dream. A handful of children still sleep as well, but what they're dreaming remains a mystery. After six days of absolute sleep deprivation, psychosis will set in. After four weeks, the body will die. In the interim, panic ensues and a bizarre new world arises in which those previously on the fringes of society take the lead. One couple experience a lifetime in a week as he continues to sleep , she begins to disintegrate before him, and the new world swallows the old one whole...NOD My Thoughts I don't really know how to rate this book! It was unputdownable. I literally wanted to keep reading it but sadly finished it after just 3 days, i wish it was longer. I thought the idea was fantastic and i thought the characters were so believe despite the circumstances, I think Paul, the main protagonist, balanced out wacky crack pot Charles so well and the whole story built up perfectly. The slight problem i have is the ending. Nothing, literally nothing was explained. No reason as to why Nod occurred why there were sleepers and non-sleepers or what happened to the children or even Paul. I can see how an ambiguous ending would have fitted like a glove if a little bit more had been explained but it was like a brake neck speed wacky roller coaster that sort of tipped you off at the ending into a never ending abyss. In a way i liked it because it was its nice to be left thinking damn i wanted more, its a sign of a good book but at the same time i did have so many unanswered questions. Depending on what kind of reader you are and because of the ending you'll either think the book is genius or you'll think its badly written. I'm on the genius side for now although that ending will certainly annoy alot of people!

Im currently eating my way through Nod by Adrian Barnes, loving it! I started reading it yesterday and am just under half way through. Really dont know what to read next though! Fancy another fantasy like The Infernal Devices or Daughter of Smoke and Bone...

War of the worlds by H G Wells ~ Rate 3/5 About the book (Amazon) Published in 1898 and never out of print since that time, 'The War of the Worlds' is one of the most influential science fiction novels ever written, and the seminal work for all the many 'alien invasion' tales that have followed. The amazing products of Wells' prodigious imagination - death rays, mobile weapons-platforms, flying machines (all unheard of in his day) - have proved wonderfully, and hideously, prophetic. Given today's advances in space exploration and the discovery of earth-like planets orbiting other stars, the author's vision of evil, conquering aliens continues to strike a chord of terror in modern minds. My Thoughts I liked this book, i didn't enjoy it as much as The Time Machine or Island of Dr Moreau though. I think i had high expectations because i've seen 'the film' and it was a surprise to find out the book was nothing like the film at all so was expecting a much more in depth story. It was good but i did prefer the story in the film sadly.