~V~ Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 So, the stats for last year: Books read - 35 (I hope to do better this year. 2007 was a very bad year for me so may have affected my ability to read, plus a lot of the books took longer than my usual 'book per week') Books given full marks: 1. Marian Keyes - Anybody Out There? 2. Maggie O'Farrell - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox 3. Jeffrey Deaver - The Twelfth Card 4. Kate Atkinson - Case Histories I think the best of those was Case Histories, although would recommend anything that I score 8 or over. Worst book read: Perfume by Patrick Suskind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 1. Marian Keyes - Anybody Out There? 2. Maggie O'Farrell - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox 4. Kate Atkinson - Case Histories I would agree wiithyou on these 3 and also KA at the top Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 I would agree wiithyou on these 3 and also KA at the top That means I'm already strating this year with 75% positivity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amthysteyes2 Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 I doubt i'm going to beat my record of 51 books this year. Mostly because most of these books were by Pratchett. This year I want to slow down and savour them... Best books read this year were Night Watch- Terry Pratchett Life of Pi- Yann Martel The Riddle- Alison Croggon Worse Half-A-Book (I couldn't bare to reach the end)- Gods Behaving Badly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aromaannie Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 So, the stats for last year: Books read - 35 (I hope to do better this year. 2007 was a very bad year for me so may have affected my ability to read, plus a lot of the books took longer than my usual 'book per week') Books given full marks: 1. Marian Keyes - Anybody Out There? 2. Maggie O'Farrell - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox 3. Jeffrey Deaver - The Twelfth Card 4. Kate Atkinson - Case Histories I think the best of those was Case Histories, although would recommend anything that I score 8 or over. Worst book read: Perfume by Patrick Suskind I really enjoyed this one too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted January 3, 2008 Author Share Posted January 3, 2008 I really enjoyed this one too That makes it 100% positivity then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted January 13, 2008 Author Share Posted January 13, 2008 1. Peter James - Not Dead Enough A good start to the year. Although it has taken me almost two weeks to read this, I couldn't put it down. I love the way Peter James writes, his short chapters just lend themsleves to that 'Oh I'll just read another chapter' feeling you get with a real page-turner. I like his characters, there are plenty to choose from to like and they all seem kind of real. Although it's not a book that will stay with me for a long time, I really enjoyed this despite guessing things a little ahead of time. If you've not read it, do so, but be careful of the Amazon link as it does have slight spoilers. 9/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 2. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak I was part way through this when I twisted my pelvis. I just couldn't concentrate on it and so will return and review it when it's finished. Shame as it seems to be a great book and I didn't want to do it a dis-service and so opted for easier reads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 3. Looking Good Dead - Peter James Partway through 'Not Dead Enough' I realised that I hadn't read the previous book. As I wasn't up to much, I broke one of my own cardinal rules (in a way) by reading two books by the same author back-to-back. It was ok though. The book is every bit as all of his others and although I knew a little bit of the constant narrative of the series, it didn't spoil the tale for me. So, as I was unable to concentrate for long, this was ideal. Fast-paced, gory but not too gory and totally understandable as it's set in England 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 4. Robert Barnard - Posthumous Papers I'm amazed that I've never seen Robert Barnard mentioned on here. I love his books, the old-fashioned detective tale a lá Christie in style (a proper old-fashioned whodunnit) with his lovely wry wit. Although the book is pretty old, the story stands up well about two widows of an author, one of whom ends up dead, living in a small industrial town 'up north'. This wasn't my favourite book by this author but I would recommend any of his works to fans of whodunnits, british authors or gentle humour. 7/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted February 9, 2008 Author Share Posted February 9, 2008 5. Simon Kernick - Severed Another book chosen as an 'easy-read' as I'm still not up to much. What can I say about it? It's a fast-paced thriller along the lines of Lee Child but set in England rather than the USA. Pretty much the whole tale is set in a single day and the bad day that our hero Tyler is having. He wakes up in a bed with a corpse and the day just gets worse. It's a quick read and exerts very little by way of brain power so would be ideal beach/journey reading. 7/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 6. Mark Haddon - A Spot of Bother I'm sure I don't need to say much about this as those of you who are interested will have read it already, or intend to. It is more 'grown-up' than 'Curious Incident ...' but with all the same matter of fact style and inherent humour. I'm not sure what it is about the way Haddon writes but he does appear to get to the humour in the truth of thiings. There is one particularly grisly moment that he even manages to instill some humour into. I can't tell you which of the main characters would be my favourite but I loved pretty well all of them apart from the Mother, Jean, and Jacob the son/grandson, neither of which I was bothered about. 10/10 because I truly laughed out loud several times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 7. Nick Hornby - 31 Songs This has been my 'handbag book' for quite a while. It's quite interesting as I either haven't heard of, or am not very familar with, many of the songs listed. The book is interesting if you are a fan of Hornby's as he really opens up and talks about his own life quite a lot so there's an 'intimate' feel to it. However, on the down side, it really is just a list of stuff you will probably not listen to, or if you do, you won't get the same experiences as Hornby. But then, that's the point of the book, he's telling us why he has listed these particular songs and what they mean to him on a personal level. In a way this is a biography with a twist. 5/10 because it didn't draw me in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 8. R S Downie - Ruso and the Disappearing Dancing Girls Here's a new author I'd love to recommend. I'm pretty sure this is her first book and she now has a follow-up in hardback. The book is set in 'Deva' (Chester) in Britannia at the time of the Roman Empire. Ruso is a Doctor for the Roman army and the book starts pretty much with Ruso arriving in Britannia. The story centres around some murders (the Dancing girls), Ruso's slave and his opinions of Britainnia and Britons, and Romans too. It's fun to read about the native savages and will appeal to lovers of a Whodunnit but the thing I liked most was the gentle humour throughout. 10/10 - highly recommended Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 6. Mark Haddon - A Spot of Bother I'm glad you enjoyed it. This book seems to promote a very definite reaction - people either love or hate it! I'm in your camp - I thought it was great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 I'm glad you enjoyed it. This book seems to promote a very definite reaction - people either love or hate it! I'm in your camp - I thought it was great. Good. You like the Hunt fella so you obviously have great tastes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted March 6, 2008 Author Share Posted March 6, 2008 9. Julie Walters - Maggie's Tree I've never been so relieved to finish a book. If it hadn't been written by Julie Walters (who I generally love) and relatively short (which it didn't seem whilst wading through it) I would have given up after about thirty pages. Looking at the Amazon link to post in here, it seems I'm the only person in the world to finish it - the reviewers obviously didn't! The story is set in New York around a group of three english women, all feted in their field but you wouldn't know this. Apparently they are all good friends. You wouldn't know that either. Most of the action is spent on one floor or another. From hotel rooms to studios to hospital wards, there really is a lot of floor, and footwear action. Apparently, the eponymous Maggie is mad. To be honest, she appeared no more mad than any of the other characters! But to be honest, the writing and structure is so disjointed and choppy, it's hard to tell what is going on. i was prepared to give this a couple of marks because it was Julie Walters' work, but then I got to the pretentious drivel at the end titled 'For Discussion' (I'd ignored the equally pretentious 'A Novel' on the front cover) which just made me angry. 1/10 - Do. Not. Read. This. Book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyanddandy Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Shame - I have looked at this on the shelf for the same reasons. I am an admirer of her stage, TV and film work - sounds like it's a case of 'don't give up the day job!' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted March 6, 2008 Author Share Posted March 6, 2008 Shame - I have looked at this on the shelf for the same reasons. I am an admirer of her stage, TV and film work - sounds like it's a case of 'don't give up the day job!' Very much so. The reviews say it's darkly humourous. Take it from me, it's nothing of the sort. All it is is a mad ramble around five barking mad people with a brief appearance from a very sweet together lesbian. That's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 I'm glad you enjoyed it. This book seems to promote a very definite reaction - people either love or hate it! Not in my case. I thought it was OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted March 10, 2008 Author Share Posted March 10, 2008 10. Robert Barnard - The Graveyard Position So, I read a crappy book and fell back to a favourite author. This is Barnard doing what Barnard does well. A complex plot presented in a nice easy-to-read way. In this one, Mervyn returns to Leeds for his aunt's funeral. He's been gone over twenty years, since said Aunt told him his life was in danger. The danger apparently came from within the family, now he needs to dig into the murky past of the Cantelo family 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted March 16, 2008 Author Share Posted March 16, 2008 11. Paul Magrs - Never the Bride Another book I just picked up at the library by an author I've never heard of. This is a great little book. It tells the story of Brenda, who has a B&B in Whitby, and her best friend Effie and the shenanigans they get up to investigating the weird goings on in the seaside town. The weirdest thing of all, however, is Brenda herself. On the front it's described as a 'Gothic smash'. To me, it was about as gothic as 'Carry on Screaming' but with a more sophisticated and less relentless humour. The book did remind me of books I read in my childhood where the heroes solve a number of small mysteries in one book but they aren't all totally disparate. I'm really looking forward to the follow-up and hope Mr Magrs goes on to a successful career. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 Well done on using the word 'shenanigans' in a post, Missy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted March 16, 2008 Author Share Posted March 16, 2008 Why thank you sweetness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 Loving the signature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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