Bobblybear's Book List - 2014

[bobblybear]

I find King's books very different depending on when he wrote them. You can definitely see how he has changed over the years, and some of his books from his 'rough patch' are dire (think The Tommyknockers for example). I find his later books to be more 'mellow' than his earlier ones, and kind of miss that excitement.

 

A lot of people have raved about Revival, so chances are good that your brother will enjoy it, Kylie.

[bobblybear]

The Maze Runner - James Dashner
 
Thomas awakens in a cage which is being propelled rapidly upwards. He has no recollection of where he is or how he got there. About the only thing he remembers is his name. Once the cage reaches the top, he is helped out by a group of teenage boys, all around his age group. He is told that they are in a grassed area – called The Glade - surrounded by high stone walls. Outside the walls is a massive maze which changes each night. By day, some members – called The Runners – go out into the maze to trace it, map any changes, and see if they can find a way out. By night, the walls close them off from the maze, where the Grievers come and hunt.

 

It sounds reasonably interesting, but when I started it, I was disappointed pretty early on. It is very poorly written, with such basic dialogue and descriptions. Clearly the author had never taken any creative writing classes as it reads like it is written by a teenager. The characters were one-dimensional and identical to each other, with no depth to them at all.

 

The end result was a book in which I didn’t care about any characters, or even the general story line. There are a couple of sequels (and I think a prequel), but I won’t be reading any of them. There are many far better young adult dystopian fiction books out there and I’m amazed this one is as popular as it is.

 

1.5/6

[bobblybear]

Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum - Mark Stevens

I’ve had this book on my list for quite a while. I think it may be one of the first Kindle books I bought (it may have been a freebie at the time), but only now just getting around to reading it.

 

It is a very detailed description of Broadmoor in Victorian times (as the title says ). It describes the physical structure of the building – how it is laid out, with the wings dividing male from female patients, and high-risk from low-risk patients.

There are also commentaries on life for patients in general – how many meals a day and what was served at those meals, how often they were bathed, etc.

A few chapters were dedicated to it’s most famous inmates – Richard Dadd, William Chester Minor, Edward Oxford – which were an interesting read.

 

Then the book talked about the employees, with detailed background about the Superintendants and how the hospital flourished and changed under each of them.

There was also chapters on the babies that were born in Broadmoor and what happened to them, as well as some escape stories.

 

It was a very interesting read. Recommended.

 

4/6

[bobblybear]

The Martian - Andy Weir

 

The Martian starts off in diary format with Mark Watney telling his story. He and a crew of four others had been on Mars, when they are taken by surprise by a dust storm. Mark is injured by a flying antennae, and his crew mates believing him to be dead leave him behind so they can get to safety.

 

It is 400 days until the next scheduled landing, and Mark has no way of communicating with Earth to show that he is alive. So with limited supplies, his first priority is survival for at least those 400 days. He is an engineer so good at problem solving. His survival attempts are described in very strong detail, but still in a way that is understandable to the layperson. He goes into a lot of technical detail about his progress, from things like how to grow potatoes in space, how to generate enough water and how to stay warm when traveling outside his module.

 

The story switches between Mark’s diary and the events happening on Earth, which is a good idea as I think the diary would have exhausted me a bit as it's pretty intense.

 

It's a fast-paced novel and does leave you feeling a bit anxious as you can't forsee what will happen. And these books either have a very happy ending or a very sad one. I won't spoil it for you.

 

4.5/6

[Athena]

I have The Martian on my wishlist I believe. I'm glad you enjoyed it . Great reviews .

[Michelle]

I had the audible version, and loved it - move it up your wishlist!

[Athena]

I had the audible version, and loved it - move it up your wishlist!

That's great to hear, thanks !

[Anna Begins]

I have The Martian on my list because I saw you were reading it and checked it out on Amazon!  I'm glad to read your review.

[frankie]

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops - Jen Campbell

 

It’s very short, and I easily finished it in an hour. There are some humorous parts to it, but most had me shaking my head in disbelief.

 

I got it cheap – probably £0.99 – but currently it’s £5.39 which I think is far too much for what you get.

 

2/6

 

Yep, a lot of funny things in the book, but also stuff that leaves you speechless. It makes you wonder how some people manage to stay alive and live a daily life, seeming so moronic

 

A rather low rating, though, did you not enjoy it?

 

The Crow Road - Iain Banks

 

I really looked forward to reading this, but I found it a big struggle, aside from the very engaging first chapter.

 

Set in Scotland it follows the life of Prentice McHoan through his early adult years. There are a few plot lines, the key one of which is centered around his missing uncle, but on the whole it seemed like a mish-mash and I struggled with what the story was supposed to be or what direction it was going. It just seemed to.....meander aimlessly.

 

The timeline jumped back and forth, and in some chapters we were seeing things through Prentice's point of view, and then others were through his father's point of view, and then also when his father was a lot younger. It was as though there were several books, but they had kind of got jumbled up together. Maybe that was Iain Banks' style, having only only read one other by him (The Wasp Factory), I don't know. I also struggled with the large number of characters, most of whom were given the vaguest of personalities, and I found it very difficult to keep track of who they were throughout the book. Because I struggled with it, I read it in very small chunks with a fair bit of time in-between which of course doesn't help. 

 

It wasn't all bad though. There was some parts of it that I found interesting to read, especially the story of what may have happened to his uncle, but that was only a small section of the book. The remainder of the book left me uninspired and it was a real struggle to finish for me I’m afraid. It’s a shame as I loved the opening chapter but it was all downhill from there.

 

2/6

 

I've also only read The Wasp Factory by Banks, and I have this book on my TBR and it's one of the books I really want to like. I'm now fearing I might not fare that well with it  And before you say that it's just you and I might do well with the book, all I can say is that the difficulties you describe having with the book are ones that I'm pretty sure I'll find difficult, too. Oh boy

 

Capital - John Lanchester

 

 

Capital is set in a fictional street in London called Pepys Road. It starts with a description of the architecture of the houses and how they came to be built - each slightly different from it’s neighbours - and how the street has changed over the years, from it’s humble working class beginnings, to a very affluent street housing bankers and football stars.

 

The residents of Pepys Road have been receiving anonymous postcards which show a photo of their house and the simple message on the back: ‘We Want What You Have’. This plot runs through the story, but is actually very peripheral to it, and only pops up occasionally. The main meat of the novel lies in the characters who live and work on Pepys Road. Each of these people are from very different socio-economic and racial/cultural backgrounds, and they all have their own story to tell.

 

There isn’t really a plot to speak of. Instead it’s almost a purely character driven book – a story all about people and the minutae of their lives, what drives them and what keeps them up at night. The author does it so well, and each character is a fully drawn individual with so many different sides to them - good and bad. Of course, there were some stories and characters that I preferred to others, but they were all so well written that I loved reading about all of them.

 

It was just shy of 600 pages, but I loved every minute of it and it could have even been longer. It’s not a fast-paced book; in fact not a whole lot happens in it, but it is still such a compelling read because the characters read like real people.

 

I haven’t read any others by John Lanchester, but will be reading more of his other books for sure.

 

One of the best reads of the year for me and definitely one to be read again at a later date.

 

6/6

 

I like the sound of this, it's going on my wishlist!

 

Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

 

Libby Day is the lone survivor of an attack which left her mother and two sisters butchered. Her brother Ben was charged and imprisoned for the crime.

 

Some twenty years later, the charitable funds have run out, as have the earnings from her book about the crime. Fortuitously, she is contacted by a group who is fascinated by gruesome true crimes and is wiling to pay her for mementos and inside information.  With very few alternatives, she accepts and soon realises that these people think Ben is innocent and have spent a lot of time in constructing alternate theories. At first she is angered, but having her interest piqued she begins an investigation of her own.

 

At the start Libby wasn’t a likeable character, but I guess that can be explained by her past. Anyway, she did slowly start to grow on me as she became a bit less one-dimensional as the story moved on and more was revealed. 

 

The chapters alternate between present time with Libby conducting research into what happened, and the day of the mass-murder. The chapters telling the story of the murders increment forward in hours, which is pretty effective as you feel a bit angsty knowing that soon the truth will be revealed.

 

I have to say I’m very impressed with the authors way of telling what could be a very standard thriller in such an interesting way, with quite a few twists and turns towards the end. I've now read all of Gillian Flynn's novels and she's an author that I will keep an eye out for. A must read if you are into crime/mystery thrillers.

 

5/6

 

I didn't like Libby at the start, either, but she's obviously had a rough life so she can't be blamed that much. I agree with you, Flynn has great talent for these sorts of thrillers. I'm definitely going to look out for her future novels!

 

 

Did you see the twists coming? That there were two killers? Man, it came out of nowhere. Very good twists!

 

 

 

Thanks, Athena. I've read 58 books this year, but that is including ones that I have given up on. That's the most I've read in year so far.

 

That is so cool, having read the most books you've ever read in one year! And there's still time!

 

Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn

 

Camille Parker is a reporter for a small paper in Chicago. She learns of the recent abduction of a young girl in her home town of Wind Gap. Several months earlier another young girl from Wind Gap was found murdered, and her boss believes that a serial killer is on the loose. He sends her back to Wind Gap, with the hopes of getting a story which will raise the profile of his paper.

 

Back in Wind Gap, Camille has to stay with her mother and her step-father, both of whom she has a very fractured relationship with. The longer she stays in Wind Gap, the more bad memories threaten to overcome her and it soon becomes evident that Camille has secrets of her own that she is hiding from.

 

This is my third book by the author and while I enjoyed it I don’t think it was quite as good as the others. It's very dark, probably her darkest novel with some very disturbing characters. The story felt a bit disjointed throughout, and I didn't really appreciate the book until the ending, when all the pieces were put together. Having said that, the ending wasn't a surprise at all, but it just tied the whole story together. Camille was a bit of a cold character as well, and while you can see why she was the way she was, she was sometimes hard to have as the narrator.

 

I'm glad this wasn't the first Gillian Flynn that I read, as her later two books are a bit more well-rounded. This one somehow left me cold but that could have just been the characters.

 

4/6

 

Too bad it wasn't up to par with the other two Flynn novels, but hey, 4/6 isn't that bad! And it was her first novel so we'll make her some allowances, if you can say that We are nice that way! I had the book from the library but couldn't get into it when I tried and then I had a bunch of other books tempting me. I'll give it another go later.

 

The Maze Runner - James Dashner

 

Thomas awakens in a cage which is being propelled rapidly upwards. He has no recollection of where he is or how he got there. About the only thing he remembers is his name. Once the cage reaches the top, he is helped out by a group of teenage boys, all around his age group. He is told that they are in a grassed area – called The Glade - surrounded by high stone walls. Outside the walls is a massive maze which changes each night. By day, some members – called The Runners – go out into the maze to trace it, map any changes, and see if they can find a way out. By night, the walls close them off from the maze, where the Grievers come and hunt.

 

It sounds reasonably interesting, but when I started it, I was disappointed pretty early on. It is very poorly written, with such basic dialogue and descriptions. Clearly the author had never taken any creative writing classes as it reads like it is written by a teenager. The characters were one-dimensional and identical to each other, with no depth to them at all.

 

The end result was a book in which I didn’t care about any characters, or even the general story line. There are a couple of sequels (and I think a prequel), but I won’t be reading any of them. There are many far better young adult dystopian fiction books out there and I’m amazed this one is as popular as it is.

 

1.5/6

 

I just read Athena's review on the book today and talk about polar opposites I'm sorry you didn't like it.

[Marie H]

Glad that you enjoyed The Martian  . I'd forgot that I had it on my e-reader.....I think i bought it after pontalba's review some time this year .  

[Anna Begins]

I just read Athena's review on the book today and talk about polar opposites I'm sorry you didn't like it.

Ya, me and Athena liked it, Kylie and BB not so much and Devi was kind on the fence about it, she gave up on book 3, I stopped with the Trilogy, Athena even read the Prequel.     

I commented to BB in the Maze Runner thread that BB and I read the same books a lot, but mostly come out with quite different opinions of them

[frankie]

Ya, me and Athena liked it, Kylie and BB not so much and Devi was kind on the fence about it, she gave up on book 3, I stopped with the Trilogy, Athena even read the Prequel.  

Yeah, I haven't gotten around to everyone else's reading logs yet, so I have a few more reviews to read on the books

 

I commented to BB in the Maze Runner thread that BB and I read the same books a lot, but mostly come out with quite different opinions of them

That sometimes happens! I remember reading somewhere on here how two members talked about how they always, always have the exact opposite views of the same books. Each and every single time I just can't remember who they were.

[pontalba]

Glad that you enjoyed The Martian  . I'd forgot that I had it on my e-reader.....I think i bought it after pontalba's review some time this year .  

 

LOL  Yeah, it's definitely one of the best this year!

[pontalba]

Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum - Mark Stevens

 

I’ve had this book on my list for quite a while. I think it may be one of the first Kindle books I bought (it may have been a freebie at the time), but only now just getting around to reading it.

 

It is a very detailed description of Broadmoor in Victorian times (as the title says ). It describes the physical structure of the building – how it is laid out, with the wings dividing male from female patients, and high-risk from low-risk patients.

There are also commentaries on life for patients in general – how many meals a day and what was served at those meals, how often they were bathed, etc.

A few chapters were dedicated to it’s most famous inmates – Richard Dadd, William Chester Minor, Edward Oxford – which were an interesting read.

 

Then the book talked about the employees, with detailed background about the Superintendants and how the hospital flourished and changed under each of them.

There was also chapters on the babies that were born in Broadmoor and what happened to them, as well as some escape stories.

 

It was a very interesting read. Recommended.

 

4/6

 

Good review, I like the sound of it. 

[bobblybear]

 

Some emoticons have been removed....

 

Yep, a lot of funny things in the book, but also stuff that leaves you speechless. It makes you wonder how some people manage to stay alive and live a daily life, seeming so moronic

 

A rather low rating, though, did you not enjoy it?

I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Although it was humorous in some places, it wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. I thought it was too short as well (especially for the price they are charging).

 

 

I've also only read The Wasp Factory by Banks, and I have this book on my TBR and it's one of the books I really want to like. I'm now fearing I might not fare that well with it . And before you say that it's just you and I might do well with the book, all I can say is that the difficulties you describe having with the book are ones that I'm pretty sure I'll find difficult, too.

Yeah, it's a shame because I really thought I would like it and I'd heard so many positive reviews about it and known people who raved about it. Many people who gave it low ratings on Amazon said the same I did - that it's confusing to keep up with the multiple timelines and flashbacks - and half the time I just had no idea what was going on. I'd push it further down the TBR list, especially if you have others that you are sure you'd like better.   The unfortunate thing about it is that it starts so promisingly. It has a brilliant opening chapter, and by the time you realise that you have no idea what is going on, you are about a third of the way through, so you have the dilemna of 'Do I give up?' or 'Do I carry on?'

 

 

 

I didn't like Libby at the start, either, but she's obviously had a rough life so she can't be blamed that much. I agree with you, Flynn has great talent for these sorts of thrillers. I'm definitely going to look out for her future novels!

 

 

Did you see the twists coming? That there were two killers? Man, it came out of nowhere. Very good twists!

 

 

No, I didn't see the twists at all, though I figured there must be one because it's Gillian Flynn.

 

 

I was very impressed and I will keep an eye out for her other books. I do like a good mind-twisting thriller, and like you say she does have such a talent for it!

 

 

Glad that you enjoyed The Martian. I'd forgot that I had it on my e-reader.....I think i bought it after pontalba's review some time this year.

I think I bought it after pontalba's review as well, and I remember it was just before it went up in price as it was gaining popularity.

 

 

I commented to BB in the Maze Runner thread that BB and I read the same books a lot, but mostly come out with quite different opinions of them

Yeah, that tends to happen a lot. I also notice that I change my mind a lot as I'm reading a book. Like, I will start off quite excited and enthusiastic but my opinion tends to change the further along that I read. I think I'm just so excited to start a new book (sad, yah? ) that I feel so positive about it, and it's only as it sinks in that I start getting more critical. In general I think I'm more critical in my reviews this year than I was last year.

 

 

That sometimes happens! I remember reading somewhere on here how two members talked about how they always, always have the exact opposite views of the same books. Each and every single time I just can't remember who they were.

Pontalba and I have mentioned a few times that we have differing views on many books. Books I loved, she hated, and vice versa (The Crimson Petal and the White, World War Z, and Wolf Hall are the ones I remember). But there are others that we both enjoy, like The Martian, and another one mentioned recently that I can't recall.

 

 

Good review, I like the sound of it.

Thanks. It was a very good read, detailed but not heavy going, considering the subject matter.

[Marie H]

LOL  Yeah, it's definitely one of the best this year!

  ....I also have Christopher Priest's Inverted World still on my TBR list too...

[bobblybear]

Picture Perfect - Jodi Picoult

The book opens with Cassie Barrett slumped against a gravestone, seemingly dead. Actually, she’s alive but suffering from amnesia, and a few physical injuries. Outside of the cemetery the first person she sees is a police officer who takes her to the police station.

 

Soon she is identified as the wife of Hollywood mega-star, Alex Rivers. Cassie has no memory of what led to her amnesia and goes home with Alex in the hopes that it will trigger memories. However, soon it appears that their marriage isn’t the happy one that everyone assumes it to be, for Alex has terrible temper and jealous streak.

 

The first half of the book was interesting, as it developed the two main characters - Cassie and Alex. It gave a background to their lives - from childhood - and how they eventually met, and the first years of their marriage. Unfortunately the second half seemed to take a very different direction and it almost seemed like I was reading a separate novel. I did struggle with the last part of the book, and the ending was quite weak and felt rushed, like it was done to quickly end the novel. It was also somewhat predictable.

 

It is typical of Picoult to tackle morally ambiguous situations, or rather to made a black and white situation seem morally ambiguous, and that is what I look forward to in her books. This one is no different, and you can see things from both characters point of view, but I still wanted to slap Cassie and tell her to wake up. Not one of Picoult's best, but still worth a read.

 

3/6

[Athena]

It's a shame this wasn't as good as some of her other books. I'm glad you still enjoyed it though. I have the book on my TBR, though I don't think it'll be the next Picoult book I read (but then again, I'm not sure yet which one it'll be, it'll depend on my mood).

[bobblybear]

Night Walking – Sarah Moss

 

I gave up on this book very soon after starting it; I don’t think I made it through even a quarter of it. I disliked the main character so much and the way the story was told through her eyes, so had to drop it in favour of so many others on my TBR that are patiently waiting to be read.

 

Now, the premise itself sounds interesting. Anna (and her two young children) has followed her husband to a lone island in the Hebrides in order for him to do his job, which involves studying puffins. Anna is an insomniac, and is in the process of writing a book. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem to be doing a whole lot except for having very unpleasant thoughts about her youngest (Moth – what kind of rubbish name is that? ), and constant disagreements with her husband. Then there is her 7 year old son -  named Raphael – who is obsessed with death and misery, and is constantly rattling off silly morbid statements that were tedious from the start.

 

Anna finds the skeleton of a baby in their garden, and this sets off events that I can’t tell you about because I didn’t get that far.    I disliked the woman and felt uncomfortable reading about her thoughts of harming her baby. Just ugh.

 

1/6

[bobblybear]

Cockpit Confidential – Patrick Smith

 

Patrick Smith is a pilot, and the author of the Ask The Pilot website, in which he answers readers questions about all aspects of flying. This book is an extension of that website, but with additional material (something like 75% extra material).

 

He has written a very detailed, and interesting book on all the common (and some uncommon) questions about flying, both on commercial jets and regional passenger jets.

 

The typical topics covered are –

• How planes actually fly
• What is turbulence, and how does it affect planes?
• What are some of the odd noises that you hear?
• How much do pilots earn and what is the typical career path?
• His view on various planes (mostly from aesthetic point of view)
• The statistics around air disasters and acts of terrorism.

 

It’s very comprehensive and covers so many areas. It is written in Question and Answer format, with a lot of the answers spanning several pages. He answers the questions in a relaxed and easy to read, almost conversational style, with a little bit of humour as well.

 

I've forgotten a lot of what he has covered - because the answers are so specific and detailed - but it's something I will refer back to if the need arises.

 

Highly recommended if you are curious about any aspect of air travel.

 

4/6

[bobblybear]

I've read 63 books this year (not including the ones I gave up on). I think that is the most I have read in recent years, so I'm happy with that. Unforunately though, I've bought 84 books this year, so that means my TBR pile is even larger!

[Athena]

I've read 63 books this year (not including the ones I gave up on). I think that is the most I have read in recent years, so I'm happy with that. Unforunately though, I've bought 84 books this year, so that means my TBR pile is even larger!

Congratulations on reading 63 books !

[bobblybear]

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with that number.

[Janet]

Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum - Mark Stevens

 

I’ve had this book on my list for quite a while. I think it may be one of the first Kindle books I bought (it may have been a freebie at the time), but only now just getting around to reading it.4/6

This was the first book I downloaded when I got my first Kindle and I thought it was great too.

[pontalba]

  ....I also have Christopher Priest's Inverted World still on my TBR list too...

 

I could swear I've read this.........found my review from last year...here is the link.   http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/11186-pontalbas-2013-reading-list/?p=372052

 

I've read 63 books this year (not including the ones I gave up on). I think that is the most I have read in recent years, so I'm happy with that. Unforunately though, I've bought 84 books this year, so that means my TBR pile is even larger!

 

That's great, BB!   Even the purchase number.....The odds are evening out.