Kate's Reading

[happyanddandy]

I bought 'Notes' this week - didn't read your review except the bit that said how good it is - will take on holiday and read afterwards

[Kate]

It is a good read H&D, I think you will enjoy it.

 

This evening, on my Mum's recommendation I read:

Cautionary Verses and Ruthless Rhymes for modern times by Charlie Ottley.

From Amazon:

 

Book Description

"Cautionary Verses & Ruthless Ryhmes...for modern times" is

the definitive update of Hilaire Belloc's classic 'Cautionary Tales' for

the 21st Century, targeting the worst types of modern teenager, all of whom

meet with horrible mishaps as a result of their revolting habits. Whether

it's watching too much trash tv, overusing the mobile phone, being cruel to

animals or skipping double physics, this twisted tome shows us how it's not

always possible to learn from your mistakes. Author and Travel presenter

Charlie Ottley has been a professional poet for ten years. A resident bard

for Radio Four, Five Live, Carlton and GMTV, Charlie also writes and

performs odes for weddings, birthdays and special occasions. Cartoonist

Oliver Preston's hilarious illustrations combine to make this the sort of

book that will appeal to everyone, particularly long suffering mums and

dads!

 

Synopsis

In this clever update of Hilaire Belloc's original "Cautionary Verses", Charlie Ottley locates our Achilles' heel and goes for it with a tickling stick. Grumpy old men who go on about the modern world can bore us to tears - it's so much more fun with a light touch and a comic rhyme. From the dangers of skipping off school to over-dependence on TV soaps, these witty warnings are hugely enjoyable - all wonderfully illustrated with original drawings by Oliver Preston.

 

I have to say, I loved this! It is 224 pages, but is littered with amusing illustrations to go along with the hilarious and non-PC poems. It took me an hour and a half to read this fantastic book. Ottley uses examples from real life that annoy us all and makes amazing rhymes from them. My two favourite were:

The Malodorous Tale of Nathan Still

Gav the Chav

I found both so funny!

This is definitely an adult book, but a very quick, funny, worthwhile read!

9/10

[Kate]

I started this book as a review/proof read but couldn't get into it. I found the story lines jumped around too much and I found it hard follow and understand what was going on. McGuinness wrote through Ben's mind which is why it was disjointed, but I found this too complicated. I also didn't like the bad language, which was quite frequent and a bit unnecessary.

[Kate]

I have been away on holiday this week and the two books I completed were:

 

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

Amazon synopsis:

'You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.' Bougainville. 1991. A small village on a lush tropical island in the South Pacific. Eighty-six days have passed since Matilda's last day of school as, quietly, war is encroaching from the other end of the island. When the villagers' safe, predictable lives come to a halt, Bougainville's children are surprised to find the island's only white man, a recluse, re-opening the school. Pop Eye, aka Mr Watts, explains he will introduce the children to Mr Dickens. Matilda and the others think a foreigner is coming to the island and prepare a list of much needed items. They are shocked to discover their acquaintance with Mr Dickens will be through Mr Watts' inspiring reading of Great Expectations. But on an island at war, the power of fiction has dangerous consequences. Imagination and beliefs are challenged by guns.Mister Pip is an unforgettable tale of survival by story; a dazzling piece of writing that lives long in the mind after the last page is finished.

 

I found this to be an incredible book. I loved it from the first page. Jones touches on the issues of race and civil war. It was interesting watching the battle between Mr. Watts and his book Great Expectations and Matilda's mum and her Bible. Jones wrote this so well, expressing the naivety of the islanders in a sensitive manner.

 

There are some heart breaking moments

such as when Matilda's mum was raped and then killed

which actually added to the magic of the book as it drew you in more.

 

My favourite character was Mr. Watts, even after his ex-wife's story. He was sensitive and brave. He stood out for being the only white man in the village but that didn't seem to faze him at all. He stood up and was counted, and I liked that in him.

 

8/10 - a good read

 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Amazon synopsis:

1939 - Nazi Germany - The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street. Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall. Some important information - this novel is narrated by death. It's a small story, about: a girl; an accordionist; some fanatical Germans; a Jewish fist fighter; and quite a lot of thievery. Another thing you should know - death will visit the book thief three times.

 

I loved this book, I'm recommending it to everyone!!

 

It is a long book, of 550ish pages, but well worth the read, and even has pictures in the book! It is incredibly easy to follow and I liked how the pages were often broken up with some asides and important notes.

 

I think my favourite part was the fact the book was narrated by Death, who had some very funny one-liners. Death was also my favourite character, he was portrayed in a new, almost sensitive way, which I loved. And he had a great sense of humour.

 

The book had me gripped from the beginning and was full of twists and turns. I was nearly in tears at the end of the book, it was so sad, but I was thoroughly satisfied by the ending.

 

I loved all the characters, some had me cringing, some had me laughing, some I just loved and wished they were real.

 

This is historical fiction, but I had no reason to doubt the history in the book, with the concentration camps and the Munich bombings.

 

9/10, an excellent book.

[Janet]

I loved both those books too, Kate.

[Kate]

What a lovely book. Another Jodi Picoult book, My Sister's Keeper was not a let down at all.

 

 

Amazon synopsis:

"A major decision about me is being made, and no ones bothered to ask the one person who most deserves it to speak her opinion." The only reason Anna was born was to donate her cord blood cells to her older sister. And though Anna is not sick, she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since she was a child. Anna was born for this purpose, her parents tell her, which is why they love her even more. But now that she has reached an age of physical awareness, she can't help but long for control over her own body and respite from the constant flow of her own blood seeping into her sister's veins. And so she makes a decision that for most would be too difficult to bear, at any time and at any age. She decides to sue her parents for the rights to her own body.

 

I had read a few reviews that stated the reader's did not enjoy this book, or did not like the ending, but for me, I was not let down at all. This is another tough issue thatPicoult has chosen to write about, and again, she has had success.

 

 

The story follows the Fitzgerald family. Jesse has gone off the rails, Kate has leukaemia and Anna was a "designer baby" created to help Kate.Controversial topics are discussed, from being an organ donor, to parents making medical decisions for their children to acting out by arson. Picoult discusses these issues so well and sensitively, I don't think anyone could fault her.

 

 

In terms of her medical knowledge, Picoult seems to have read up and properly researched the issue of leukaemia in different forms and was not afraid to use medical language confidently. I know very little about the disease but what was written I was able to follow.

 

 

The ending was incredibly sad, but I liked it. I think it fitted with the story perfectly. I did not guess it at all, and there were other twists in the book that although I tried to guess, I didn't get right, and again, I was not disappointed with them. I felt they just added and enhanced the story.

 

 

My favourite character was probably Jesse, the eldest child who went off the rails. I felt I connected with him to a certain level, but that might have been because we both like fire - although him more than me - and sometimes we both just feel invisible. His acting out was for attention and his sister's illness broke him, and that really moved me.

 

 

I recommend this book strongly.

8/10

[frankie]

Mister Pip sounds really interesting, I have to add that to my TBR!

[Kate]

Do read it Frankie, it was a good book

 

I have just finished Humble Pie (Quick Reads) by Gordon Ramsay

 

Amazon synopsis:

Everyone thinks they know the real Gordon Ramsay: rude, loud, driven, stubborn. But this is his real story! In this fast-paced, bite-sized edition of his bestselling autobiography Ramsay tells the real story of how he became the world's most famous and infamous chef: his difficult childhood, his brother's heroin addiction, his failed first career as a footballer, his fanatical pursuit of gastronomic perfection and his TV persona - all the things that have made him the celebrated culinary talent and media powerhouse that he is today. Gordon talks frankly about: / his tough childhood: his father's alcoholism and violence and the effects on his relationships with his mother and siblings / his first career as a footballer: how the whole family moved to Scotland when he was signed by Glasgow Rangers at the age of fifteen, and how he coped when his career was over due to injury just three years later / his brother's heroin addiction. / Gordon's early career: learning his trade in Paris and London; how his career developed from there: his time in Paris under Albert Roux and his seven Michelin-starred restaurants./ kitchen life: Gordon spills the beans about life behind the kitchen door, and how a restaurant kitchen is run in Anthony Bourdain-style.

/ and how he copes with the impact of fame on himself and his family: his television career, the rapacious tabloids, and his own drive for success.

I was a bit surprised by this book. I had no idea what to expect, and I knew nothing about Gordon Ramsay at all. He is very open and honest about his childhood, which seemed horrible, experiencing domestic violence and poverty. However, he does not dwell on the issue to gain sympathy. He is honest and then moves on the story. His rise to fame wasn't easy but he is someone who has worked very hard, and often for no pay, to get to where he is today.

 

He explained restaurant ratings well, and he has broken a few records. I had no idea how many restaurants he owns, but he has a little empire it seems. He is honest and open, he gives his opinion about what he likes, how he works, what he wants in his kitchen and he defends his friends, such as the Beckham's.

 

Having read this and seen how much blood, sweat and tears have gone into making him, I have a lot more respect for him. He has come from nothing to having restaurants and media success all over the world, quite an achievement.

 

This was a Quick Read so was only 83 pages. I didn't feel I missed out not reading the longer version though, this was detailed, fast paced and easy to read.

 

My only complaint would be his bad language, which does some through in the book. However, that isn't really a surprise!

 

A good read

8/10

[Kate]

I have never come across the author Jay Dennis before but we are often being encouraged to read biographies of leading and influential Christian's, so when I saw Leading With Billy Graham, T.W. Wilson's biography, I thought I would give it a go, and on the whole it is a good, useful book.

Amazon synopsis:

Now available in trade paper, "Leading with Billy Graham" will help readers discover a new way to lead - from the background. Many Christians who want to impact the world mistakenly assume that influence belongs only to the front-man. But the life of T. W. Wilson proves otherwise. As Billy Graham's closest friend and longtime personal assistant, T. W. Wilson turned his own valuable leadership skills to the task of supporting Billy and ended up influencing thousands of lives both directly and indirectly. His life is an inspiring testimony to the power of "next-level" servanthood to maximize the power of the church for the twenty-first century. Filled with interviews and stories from many of Billy Graham's associates and eight pages of photographs, this book offers a fascinating look inside the most successful evangelistic ministry of modern times as well as an inspiring blueprint for purposeful servant-leadership.

 

 

Overall, this is a good book. Dennis retraces Wilson's life as he serves God and helps Billy Graham in his ministry. Dennis teaches how to be a next-level influencer - someone who is there helping people and doing God's work, but without recognition. I found a lot of this teaching helpful and have already put some into practice, such as daily Bible reading and sorting out being accountable to someone.

Dennis explores Wilson's life well through interviews and extracts, however, I sometimes got lost and didn't understand where the story fitted in with what Dennis was saying.

It is not a long book, 200 pages, but there were times when I felt the book dragged a bit and Dennis seemed to repeat himself a little.

7/10 - it was a helpful and interesting book, but not the easiest to read

Edited August 24, 2008 by Michelle
please don't link images direct from other sites :)

[Kate]

I have just finished reading Thank God it's Monday by Mark Greene, a little gem of a book on work. My review can be found here

[Kate]

Today I also finished Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, and loved it. My review is here

[Kate]

I started this book this afternoon, and finished it this evening. This is the first Alan Bennett book I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Here is the Amazon synopsis for The Uncommon Reader:

 

The Uncommon Reader is none other than HM the Queen who drifts accidentally into reading when her corgis stray into a mobile library parked at Buckingham Palace. She reads widely (J. R. Ackerley, Jean Genet, Ivy Compton Burnett, and the classics) and intelligently. Her reading naturally changes her world view and her relationship with people such as the oleaginous prime minister and his repellent advisers. She comes to question the prescribed order of the world, and loses patience with much that she has to do. In short, her reading is subversive. The consequence is, of course, surprising, mildly shocking and very funny.

 

I really enjoyed this book. I think Bennett looks at the Queen from a different point of view, like an ordinary person with a great passion, reading. He takes the time to assess how this would change her attitude and her priorities. I found myself relating to her (the Queen, I know!) as she faced people who don't like reading and understanding how she felt when she believed jobs boring in comparison to reading.

 

I like how Bennett portrayed all the characters, to the common kitchen boy to the pompous prime minister and I just loved the way he assesses books and what they mean to us e.g. how they can be an extension of ourselves.

 

As an avid reader I found myself getting cross with people who found the books a problem, and I liked that. I enjoy a book where I get emotionally involved, and this is a book where that happened.

 

There were times when what I read was a tad boring, but that may be the fault of my ignorance in terms of certain books he mentioned.

 

A good book and a quick, enjoyable read.

8/10

[Kate]

This is a Richard & Judy Summer Read 2008. This synopsis is from their site:

A multi-generational story based around the extraordinary true story of Errol Flynn's arrival in 1940s Jamaica. The Pirate's Daughter follows Ida, a young girl who falls for Flynn's legendary charms. Through the eyes of Ida and her daughter, May, it also tells the story of their home, Jamaica before and after independence.

 

I didn't really know what to expect from this book, but I did enjoy it. The story is based around Errol Flynn and what happens when he arrives out of the blue in Jamaica. The story spans four generations of one family, with the emphasis on Ida and May, who were the closest to Flynn.

 

 

I was amazed at how one man could influence so many lives, everyone seemed to be affected by Flynn. I liked how even after he was gone, the story was still about him and what he had done to contribute to people's lives. It was interesting too to see how May turned out, having had her mother leave her for four years when she was very young, and the fact she was father-less. I liked how Cezair-Thompson developed these characters based on things that could traumatize them.

 

 

It is hard to say who my favourite character was. I guess Derek, as he was always there for May. There were characters I wasn't keen on too, like Ian, who smoked pot all the time and was just weak and idle.

 

 

I did have a few complaints about the book: there were a lot of characters in the book and I sometimes got people confused or forgot someone; there was a lot of drug use and sex, and I know that was the culture back in the Swingin' Sixties, but it isn't something I like reading about; sometimes when characters are speaking Cezair-Thompson writes phoentically, which was hard to read and understand.

 

 

There is a large amount of history in this book too, which I enjoyed. Some of it I knew to be correct, such as the Bay of Pigs incident involving America and Cuba, others I was ignorant of, such as the Jamaican Civil War.

 

 

 

Every issue raised, including race/racism, sex, illegitamate children, war, fame and love were all dealt with well and approriately.

 

 

There was also a twist at the end that I did not see coming and was quite pleased with. I honestly had no idea that there would be such a big change in one character right at the end, and it was good. It rounded off the story nicely.

 

 

Overall, a good book.

7/10

[Kate]

I have just finished Tracks by Mike Gordon, which is his first novel. I really enjoyed this book and am recommending it to everyone. The review can be found on the BCF Reviews Blog or my Reviews site, link in signature

[nursenblack]

there was a lot of drug use and sex, and I know that was the culture back in the Swingin' Sixties, but it isn't something I like reading about;

 

I agree with you. Sometimes that can almost ruin a book for me, but your review of The Pirates Daughter makes me want to give it a try.

[Kate]

I started reading The Outcast by Sadie Jones the other day and got just under 200 pages in, but have decided to stop reading it as some of the issues were a little too close to home for me, as I do struggle with mental health problems. However, the storyline was good and Jones wrote very well. It is just in my current situation it unsettled me a little and so have decided not to carry on reading the book. I have offered it as a book ring here.

[Kate]

 

 

From the back cover:

The most important questions anyone can ask are: Why was Jesus Christ crucified? Why did he suffer so much? What has this to do with me? Finally, who sent him to his death? The answer to the last question is God did. Jesus was God's Son. The suffering was unsurpassed, but the whole message of the Bible leads to this answer.

Why did Christ suffer and die? The central issue of Jesus' death is not the cause, but the meaning-God's meaning. That is what this book is about. John Piper has gathered from the New Testament fifty reasons. Not fifty causes, but fifty purposes-in answer to the most important question that each of us must face: What did God achieve for sinners like us in sending his Son to die?

 

I think this blurb sums up this book perfectly. It is a short, easy to dip-into book. Every point/purpose is only 2 pages long and based on a couple of short verses. They are short and informative and written in easy to understand language. However, if you read a load of them in one go the theology can take over and block your mind.

 

 

This book is great for everyone, whether the call themselves Christian or not. If not a Christian this book is open and gives the reader a way to access Jesus and the life He brings. I would recommend this book for all, perfect bedtime reading as you can read one of the fifty answers a day so it is not too overloading.

 

 

8/10

[Kate]

Amazon synopsis:

The title

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

(or

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

as it appears within the book) is an appropriate one for Mark Haddon's ingenious novel both because of its reference to that most obsessive and fact-obsessed of detectives, Sherlock Holmes, and because its lower-case letters indicate something important about its narrator.

Christopher is an intelligent youth who lives in the functional hinterland of autism--every day is an investigation for him because of all the aspects of human life that he does not quite get. When the dog next door is killed with a garden fork, Christopher becomes quietly persistent in his desire to find out what has happened and tugs away at the world around him until a lot of secrets unravel messily.

Haddon makes an intelligent stab at how it feels to, for example, not know how to read the faces of the people around you, to be perpetually spooked by certain colours and certain levels of noise, to hate being touched to the point of violent reaction. Life is difficult for the difficult and prickly Christopher in ways that he only partly understands; this avoids most of the obvious pitfalls of novels about disability because it demands that we respect--perhaps admire--him rather than pity him. --

Roz Kaveney

 

What an incredible book! Haddon has done himself proud. This is a very good representation of a boy how suffers with autism. I think it is great that this has been written, showing how life is for people with this kind of disability. Everything has to be ordered and logical for Christopher to feelcomfortable and if it isn't, he screams and hides and tries to block out noise. I have contact with people with autism and this is very true and I think it is great that this has been brought to our attention so we can understand a little bit of how life is for other people.

 

 

My favourite character was Christopher. He took risks, he was humorous when he did not mean to be and he was honest, and I just loved him. Haddon wrote his character very well.

 

 

The book was easy and quick to read. It was gripping as there was always a new adventure and it made me laugh in several places. My only complaints are there was a lot of bad language used and lots of maths problems which I didn't understand - but the latter was part of what made Christopher's character so unique and realistic.

 

 

This is a really good book. Go read it!!

9/10

[Janet]

This is a really good book. Go read it!!

Already have! It's great, isn't it?!

 

I've only come across one person who didn't like it and in fact, he hated it with a passion! Everyone else seems to love it.

[kelly2008]

I enjoyed reading that book too, it wasn't on my TBR long. I don't know whether to buy 'A Spot of Bother'

[Janet]

A Spot of Bother is very different from Curious Incident... and a lot of people seemed disappointed by it. I thought it was good though.

[Roland Butter]

Me too. Not a book I'd have thought of reading - I never liked the look of Curious Incident - but I picked it up after running out of reading on holiday last year and thoroughly enjoyed it (and squirmed, like everyone else, when I got to that bit:lol:). I'd certainly recommend it.

[Janet]

Eww yes - I know exactly which that bit is!

[kelly2008]

I can't remember 'that' bit and I only read it last month

[Janet]

Where he cut the lump with scissors in the bathroom! It had me cringing!