Alexi

I'm massively behind with reviews. Got a new job so I'm heavily into audiobooks and podcasts but still finding some time for the kindle! Raced through another Jodi Taylor, this time A Second Chance, the third in the St Mary's series. I spent the day in bed ill and I turned to what is a fantastic series and finished it in a day. Now reading Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacsson. What a visionary, but what an unpleasant man. Great book though

I'm up by 39 books as it stands You've had some great reads lately I've got The Cry on my TBR - must try and read it next year.

I didn't like it much - I thought The Future of Us by the same author was a lot better, even though it didn't deal with such serious issues and was far 'fluffier'! I just didn't think Thirteen Reasons tackled the issues well.

So glad you had fun Janet (and Kay and Claire!). I have The Humans on my TBR so glad to see you're enjoying it so much - I trust your book judgement

I finished Birdsong, which I wanted to love but ended up giving a 3/5 to and really struggling to collect my thoughts into a coherent review. Now getting my teeth into The Nine Tailors for the English Counties Challenge.

I must admit I'm a little (lot) daunted by Atwood. She's on the 1001 list which I'm trying to get as much done as I can during my lifetime but... Scary.

Oh dear, this does not sound at all promising! I might leave that one to the end of the ECC list...

Thanks J! Staying in the same industry but moving locations - to a different city about an hour away. So we are selling up to move halfway, although I'm going to commute initially. Excited, yet scared because I've been at my current place for ages now! Still to get natter on about sport though LOL at your Fault in our Stars review! I think my review was quite kind at the time, compared to how I now remember feeling about it. I do seem to be in a minority with John Green, but then there are so many other books in the world for us to read! Thanks Anna, I thought it was brilliant. I've been meaning to read it for ages, maybe we planned to read it together at some point?! Thanks Gaia I've read a few great books recently so was due a dud to be fair. Law of averages... I'm trying to do it in the least stressful manner possible by doing as little as possible, but that just seems to be causing more stress down the line. Ho hum. It is serious reading and the subject matter is heavy, but the writing style is easy to read and very engaging so I ripped my way through it, with only pausing to go "oh god...oh god...OH MY GOD THIS IS HORRENDOUS. But it's an excellent book and one that doesn't seem nearly as daunting once you've got going. In my opinion anyway!

Oh dear I get heartily embarrassed watching poor public speaking from people I dislike or have no feeling at all for, never mind those whose writing I have enjoyed and have high hopes for. At least her writing stands up to close scrutiny - and I've added her book to my wishlist.

Wild Swans by Jung Chang Synopsis: The story of three generations in twentieth-century China that blends the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history—a bestselling classic in thirty languages with more than ten million copies sold around the world, now with a new introduction from the author. An engrossing record of Mao’s impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, Jung Chang describes the extraordinary lives and experiences of her family members: her grandmother, a warlord’s concubine; her mother’s struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents’ experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a “barefoot doctor,” a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving—and ultimately uplifting—detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history. (From Goodreads) Thoughts: Wow. After Paper Towns, what a return to good, engaging writing with a total rollercoaster of a ride through 600 pages. This is what you call a book. Chang has the advantage of this being autobiographical, plus the story of her mother and grandmother, taking us through nearly a century of life in a changing China. Starting with her grandmother, who is sold off by her father as a concubine to a war lord - and she has no say in this whatsoever, we start from the early 20th century and finish up in the 1970s, when the author is able to leave China and establish herself as a naturalised British citizen. If he grandmother represents the imperial part of China, her parents represent the next section, being committed Communists from before the party gained power in the country but then suffered hugely under Mao. But there lies hope in this story, with the family showing love, honour and courage throughout, and Jung finally completes her university education and makes her own decision to leave China behind. I know very little about Chinese history, having studied it but oh too briefly, but this book goes a long way towards filling the gaps in the general picture. The author takes as her main thread the family and shows through them the general economic and social history of the country of the time. It is so well done. What struck me with this book was how her family seemed rather like the 'Forrest Gumps' of China, in that they knew a lot of powerful figures and a lot of the major decisions Mao made affected them. But particularly in the case of the Cultural Revolution, I realised that statistically, it was more likely to affect them than not. This book scared me in parts - her parents helped the Communists into power, at huge danger to themselves in the 1940s, and were then tortured under Mao, losing their homes and livelihoods, and in her father's case his mind. It's shocking, it's terrible, and all the more so because these atrocities become personal through the prism of the Chang family. The stories of what happens to all of them under the different regimes are terrible, and yet what stands out is the strength of love and the human spirit. It's fantastic, and easy to see why it's on the 1001 list. I'm definitely glad I read it. 5/5 (I loved it)

Paper Towns by John Green Synopsis: Who is the real Margo? Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew... (From Goodreads) Thoughts: I'm really sorry, John Green, but we're not meant to be. It's not you, it's me. Ok, it's probably you. Your teenagers resemble no teenagers I have ever met, am likely to meet or want to meet. It makes the book feel forced, unreal and pretentious. The story starts ok. Teenager loves other teenager, who disappears and they follow a set of clues to try and find her, discovering something about themselves and life along the way. But the ending is a massive let down, the characters are unreal and annoying, and if I had to read one more ridiculous analysis of the poem, Song of Myself, through the main character then I think the book might have gone out of the window. Plus, Q's infatuation over a girl he barely knows is a tad creepy to be honest. I think this may be the end for me and John Green, but I'm aware in a very small minority. Better than The Fault In Our Stars though, which was ridiculous, cheesy, crap. 2/5 (Meh)

I'm so sorry, I have rather neglected this little thread! Thank you for all your comments I implore all three of you to read South Riding - I don't think you'll regret it. A(nother) win for the English Counties Challenge! I have been rather quiet of late. Still got a few reviews to catch up on, but I've just accepted a new job and am therefore moving house, so everything is getting a little overwhelming at the moment. new job, new house and wedding in 12 months. Good job I'm not planning on children or divorce in the near future, or my stress levels really would be off the charts

Oh dear! I might put that one off for a while...

Thanks to both of you - I bought both just before midnight

Definitely approaching the finish line now Claire - I salute you! I finished Wild Swans which was incredible and I just couldn't put it down, even though work and social commitments dictated I had to far too much! I wanted something completely different after that so read Moneyball, which given my love of baseball has taken me ages to get around to! Now back onto rather more serious reading matter than batting averages and have picked up Birdsong. I really seem to have picked some quite harrowing reads this year...

Bought! Thanks Janet.

Asking For It and I Let You Go are going straight on the wishlist! Great reviews. I have The Goldfinch on my TBR so definitely looking forward to your review of that one.

Can't multli quote on the phone but I much preferred Paper Towns. Although his teenagers don't feel very authentic to me - but then I have been out of my teen years a while now so who knows! - there was much more to get your teeth into. I found TFIOS surprisingly superficial. Sorry to all John Green fans! I really want to like him, because all the plots sound fabulous, but I just...can't. Gah

I just don't think I 'get' John Green. Paper Towns is his second to leave me underwhelmed so probably time to acknowledge we aren't meant to be. On the brighter side, now I've finished that I'm about a fifth of the way through Wild Swans by Jung Chang, which is harrowing, yet a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Sounds interesting Anna. I've read a few of Gregory's novels, although mainly the ones centred around Henry VIII (The Other Boleyn Girl and those sequels). Maybe time to read the one I have waiting for me from this series. Great review

South Riding by Winifred Holtby Synopsis: Winifred Holtby's masterpiece is a rich evocation of the lives and relationships of the characters of South Riding. Sarah Burton, the fiery young headmistressof the local girls' school; Mrs Beddows, the district's first alderwoman—based on Holtby's own mother; and Robert Carne, the conservative gentleman-farmer locked in a disastrous marriage—with whom the radical Sarah Burton falls in love. Showing how public decisions can mold the individual, this story offers a panoramic and unforgettable view of Yorkshire life. (From Goodreads) Thoughts: I had never heard of this novel before it was chosen as part of the English Counties Challenge, but following Willoyd's excellent review I bought it in September and it was finished by mid-October - quite the feat when it comes to my TBR! Why had I never heard of this novel? It's simply fantastic from first page to last. Set around the premise of local government and its effect on individual lives and decisions, we are catapulted into Yorkshire in the 1930s, a critical time in history in terms of the development of a more socialist outlook. What is interesting is we have a wide range of characters, many of whom aren't socialist, many of which are, yet it isn't as simple as 'good' versus 'evil'. I felt a degree of sympathy for nearly all of the characters, whichever side of the fence they put their boots on. It was interesting to hear from each character and their motivations for thinking and acting as they did - this cleverly plotted novel makes the reader think as much as the central characters. The plot doesn't feel entirely necessary in many ways, the interactions of the characters are plot enough although we do get resolution to each story arc. Our many figures over two years give us a real sense of the community and the different people in it. I naturally lean towards the socialist side and Sarah Burton, the new school headmistress, was a wonderful woman to read about as she fought for change against the more conservative governors, yet my favourite character was the conservative farmer - what a backstory. It felt like Holtby could have told me what each character would have eaten for breakfast on any given Thursday she knew them all so well and they were so well formed. Seriously, why isn't this book better known? It thoroughly deserves to be wider read and an easy five star award. 5/5 (It was amazing)

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey Synopsis: Maud, an aging grandmother, is slowly losing her memory—and her grip on everyday life. Yet she refuses to forget her best friend Elizabeth, whom she is convinced is missing and in terrible danger. But no one will listen to Maud—not her frustrated daughter, Helen, not her caretakers, not the police, and especially not Elizabeth's mercurial son, Peter. Armed with handwritten notes she leaves for herself and an overwhelming feeling that Elizabeth needs her help, Maud resolves to discover the truth and save her beloved friend. This singular obsession forms a cornerstone of Maud's rapidly dissolving present. But the clues she discovers seem only to lead her deeper into her past, to another unsolved disappearance: her sister, Sukey, who vanished shortly after World War II. (From Goodreads) Thoughts: This is an interesting one. Personally, I really, really enjoyed this novel and yet it was also a painful read. I watched my Grandma suffer with dementia, and it is a horrible, horrible disease - and I saw so much of her in Maud (at least, in her earlier stages, by the end my Grandma could barely hold a conversation with her nearest and dearest). So it's a painful read, and yet it was so well done. I can only imagine that Healey has witnessed dementia/alzheimers at close quarters to come up with the character of Maud and let us into her brain in what felt like such an authentic way. However. I do feel that this book has been incorrectly marketed. The basic premise is that Maud, not taken seriously by anyone, is searching for her missing friend Elizabeth and her sister Sukey. One has vanished recently, one vanished years ago in the 1940s/50s. It's therefore marketed as a thriller, or in some cases on the cover apparently a 'psychological thriller' according to some reviewers on goodreads. Here's the thing though, the mystery isn't what makes this book great. I think it becomes fairly obvious early on where Elizabeth is/what happened there, and I also guesed the solution to Sukey about two thirds through, but that didn't feel at all important. For me, being let into Maud's muddled mind was where the true charm of this story lay. They mystery(ies) felt like a byproduct, not the main point of the novel. If you want a mystery, o a thriller, read something else. If you want to laugh, cry and immerse yourself in the complicated, confusing, muddled and repetitive mind of the wonderful Maud, read this. 4/5 (I really enjoyed it)

Seconded! Never nice to get on a run of 2s. Or indeed 1s of course.

Sorry to hear that Claire. Hope you enjoy S and A more as you continue. I finished South Riding by Winifred Holtby today. Wow, a definite 5/5 read. One of those when I raced to the end to finish, and then was sad it was over! For something totally different, now starting Paper Towns by John Green. But nervous here because I really didn't care for The Fault in Our Stars, but I'm prepared to give him one more chance before total rejection

Thanks all, I thought my review was a bit rubbish and didn't say much. I do however know what you mean, it's on a lot of lists and talked about as a classic, but no one talks about what it is actually about very much. The complete opposite of A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist or Wuthering Heights, say!