Noll's 2015 Book Blog

[Nollaig]

The Devil's Staircase - Helen Fitzgerald

 

Synopsis: Bronny, a young Australian, finds herself down and out in London. She's a sweet girl who has spent her teenage years in a fearful, cautious bubble. She's never taken drugs, had sex or killed anyone. Within six weeks she's done all three. A group of backpackers break into an abandoned London townhouse seeking a rent-free life of debauchery. They don't realise someone's already there: a terrified woman bound and gagged in the basement. The Devil's Staircase combines a chick-lit voice and a dark crime noir environment. Not for the faint-hearted, The Devil's Staircase is funny, sexy and disturbing - it will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

 

***

 

Review: During my October reading slump, I decided to pick up yet another Helen Fitzgerald. My third or fourth this year, Helen is rapidly becoming a regular go-to for a reliable fix of thrillers. This one moves a little differently than her previous ones. A significant portion of the novel is focused around the actual drama facing Bronny, who has run away to London, and the people she encounters there. All of the characters were pretty interesting, even if the relatively good fortune of Bronny's situation in finding a safe space and people willing to help out is a little difficult to believe. I enjoyed it, but I did find myself starting to wonder if this novel was going to be a radical departure from her other books.

 

Nope. Once it kicks in, it *really* kicks in. This might be the most violent and depraved material I've read by Helen yet. I'm impressed! I'm also impressed by the recurring theme of strong, but not flawless, female characters in her work. Seriously though. I don't know where the author gets this stuff from, but it is absolutely brutal. As is the ending, actually.

 

I didn't find this the easiest of her books to read; I'm not sure why, it was very very good. Might just have been my lack of reading mojo, so I'm not going to take any marks off for that. I am taking a mark off for the extended teen runaway drama at the beginning - it was good, but it wasn't what I was looking for in this novel. Not sure I'd agree with the 'funny/sexy' assessment of the synopsis. All the same, a solid installment in Helen's work, not to be missed.

 

Rating: 4/5

[Nollaig]

In Darkling Wood - Emma Carroll

 

Synopsis: When Alice's brother gets a longed-for chance for a heart transplant, Alice is suddenly bundled off to her estranged grandmother's house. There's nothing good about staying with Nell, except for the beautiful Darkling Wood at the end of her garden - but Nell wants to have it cut down. Alice feels at home there, at peace, and even finds a friend, Flo. But Flo doesn't seem to go to the local school and no one in town has heard of a girl with that name. When Flo shows Alice the surprising secrets of Darkling Wood, Alice starts to wonder, what is real? And can she find out in time to save the wood from destruction?

***

Review: In Darkling Wood was good, but not as good as Frost Hollow Hall. This could be down to my own personal perferences in story elements - I love Victorian ghost stories, I'm not so mad about fairy stories set in the woods. That said, In Darkling Wood is Emma's newest novel, and everything about her writing ability that I loved in Frost Hollow Hall is also found here - it's a decent length novel with a relatively complex plot which does not pander either in concept or content to the intended Middle Grade audience it is aimed at. I did feel that the three storylines - Darkling Wood past and present, and that of Emma's little brother, did not all gel together very well. The involvement of her brother seemed relatively arbitrary and the threat of the fairies never felt very real. It still kepy me interested, though.

As well as that, I felt the characters lacked a bit of depth, although kudos to Emma for how she handled the teensy bit of implied romance between two of the characters - a mild, off-handed afterthought as opposed to any kind of overdone focus. All the same, I did really like the characters and loved learning about them. I suspect my issues with this book are largely based in bias, though, and I do think it's a great book for kids.

 

Rating: 3.5/5

[Athena]

Hmm I thought I had commented on your reviews, but apparently not yet . I'm putting The Rabbit Back Literature Society on my wishlist. In Darkling Wood sounds good too. You've been reading some nice books .

[Nollaig]

Haha no problem. No many people seem to visit these days, but I power on and post reviews anyway

 

The Rabbit Back Lit Society is definitely worth a read. I will say there is at least one extremely disturbing/violent scene. You have been warned.

[Anna Begins]

Haha no problem. No many people seem to visit these days, but I power on and post reviews anyway

I always read your reviews, sometimes I just don't comment  And thanks for visiting mine! 

[Nollaig]

Haha it's okay Anna, I don't actually expect anyone to reply. The reviews are as much for documentation purposes as anything

[Athena]

The Rabbit Back Lit Society is definitely worth a read. I will say there is at least one extremely disturbing/violent scene. You have been warned.

Thanks, that's good to know .

[frankie]

A great review of The Rabbit Back Literature Society! I'm so pleased you enjoyed the book so much  

[Nollaig]

A great review of The Rabbit Back Literature Society! I'm so pleased you enjoyed the book so much

 

Thanks! And thank you for the (indirect) recommendation - I really want to read all his other novels, but I think only Rabbit Back and Where The Trains Turn have been translated?

[frankie]

I don't know for sure, but I did a little digging and so it would seem at the moment Let's hope that will change in the future! 

[Nollaig]

Read-a-thon stats for 2015!

 

This was my first year joining in Read-a-thons, and I only figured out how it worked in April, so I didn't start until May.

 

I didn't check what fraction of books I finished/started (half, third etc), so I can only note how many full books I read and how many partial.

 

May: 727 pages, 1 read, 1 finished, 1 started
July: 1180 pages, 2 read, 1 finished, 1 started
September: 663 pages, 2 read, 1 finished
December: 725 pages, 3 read, 1 finished, 1 started

 

Total pages: 3295

Total read: 8 full books, 9 partial, span of 17 books.

 

Average pages per read-a-thon: 824

Average books per read-a-thon: 4.25

 

Now let's see if I can beat the averages next year! I'll definitely beat the total because I plan to take part in more read-a-thons.

[Athena]

Those are great statistics , well done! You read quite a lot . I'm happy you're planning on taking part in more read-a-thons next year, let's hope we'll have lots of fun.

[Nollaig]

Thanks Gaia I'm pretty happy with them. Now to catch up on my reviews and start preparing my reading stats for the year, as well as my 2016 reading blog! Almost time to say goodbye to this one I love being a nerdy reader at this time of year hehe, it's so much fun doing all the stats and organisation

[Nollaig]

Dangerous Games (short story sequel to Mind Games) by Teri terry

 

Synopsis: Sixteen years after Luna took on the might of PareCo, her daughter Liberty is fighting for her independence, fighting for her freedom, fighting to discover who she really is. Constantly pushing the boundaries of what she can do in the virtual space of the void and still survive in the real world, it is only a matter of time before Liberty goes too far. And when the mysterious Ex offers to tell Liberty all her mother's secrets, it seems too good an opportunity to resist. But how will Liberty know what is real, or who she can trust - especially when it seems that the future of the void, and of the non-virtual world it connects to, may be at risk of destruction?

 

***

 

Review: Eh. I wanted this to be amazing, and I wanted to love it. Unfortunately, it reads like a tacked-on afterthought that offers explanations inconsistent with the feel and tone of the original book for things I needed no explanations for, as well as a Deux Ex Machina way of providing a happy alternative to the sad ending of the original book. Not entirely sure why I'm even giving it three stars, to be honest. I guess because I did enjoy reading it - as with Mind Games it's extremely creative, original, and well-written. I adored some of the newer concepts in it, like Liberty's abilities with silver and the Void. I was even fairly okay with Liberty's origins, though they are pushing it a little bit.

 

But... this is only a short story. And a short story is not an effective medium for introducing and explaining a massive game-changing element to an entire world and what it consists in. One of my original complaints about Mind Games (which I otherwise absolutely adored) was that there was a little too much packed into one book, and it would have made a great duology. Had the concepts in this novel been greatly expanded on and turned into the second part of a duology along with the excess from the first book, it could have been a really great fantasy/sci-fi blend with transcendental qualities. Perferably without the deus ex happy ending.

 

Alas, that is not to be, and honestly, while I enjoyed aspects of this story, I'm going to go right on pretending it doesn't exist.

 

Rating: 3/5

[Athena]

Thanks Gaia I'm pretty happy with them. Now to catch up on my reviews and start preparing my reading stats for the year, as well as my 2016 reading blog! Almost time to say goodbye to this one I love being a nerdy reader at this time of year hehe, it's so much fun doing all the stats and organisation

I agree, I love doing such things too ! I look forward to see your shiny new blog in 2016.

 

Shame about the short story sequel .

[Nollaig]

Slade House by David Mitchell

 

Synopsis: Down the road from a working-class British pub, along the brick wall of a narrow alley, if the conditions are exactly right, you’ll find the entrance to Slade House. A stranger will greet you by name and invite you inside. At first, you won’t want to leave. Later, you’ll find that you can’t. Every nine years, the house’s residents—an odd brother and sister—extend a unique invitation to someone who’s different or lonely: a precocious teenager, a recently divorced policeman, a shy college student. But what really goes on inside Slade House? For those who find out, it’s already too late. . . .

***

 

Review: I own both Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, but I haven't read either because I have always been of the impression that they are quite dense, demanding and meandering books. When I saw a review of this describing it as extremely readable, I decided to use try it as a (hopefully accessible) segue into David's other work. I may have done this slightly out of order, as it turns out that Slade House began life as a short story based upon a section of The Bone Clocks.

 

Anyway, none of the above is actually anything resembling a review. I LOVED this book, though it wasn't quite perfect. Essentially it is a collection of related short stories, concerning the various victims of the haunted house over several decades. Each character is briefly introduced and contextualized before making their way to the house to suffer a variety of creatives fates. The writing is absolutely beautiful, a perfect blend of readable and lyrical. Despite the short time spent with each character, I loved all of them (except the last one), and I loved the whole new spin Mitchell has created here on the classic haunted house story.

 

My two biggest issues with it are exposition and the ending. There's quite a lot of explaining in the story, as well as a full backstory literally revealed for the sake of it over coffee. I don't think that was necessary, and it wasn't interesting enough to hold its own. It does, however, give me hope for reading Mitchell's other books; if they're complex enough to require exposition it would be nice if they have it. The ending - I disliked the final character and the events related to them, as they were not convincing enough to seem anything other than a convenience for completing the story.

 

That said, I would hope my two minor criticisms would not deter anyone who otherwise thinks it sounds like a good read - I did give it 4.5/5 after all. Great read.

 

Rating: 4.5/5

[Nollaig]

I agree, I love doing such things too ! I look forward to see your shiny new blog in 2016.

 

Shame about the short story sequel .

 

Sorry I'm posting over you haha coz I'm just catching up on some reviews.

 

I look forward to my blog too, I want to do a good job of it this year, need to actually look up some ideas for it!

 

I also realised that my external blog is all done with x/5 ratings, so if I switch to an x/10 system, my external blog will be inconsistent. Might just have to half whatever I give things on my x/10 system.

[Michelle]

I was really enjoying The Bone Clocks, then I got stuck on a part i didn't like so much. I really must get it finished, because I want to read Slade House. Do you think you missed anything by not reading The Bone Clocks first?

[Nollaig]

I was really enjoying The Bone Clocks, then I got stuck on a part i didn't like so much. I really must get it finished, because I want to read Slade House. Do you think you missed anything by not reading The Bone Clocks first?

 

I don't know. I felt like Slade House was over-explained, so probably not, but I won't know until I read The Bone Clocks. Apparently one of the characters in The Bone Clocks is the character I hated at the end of Slade House, so maybe I wouldn't feel she was quite so out-of-nowhere if I had read that first!

 

...The more I google the two books, the more I suspect the answer is 'yes, yes I did.'

[Athena]

Sorry I'm posting over you haha coz I'm just catching up on some reviews.

 

I look forward to my blog too, I want to do a good job of it this year, need to actually look up some ideas for it!

 

I also realised that my external blog is all done with x/5 ratings, so if I switch to an x/10 system, my external blog will be inconsistent. Might just have to half whatever I give things on my x/10 system.

Don't worry, I'm sorry for posting in between your reviewing .

 

That makes sense, it's what I do on GoodReads using my x / 10 system. Ie. 7 / 10 and 8 / 10 become 4 stars.

[Nollaig]

The Thing About Jellyfish - Ali Benjamin

 

Synopsis: After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting-things don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory--even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door.

 

***

 

Review: The themes of death/loss/grief/coping/moving on are not exactly uncommon in YA books, but this book is actually Middle Grade and deals with the above themes in a gentle and mature way while still being accessible to younger readers.

 

Told from Suzy's perspective, we see her cut off contact with people while she struggles to absorb the fact of her friend's death and to find a rational meaning behind it. It's easy to really like Suzy and to relate to her need to find that meaning. Presented in the style of a research report, Suzy (a highly rational person herself) logically forms a hypothesis, does research, gathers data, and comes to a conclusion. But of course, there is nothing rational or logical in death, and this is the thing Suzy must come to terms with.

 

Short chapters and several parts make this a quick, easy read which is often funny and occasionally heart-wrenching. There are certain analogies and explanations of the more subtle aspects of the human condition in this novel which I think, while intelligible to younger readers, will offer a lot to older readers too. Ali Benjamin is clearly a skilled writer, capable of expressing difficult concepts in universally relatable language.

 

Perhaps nothing overly special or original broadly speaking, the nuances of this novel make it worth the read.

 

Rating: 4/5

[Alexi]

Slade House sounds great - brilliant review! I always like reading how people stumbled across books as well as what they thought of them

 

It's already on my wishlist from Kay (? I think!)

 

Like you I've always thought of Mitchell as a difficult read - maybe I should make an effort to try in 2016.

Edited December 13, 2015 by Alexi

[Nollaig]

Slade House sounds great - brilliant review! I always like reading how people stumbled across books as well as what they thought of them

 

It's already on my wishlist from Kay (? I think!)

 

Like you I've always thought of Mitchell as a difficult read - maybe I should make an effort to try in 2016.

 

Thanks Alexi! That's who I got the recommendation from too. I think I'm going to try The Bone Clocks in 2016, before I try Cloud Atlas.

[Nollaig]

A Pleasure & A Calling - Phil Hogan

 

Synopsis: You won't remember Mr Heming. He showed you round your comfortable home, suggested a sustainable financial package, negotiated a price with the owner and called you with the good news. The less good news is that, all these years later, he still has the key. That's absurd, you laugh. Of all the many hundreds of houses he has sold, why would he still have the key to mine. The answer to that is, he has the keys to them all. William Heming's every pleasure is in his leafy community. He loves and knows every inch of it, feels nurtured by it, and would defend it - perhaps not with his life but if it came to it, with yours..

 

***

Review: Oooh well this was an unusual little read! I absolutely adore the concept behind it - one of the things I wanted to be as a kid was an estate agent simply because I love poking around houses! Not *people's* houses, houses themselves - the interior design mostly and back gardens is what I like. I'm normal, I swear! But due to my (totally under control) nosiness, I can kind of relate in a (totally normal) way to the desire William Heming has to poke around into people's rooms, houses and lives to see what they're up to. He has absolutely no ill intent, which I think makes him slightly creepier - it's so abnormal to derive so much pleasure from said nosiness that even I can't fully relate and he seems quite strange. And, as the synopsis implies, he's willing to go to some pretty extreme length to protect his, er, property.

 

This is a well-written, well fleshed out novel which covers Heming's life from childhood (interspered as necessary with his adult life) and although Heming himself is not a LIKEABLE person... I didn't dislike him! The novel is largely quite slow paced, and I do feel that maybe the thriller-esque aspects are a tad disjointed from the mere meanderings of an odd man. Particularly towards the end, I found myself starting to skim out of disinterest and then felt very little impact in the final few pages as a character I had previously barely registered came to play a bigger part.

 

All the same, this book was a, ahem, pleasure to read, very unique, creative and quirky. Definitely recommended to anyone who likes more subtle, unnerving reads than outright scary. Would definitely read more by Mr. Hogan.

 

Rating: 4/5

[Nollaig]

Grandpa's Great Escape - David Walliams

 

Synopsis: Grandpa lives in a Maximum Security Twilight Zone, and his Grandson attempts to set him free. Jack’s Grandpa wears his slippers to the supermarket, serves up tinned tongue for dinner
and often doesn’t remember Jack’s name. But he can still take to the skies in a speeding Spitfire and save the day… An exquisite portrait of the bond between a small boy and his beloved Grandpa – this book takes readers on an incredible journey with Spitfires over London and Great Escapes through the city in a high octane adventure full of comedy and heart.

 

***

 

Review: Even though I guessed in all liklihood this book would not be my sort of thing, I really wanted to give David Walliams a fair chance. I love the premise and I had heard nothing but good things about his other books. Unfortunately, while there are a lot of things I like about the book and the setup showed great promise, ultimately I guessed correctly. There's a very Roald Dahl feel to his work, and I know I'm not the first to say that, but I've never liked Dahl so I'm afraid that's not a plus for me.

 

Let's talk about the good things, first. It's a very well-written novel. It does not pander, even if it is frequently silly, and it actually contains a glossary at the end explaining the various historical points referred through throughout the story - including who Hitler was. Bit of a history lesson at the end of a book which I do think could genuinely pique childrens' interest in history. The illustrations are fabulous, and add immensely to the story by including accurate depictions of descriptions of the prose, as well as lists, maps etc. The Grandpa character is very very likeable, very sweet, and elicits great sympathy from the reader. Dementia is portrayed quite interestingly - it's never explained in any great or accurate detail, despite the novel containing a mention of 6 million gassed Jews in the glossary.

 

I suppose that brings me onto what I didn't like - I would have preferred more focus on explaining what dementia is, rather than it primarily being a plot device to enable a history-driven story. I didn't like any of the characters besides Grandpa, and although it's a kids book I couldn't stand the silliness. The two policemen, I can't even remember their names now, for God's sake. Nobody so inept would hold down their jobs. And an entire community would not fail to notice the hoarde of men in women's clothing manning the old folks home. Lastly, the ending. Gah. I won't spoil it, but it gets stupidly impossible and I just can't deal with that at all.

 

If you like Roald Dahl, you'll probably love this. For what it is, it's great. It's just I don't like what 'it' is.

 

Rating: 3/5