Claire's book list 2014

[Alexi]

NN is so involving isn't it?! The trouble is, so is the (long) Game of Thrones and I find it impossible to switch. I might just finish NN all in one go early next week.

[chesilbeach]

Unfortunately, my cold came back with a vengeance for another couple of days, but I feel a bit better again today.  I've finished Meet Me Under The Mistletoe and I'm now going to settle down to the last instalment of Nicholas Nickleby.

[chesilbeach]

I was a very lucky girl and received the following books for Christmas:

 

The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera
Imaginary by A. F. Harrold
Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan
The Child's Elephant by Rachel Campbell-Johnston
Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr
Scarlet Ibis by Gill Lewis
The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
The Thornthwaite Inheritance by Gareth P. Jones
Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough

The Tent, The Bucket and Me by Emma Kennedy

 

I haven't updated this for a while, but I also found a Persephone book in the charity shop last week, The World that was Ours by Hilda Bernstein, and I went into the bookshop to collect some books I'd ordered for gifts before Christmas, and I finally gave in to buying Heap House by Edward Carey.

[chesilbeach]

Actually, here's a close up of my books I received as presents: 

 

[poppyshake]

Ooh .. I very nearly bought you Heap House  Glad I didn't now (though Santa did leave some things with me for you Claire .. he meant me to pass them on to you before now but I haven't been a very good elf .. probably go on the naughty list now   )

Love your books Claire .. impressive haul! I've long had my eye on The London Eye Mystery and The Tent, the Bucket and Me .. also Heap House looks phenomenal, I can tell from the cover it's going to be great

They'll keep you occupied for a while xx 

[nursenblack]

Scarlet Ibis looks really good.  At first I thought is was the short story The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst.  I wonder if it's based on it. 

I'm definitely adding The Imaginary to my wishlist.  I love that cover.

 

Happy reading!

Edited December 27, 2014 by nursenblack

[Athena]

I hope you enjoy all your new books, Claire !

[Anna Begins]

Merry Christmas and Happy reading!

[chesilbeach]

Ooh .. I very nearly bought you Heap House  Glad I didn't now (though Santa did leave some things with me for you Claire .. he meant me to pass them on to you before now but I haven't been a very good elf .. probably go on the naughty list now   )

Love your books Claire .. impressive haul! I've long had my eye on The London Eye Mystery and The Tent, the Bucket and Me .. also Heap House looks phenomenal, I can tell from the cover it's going to be great

They'll keep you occupied for a while xx 

 

I've picked up Heap House so many times, but this time I just couldn't resist. Besides, I have to support my new local bookshop, don't I?

 

OH did his usual job of picking a bunch of children's books he wants to read himself, so it's a good job I like them too!  I've been wanting to read The London Eye Mystery too, so that was a great choice, and The Tent, The Bucket and Me was one I'd put on my wish list for my friend to select from, so I'm dead chuffed with that one too.

 

It's a bit odd, Kay, but Father Christmas left some presents for you at my house! We'll just have to meet up for a cup of coffee to swap.

[chesilbeach]

Scarlet Ibis looks really good.  At first I thought is was the short story The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst.  I wonder if it's based on it. 

I'm definitely adding The Imaginary to my wishlist.  I love that cover.

 

Happy reading!

 

I've read a couple of other books by Gill Lewis, and she's a vet by trade, but writes children's books with an animal theme - the ones I've read have been about conserving endangered and threatened species and exposing animal cruelty, but in a way that children can understand.  She's a very good writer, and I bought OH another of her books, so we obviously have both found an author we want to read more of!

 

I'm going to start The Imaginary today, but have no idea what it's about, so it'll be a (hopefully) nice surprise!

[chesilbeach]

I'm so far behind with my reviews, that I'm going to try and just write a few quick notes so that I can catch up before the end of the year.
 
Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):
A sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night in New York.  Nick and Norah are both suffering from broken hearts. So when Nick sees the girl who dumped him walk in with a new guy he asks the strange girl next to him to be his girlfriend for the next five minutes.  Norah would do anything to avoid conversation with the not-friend girl who dumped Nick, and get over the Evil Ex whom Norah never quite broke up with. And so she agrees.
 
What follows is an epic first date between two people who are just trying to figure out who they want to be – and where the next great band is playing. 
 
Review:
This is the book I wish I'd had when I was a teenager … in fact, I wish I'd had some nights out with just a little of the excitement they have in this book!  It's fun and funny, but honest and real, and it's the book I had hoped Catcher in the Rye would be.  I loved the alternating chapters between the two characters and it felt contemporary without trying too hard to use teenage language which might date too quickly.  Very enjoyable.

[chesilbeach]

The Moon's A Balloon by David Niven
Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):
Takes readers back to David Niven's childhood days, his humiliating expulsion from school and to his army years and wartime service. After the war, he returned to America and there came his Hollywood success in films such as "Wuthering Heights" and "Around the World in 80 Days".
 
Review:
I'm not a big reader of biographies and memoirs, particularly celebrity ones, but a friend recommended the David Niven books and this one was on offer, so I thought I'd give it a go.  I actually really enjoyed it.  I loved that he told his story from being a young boy and carried on through his army career before he made it to Hollywood, as well as then some show business stories as well.  A good ripping yarn!

[chesilbeach]

Idiopathy by Sam Byers

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):

Katherine has given up trying to be happy. Her cynical wit repels the people she wants to attract, and attracts the people she knows she should repel. Her ex Daniel, meanwhile, isn’t sure that he loves his new girlfriend. But somehow not telling her he loves her has become synonymous with telling her that he doesn’t love her, meaning that he has to tell her he loves her just to maintain the status quo.

 

When their former friend Nathan returns from a stint in a psychiatric ward to find that his mother has transformed herself into bestselling author and Twitter sensation ‘Mother Courage’ – Katherine, Daniel and Nathan decide to meet to heal old wounds. But will a reunion end well? Almost certainly not.

 

My thoughts:

I didn't finish this book.  I think I read about 60 or so pages, but I just didn't like any of the characters, it didn't suit my sense of humour, and I just wasn't enjoying it, so I abandoned it.  Not for me.

[chesilbeach]

How To Be Both by Ali Smith
Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):
How to be both is a novel all about art's versatility. Borrowing from painting's fresco technique to make an original literary double-take, it's a fast-moving genre-bending conversation between forms, times, truths and fictions. There's a renaissance artist of the 1460s. There's the child of a child of the 1960s. Two tales of love and injustice twist into a singular yarn where time gets timeless, structural gets playful, knowing gets mysterious, fictional gets real - and all life's givens get given a second chance.

My thoughts:
As usual, I find it hard to put into words what I feel about Ali Smith's books. Her writing is unique, and this book is split into to halves and in the paper format, half the books have been published with the renaissance story first and the contemporary story second, and the other half published with the stories reversed. Smith plays not only with the structure of the novel, but with identity and what makes us what we are. She also looks at art and makes you think about not only the processes involved in creating pieces of art, but also what it means to the viewer of the finished pieces. I loved, loved, loved this book. I always find her writing challenging but never a challenge to read, if that makes sense. I'm probably blinkered because I adore her work, but this is definitely going to be up there with my favourites of her work.

[Athena]

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist is on my wishlist. I'm currently reading another book by the authors, Dash & Lily's Book of Dares which I'm enjoying so far. I'm glad you enjoyed Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist . Nice reviews !

[chesilbeach]

The Horologican by Mark Forsyth

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):

The Horologicon (or book of hours) gives you the most extraordinary words in the English language, arranged according to the hour of the day when you really need them.

 

Do you wake up feeling rough? Then you’re philogrobolized. Pretending to work? That’s fudgelling, which may lead to rizzling if you feel sleepy after lunch, though by dinner time you will have become a sparkling deipnosophist.

 

My thoughts:

Great fun for anyone who loves words, this book will give you a whole new vocabulary to sprinkle into your conversation … not really, no-one will have a clue what you're talking about, but it's good fun to think you know something that everyone else doesn't! A good book to dip in and out of.

[chesilbeach]

Hell's Belles by Paul Magrs

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):

Penny is running away from a life of domestic strife and into mysterious Whitby – where she hopes to find herself. But in her quest for self-discovery, Penny may have stumbled on something far more sinister: the gateway to hell. For Whitby is no ordinary seaside resort. The quaint façade of coffee shops and tea dances conceals a magnet for dark and dangerous forces, drawing in and spewing out all kinds of monsters. And all that keeps the evil at bay are Brenda and Effie – two very unusual old ladies.

 

When a film crew comes to town to remake the sixties schlock horror movie Get Thee Inside Me, Satan, Brenda and Effie suspect something strange is afoot. Female lead Karla Sorenson is reprising her role and she doesn’t look like she’s aged a day. Surely that’s not possible? Then there are the disturbing rumours surrounding the original movie – a cult classic that is, quite literally, spell-binding. As events spool out of control, Penny’s new boss Robert draws her deeper into the movie’s peculiar mystery. But can it be stopped before all hell breaks loose?

 

My thoughts:

I love Brenda and Effie! I think I've enjoyed each book more as the series goes on, and this one was another funny and a bit scary, and was a perfect for the Hallowe'en read-a-thon (yes, that's how far behind I am with my reviews!!!) as the final act was set over the Hallowe'en weekend. Very British, a bit eccentric and a brilliantly fantastical story with it's feet firmly planted on the ground. Cracking stuff.

[chesilbeach]

Gold by Dan Rhodes

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):

Miyuki Woodward, lover of pints and Pot Noodles, has been spending holidays in the same Welsh seaside town for years. She loves the wet walks, she loves The Anchor and most of all she loves the pub-quiz. This year, following an act of raw creativity involving some cans of gold spray paint, Miyuki will take part in the most turbulent events the village has seen since Tall Mr Hughes returned from the pub toilet without remembering to button up.

 

My thoughts:

I read this one thanks to Kay, Sari and Kylie, and it was a fantastic read. I'm not sure that much really happens in it, but it's definitely another lovely little glimpse into the eccentricity of the British, and had a lovely ambiguous ending that I think could be read in a couple of different ways. It just makes me smile when I think back on it, so that can only be a good thing!

[chesilbeach]

Grace Williams Says It Loud by Emma Henderson

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):

This isn't an ordinary love story. But then Grace isn't an ordinary girl. 'Disgusting,' said the nurse. And when no more could be done, they put her away, aged eleven. On her first day at the Briar Mental Institute, Grace meets Daniel. He sees a different Grace: someone to share secrets and canoodle with, someone to fight for. Debonair Daniel, who can type with his feet, fills Grace's head with tales from Paris and the world beyond. This is Grace's story: her life, its betrayals and triumphs, disappointment and loss, the taste of freedom; roses, music and tiny scraps of paper. Most of all, it is about the love of a lifetime.

 

My thoughts:

This was a book group choice and I would never have read it if it hadn't been given to me. I can't say I enjoyed it, as it's quite disturbing and unsettling to read, but I am glad I've read it. It proved to be book that caused the most discussion we've had at our group for a long time, and I certainly added fuel to the fire by saying that I felt there was no development in the voice of Grace throughout the book, and this didn't ring true for me, but there was a lot of discussion around whether she would have developed. I guess you can't ask for more from a book for a group discussion than to provide many talking points and provoke a wide range of feelings from readers!

[chesilbeach]

Cat Out Of Hell by Lynne Truss

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):

The scene: a cottage on the coast on a windy evening. Inside, a room with curtains drawn. Tea has just been made. A kettle still steams. Under a pool of yellow light, two figures face each other across a kitchen table. A man and a cat. The story about to be related is so unusual yet so terrifyingly plausible that it demands to be told in a single sitting. The man clears his throat, and leans forward, expectant. 'Shall we begin?' says the cat ...

 

My thoughts:

I took a chance on this one, as I knew it was published under the Hammer name, and I'm not good with horror, but actually, it was a quick read, full of humour as well as a bit scary, and took some unexpected turns which kept me on my toes. Not too frightening for me, and an enjoyable read.

[chesilbeach]

Christmas Carol by Michele Gorman

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):

Carol hates Christmas. Being recently dumped, she’s not crazy about weddings either. So her sister Marley’s nuptials, over the Christmas weekend, are making her positively Scrooge-like. When she arrives for the weekend at the stately home in rural Scotland to find her three ex-boyfriends in attendance, Carol has no choice but to face her ghosts to discover what really happened in those relationships, learning a lot about herself in the process. As the snow falls outside and the fire crackles in the hearth, might one of the wedding guests become the harbinger of Christmases to come?

 

The Reluctant Elf by Michele Gorman

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):

Single mother and extremely undomestic goddess, Lottie, has five days to become the ultimate B&B hostess to save her beloved Aunt Kate’s livelihood.

 

When Aunt Kate ends up in the hospital, Lottie and her seven-year-old daughter are called to rural Wales to stand in at the B&B. Without the faintest idea how to run a hotel (she can barely run her own life), Lottie must impress the picky hotel reviewer and his dysfunctional family who are coming to stay over Christmas. Without the rating only he can bestow, Aunt Kate will lose her livelihood.

 

But will Danny, the local taxi driver who she hires to help her, really be Santa’s little helper, or the Grinch who stole Christmas?

 

My thoughts:

These two books are both novellas, about 100 pages each, and were a perfect start to my Christmas reading. I loved both of the novellas, but as often happens, I wanted more! I definitely want to know about Aunt Kate as she sounded like she'd had a fascinating life, and want to know more about what happened to the B&B after the end of the story. Carol, from Christmas Carol is now in a full length novel called Perfect Girl and I've downloaded that to read.

 

Michele Gorman is an author I only started reading after she'd been a guest author on the forum, and I've really enjoyed reading her books. I think I've only got Perfect Girl left to read, but she has another new book out in February that I've pre-ordered.

[chesilbeach]

Christmas at Rosie Hopkins's Sweetshop and The Christmas Surprise by Jenny Colgan

 

My thoughts:

These two are the follow-ups to Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams, which I'd actually listened to on audiobook before starting to read the next book, so I had an immersion in Rosie's world for a while. I haven't given the synopsis, as it will give away spoilers to the previous books, but I'll just say I loved the escapism of these romcoms, and I love that Jenny Colgan writes believable, if romantic, stories that just take me to a warm and cosy place. Loved them.

[chesilbeach]

A Mourning Wedding by Carola Dunn

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):

Murders disturb a family wedding in this the thirteenth excellent mystery in the Daisy Dalrymple series.

 

My thoughts:

I've cut down the synopsis, as again, it gives spoilers to earlier events in the series. Another country house murder mystery of the 1920s, and a jolly good one too! I've read 13 of the series so far, so it's obvious I like them, and although there were a couple in the middle where the action moved to America that I didn't enjoy as much, on the whole, I love going back to visit Daisy and Alec and see what japes the've got themselves involved in each time. Ripping!

[chesilbeach]

Meet Me Under The Mistletoe by Abby Clements

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):

Childhood friends Laurie and Rachel used to be inseparable - but their lives have taken very different paths since they picked up their A-level results together. Now thirty-five, they have all but fallen out of touch; glamorous single girl Laurie is based in London and dedicated to her career in fashion; Rachel seemingly living the family idyll in Yorkshire.

 

But when Rachel's mother-in-law needs urgent treatment in London, and disasters at work and in her love life mean Laurie needs to flee, a house swap falls into place. Soon gentle Rachel is far from the village bake sales, braving the city's mean streets while trying to keep her marriage and family together; while Laurie attempts to work an Aga, befriend the wary village locals - and forget the man who seems intent on breaking her heart. Will their relationships survive this test? And will they make it home for Christmas?

 

My thoughts:

Yet another romcom, and another Christmas themed one at that! I had a stinking cold for most of December, and didn't want to read a lot of the time, and when I did, I just wanted something easy and comforting, and along with Jenny Colgan, Meet Me Under The Mistletoe did me the world of good. Nothing too taxing, although it was a bit emotional at times, and a world I wanted to escape to. A lovely book.

[chesilbeach]

The Thornthwaite Inheritance by Gareth P. Jones

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk):

Ovid and Lorelli Thornthwaite have been trying to kill each other for so long that neither twin can remember which act of attempted murder came first. But whoever struck first, trying to take each other's lives is simply what they do. Until one day a lawyer arrives at their house to take stock of its contents, and his accompanying son attracts their attention.

 

Soon a new battle evolves - one in which the twins have to work together to solve the mystery of their parents' deaths. Can Lorelli and Ovid overcome their old animosities, and will they ever get to finish that game of chess?

 

My thoughts:

My OH always buys me books for Christmas, most often books he'd want to read himself, and the last few years, it's been a selection of children's and YA books. This is the first of my books from this year, and it was a little cracker. It starts off as the two siblings against each other, but gradually comes around to them working together to try and figure out what happened to their parents. Twists and turns aplenty, and a well written story, I thoroughly enjoyed.