Kell's 2007 reading re-jig

[Kell]

As I can no longer add anything to some of my posts in my book blog thread, I'm moving it all over here and ditching the old one...

Mount To-Be-Read list

HERE.

Chunky Challenge list HERE.

Classics Challenge list HERE.

Modern Classics Challenge list HERE.

Olympic Challenge list HERE.

1001 Challenge list HERE.

If anyone's interested in finding out how I get on with the books as I read them, I'll only be making one post per book, so check back to the older posts too and you'll get my thoughts as I progress...

 

Currently Reading:

Orlando - Virginia Woolf (MC/1001)

Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy (audio) (Cl/1001)

 

My Wish List (books I don't yet have, but will get when I can):

Kelley Armstrong - Exit Strategy

Kelley Armstrong - Personal Demon (out 2008)

Christopher Brookmyre - Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks (out Aug 2007)

Gideon Defoe - The Pirates! In an Adventure with Communists

Ellen Dugan - Cottage Witchery

Charlaine Harris � Dead as a Doornail

Charlaine Harris � Definitely Dead

Charlaine Harris - Grave Sight

Stuart MacBride - (whatever he calls his next novel!)

Terry Pratchett - Once More* With Footnotes

Markus Zusak - The Book Thief

[Kell]

January:

1. The Winter King - B Cornwell – 7

2. The Prestige - C Priest – 9

3. Chart Throb - B Elton – 8

4. The Eagle in the Sand - S Scarrow – 8

5. A Life's Music - A Makine – 6

6. An Open Vein - J M Warwick – 7

7. Adept - RFinn – 8

8. The Boleyn Inheritance - P Gregory – 8

9. The Debt - S Kernick (audio) - 8

10. Beautiful Ride - D Winslow (audio) - 7

11.Master of the Storm - J Flint (audio) - 7

12. Cold Cold Heart- K Slaughter (audio) - 5

13. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - M Twain (audio) - 6

14. The Picture of Dorian Gray - O Wilde (audio) - 7

 

February:

15. The Bookseller of Kabul - A Seierstad – 7

16. The Sexual Life of Catherine M - C Millet – 7

17. American Psycho - B E Ellis – 6

18. Black Dog - S Booth – 8

19. The Complete Maus - A Spiegelman – 8

20. Hogfather: The Illustrated Screenplay - V Jean- 6

21. The List - T Ison – 7

22. The Spur on the Plate - M Rylance – 7

23. The Alchemist - P Coelho – 8

24. My Man Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse (audio) - 7

25. The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells (audio) - 5

26. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - M Twain (audio) - 6

 

March:

27. Of Love and Other Demons - G G Márquez – 3

28. The Interpretation of Murder - J Rubenfeld – 7

29. The Vampire's Seduction - R Hart – 7

30. The Crystal Chalice - D E Hill & S Brandenburg – 7

31. Deception - R Alcorn – 8

32. Karma - H A Harvey – 8

33. Good Omens - T Pratchett & N Gaiman (audio) – 8

34. Moving Pictures - T Pratchett (audio) - 8

35. Right Ho, Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse (audio) - 8

The Man Who Knew Too Much – G K Chesterton

36. Northanger Abbey - J Austen (audio) - 8

37. The Prisoner of Zenda - A Hope (audio) - 6

[Kell]

April:

38. The Stone Pilot - P Stewart & C Riddell – 7

39. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Whaling - G Defoe – 8

40. Black Beauty - A Sewell – 7

41. Perfume - P Süskind – 8

42. The Tea Rose - J Donnelly – 9

43. The Rosary Girls - R Montanari – 8

44. Pride & Prejudice- J Austen – 8

45. Purple Hibiscus - A N Adichie – 7

46. The Fourth Bear - J Fforde – 8

47. Fluffy - S Lia – 7

48. Dress to Kill - E Izzard – 7

49. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - M Lewycka – 4

50. The Handmaid's Tale - M Atwood (audio) - 7

51. Nineteen Eighty-Four - G Orwell (audio) - 9

52. King Solomon's Mines - H R Haggard (audio) - 6

 

May:

53. The Separation - C Priest – 7

54. Daughters of the Doge - E Charles – 6

55. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - M O'Farrell – 8

56. The Bell Jar - S Plath – 2

57. Wideacre - P Gregory – 8

58. No Humans Involved - K Armstrong – 9

59. Broken Skin - S MacBride – 9

60. Jane Eyre - C Bronte – 8

61. Brave New World - A Huxley (audio) - 4

62. The Three Musketeers - A Dumas (audio) - 9

 

June:

63. The Eyre Affair - J Fforde – 8

64. The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger – 6

65. Blood and Chocolate - A C Klaus – 6

66. Rosemary's Baby - I Levin – 8

67. Disgrace - J. M. Coetzee – 6

68. The Thief of Always - C Barker – 6

69. The Robber Bride - M Atwood – 7

70. Faceless Killers - H Mankell – 7

71. Ronia, The Robber's Daughter - A Lindgren – 10

72. Follow Me Down - J Hearn – 6

73. The Plucker: An Illustrated Novel - Brom – 10

74. The Little Prince - A De Saint-Exupéry – 7

75. The Wizard of Oz - L. Baum – 7

76. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - R L Stevenson (audio) - 7

77. Carmilla - J S LeFanu (audio) - 7

78. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - W Irving (audio) - 8

79. The Hound of the Baskervilles - A C Doyle (audio) - 7

80.Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure - J Cleland (audio) - 8

Candide – Voltaire (audio)

81. The Sign of the Four - A C Doyle (audio) - 6

[Kell]

OC = Olympic Challenge

Ch = Chunk Challenge

Cl = Classics Challenge

MC = Modern Classics Challenge

1001 = from Peter Boxall's 1001 books to read before you die

PC = Posh Club

RC= Book Club Forum Reading Circle

CRC = BCF Comparative Reading Circle

Red = Unfinished

Green = 10/10

Blue = Currently reading

 

Books finished in July:

82. The Black Dahlia - J Ellroy – 4/10

83. Lady Chatterley's Lover - D. H. Lawrence – 7/10

84. Emlyn's Moon - J Nimmo – 8/10

85. The Chestnut Soldier - J Nimmo – 8/10

86. Dracula - B Stoker – 7/10

87. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling – 7/10

88. The Woman and the Ape - P Høeg – 5/10

89. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - M Spark – 3/10

90. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - M Twain (audio) – 7/10

91. The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin - M Leblanc (audio) - 8/10

 

Books finished in August:

92. The Name of the Rose - U Eco - 7/10

93. Mansfield Park – J Austen (audio) - 7/10

94. Anne of Green Gables - L M Montgomery - 7/10

95. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - L See - 8/10

96. Lost in a Good Book - J Fforde - 7/10

97. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - K Edwards - 8/10

Half of a Yellow Sun - C N Adichie - 5/10

 

Books finished in September:

98. Lovely Green Eyes - A Lustig - 6/10

99. Another Time and Place - S Grosser - 8/10

100. The Graduate - C Webb - 7/10

101. The Time Machine - H. G. Wells - 6/10

102. Wuthering Heights - E Bronte - 8/10

103. Stuck in Neutral - T Trueman - 10/10

104. The Secret Life of Bees - S M Kidd - 7/10

The Sooterkin - Tom Gilling

105. To Kill a Mockingbird - H Lee (audio) - 9/10

106. The Stand - S King - 10/10

[Kell]

OC = Olympic Challenge

Ch = Chunk Challenge

Cl = Classics Challenge

MC = Modern Classics Challenge

1001 = from Peter Boxall's 1001 books to read before you die

PC = Posh Club

RC= Book Club Forum Reading Circle

CRC = BCF Comparative Reading Circle

Red = Unfinished

Green = 10/10

Blue = Currently reading

 

Books finished in October

107. The Messenger - A. E. Shipley - 8/10

108. Carter Beats the Devil - Glen David Gold (Ch) - 8/10

109. Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift (audio) (Cl/1001) - 6/10

110. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Bronte (Cl/1001) - 8/10

111. Join Me - Danny Wallace - 7/10

112. The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Cl/1001) - 7/10

113. A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon (RC/Ch) - 7/10

114. The Talented Mr. Ripley - Patricia Highsmith (MC/1001) - 9/10

Books finished in November

Brick Lane - Monica Ali (PC/OC - Bangladesh)

115. Howards End - E. M. Forster (audio) (MC/1001) - 6/10

116. Lady Susan - Jane Austen (audio) (Cl) - 6/10

117. The Identity Factor - James Houston Turner - 8/10

118. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier (MC/1001) - 8/10

119. A Room With a View - E. M. Forster (audio) (MC/1001) - 8/10

120. Love and Freindship (sic) - Jane Austen (Cl) - 5/10

Books finished in December

121. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins (Cl/1001) - 7/10

122. Tarzan of the Apes - Edgar Rice Burroughs (MC/1001) - 8/10

123. Boy A - Jonathan Trigell (Library Thing Early Review) - 8/10

124. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickesn (Cl/1001) - 6/10

125. Orlando - Virginia Woolf (MC/1001) - UNFINISHED - 4/10

126. Framed ~ K Armstrong (instalment e-fiction on Kelley Armstrong's site) - 7/10

127. Becoming ~ K Armstrong (instalment e-fiction on Kelley Armstrong's site) - 7/10

[Kell]

Title: The Name of the Rose

Author: Umberto Eco

ISBN: 0330284142

Publisher: Picador

First Published: 1983

No. of pages:502

Started: 1/8/07

Finished: 8/8/07

Rating: 7/10

 

Synopsis:

In 1327, Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville, accompanied by young novice, Adso, arrives to investigate. His delicate mission is overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths that take place in the same number of days, and Brother William must turn detective to sort things out. This is not only a narrative of a murder investigation, but also a chronicle of the 14th century religious wars, a history of monastic orders, and a compendium of heretical movements.

 

Review:

This was my first experience of Eco's writing and I have to say that I was quite impressed! Yes, I'd already seen the film of the same name years ago (and loved it), but now I was seeing it afresh and picturing some of the characters much differently than they had been portrayed. There is a fair amount of Latin used throughout the narrative, but as it's all used within context, the majority of it is easily understood, and those phrases not immediately clear are translated within the following dialogue, so one doesn't feel at all confused by the use of language.

 

The language used is very descriptive and the plot is quite complex; add to this the sheer length of the novel and you have quite a heavy-going book, but it is one that is well-worth reading as it is an enjoyable journey from start to finish and I, for one, loved Eco's cleverness, both with plotting and characterisation, throughout.

[Kell]

Title: Mansfield Park

Author: Jane Austen

Source: Librivox.org

First Published: 1814

Running Time: 16hrs 3mins 24secs

Read By: Various

Started: 1/8/07

Finished: 5/9/07

Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

Taken from the poverty of her parents' home in Portsmouth, Fanny Price is brought up with her rich cousins at Mansfield Park, acutely aware of her humble rank and with her cousin Edmund as her sole ally. During her uncle's absence in Antigua, the Crawford's arrive in the neighbourhood bringing with them the glamour of London life and a reckless taste for flirtation. Mansfield Park is considered Jane Austen's first mature work and, with its quiet heroine and subtle examination of social position and moral integrity, one of her most profound.

 

Review:

Although this is possibly the most predictable of the Jane Austen novels I have thus far read, that predictability doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the story, the characters, or the writing itself. Austen’s style is, as every, wonderfully light, and she weaves this very familiar tale of a young girl from an average background living with her wealthy relatives with an ease that must make other authors weep for such talent.

 

Yes, I found myself anticipating the various changes in relationships and circumstances at ever turn, but I still wanted to read on for the sheer pleasure of experiencing it in Austen’s own words.

 

Fanny is, perhaps, a little too good to be true, but that makes her no less likeable (which is rather strange for me, as I tend to like my characters with more flaws than are evident in Miss Price!), and I found myself eagerly anticipating the moment when others would fully appreciate her and love her as she deserved.

 

If you haven’t read it already, do pick up a copy and be introduced to one of the sweetest characters ever written, presented in a style that could not be finer.

[Polka Dot Rock]

Priority books for the coming month:

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun (PC)

 

Kell, I thought this book was brilliant I hope you enjoy it when you get to it! (I posted my thoughts a couple of weeks ago: Review here)

 

The Name of the Rose - U Eco

I'll be keeping an eye out for your comments on this: I think we may be reading extracts from it for one of my MA courses...

[Kell]

I'm a bit worried about Half of a Yellow Sun as I read Purple Hibiscus a while back and was pretty unimpressed, despite all the accolades it seems to get - mostly I thought Adichie's style was rather flat - but I'm hoping this one will prove better.

 

I've very much enjoying The Name of the Rose so far. I saw the film several times years ago and loved it, and I always meant to read the book - I can't believe it's taken me this long to get round to it! My friend, Amy, very kindly loaned it to me.

[Freewheeling Andy]

I remember reading The Name Of The Rose ages ago. I thought it was a great book - and far less pretentious than the other Eco books I've read.

[Polka Dot Rock]

I'm a bit worried about Half of a Yellow Sun as I read Purple Hibiscus a while back and was pretty unimpressed...

 

Half of a Yellow Sun is a much better book than Purple Hibiscus I found Purple Hibiscus to be quite similar to a few other books I've read, whilst Half of a Yellow Sun felt like an original (to me). It's a war novel with a difference, I suppose!

[Kell]

I remember reading The Name Of The Rose ages ago. I thought it was a great book - and far less pretentious than the other Eco books I've read.

I've borrowed another Eco book from my Mam (I can't remember the name of it off-hand, but I think it's something like Baudolino), but I haven't put it on the list yet. I'm finding Rose to be a very slow, but very good and rewarding read so far (I'm not even 200 pages in yet, can you believe that?!). If the rest of it is as good as the first bit, then I'll be enjoying it to the last full stop.

[Kell]

Thought I'd just line up the books I'm taking on holiday with me (I can always take them down again if I don't read them, but as I'm scheduled to read them this month anyway, I'll probably leave them up will I get to them!)

[Kell]

Title: Half of a Yellow Sun

Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

ISBN: 9780007200283

Publisher: Harper Perennial

First Published: 2006

No. of pages: 433

Started: 23/8/07

Finished: UNFINISHED

Rating: 5 (for the part that I read)

 

Synopsis:

The lives of five characters are caught up in the extraordinary tumult of the Nigeria during the 1960s. Fifteen-year-old Ugwu is houseboy to Odenigbo, a university professor who sends him to school, and in whose living room Ugwu hears voices full of revolutionary zeal. Odenigbo's beautiful mistress, Olanna, a sociology teacher, is running away from her parents' world of wealth and excess; Kainene, her urbane twin, is taking over their father's business; and Kainene's English lover, Richard, forms a bridge between their two worlds. As we follow these intertwined lives through a military coup, the Biafran secession and the subsequent war, Adichie brilliantly evokes the promise, and intimately, the devastating disappointments that marked this time and place.

 

Review:

I just couldn't finish this book, try as I might - I couldn't get into it at all. Having read Purple Hibiscus earlier in the year, and having been assured that this second offering was much better, I had expected something more, but I found Half of a Yellow Sun to be far too fractured to enjoy it properly. Each time I started getting into the story, the point of view switched to a different character, so I was never on steady ground with any one of them. Then, the story switched from the early 60s to the late 60s, then back and forth between the two, so I couldn't keep the story straight either - I found it incredibly frustrating.

 

I was also disappointed that the one character I did want to "hear" (Kainene), was not one of those whose point of view was shown (instead we got her sister - Olanna, the houseboy of her sister's lover -Ugwu, and her own lover - an English man called Richard; none of whom I particularly liked). Not only that, but the relationship-side of the story was sadly predictable and I found myself anticipating events far in advance.

 

The only elements I did enjoy were the story of the civil war (which was very interesting), and the smattering of Igbo words used throughout - I found the language very beautiful and the way it was integrated into the dialogue was so clever that I found I could easily understand the meaning in the words, even where a translation was not provided. These, however, were not enough to make me persevere and plod through the rest of it and I left the last quarter unread with no curiosity to see how it ended.

[Kell]

Title: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Author: Kim Edwards

ISBN: 0143037145

Publisher: Penguin

First Published: 2005

No. of pages: 401

Started: 15/8/07

Finished: 22/8/07

Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

What would happen if you lost your child and she grew up without you? In 1964, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins, he immediately recognizes that one of them has Down Syndrome and makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse to take the baby away to an institution and to keep her birth a secret. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own. Compulsively readable and deeply moving, The Memory Keeper's Daughter is an astonishing tale of redemptive love.

 

Review:

This is one of the most touching tales I've read this year! The characters were beautifully written and the story was heartbreakingly wonderful. Seeing the twins grow up separately, watching them grown and learn, each with a different family and dissimilar set of circumstances, was something quite magical. Edwards has a lightness of touch that keeps it from ever becoming maudlin and the tone remains refreshingly light, whilst still portraying a very serious subject. I will look forward to seeing what else this writer will produce in the future, as I expect good things!

[Kell]

Title: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Author: Lisa See

ISBN: 0812968069

Publisher: Random House

First Published: 2005

No. of pages: 258

Started: 11/8/07

Finished: 12/8/07

Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

Set in nineteenth century China when girls had their feet bound and spent the rest of their lives in seclusion, illiterate, and isolated. In one remote county, women developed their own secret code, "nu shu" - meaning "women's writing" - the only gender-based written language to be found extant in the world. A very imaginative, original story, by a gifted storyteller.

Review:

Despite several very harrowing themes and scenes, Lisa See's portrayal of a very special relationship between two young Chinese girls is a work that radiates love, passion and friendship, as well as hardship and suffering, and the result is stunning. The intricate weaving of the story reflects the growing friendship between Lily and Snow Flower and I was completely drawn into their lives.

 

I was actually inspired to do some further research into the tradition of foot-binding as a result of reading this novel and find it intriguing (even while I find it very distasteful), and I will certainly be looking further into this period in Chinese history, as well as looking forward to many more offerings from this author!

[Kell]

Title: Anne of Green Gables

Author: L M Montgomery

ISBN: 1853261394

Publisher: Wordsworth Classics

First Published: 1908

No. of pages: 280

Started: 8/8/07

Finished: 10/8/07

Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

When Anne Shirley "erupts" into the Cuthberts's lives, they don't realize how fond they will become of the red-haired orphan. Both entertained and exasperated by her constant chatter and imaginings, they soon find it hard to remember what Green Gables was like without its adopted daughter.

Review:

I never would have read this book if it weren't for the Book Club Forum Reading Circle, as it never appealed to me, even as a child, but I am very glad I did, as it is absolutely enchanting! Although if I'd met Anne in person, I possibly would have found her constant chatter highly annoying, she has such a sunny and positive disposition that I think she's pretty much impossible to dislike! Watching her overcome obstacles and achieve goals, all with a smile on her face and a wonderful adventure on her mind, was some of the most fun reading I've had in a very long while.

 

There was quite a lot about the story that I could predict far, far in advance, but I simply didn't care - I wanted to read on anyway and was rather sad to finish it in the end!

[Kell]

Title: Lost in a Good Book

Author: Jasper Fforde

ISBN: 9780340733578

Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton

First Published: 1988

No. of pages: 371

Started: 13/8/07

Finished: 14/8/07

Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

Thursday Next, literary detective and newlywed is back to embark on an adventure that begins, quite literally on her own doorstep. It seems that Landen, her husband of four weeks, actually drowned in an accident when he was two years old. Someone, somewhere, sometime, is responsible. The sinister Goliath Corporation wants its operative Jack Schitt out of the poem in which Thursday trapped him, and it will do almost anything to achieve this - but bribing the ChronoGuard? Is that possible? Having barely caught her breath after The Eyre Affair, Thursday must battle corrupt politicians, try to save the world from extinction, and help the Neanderthals to species self-determination. Mastadon migrations, journeys into Just William, a chance meeting with the Flopsy Bunnies, and violent life-and-death struggles in the summer sales are all part of a greater plan. But whose? and why?

Review:

Jasper Fforde is fast becoming another favourite of mine due to his witty writing,clever characterisation and perfect plotting. Although the story is rather complicated, I never once got lost (after all, I had Miss Haversham to guide me!), and found that I was taking the title very literally - I really was lost is a very good book!

 

What was possibly most pleasantly surprising was that there were one or two references made to books that I had recently read, and which I was not expecting to crop up (such as The Little Prince) and I was tickled pink that I "got" the joke (for my previous venture into Fforde-dom with The Eyre Affair, I prepared by first reading Jane Eyre, as I knew it was an integral part of the plot).

 

There's also the added bonus that, in reading Fforde's Thursday Next series, I'm being inspired to try some of the classics I missed before!

[Kell]

Title: Lovely Green Eyes

Author: Arnošt Lustig

ISBN: 0099483548

Publisher: Vintage Classics

First Published: 2000

No. of pages: 248

Started: 1/9/07

Finished: 6/9/07

Rating: 6/10

 

Synopsis:

Fifteen-year-old Hanka Kaudersova has ginger hair and clear, green eyes. When her family is deported to Auschwitz, her mother, father and younger brother are sent to the gas chamber. By a twist of fate, Hanka is faced with a simple alternative: follow her family, or work in as SS brothel behind the eastern front. She chooses to live, her Aryan looks allowing her to disguise the fact that she is Jewish. As the German army retreats from the Russian front, Hanka battles cold, hunger, fear and shame, sustained by her hatred for the men she entertains, her friendship with the mysterious Estelle, and her fierce, burning desire for life. Lovely Green Eyes explores the compromises and sacrifices that an individual may make in order to survive, the way a woman can retain her identity in the face of appalling trauma, and the value of human life itself. This is a remarkable novel, which soars beyond nightmare, leaving the reader with a transcendent sense of hope.

Review:

Although very well written, this harrowing tale came across as being slightly “worthy”, almost as if Lustig were trying to push an agenda I couldn’t quite pinpoint. I never felt I fully got into the character of Hanka, and although I could sympathise with her plight, I couldn’t quite get an understanding of her as a person, nor with any of the other characters; not the young girls, nor the officers that frequented the brothel.

 

By all accounts, although subjected to degradation and humiliation over a period of time, Hanka did not seem to be so badly mistreated as many of the others at the field brothel and so the danger she was in never seemed quite so present as it might have otherwise done.

 

I’ve never before read a novel set in a Nazi field brothel, but I’ve read other novels set during WWII that affected me far more deeply than this did – I was looking for something more and it never quite delivered for me.

 

It’s still worth picking up if you’re into WWII fiction, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to find a copy unless it’s prominently displayed and you find yourself short of other, better books to read.

[Kell]

Title: Another Time and Place

Author: Samantha Grosser

ISBN: 9780230002357

Publisher: Macmillan

First Published: 2006

No. of pages: 299

Started: 6/9/07

Finished: 8/9/07

Rating: 8/10

 

Synopsis:

This work is set in England 1944. A chance meeting changes two people's lives forever. Drinking coffee in a tea room on a 72-hour pass, young American pilot Tom Blake watches a woman who is waiting for a friend. He isn't looking for love, but seeing Anna Pilgrim on this cold winter afternoon changes everything. So begins a passionate affair. Their happiness does not last. Shot down over Europe, wounded, in hiding, Tom has no way of telling Anna he is alive. And Anna, left waiting in England, has no way of finding out. Separated by the war, they have only the strength of their love and their memories to connect them. When Anna discovers she is pregnant, she must face the gossip of others and the wrath of her bitter and manipulative mother. Weeks, then months pass without news, and she begins to lose hope. How can she know that Tom is struggling to return to her? Or that the thought of being with her again is all that keeps him going on the long and arduous journey home? Interwoven with the brutality and danger of Tom's fight to survive is the story of Anna's own struggle to face the uncertainty of waiting. Set vividly against the hardship and horror of the Second World War, Another Time And Place is at once a compelling love story, an enthralling adventure and a moving depiction of the resilience of the human spirit.

Review:

When it comes to sweeping romance with an edge of down-to-earth realism, you could do a lot worse than this wonderfully-spun tale set during WWII. It’s a refreshing change to have the focus upon the people left at home, rather than on the men on the front-lines (I have absolutely nothing against those frontline novels – I’ve read an enjoyed quite a few!) and seeing how the worry of losing loved ones to the War affects family dynamics. Add to that the strained relationship between a mother set in her ways and a daughter striving to make her way in the newly-emerging modern world with the man she loves, and you have a story that tugs at the heartstrings as well as immersing the reader in the horror and fear of living through a major war.

 

The writing is decidedly polished, like that of an often-published author, and I was surprised to read such a strong debut novel – this one really had me wondering what would happen – whether things would work out for Anna and Tom, or whether they would be torn apart by the turbulence of warfare and family crises. I’ll be very interested in seeing Grosser’s next novel, and seeing whether she can pull off such an accomplished novel as this for a follow-up.

[Kell]

Title: To Kill a Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

Narrated by: Sally Darling

Publisher: Recorded Books

First Published: 1960

Started: 6/9/07

Finished: 25/9/07

Rating: 9/10

Synopsis:

'Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a Mockingbird.' A lawyer's advice to his children as he defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic novel - a black man charged with the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the thirties. The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much...

Review:

I don’t often agree with the choices made for various literary prizes. There is a perception that books chosen for certain prizes are usually dull as ditchwater and heavy to read and understand. This, however, is one sparkling example of a novel that truly deserves acclaim on every lever.

 

Not only is the storytelling some of the finest in modern literature, the story itself, populated with some of the most wonderful characters ever written, is a delight to read. Yes, there are moments where the actions and events are particularly hard-going (the evidence of racism in a small town during the Great Depression is, at times, quite sickening), but seen through the eyes of a small child, these events unfold in such a way that the reader can become a part of the community and really feel for the Finch family, at the heart of what is, at that time, a scandal.

 

I was surprised at how little of the story focuses on the trial of Tom Robinson – there is barely mention made of it until well into the book – but the ramble through the day-to-day lives of the children during the first section builds a picture of small-town life that gives the later events, before, during and after the trial, context and deeper meaning.

 

Shifting attitudes to social conformity and racial equality play a large part in this journey through the childhoods of Scout and Jem Finch, and their understanding of their father and the attitudes of the people who live in their community, shape their lives as they grow up.

 

This is a novel that endures long after the last page has been turned and invites re-reading like few others.

[Kell]

Title: The Graduate

Author: Charles Webb

ISBN: 0140026932

Publisher: Penguin

First Published: 1963

No. of pages: 192

Started: 9/9/07

Finished: 10/9/07

Rating: 7/10

 

Synopsis (from book cover):

"For twenty-one years I have been shuffling back and forth between classrooms and libraries. Now you tell me what the hell it's got me."

 

That's how Benjamin Braddock talked when he came down from university. Somehow it didn't seem to be what his father expected from a college education. And everyone was really appalled when Ben raped Mrs. Robinson (that was her story anyway) and ran off with her daughter in the middle of her wedding to someone else...

 

A brilliantly sordid tale of a man's search for identity and a portrayal of the worst-behaved yet most sympathetic anti-hero of the day

 

Review:

Although I enjoyed reading The Graduate, I have to admit, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the film. Despite that, I did picture the characters in my head as they are in the film (which is, by anyone’s standards, an iconic classic) and heard their voices throughout.

 

One thing that just didn’t work for me was the Benjamin / Elaine relationship – I really couldn’t fathom what it was in Benjamin that held any attraction for Elaine, especially after discovering his affair with her mother – there was just something that struck me as completely unrealistic between them.

 

Benjamin really is a finely written anti-hero – apathetic, bored, antisocial and quirky, he jars with the other characters who all seem to fit more clearly into the moulds made for them by society, no matter how hard they appear to fight to escape the roles they play.

 

Overall, it’s an entertaining read, but not one that feels overly “real”.

[Kell]

Title: The Time Machine

Author: H. G. Wells

ISBN: 0141439971

Publisher: Penguin Classics

First Published: 1895

No. of pages: 132

Started: 11/9/07

Finished: 12/9/07

Rating: 6/10

 

Synopsis:

When a Victorian scientist propels himself into the year 802,701 AD, he is initially delighted to find that suffering has been replaced by beauty, contentment and peace. Entranced at first by the Eloi, an elfin species descended from man, he soon realises that this beautiful people are simply remnants of a once-great culture now weak and childishly afraid of the dark. They have every reason to be afraid: in deep tunnels beneath their paradise lurks another race descended from humanity the sinister Morlocks. And when the scientist's time machine vanishes, it becomes clear he must search these tunnels, if he is ever to return to his own era.

Review:

I was a little disappointed by The Time Machine. Not only do many characters remain nameless (which always annoys me a little), but it felt rather preachy and idealistic – too much so for me to really get as much enjoyment from it as I thought I might.

 

I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and, repulsed as I was by the Morlocks, I couldn’t drum up any sympathy for the effete Eloi and their situation, as I couldn’t help feeling they had brought much of their situation on themselves.

 

Despite the very short length, it still felt like parts of the story were rambling and could easily have been cut, whereas other areas I felt more expansion might have made a difference to my enjoyment of it. Then again, those changes would most likely have made it an entirely different story, and one that might not have endured like the original.

 

Overall, the story was neat and compact, but the ending left me unsatisfied.

[Louiseog]

Title: To Kill a Mockingbird

Author: Harper Lee

This is my favourite book ever, hope you enjoy it

[Kell]

I'm certainly enjoying it so far, Louise.