Ben's Book Bonanza, 2013.

[Ben]

Debating taking the plunge and getting a new Kindle - I use it so it's more than worth it. My other was so old that they don't sell them any more, so I'm thinking about this new 'Kindle Paperwhite'. It looks great but I'm a little bit worried about some of the reported smudges and whatnot. Wish they still sold the classic, old-school Kindles.

[Ben]

Couple of ratings/thoughts on books I've finished for you guys (I really don't have time to review at the moment, but when I do they're still coming).

 

Messiah by Boris Starling was a really entertaining crime thriller. Starling sets things up wonderfully, giving the story time to breathe for the first half of the book, before going in with renewed gusto for the latter stages. The dénouement is excellent, with a particularly clever twist. Starling manages to bring the story of our protagonist Red around in a full circle, and intertwines the tenses adeptly - not to mention the multiple narrative perspectives, which he also does well.

 

All in all I'd recommend to anyone that likes a perfectly crafted thriller, but I wouldn't recommend it for the faint-hearted (particularly gruesome murders are aplenty), younger kids (violence, some bad language) or anyone that has things to do. This is properly difficult to put down once you've started and the hours will race away before you know it.

 

★★★★☆.

 

I also started and finished Patricia Cornwell's The Front last night - a short and snappy read that clocks in at just under 200 pages. I don't know if this was my fault, as it's the second book in a series and I read them out of order, but I really didn't enjoy it all. Our protagonist Win is particularly boring (if you want entertaining detectives look no further than Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon and Red in Messiah) and the plot was decidedly dull.

 

I have no doubt that she can craft a good thriller but this one just lacked any sort of oomph for me. I also think it was too short, personally. 200 pages isn't enough to set up characters, plot, etc. I would've liked extra, 'background' characters to have been acting suspicious, putting us off the scent. I'm usually compelled by the question of who but this time I didn't really care about the reveal.  Apparently her other series is better, so I may go back to that at some stage. I'm also tempted by the first book in the series - The Risk - but I'm not rushing out to get it - particularly on the basis of this poor effort.

 

★★☆☆☆.

[Ben]

Decided to read Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones next - another that I've been meaning to read for some time now. I've got a few Kindle books that should be soon on my list of books-to-read, so I eagerly await the arrival of my Paperwhite in the coming days. In the meantime..

 

Synopsis:

My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.

 

My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer. This is Susie Salmon. Watching from heaven, Susie sees her happy, suburban family devastated by her death, isolated even from one another as they each try to cope with their terrible loss alone. Over the years, her friends and siblings grow up, fall in love, do all the things she never had the chance to do herself. But life is not quite finished with Susie yet...

 

--

 

This sounds great, I had better get started..

[Athena]

I hope you like your Paperwhite! I really love mine.

[Ben]

I hope you like your Paperwhite! I really love mine.

 

So do I. Wish I'd have got the quickest delivery though, impatient to start using it now..

[Ben]

Was lucky enough to get this one passed on from Michelle to review for BCF. Will be going up on the blog but I'll post it here as well.

 

The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison.
Published: June 25. Headline.

--

 

A.S.A. Harrison's The Silent Wife is an engaging foray into the complexities of the human psyche - a psychological exploration of one couple’s long-lasting relationship that now threatens to break apart in spectacular fashion. The familiarity and routine that has for so long has held the good ship of life in a relatively study position, now suddenly threatens to collapse and dash everything against the rocks.

Jodi and Todd are living a life of comfort and relative luxury. With a beautiful waterfront condo in Chicago, furnished with everything they could ever need, they have settled into a routine way of living that seems to work for both of them. With solid jobs – her working part-time as a psychiatrist who works from home and him as a building investor that makes enough money to comfortably get by – it soon becomes clear that the only thing that is turbulent about their lives is undoubtedly their marriage. He is a serial adulterer, she a hopelessly naïve individual who is in constant denial. Each exists in their own private world, and the discussions over wine and dutifully-cooked dinner essentially avoid the problems that they - each in their own way - pretend do not exist.

Disclaimer: if you want characters that are decidedly wonderful and who you would probably go out for drinks with, this may not be the novel for you. Harrison’s characters for the most part have awful personalities, are essentially flawed. Todd fancies himself as the ultimate playboy – a bit of a stud that roves his eyes over a multitude of girls, objectifying them at will, his self-confidence and conceit evidently knowing no bounds. He is selfish, ignorant, and a compulsive liar. He never considers himself to be in the wrong, even in the most outrageous of situations - even when he goes so far that even he cannot talk his way out of trouble. It is unsurprising, then, that Todd, by his very nature, struggles to elicit any sympathy from the reader.

It would seem logical to make the assumption that Jodi – someone who has to deal with a character as ridiculous and as obnoxious as Todd – would be easier to invest in for the reader. However, for the most part it is a struggle to feel nothing but contempt for someone who seems to have zero objections to it all, content in the apparent safety of her home and general situation. Even as she works with a variety of different clients, talking to them, helping them resolve their problems, she displaces her own – both in the present and from the past. Even when given solid evidence that everything is not quite as secure as it seems, she is still incredibly reluctant to create a fuss. Only when things get to their most extreme and she is driven as far as she can take, does she decide to take matters into her own hands.

 

Harrison’s cast of supporting characters are not overwhelmingly strong, but they offer a nice balance. A lawyer that Todd has known for as long as he can remember – bitter because of the string of divorces he has behind him; a receptionist that is forever drinking all the expensive coffee, and who can successfully unnerve the normally unflappable Todd. Throw in your pregnant girlfriend’s father and you have a character-list that bubbles away menacingly, threatening to boil over at any moment.

The author deftly manages to cleverly intertwine the past and present in a narrative that will have you on tenterhooks as you eagerly flip the pages in anticipation. Sadly, A.S.A. Harrison cruelly passed from the world before she had chance to see The Silent Wife go to publication, but she was rightfully proud of what she created. A deliciously entertaining roller-coaster of a novel, jam-packed with love, betrayal, death, this is a novel that deserves every bit of the attention that it will undoubtedly receive.

[Athena]

I don't know if this is a book for me (I've put it on the wishlist though as it sounds good), but I really enjoyed reading your review!

[Ben]

I don't know if this is a book for me (I've put it on the wishlist though as it sounds good), but I really enjoyed reading your review!

 

Thanks Athena, I'm glad you enjoyed the review..

[Ben]

First up.. the Kindle Paperwhite has been dispatched. My new baby is on its way.

 

So I started and finished The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold in pretty much one setting yesterday. I hovered between three and four starts before finally giving it the latter. I'm not sure about all the hype that it received (seemed overly built up as spectacular) but I did enjoy it. It's elegantly written - I was sad and tearful one moment, then laughing incredulously the next. So it was emotional, and I liked Sebold's concept of an individual, private heaven. I think what stopped it from blowing me away entirely is the plot is pretty slow going (intentionally so), and it has a rather lacklustre - although understandable - ending. It tied up the loose ends for me but seemed to bow out with a whimper. Still a very touching and emotional novel - for me at least. ★★★★☆.

 

In other reading news I'm not quite sure what's going on with Zadie Smith's NW so far, it's really not grabbing me at all. I can appreciate what she's trying to do, creating snapshots of London life through different races and cultures, but just over a hundred pages in it's not grabbing me as much as White Teeth. Her lyrical, abstract style of narration is quite distracting, and that plot hasn't taken off yet (although it does still have plenty of time to do so). I'll persevere but it's not doing much for me at the minute.

 

I've decided to read Jeffery Deaver's The Bone Collector next as I've been on a bit of a crime fiction kick recently. Will be interested to see how our detective compares to people like Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, Red in Messiah, and Kevin Byrne in the Montanari novels.

 

Synopsis:

New York City is thrown into chaos by the assaults of the Bone Collector, a serial kidnapper and killer who gives the police a chance to save his victims from death by leaving obscure clues. The cops go to Lincoln Rhyme, an ex-NYPD forensics expert left paralysed after an accident on the job. Rhyme reluctantly postpones his ambitions towards suicide and puts together a forensic investigation team, enlisting as his eyes and ears young police officer Amelia Sachs. Rhyme digs deep into the only world he has left - his astonishing mind - and slowly begins to narrow the noose around the Bone Collector. But the kidnapper is narrowing his own noose - around Lincoln Rhyme.

 

--

 

Expecting another thrilling page-turner from this one.

[Ben]

The Kindle Paperwhite is in the building. Thankfully, maybe I can stop obsessively refreshing the tracking option on Amazon in order to see how close it's got to my house. I'm sure they shouldn't make it so you can do that.. I can never get anything done while I'm waiting. It's like Christmas.

 

--

 

In other reading news I raced through The Bone Collector by Jeffrey Deaver last night, and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure where my sudden crime thriller spurt has come from this month (perhaps it's because I've got loads dotted around unread that I usually avoid) but I'm really enjoying it. I love the suspenseful page-turning, the thrill of trying to guess, and then second-guess yourself, repeatedly.

 

Deaver's novel is another great effort. Lincoln Rhyme is a protagonist like no other. I had worries that Deaver wouldn't be able to make an engaging central character out of a quadriplegic who is bed-ridden, always exhausted, and ultimately considering suicide - but thankfully, I was wrong. Rhyme is a sensational forensic expert whose mind reminded me of Sherlock Holmes - quick, alert, and often picking up on clues that to others weren't noticeable.

 

This is a very well-crafted book. Deaver draws us in expertly and doesn't let go. The dénouement for me was particularly effective, bringing the story around in a full circle. I thought there was something rather touching about the novel, while at the same time being decidedly action-packed. All in all, then, a really enjoyable thriller that had me anxious to find out what was about to happen next.

 

★★★★☆.

[Ben]

Decided to read my first John Grisham and I've somewhat predictably gone for The Street Lawyer for no other reason than it's on my to-be-read pile..

 

Synopsis:

Michael Brock is a man in a hurry. He's in the fast lane at Drake & Sweeney, a giant Washington law firm. He's a rising star, with no time to waste, no time to toss a few coins into the hands of beggars. No time for a conscience. But a chance violent encounter with a homeless man stops him cold. The fallout propels him onto a trail of corruption and illegality which leads straight back to Drake & Sweeney. To get to the truth, Michael will have to dig deep into some of his own firm's dirtiest secrets...

 

--

 

Corruption, dirty secrets, violence.. sounds charming and great.

[Ben]

Mixed emotions at the fact that I've just ordered 28 books to be delivered. I mean, on the one hand that's twenty-eight new books. *does happy dance* But on the other, they're all for my third year at university and the fact that they're officially on their way means I'm going to have to start studying again soon. In addition, I'd just got my to-be-read pile under 200.

 

Anyway, book deliveries on their way in case anyone's interested:

 

Semester 1

 

Life Writing

 

De Quincey, Thomas (1822; 1989) Confessions of an English Opium Eater.

Gosse, Edmund (1907; 1989) Father and Son.

Hong Kingston, Maxine (1977) The Woman Warrior.

Joyce, James (1915; 1992) A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Morrison, Blake (1998) And When Did You Last See your Father?

 

The Postcolonial City

 

Phillips, Caryl (2007) 'Northern Lights' (copy provided).

Vladislavic, Ivan (2006) Portrait with Keys: The City of Johannesburg Unlocked.

Ondaatje, Michael (1987) In the Skin of a Lion.

Rushdie, Salman (1988) The Satanic Verses.
Chandra, Vikram (1997) Love and Longing in Bombay.
Shamsie, Kamila (2003) Kartography.

 

Creative Writing*

 

Du Maurier, Daphne (2005) The Rendevous and Other Stories.

Joyce, James (1977) The Dubliners.

Shields, Carol (2000) Dressing Up For The Carnival London.

Smith, Ali (2003) The Whole Story.

Armitage, Simon (2001) Selected Poems.

Astley, Neil (ed) (2002) Staying Alive: real poems for unreal times.

 

*There's a huge list of books for this module but the idea is to explore them. We have to pick four out of a possible eight to do as our primary sources. I've bought six of them and will get the other two out of the library then decide on my four from there. The rest of the massive list I'll probably just explore at random and pick some of them up from the library.

 

Semester 2

 

Writing Violence in the Indian Subcontinent
 

Rushdie, Salman (1981) Midnight’s Children.

Sidhwa, Bapsi (1992) Cracking India. 

Ghosh, Amitav (1988) The Shadow Lines.

Ali, Agha Shahid (1997) The Country Without a Post Office.

Ondaatje, Michael (2001) Anil’s Ghost.

Selvadurai, Shyam (1994) Funny Boy: A Novel in Six Stories.

 

Theories of the Novel

 

Pamela by Samuel Richardson.

Adam Bede by George Eliot.

The Waves by Virginia Woolf.

A Maggot by John Fowles.

 

Victorian Literature and Atlantic Slavery

 

Mary Prince, The History of Mary Prince (1831).

John Thomas Haines, My Poll and My Partner Joe (first performed 1835; published 1866).

Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre (1847).

Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights (1847).

George Eliot, ‘Brother Jacob’ (1860).

 

--

 

So yeah, that's the list and that's my six modules (three each term). Additionally, I'll have my dissertation project of which I've sent off two ideas for confirmation. I'll be getting my allocation back "by the end of June" so shouldn't have too long to wait (could mean there's some more books to order ). It looks like it's going to be a lot of hard work but I'm ready for the challenge. Hopefully I'll find some exciting books in my final *gulp* year.

[chesilbeach]

Smith, Ali (2003) The Whole Story.

 

Absolutely delighted to see this on your list - an absolutely brilliant collection of short stories - and another chance for me to rave about Smith. I adore her writing. 

[Ben]

Absolutely delighted to see this on your list - an absolutely brilliant collection of short stories - and another chance for me to rave about Smith. I adore her writing. 

 

Woo this is great news. I picked it at random from the list - I clearly have excellent instincts.

[Athena]

Decided to read my first John Grisham and I've somewhat predictably gone for The Street Lawyer for no other reason than it's on my to-be-read pile..

x

I look forward to hear what you think of The Street Lawyer. It's on my shelf and one of the John Grisham books I haven't yet read.

x 

So yeah, that's the list and that's my six modules (three each term). Additionally, I'll have my dissertation project of which I've sent off two ideas for confirmation. I'll be getting my allocation back "by the end of June" so shouldn't have too long to wait (could mean there's some more books to order ). It looks like it's going to be a lot of hard work but I'm ready for the challenge. Hopefully I'll find some exciting books in my final *gulp* year.

x

I hope you find some nice books ! Good luck with your studying, it sounds quite difficult to me (but then again maybe Chemistry'd sound difficult to you etc). Thanks for posting the list, it's really nice to get a bit of an impression of what you're doing.

[Kidsmum]

Adam Bede  George Eliot i really enjoyed but i've never heard of Brother Jacob so will be interested to hear what you think of it Ben 

[Ben]

x

I look forward to hear what you think of The Street Lawyer. It's on my shelf and one of the John Grisham books I haven't yet read.

x x

I hope you find some nice books ! Good luck with your studying, it sounds quite difficult to me (but then again maybe Chemistry'd sound difficult to you etc). Thanks for posting the list, it's really nice to get a bit of an impression of what you're doing.

 

I'm a bit up in the air with The Street Lawyer. It was good, but not great. I think it was because for a lot of the time I was expecting it to race to some dramatic conclusion (probably in part to my crime thriller spurt I've been on in recent weeks) and in the end it sort of whimpered out. I think it's more moralistic as opposed to action-packed, and I appreciate the message he was trying to get across with the protagonist Michael, but I think it could have been done better. That being said, I'm definitely going to check out more of Grisham's works.

 

Thank you. Looking through the list (they haven't arrived yet so I've been doing the second option and prowling the lists in anticipation) I think there will be a fair few of interest. You're right - chemistry certainly does sound difficult to me. *laughs* You're welcome, though - I know people on here love lists and I thought a couple might be interested in my planned reads for the next couple of months (most likely all of July will be taken up with university reads).

 

Adam Bede  George Eliot i really enjoyed but i've never heard of Brother Jacob so will be interested to hear what you think of it Ben 

 

I'm  a bit anxious about new Eliot. I really struggled with Felix Holt: The Radical but have heard good things from Middlemarch which is on the to-be-read pile. Thanks for letting me know you're opinion of Adam Bede. Apparently 'Brother Jacob' is only a short story, so even if I don't like it, at the very least it'll only be short.

[tunn300]

Sorry to hijack your thread Ben but my original kindle is heading the same way as yours I fear and was just interested in what you make of the new paperwhite compared to the original kindle.

Edited June 30, 2013 by tunn300

[Ben]

I honestly couldn't recommend it enough.

 

Personally, the things that they have changed are nothing but improvements. The touch-screen control is fluid and easy to use, with the added bonus that the swipe-system to change a page works just as well as the button on the side, if not better. I didn't mind using the keyboard in the past but overall the new Kindle Paperwhite in my eyes is much more accessible (definitely easy to navigate - store, downloads, etc. as well).

 

I would recommend getting one of the covers that they sell, too. It seemed a little steep to me at £30 or so, but it seems to be consistent with other prices for covers across other companies (although I haven't done much research on this so it may pay - literally - to check). If you do get one, though, they're great: flicking it open and shut automatically turns your Kindle on and off (in sleep mode) so you never have to worry about remembering to switch it off.

 

A few caveats to be aware of, though. The speakers have been removed (no headphone jack either), which means the loss of the MP3, text-to-audio, and audio-book features. Luckily, I never used any of these so it hasn't bothered me in the slightest but it's worth noting if those type of features were one's you used. All in all, then, I absolutely love it, and I'm glad I invested in an upgrade!

[tunn300]

Thanks Ben, looks like an upgrade might be heading my way too.

[Ben]

Thanks Ben, looks like an upgrade might be heading my way too.

 

No problem, I do hope you love it as much as me!

[Ben]

So Amazon is staggering my delivery of my new books. I thought this would be great as my to-be-read pile wouldn't shoot back up instantly in one fell swoop. However, I received the first seven this morning and I'm convinced it's an exercise in torture on their part. With their arrival my to-be-read pile creeps back up to 201. 201. Teasingly back over the edge. Ah well, it was to be expected.. 

 

Suppose I should go set to work on the hopeless attempt to get it back down.

Edited July 2, 2013 by Ben

[Ben]

Decided to start Carol Shields' Dressing Up for the Carnival. I've a few books on the go at the moment, dotted around, but none seem to be holding my attention (I've been lacking a lot of focus in the past few days) so I'm thinking maybe a short story collection would sort me out. Du Maurier's The Rendezvous and Other Stories has arrived and I'm sure I'll get to it soon (I adore Rebecca and I'm eager to start this) but I'm going to try Shields first and see what I think..

[poppyshake]

Ooh The Waves  .. I have it on good authority that it's a bit of a beast .. I haven't dare attempt it Good luck!! and good luck with all your reading Ben .. that is one impressive collection of books.

The de Maurier short stories will be brilliant I'm sure .. she's such a great writer  

[Ben]

Aw, that's a shame. I made a start on Orlando for class last year but in the end never got going with it. I think that was partly because I was overwhelmed by my university reading and we could leave one book off the list, so I chose Woolf's. It must have been.. because I remember thinking that story really could be quite enjoyable if I got stuck into it properly. I'll see if I get on better with The Waves.

 

I can't wait to get to the du Maurier short stories - I'm sure it'll be sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the well wishes, the list has some great potential and I'm actually quite excited to get started (well, with reading them.. not quite ready to start my last year properly just yet).