Bobblybear's Book List - 2014

[Karsa Orlong]

Shame you didn't enjoy Dune so much, bobbly    Well done for sticking with it, though

[bobblybear]

The Final Winter: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel - Iain Rob Wright

 

Set on the night of a massive snowstorm (about 19 inches fall overnight), the story follows a group of people trapped together by the snow in a pub in England. Soon, their mobiles and landlines begin to lose power, the temperature drops even further, and a few of them begin to see hallucinations.  When a group of them go outside to see if they can make their way to safety, they come across something that makes them realise that things are a bit more sinister than a simple snowstorm.

 

I was a bit disappointed by this, as I thought it be a straight end-of-the-word story, similar to The Day After Tomorrow (which, funnily, is actually referenced in the book). Instead, it was a supernatural horror story, which wasn't what I was expecting or hoping to read. A lot of it didn't ring true, in the actions and dialogue of the characters. It's one of those books where everyone manages to make witty asides to their friends, even while their other friends are being butchered in horrific ways in front of them. That kind of thing annoys me in books; if horrific things are happening, then most people would have a shock-induced response.

 

Also, in a couple of parts of the book, the characters went off on rants about foreigners and people on benefits. To me, it didn't fit in with the character and felt like it was the author pushing his view point.

 

Those criticisms aside, it was a quick and easy read, but also ultimately forgettable.

 

2/6

[bobblybear]

Shame you didn't enjoy Dune so much, bobbly    Well done for sticking with it, though

 

Well, I liked the first section of it, and at least it's off my TBR pile, so not a total loss.

[Karsa Orlong]

Harsh!

[Athena]

Thanks Athena. It's quite different from the film....I think I prefer the book, but then again I usually do.

x

I usually do too, so that sounds promising for the book .

 

Great reviews, BB ! It's a shame you didn't like most of the reads so much though. I'm glad you finished Dune so we can talk about it in the Reading Circle. It is a complicated book indeed.

[Alexi]

Great reviews! I have both the Shining and A Monster Calls on my TBR, so interested to read what you thought of those. I have never read a Stephen King, and am nervous about it in case I have hyped him up too much! But I really must change that soon. 

 

Interesting to read a note of caution for the Patrick Ness, I have heard so many good things about it. 

[bobblybear]

Thanks, Alexi. I'm in the minority for not loving A Monster Calls....most people seem to really take to it.

[bobblybear]

Finished The Slap, and I've just updated my purchases for the year. Sixteen so far, which isn't too bad. At least they are all books that I really want to read. I've also read sixteen books so far this year, so that kind of evens itself out (wasn't a conscious planned thing either).

 

I'm struggling what to read next. I have two non-fictions on the go (one I have been reading since before Christmas), but they are quite heavy reading and I'm in the mood for something light.

 

 

[Athena]

That's very good, that you bought just as much as you read !

 

Maybe it'd be good to start a fictional, light book then, because reading something heavy non-fictiony while you're in the mood for something light.. well for me that normally doesn't work out all too well. I hope you can find something nice to read. What are the non-fiction books you've been reading? (apologies if you've said this elsewhere, I don't remember it )

[bobblybear]

I've ended up starting Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Not too heavy but not too light either.

 

The non-fiction ones I am reading are The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth, and Stuffed and Starved: From Food To Fork: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System by Raj Patel. Both are very good, but they are the kind of books you almost have to study, rather than read, because they are so in depth. As interesting as they are, it makes me delay reading them, because I'm busy enough with my study books as it is.

[Anna Begins]

I've ended up starting Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Not too heavy but not too light either.

 

Oooohhh- that's on my TBR list for the year.  Looking forward to see how you like it!

[bobblybear]

It took me a little while to find my place with it (about 15% through). Part of the problem was that I thought it was a sequel to Case Histories, and so as I was reading it I was trying to work out how they would be connected (it was really confusing me because the books are set decades apart ). Finally realised they have nothing to do with each other, so I can now stop puzzling over it.   There's a lot to be said for skimming a synopsis before you start reading!

[Athena]

I've ended up starting Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Not too heavy but not too light either.

 

The non-fiction ones I am reading are The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth, and Stuffed and Starved: From Food To Fork: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System by Raj Patel. Both are very good, but they are the kind of books you almost have to study, rather than read, because they are so in depth. As interesting as they are, it makes me delay reading them, because I'm busy enough with my study books as it is.

x

Those non-fiction books sound heavy indeed (though they do sound interesting!). I hope you like Life After Life, Case Histories is on my wishlist.

[pontalba]

The Final Winter: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel - Iain Rob Wright

 

Set on the night of a massive snowstorm (about 19 inches fall overnight), the story follows a group of people trapped together by the snow in a pub in England. Soon, their mobiles and landlines begin to lose power, the temperature drops even further, and a few of them begin to see hallucinations.  When a group of them go outside to see if they can make their way to safety, they come across something that makes them realise that things are a bit more sinister than a simple snowstorm.

 

I was a bit disappointed by this, as I thought it be a straight end-of-the-word story, similar to The Day After Tomorrow (which, funnily, is actually referenced in the book). Instead, it was a supernatural horror story, which wasn't what I was expecting or hoping to read. A lot of it didn't ring true, in the actions and dialogue of the characters. It's one of those books where everyone manages to make witty asides to their friends, even while their other friends are being butchered in horrific ways in front of them. That kind of thing annoys me in books; if horrific things are happening, then most people would have a shock-induced response.

 

Also, in a couple of parts of the book, the characters went off on rants about foreigners and people on benefits. To me, it didn't fit in with the character and felt like it was the author pushing his view point.

 

Those criticisms aside, it was a quick and easy read, but also ultimately forgettable.

 

2/6

 

Boy, great review!  When I read the first para, I thought....Yays!  But the rest of it had the same effect as to you when I read the rest...What a shame!  Great potential.  After all, they had enough booze to last quite a while.........  

[Devi]

I've seen Case Histories mentioned a few times, who wrote it? Just curious to check it out.

Edited March 16, 2014 by Devi

[Athena]

If I'm not mistaken, it's written by Kate Atkinson .

[pontalba]

I've seen Case Histories mentioned a few times, who wrote it? Just curious to check it out.

 

 

If I'm not mistaken, it's written by Kate Atkinson .

 

 

Yup, that's it.

[Devi]

If I'm not mistaken, it's written by Kate Atkinson .

  

 

Yup, that's it.

Thank you both.

[bobblybear]

Boy, great review!  When I read the first para, I thought....Yays!  But the rest of it had the same effect as to you when I read the rest...What a shame!  Great potential.  After all, they had enough booze to last quite a while.........  

 

Thanks, Pontalba. Yes, I was disappointed with the direction the story took, but at least it was an easy enough read.

[bobblybear]

The Earth Hums in B Flat - Mari Strachan

Set in a small town in Wales in the 1950’s, Gwennie is a 12 year old girl, who has a somewhat strained home life with her parents and sister. Gwennie is convinced she can fly in her sleep, and the book occasionally provides evidence that she can (or that she at least has visions in her sleep). When a local man – the father of two children she babysits – goes missing, she sets out to find where he is and what happened to him. This ends up unraveling secrets relating to her own family, which will change her life and her view on the world.

The first half of the book is quite slow as it’s mostly the introduction of the characters and a look into their lives. I did find myself wondering if there was actually a plot that ran through the whole book, or if it was just about Gwennie’s life. However once things start happening, they really start happening, and a tremendous amount is packed in to the second half of the book. After the turning point - just over half way through the book - it really did become difficult to put down. Fortunately the book is a manageable 350-odd pages, so there isn't a huge amount of exposition before the story kicks in.

Gwennie is a likeable character, and as events unfold you realise how much she has to deal with at such a young age. There are some painful moments from Gwennie’s childhood, such as being rejected by her best friend, and the rumours surrounding her mother, but all through it she still remains a plucky and enthusiastic character.

 

Well worth a read.

 

4/6

[bobblybear]

First and Only - Peter Flannery

 

Psimon is the first and only true psychic. When he was 8 he witnessed the murder of a local priest, who was also a family friend. Fourteen years on, the murderer is still on the loose and still doing his killing. Psimon has visions of his own death at the hands of the killer and hires someone to protect him, in order to avoid the inevitable. In steps a former soldier, Steve Brennus, who is going through a personal turmoil of his own and is somewhat sceptical of Psimons claims. Via the James Randi Institute, they set out to claim that Psimon is a true psychic and thus hope to draw the killer in.

 

Well, this was a pretty run-of-the-mill thriller. I guess Psimon being a genuine psychic was a bit of an interesting change, but there wasn’t much remarkable about this book. There weren't any major plot twists, and it was all rather 'ploddy'. That's not to say it wasn’t good, but it just didn’t stand out as different from the many others in it's genre.

 

2.5/6

[bobblybear]

The First Time: The True Tales of Virginity Lost and Found - Kate Monro

As the title says, Kate Munro set out to interview people from all walks of life about how they lost their virginity. It isn’t a titillating book, despite the subject matter. There aren’t really any graphic details; it’s more about the individual persons circumstances and how they felt and thought at the time. I suppose in a way it’s like a social commentary of sorts, as the people telling their stories come from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, with differing views on sex and relationships. The book also covers people from many different decades and that was probably the most interesting part, to see how people's attitudes have changed over time.

 

All in all, a pretty interesting read.

 

3/6

[bobblybear]

The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas

During a barbeque hosted by Hector and Aisha for their friends and family, an unruly 3 year old child is slapped by one of the adults, after misbehaving one too many times. Following this incident, The Slap then has eight chapters, each telling a point of view of eight people who were at the barbeque.

 

There was a lot of publicity about this book a few years ago, and I had been waiting to read it for a while. I managed to borrow it via Amazon Prime, and I'm glad I did, rather than buying it as it's not a book I would read again.

 

So.....where do I start? I pretty much hated all the characters. I thought they were poorly written, far too black and white, with everyone having a very extreme personality. There were no 'ordinary' people, and so it was very difficult to relate to them as genuine people, let alone be interested in any of their thoughts or opinions. It's as though the author wanted to show the two most extreme points of view about corporal punishment, and created a bunch of ridiculously over the top characters in order to express his opinion through them. I thought there was a little bit of bias as well; the impression I got was that everyone in favour of the slap was described as depraved in all other areas of their life (spousal abuse, drugs, affairs), while the anti-slappers ( ) were the calmer and more sane characters. There was also far too much descriptive sex for my liking - very graphic and I thought unnecessary, told almost for shock value.

 

I don't think the controversy about the book was over the subject matter, but rather the extremes of the characters. I found myself quite angry as I was reading it, because of how these people behaved. It was like a description of life with all the nice bits taken out of it.

The book itself was mediocre. It’s described on the cover as thought-provoking, but not for me. Frankly I forgot about it as soon as I finished it. Perhaps I missed the point of the book, but that is perfectly fine by me!

 

Give it a miss, I'd say.

 

1.5/6

[pontalba]

Wow, exact opposite reaction to mine.     I read it in October of 2012, and gave it a 4/5.  I think, though, that I actually liked the extreme(ness) of the characters.  And, it's true that there wasn't any character to say I thought of as a "good person". 

 

It's such an extreme and hot topic, I guess Tsiolkas felt he had to be extreme with his characters, sort of like a stage play.  Every gesture is exaggerated. 

 

Actually, the strong feelings the book engendered in me are what kept me (so far) from reading another of his, I think it's called Barracuda. 

[bobblybear]

If I remember rightly, we tend to have very differing views on a lot of books anyway (The Crimson Petal and the White, and World War Z....there was another one, but I can't recall it at the moment).

 

Yes, Barracuda is his other book. It has also received mixed reviews, but not as many negative ones as The Slap. I wouldn't mind reading it just to see what the characters are like and if they are as vile as the ones from The Slap.