Tunn 300's 2013 Reading Log

[tunn300]

Hi all, lots of chat going on here. Have been away on a trip with my class on the Isle of Wight for the last week so been out of communication. My username comes from when I was joining hotmail years ago it was one that was suggested and have since used it for nearly everything. Don't know why really?

 

Being a male I would say I didn't think the book was chick-lit at all and has quite a unique style. 

 

I did indeed discover Gold randomly a few years ago and me and Poppy do share a passion for his books. Gold was fantastic!!

 

Review to come soon, i promise

[poppyshake]

Yes we were getting rather comfy in your absence tunn

Lucky you being on the Isle of Wight .. hope you had good weather for it.

Have you read Dan's This Life yet? I've got it on my shelves and hope to read it soon .. he's never dull.

Looking forward to the review

[tunn300]

Yes we were getting rather comfy in your absence tunn

Lucky you being on the Isle of Wight .. hope you had good weather for it.

Have you read Dan's This Life yet? I've got it on my shelves and hope to read it soon .. he's never dull.

Looking forward to the review

We had fantastic weather thanks. I haven't yet picked up This Life yet but am sure I will get around to it soon. 

[tunn300]

Where'd You Go Bernadette

 

 

Synopsis - Amazon

 

Bernadette Fox is notorious.

 

To Elgie Branch, a Microsoft wunderkind, she's his

hilarious, volatile, talented, troubled wife.

To fellow mothers at the school gate, she's a menace.

To design experts, she's a revolutionary architect.

And to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend

and, quite simply, mum.

 

Then Bernadette disappears.

 

And Bee must take a trip to the end of the earth to find her.

 

Review

 

I had thought about picking up this book ever since I first caught sight of the cover and read the blurb but Poppy's recent review and the fact it was reduced to £1.99 on kindle finally pushed me over the edge. 

 

The story is told from the perspective of 15 year old Bee but includes extracts from emails, letters and reports from other characters throughout the story. I really like the was the story is written and inter-mixed with all these other forms of writing as we learn so much more about each character and their story. The characters in the story are excellent and really amusing. I could easily picture each of them and what their lives would be like. Bee's mum, Bernadette, is the main focus of the book and she is a quirky ex-architect who showed enormous promise early on in her career and then suddenly gave everything up. Bernadette is such a funny and well written character and I really enjoyed finding out everything I could about her and her husband Elgie. 

 

The book is fairly short and very easy to read, I raced through it in a couple of days as I was simply enjoying it so much. It is written in short sections or extracts and one flows into the other brilliantly. The story is amusing but also at points very sad. 

 

This is definitely my favourite book of the year so far and one I would highly recommend to others. It does have an unusual style but it is definitely worth sticking with and reading.

 

9/10

[bobblybear]

Nice review. It really is a unique book, isn't it?

[Athena]

Nice review ! It's on my wishlist, glad to hear you liked it.

[frankie]

Hi all, lots of chat going on here. Have been away on a trip with my class on the Isle of Wight for the last week so been out of communication. My username comes from when I was joining hotmail years ago it was one that was suggested and have since used it for nearly everything. Don't know why really?

 

Oh, okay, thanks for clearing that up. It's been bothering me for a while

 

I did indeed discover Gold randomly a few years ago and me and Poppy do share a passion for his books. Gold was fantastic!!

 

Have you read Dan's This Life yet? I've got it on my shelves and hope to read it soon .. he's never dull.

 

I still have Little Hands Clapping on my TBR... In my defense, I've tried starting it a few times but it hasn't stuck for some reason. I'm waiting for the right mood...

 

I confess I didn't know he had another book out. I should look it up!

 

Where'd You Go Bernadette

 

 

Great review!   And I was happy to hear from a male point of view if the book is chick-litty. There are no excuses for me anymore, I must read the book some day

[tunn300]

I have made a start on the Man Who Forgot his Wife by John O'Farrell.

[poppyshake]

Where'd You Go Bernadette

Great review tunn  so glad you enjoyed it   

I have made a start on the Man Who Forgot his Wife by John O'Farrell.

 I hope he remembers her soon    

[Athena]

I have made a start on the Man Who Forgot his Wife by John O'Farrell.

x

I hope you enjoy it! I've got the book, though I haven't heard much about it (I haven't read it yet).

[tunn300]

I finished 'Lost at Sea' by Jon Ronson yesterday. It is a collection of his articles written for various newspapers over the past few years. I have been reading the odd story here and there since I got the book in August and finally finished it yesterday, I really enjoyed it and will post a full review soon. 

[tunn300]

Lost at Sea - Jon Ronson



Synopsis - Amazon

Jon Ronson has been on patrol with America’s real-life superheroes and to a UFO convention in the Nevada desert with Robbie Williams. He’s met a man who tried to split the atom in his kitchen and asked a conscious robot if she’s got a soul. Fascinated by madness, strange behaviour and the human mind, Jon has spent his life exploring mysterious events and meeting extraordinary people. Collected here from various sources (including the Guardian and GQ) are the best of his adventures. Frequently hilarious, sometimes disturbing, always entertaining, these fascinating stories of the chaos that lies on the fringe of our daily lives will have you wondering just what we’re capable of.


Review

I picked this book up with some book vouchers I received for my birthday as I had been looking at it for a while. I haven't read any of Ronson's work before but found the synopsis interesting.

The book is a collection of articles Ronson has had printed over a serveral year period. They range in scope from going UFO spotting with Robbie Williams to talking to the leader of a cult. In each article Ronson really gets to know the lead characters and draws interesting information from them.

The articles are incredibly varied and I found each completely enthralling and interesting and Ronson's style very readable and engaging. I read the book over several months dipping into an article here and there and would certainly recommend this book to others.

9/10

Edited November 11, 2013 by tunn300

[tunn300]

Alex - Pierre Lemaitre

 

 

Synopsis Amazon

 

In kidnapping cases, the first few hours are crucial. After that, the chances of being found alive go from slim to nearly none. Alex Prévost - beautiful, resourceful, tough - may be no ordinary victim, but her time is running out.

Commandant Camille Verhœven and his detectives have nothing to go on: no suspect, no lead, rapidly diminishing hope. All they know is that a girl was snatched off the streets of Paris and bundled into a white van.

The enigma that is the fate of Alex will keep Verhœven guessing until the bitter, bitter end. And before long, saving her life will be the least of his worries.

 

Review

 

This is another book I picked up with some birthday vouchers back in August and at the time was being heavily plugged in my local Waterstones. I thought it looked interesting and decided to give it a go. I am meant to be reading another book currently but picked it up when my Kindle was on charge and then ended up being hooked on it and finishing it in a week, which during term time is no mean feat for me. 

 

The story involves Alex who is kidnapped right at the start of the book by an unknown man for reasons that are initially unclear. The story then unfolds and over the next 300 pages has many twists and turns. I genuinely didn't see most of them coming either, which is unusual as I have read so much in this genre. 

 

The book is divided into three sections and they are really clear with each one starting with a huge twist on the plot that changed how I felt about characters and where the story was going. I enjoyed the writers style and mainly liked his main character, Inspector Verhoeven. The story is very fast paced with and had me constantly changing opinions on characters and motives. I raced through it and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. 

 

Th book however is not without its problems. Firstly, the translation. I feel that it has been done quite poorly and there are a few too many glaring errors for my liking. It didn't ruin the book for me but did sometimes stop the story flowing. Surely a decent translation from French shouldn't be that tricky in this day and age? Secondly the book is brutally violent. The methods used by characters to dispatch victims are incredibly cruel and the author pulls no punches in describing them and the latter third of the book also leads to some shocking discoveries about Alex's childhood. 

 

These don't detract from the book overall for me, just lower the score by 1 mark and I eagerly look forward to Lemaitre's second book due out next year. Hopefully with a better translation. I definitely recommend this book to fans of the crime genre as it is a different take on a well told tale.

 

8/10 

[Athena]

It sounds nice, I'm glad you enjoyed this book. Translation errors aren't nice . I think the violence would put me off as well. The many plot twists sound good thoguh.

[tunn300]

So the start of the Christmas holidays has given me enough spare time to finish the last third of 'The Man Who Forgot his Wife' by John O'Farrell and I will post a review shortly. I want to try and squeeze one more book in before the new year, just have to choose one.

[Athena]

I have The Man Who Lost his Wife on my TBR, I look forward to read your review. I hope your next read will be enjoyable .

[tunn300]

I have managed to finish 'Them' by Jon Ronson which I picked up in the Kindle sale earlier in the week. I brought it after enjoying 'Lost at Sea' earlier in the year. Now have a couple of reviews to post and will try and get these done later. Maybe I can push through one more book before the year and this blog ends. I have now read 99 books in the 4 years since joining the forum, which I know some read in one year but still quite pleased with myself.

[poppyshake]

Well done tunn .. you've had a lot going on in those four years so that's a great achievement   Be brilliant if you could push it to 100 ... read a short story   

[tunn300]

Well done tunn .. you've had a lot going on in those four years so that's a great achievement   Be brilliant if you could push it to 100 ... read a short story   

Thanks Poppy. Unfortunately don't think I own any short stories. 

[tunn300]

The Man Who Forgot His Wife - John O'Farrell

 

Synopsis - Amazon

 

Lots of husbands forget things: they forget that their wife had an important meeting that morning; they forget to pick up the dry cleaning; some of them even forget their wedding anniversary.

 

But Vaughan has forgotten he even has a wife. Her name, her face, their history together, everything she has ever told him, everything he has said to her - it has all gone, mysteriously wiped in one catastrophic moment of memory loss. And now he has rediscovered her - only to find out that they are getting divorced.

 

The Man Who Forgot His Wife is the funny, moving and poignant story of a man who has done just that. And who will try anything to turn back the clock and have one last chance to reclaim his life.

 

Review

 

I am a big fan of John O'Farrell and have read all of his previous work. This book follows Vaughan a man who one day whilst travelling on the tube experiences a rare neurological condition that effectively resets his memory. This means he cannot remember anything of his previous life, including his own name. The first part of the book deals with this issue as Vaughan tries to discover who he is. Once he has achieved this the rest of the book is about him trying to remember his family and previous life As hi memory does start to come back we are made aware there are probably some parts he would rather forget.

 

I found the book enjoyable to read and whilst not as overtly amusing as much of his previous work still made me chuckle on a regular basis. Initially I didn't like the character of Vaughan but as the story progressed he grew on me, unlike his best friend who I found annoying throughout. The action is pretty fast paced and does draw to a neat if a bit predictable conclusion.

 

Overall I would recommend this book to others as an enjoyable read but don't think it is O'Farrell's best work. 

 

8/10

[tunn300]

Them: Adventures with Extremists - Jon Ronson

 

 

Synopsis - Amazon

 

THEM began as a book about different kinds of extremists, but after Jon had got to know some of them – Islamic fundamentalists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klansmen – he found that they had one oddly similar belief: that a tiny, shadowy elite rule the world from a secret room. In THEM, Jon sets out, with the help of the extremists, to locate that room. The journey is as creepy as it is comic, and along the way Jon is chased by men in dark glasses, unmasked as a Jew in the middle of a Jihad training camp, and witnesses international CEOs and politicians participate in a bizarre pagan ritual in the forests of northern California. THEM is a fascinating and entertaining exploration of extremism, in which Jon learns some alarming things about the looking-glass world of ‘them’ and ‘us’. Are the extremists on to something? Or has Jon become one of THEM?

 

 

Review

 

After recently finishing my first Jon Ronson book and really enjoying it I couldn't help but snap this up when I saw it for 99p in the Kindle post Christmas Sales. In this book rather than a collection of random stories Jon goes in search of a secret organisation that many people believe to be ruling the world. He talks to many groups of extremists that believe this ranging from the Klu Klux Klan, through Catholic preachers to people like David Icke. Whilst all have differing views on who this ruling body is they all believe it to be true. In the book Jon talks to them about why they hold these beliefs whilst also trying to find the secret group. 

 

Whilst this may sound a lit fanciful what Jon uncovers is interesting and surprising and certainly raises some interesting questions. I found the first half of the book to be stronger and more entertaining than the latter half but I certainly enjoyed reading it and learning some new things. I didn't enjoy it as much as Lost at Sea but I think that could be because that book was little snippets of stories, all highly interesting where this focuses solely on one over-arching theme.

 

I would recommend this book as an interesting read and at 99p is currently a bargain. I will certainly be reading Ronson's other books at some point in the future too. 

 

7/10

[Athena]

The Man Who Forgot His Wife is on my TBR, I'm glad you enjoyed it . Nice reviews!

[bobblybear]

Nice review of Them. I saw it on the Kindle sales, but was wavering about whether it would be a good read. I've just bought it now, because like you say, 99p is a bargain!

[Kidsmum]

Glad you enjoyed Them, Tunn, as it's on my TBR pile. I read The Psychopath Test earlier this year & really liked it 

[tunn300]

Glad you enjoyed Them, Tunn, as it's on my TBR pile. I read The Psychopath Test earlier this year & really liked it 

I did enjoy it but also highly recommend Lost at Sea as find that a really interesting read.

 

Nice review of Them. I saw it on the Kindle sales, but was wavering about whether it would be a good read. I've just bought it now, because like you say, 99p is a bargain!

Hope now that I have talked you into it you enjoy it.