Lucy's books '09/'10

[Lucybird]

Eclipse- Stephanie Meyer

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

'Bella?' Edward's soft voice came from behind me. I turned to see him spring lightly up the porch steps, his hair windblown from running. He pulled me into his arms at once, and kissed me again. His kiss frightened me. There was too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine - like he was afraid we had only so much time left to us. As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which? Following the international bestsellers Twilight and New Moon, Eclipse is the much-anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's captivating saga of vampire romance.

 

Review

 

Can someone tell me why I persist with reading these books?! They are awful. Badly written, and I want to smash Bella's head against the wall to knck some sense into her.

 

And this one doesn't even have a halfway decent plot behind it.

 

Yet I know I will still read the last.

 

1/5

[nursenblack]

 

Badly written, and I want to smash Bella's head against the wall to knck some sense into her.

 

I always felt that way about Bella too, but just couldn't put the darn books down!

[Lucybird]

I know right? Even though they're awful I keep reading!

[Inver]

Eclipse- Stephanie Meyer

Review

 

Can someone tell me why I persist with reading these books?! They are awful. Badly written, and I want to smash Bella's head against the wall to knck some sense into her.

 

And this one doesn't even have a halfway decent plot behind it.

 

Yet I know I will still read the last.

 

1/5

 

I always felt that way about Bella too, but just couldn't put the darn books down!

[Lucybird]

Yay I'm not the only one!

[Lucybird]

The QI Book of the Dead

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

The QI Book of the Dead is a book about life.

 

'What an awful thing life is. It's like soup with lots of hairs floating on the surface. You have to eat it nevertheless.' (Gustave Flaubert)

 

Around 90 billion people have existed since the human race began. From this huge number, the bestselling QI team selected 600 of the finest examples of our species and researched them in depth, distilling this immense banquet of life into an exquisite tasting menu of six-dozen crisp, racy mini-biographies, where the internationally and immortally famous rub shoulders with the undeservedly and (until now) permanently obscure.

 

The object is to learn something about what it means to be alive and how we can make the most of the time we have.

 

The QI Book of the Dead compares and contrasts the different ways individual human beings cope (or fail to cope) with the curves that the uncaring universe* throws at us. Collected into themed chapters with thought-provoking titles such as 'There s Nothing Like a Bad Start in Life', 'Man Cannot Live by Bread Alone' and 'Is That All There Is?' here is a chance to share the secrets of the Dead, to celebrate their wisdom, to learn from their mistakes, and to marvel at their bad taste in clothes.

 

'The man who is not dead still has a chance.' (Lebanese Proverb)

 

*We don t rule out the alternative possibility of a compassionate God whose motives are beyond our ken.

 

Review

 

Bit of a difficult one to review this. Very interesting, and well written so it was as easy to read as fiction tends to be. Gave me a fair bit of knowledge without any of it being particularly useful! Quite amusing too, although I found more made me laugh in the first few chapter than in the last few. Well worth a read anyway.

 

4/5

[Cookie]

The QI book of the Dead sounds really interesting. I will have to look into getting it. Thanks Lucybird for making me aware of it!

[Lucybird]

My pleasure the boyfriend lent it to me so just spreading the message.

[Lucybird]

The Rotter's Club- Johnathan Coe

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Jonathan Coe's widely acclaimed novel is set in the 1970s against a distant backdrop of strikes, terrorist attacks and growing racial tension. A group of young friends inherit the editorship of their school magazine and begin to put their own distinctive spin onto events in the wider world. A zestful comedy of personal and social upheaval, The Rotters' Club captures a fateful moment in British politics - the collapse of 'Old Labour' - and imagines its impact on the topsy-turvy world of the bemused teenager: a world in which a lost pair of swimming trunks can be just as devastating as an IRA bomb.

 

Review

I remember seeing the TV serialisation of this a few years ago, and while I only really remember Lois I do remember that it was good. I think this actually made the book a little less enjoyable for me- it felt a little slow at times- however I did still enjoy it. Part of what I enjoyed is that I could recognise the places mentioned and knew some of the history of Birmingham discussed in the book. However in a way this made things not so good

I knew that there was a bomb at The Tavern in the Town, so the actual bomb may have had less of an impact on me.

It is well known history though, so I am sure Coe anticipated this. Another thing I really liked was that I felt I got to know the characters. Cicely I didn't like, although she grew on me a little, and I came to kind of understand her.

When it came down to it, even though I still wanted Ben to end up with Claire, I wanted them to work out, but considering Sam's other prediction proved to be false, I think it foreshadowed they would fail.

I liked Ben. But most of all I liked Lois, she made me laugh and she seemed very intelligent- although first views of her didn't really reflect this. I just wish we had heard more from her.

 

3.5/5

[Lucybird]

Maliche- Laura Esquivel

 

Synopsis (from Amazon, edited by me)

 

An extraordinary retelling of the passionate and tragic love between the conquistador Cortez and the Indian woman Malinalli, his interpreter during his conquest of the Aztecs. Malinalli's Indian tribe has been conquered by the warrior Aztecs. When her father is killed in battle, she is raised by her wisewoman grandmother who imparts to her the knowledge that their founding forefather god, Quetzalcoatl, had abandoned them after being made drunk by a trickster god and committing incest with his sister. But he was determined to return with the rising sun and save her tribe from their present captivity. Wheh Malinalli meets Cortez she, like many, suspects that he is the returning Quetzalcoatl, and assumes her task is to welcome him and help him destroy the Aztec empire and free her people.

 

Review

 

I must admit I found this book a bit hard going. The writing was undeniably beautiful but difficult. There was a mystical and almost poetic quality to it. Plot wise there isn't really much to it, there is a plot but most of the book is taken up with writing (I know that kind of sounds odd, but it sort of builds an atmosphere as much as telling a story I suppose). What there was of plot wasn't really very detailed, and that was kind of disappointing. Somehow tough I did feel I knew Malinalli, almost to the extent that I felt I was her. I hated what the Spanish were doing but somehow I couldn't hate them because she didn't, and I think that's something powerful. I don't think this is a particularly easily accessible book but for the beautiful writing it's worth a read, although you may find it best when you have few distractions (I tend to read on the bus and in my lunch break and I found I had to re-read a fair bit). If you're after something more accessible try Like Water for Chocolate instead, it's almost as beautifully written but is easier.

 

3.5/5

[Lucybird]

Middlesex- Jeffrey Eugenides

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

'I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver's license records my first name simply as Cal.' So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides, and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of l967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Point, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret, and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, "Middlesex" is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.

 

Review

 

This really wasn't what I expected but I loved it all the same, possibly more that I would have thought. I was expecting it would be about being a hermaphrodite but it was more about family- a family which was, despite some skeletons, pretty normal. Most of the time it could have been about pretty much any teenage girl and the worries she has, and I think that was written very well. In fact I found it more interesting before Cal knew his/her true nature or that she/he wasn't 'normal' than after and reading about him after that point. I really thought Eugenides built up a great sense of character and of family and I really felt I knew the characters, especially Cal and Desdemona, plus I really liked them. However (maybe because of the autobiographical style) I felt it ended quite abruptly- I suppose that makes it more realistic because Cal's story wouldn't end until he/she was dead in the very least.

 

4.5/5

[Kylie]

Great review Lucy. I also loved this book much more than I thought I would. It was one of my top reads of last year.

[poppyshake]

Great review Lucy. I've just started this, well am nearly half way through, and am loving it, but then I haven't got to the bit where Cal actually finds out her/his true identity .. though of course you know it's coming.

I love it, reminds me a lot of 'A Long, Long Time Ago & Essentially True' which I loved, but I'm enjoying this one even more so far.

[Lucybird]

Great review Lucy. I've just started this, well am nearly half way through, and am loving it, but then I haven't got to the bit where Cal actually finds out her/his true identity .. though of course you know it's coming.

I love it, reminds me a lot of 'A Long, Long Time Ago & Essentially True' which I loved, but I'm enjoying this one even more so far.

 

Glad you're enjoying it I've not heard of 'A Long, long time ago and essentially true', what's it about?

[Lucybird]

I Fought the Law- Dan Kieran

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

Originally intended to be a simple Christmas humour book, "I Fought The Law" ended up becoming something rather different. The premise was simple enough. Dan was going to spend a year trying to break as many stupid old laws as he could find, for your amusement. You see there are loads of ridiculous laws on the statute book...It is still illegal to beat a carpet in the Metropolitan Police District, to take possession of a beached whale or to get within a hundred yards of the Queen without wearing socks. The list goes on and on. But in the process of researching these silly old laws Dan found a glut of stupid legislation that was equally ridiculous, but these laws had one thing in common - they'd all been passed by our current Government. And when he met a man who has a criminal record for eating a cake that had 'Freedom of Speech' written on it in icing in Parliament Square the idea of breaking the Adulteration of Tea Act of 1776 started to seem a little frivolous.Lifting up this legal concrete slab in the garden of England, however, caused all sorts of creepy crawlies to emerge that began to cast doubt on the health of the nation, so Dan's adventure began to change tack. His journey ended up taking him all across the country where he found some unlikely heroes fighting back. Meet: Dorothy, who spent days living on the roof of a bus station in Derby; a group of pensioners, who were forced to let off stink bombs in a court of law; the man who dresses like Chaplin's tramp and keeps getting arrested outside Downing Street; and, one woman who got an ASBO for being naked in her own home - and a Tourette's sufferer who was given an ASBO for swearing. So, whether it's fighting to protect our environment, our freedom, or the right to live in an unconventional way, "I Fought the Law" is an unashamedly patriotic call to arms to all those for whom enough is enough.

 

Review.

 

This was not what I was expecting at all. I was expecting a bit of a funny book (something like the stuff Dave Gorman writes) but maybe with a serious message behind it. Bits of it yes were funny but I found more of it on the serious side, and at times even a little depressing, kind of fatalist. It was easy to read for a book that turned out pretty serious but did read a bit like a rant a lot of the time, and was very repetative, Would I recommend it? Well it's interesting enough, and it did make me think of things- maybe things that people should think about, so I guess I would say it's not a bad choice.

 

3/5

[Lucybird]

Beauty- Raphael Selbourne

 

Synopsis (from Amazon, adapted by me)

 

Beauty - in both name and appearance - is a twenty-year-old Bangladeshi, back in England having shocked her family by fleeing an abusive arranged marriage. Now she is forced onto the jobseekers' treadmill.

 

Her fractious encounters with officialdom, fellow claimants, strangers and passers-by in the city streets, exacerbated by the restrictions (and comfort) of her language and culture, place her at the mercy of such unlikely helpers as Mark, a friendly, dog-owning ex-offender, and Peter, the middle-class underachiever on the rebound from a bitter relationship. .

 

WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2009

 

Review

 

I really enjoyed this. There was a really good sense of scene and of character. I live quite near to Wolverhampton and the sense of place and people was really well built- the characters were really believable. They were imperfect too, and realistic. At first I really disliked one of the characters (I won't say who to avoid spoilers) but ended up really liking him, I think that was Selbourne's intention and it was done well. I think he tried to reverse it with another character, but I never really trusted that one.

 

4.5/5

[poppyshake]

Glad you're enjoying it I've not heard of 'A Long, long time ago and essentially true', what's it about?

 

I loved it ('Middlesex') ... one of my favourite reads this year easily I've got a review of 'A Long, Long Time Ago & Essentially True' somewhere on my blog .. but here's the Waterstones synopsis anyway:

 

Winner of the 2010 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for a distinguished first book of fiction, A Long Long Time Ago and Essentially True is a grand love story and a wonderfully warm-hearted debut about a young woman and her country on the cusp of change.On the eve of World War II in a place called Half-Village, a man nicknamed the Pigeon falls in love with a girl fabled for her angelic looks. Using his 'golden hands' he decides to turn her family's modest hut into a beautiful home, and build his way into her heart.But war arrives, cutting short their charming courtship and bringing with it terrible events.Fifty years on, young Baba Yaga leaves her village to make a new life in Krakow. What she finds is not the city of her grandmother's tales but a place struggling in the aftermath of communism's fall, where opportunity seems reserved for the lucky few. Then tragedy strikes and the past reaches out an unexpected hand to her.What Louis de Bernieres did for Kefalonia, Brigid Pasulka does for Poland, weaving together the two strands of her story with a deftly magical touch into a witty, wise and heartbreaking love story that will enchant you to the very end.

 

Although the main plotline is not similar to 'Middlesex', the back story of Pigeon and Anielica reminded me a lot of Lefty and Desdemona, they both had to flee from war and settle in a new area, also the story alternates between present day and the past in a similar way and the writing is pretty similar too.

 

I think 'Middlesex' is the better of the two but 'A Long, Long Time Ago & Essentially True' was also very good.

[Lucybird]

It does sound good, thanks Poppy.

[Lucybird]

A Girl Made of Dust- Nathalie Abi-Ezzi

 

Synopsis (from Amazon)

 

A rich and beautiful novel set during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the early 1980s, and based on the author's personal experiences of the conflict. Ten-year-old Ruba lives in a village outside Beirut. From her family home, she can see the buildings shimmering on the horizon and the sea stretched out beside them. She can also hear the rumble of the shelling -- this is Lebanon in the 1980s and civil war is tearing the country apart. Ruba, however, has her own worries. Her father hardly ever speaks and spends most of his days sitting in his armchair, avoiding work and family. Her mother looks so sad that Ruba thinks her heart might have withered in the heat like a fig. Her elder brother, Naji, has started to spend his time with older boys -- and some of them have guns. When Ruba decides she has to save her father, and uncovers his secret, she begins a journey which takes her from childhood to the beginnings of adulthood. As Israeli troops invade and danger comes ever closer, she realises that she may not be able to keep her family safe. This is a first novel with tremendous heart, which captures both a country and a childhood in turmoil.

 

Review.

 

I was rather disappointed by this book, there was little sense of what it felt like for a child living during a war, and while there was some impression of her ideas around why the war was happening there was litte about how she felt about that it actually was happening, in fact there was only really one point where I got a good sense of this. I don't feel the blurb represented the book very well really. Yes Ruba grew up but I saw little connection with her Father's secret, and while the secret was something important for understanding her Father I felt it had little to do with her growing up, or at least less that the impression given by the blurb.

As for The Girl made of Dust herself we never found out who she was which was a bit disappointing. The problem caused by her death seemed to suddenly disappear with the appearance of Amal in Ruba's father's life but I really don't understand why, she can't have been the girl because the girl was dead!

I did quite like the voice of the book though, it seemed to fit a girl of Ruba'd age quite well and was engaging. It reminded me somewhat of the tone of The Cure for Death by Lightening which was one of my favourite books last year.

 

3.5/5

[Lucybird]

The Complete Polysyllabic Spree- Nick Hornby

 

 

Synopsis (from the back of the book- because it's what I want to say put more eloquently and the synopsis on Amazon, and on Waterstones, and Wikipedia are rubbish)

 

This is not a book of reviews. This is not a book which sneers at other books. This is a book about reading- about enjoying books whereever and however you find them.

 

Nick Hornby is first and foremost a reader and he approaches books like the rest of us: hoping to pick up one he can't put down. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree is a diary of sorts, charting his reading life over two years. It is a celebration of why we read- its pleasures, its dissappointments and its surprises.

 

And above all, it is for you- the ever hopeful reader.

 

Review.

 

First I have to make clear this is not a books of reviews. Despite the synopsis (blurb, whatever you want to call it) saying this I still expected it to be. Yes he talked about how he felt about books but he didn't so much talk about what they were about. I found this both intriguing and infuriating. When I like the sound of books he was talking about I wanted to know more, I wanted more on the content, or a little synopsis or something, but at the same time I feel if that mystery was gone I might not have been so interested, and this way I may read books I wouldn't have usually. I like picking up books outside my usual circle, it's the best way to discover something new you love and to expand your horizons, if you always read the same stuff how much could you be missing that you would love but just don't look at? In that sense it had made me think about my reading (and as I read it as part of The Rory Gilmore book challenge it was in itself a books I wouldn't usually read). In particular it made me think about my approach to reading books I'm not enjoying (the first review in this blog, from my blog thread- so before the Wordpress blog started) was Rachel Ray a book I struggled with but kept reading because I hate abandoning books. I do already have a rule that I have to read 100 pages before abandoning, because I don't think you can really get a feel for longer books before then but maybe I should be a bit more strict in what I call enjoying, there are so many books out there and so little time, why waste time on books you don't enjoy.

 

I was glad when Hornby actually talked about a book I had read (early on he bought a copy of Norwegian Wood, a book I loved, but he didn't read it, and I was disappointed) which was Death and the Penguin. It made me value his opinion more because it was a book he loved, and I had enjoyed- it made me feel I might be more likely to enjoy the books he had.

 

This book has really added to my wishlist. Thirteen books to be precise, plus one more I am unsure about and want to look in to more and one which I know my Mum owns so I can add straight to my To Be Read pile. I can't decide if this is a good thing or not. Browsing Amazon and adding books to my wishlist is one of my favourite hobbies, and I love discovering new books. But at the same time I am trying not to spend any more money on books, especially as my rule that my TBR pile has to be in single figures before I can allow myself to buy more books has been broken so many times this year. I did find that I had to carry round a notebook with me when reading this book just so I could note down books I was interesting in. I wish I had my own copy so I could mark interesting passages and the books I wanted to read- unfortunately I borrowed this from the library and as I don't think I'll want to re-read it it's not worth buying a copy now. If you are interested though I would say buy rather than borrow.

 

I have such a love hate relationship with this book that I have no idea what to rate it. I love it so much I want you all to read it, but at the same time I wish there was more, and that there was less so my wishlist wouldn't have expanded so much! Less than 4 seems too low, but 4 and 5 seem too high. So take the rating with a pince of salt!

 

4.5/5

 

 

 

The additions to the Wishlist

 

George and Sam- Charlotte Moore

 

Old School- Tobias Wolff

 

No Name- Wilkie Collins (to be looked in to)

 

How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World- Francis Wheen

 

Not Even Wrong- Paul Collins

 

True Notebooks- Mark Salzman

 

Assassination Vacation- Sarah Vowel

 

Early Bird- Rodney Rothman

 

Gilead- Marilynne Robinson

 

The Amateur Marriage- Anne Tyler

 

A Complicated Kindness- Miriam Toews

 

Then We Came to the End- Joshua Ferris

 

Running in the Family- Michael Ondaatje

 

Persepolis- Marjane Satrapi

[frankie]

Lucybird, an absolutely superb review on The Complete Polysyllabic Spree! I share a lot of your thoughts on the book but I couldn't have put it any better!

 

Here as the things I especially agree with you on:

 

- I found this both intriguing and infuriating. When I like the sound of books he was talking about I wanted to know more, I wanted more on the content, or a little synopsis or something, but at the same time I feel if that mystery was gone I might not have been so interested, and this way I may read books I wouldn't have usually.

 

- I like picking up books outside my usual circle, it's the best way to discover something new you love and to expand your horizons, if you always read the same stuff how much could you be missing that you would love but just don't look at?

 

- I was glad when Hornby actually talked about a book I had read which was Death and the Penguin. It made me value his opinion more because it was a book he loved, and I had enjoyed- it made me feel I might be more likely to enjoy the books he had.

 

- This book has really added to my wishlist. ... I can't decide if this is a good thing or not. Browsing Amazon and adding books to my wishlist is one of my favourite hobbies, and I love discovering new books. But at the same time I am trying not to spend any more money on books....

 

- I did find that I had to carry round a notebook with me when reading this book just so I could note down books I was interesting in.

 

And don't you agree that Sarah Vowell is someone you want to look into, considering how much Hornby spent time on writing about her and not using her real name She was on Conan O'Brien a few years ago and she sounded really interesting and I had to add one of her books (A Partly Cloudy Patriot) to my wishlist.

 

The books you added to your wishlist/TBR and which I also added:

- George and Sam- Charlotte Moore

- Old School- Tobias Wolff

- True Notebooks- Mark Salzman

- Early Bird- Rodney Rothman

- Then We Came to the End- Joshua Ferris

 

BTW, have you noticed that at least How to Breathe Underwater (Julia Orringer), Old School (Tobias Wolff), The Dirt (M�tley Cr�e) and Candide (Voltaire) are on the Rory list as well?

 

Oooh and BTW, did you know that Kurkov has written a sequel to the penguin story? I've not read it yet but can't wait to get to it

Edited August 4, 2010 by Janet

[Lucybird]

Lucybird, an absolutely superb review on The Complete Polysyllabic Spree! I share a lot of your thoughts on the book but I couldn't have put it any better!

 

Thanks

 

don't you agree that Sarah Vowell is someone you want to look into, considering how much Hornby spent time on writing about her and not using her real name She was on Conan O'Brien a few years ago and she sounded really interesting and I had to add one of her books (A Partly Cloudy Patriot) to my wishlist.

 

Yes he seemed strangely attached to her, I wonder what she's like.

 

The books you added to your wishlist/TBR and which I also added:

- George and Sam- Charlotte Moore

- Old School- Tobias Wolff

- True Notebooks- Mark Salzman

- Early Bird- Rodney Rothman

- Then We Came to the End- Joshua Ferris

 

I think George and Sam is the one I most want to read, I will almost certainly get that one.

 

BTW, have you noticed that at least How to Breathe Underwater (Julia Orringer), Old School (Tobias Wolff), The Dirt (M�tley Cr�e) and Candide (Voltaire) are on the Rory list as well?

 

I had noticed the Motely Crue one, I thought it was a bit of a strange choice for Rory so I suppose it's explained now! Maybe we should make one a group read?

 

Oooh and BTW, did you know that Kurkov has written a sequel to the penguin story? I've not read it yet but can't wait to get to it

 

Yes I have read it too, it's not as good as the first but still good. Worth a look at at least.

[frankie]

Sarah Vowell seemed really funny when she was on Conan, I can't go without reading at least one of her books

 

George and Sam did seem a really interesting read, me not having much experience on what autism is really like, and the family having two autistic children. And Hornby having one! I think it'll be a delightful read Mark Salzman's book True Notebooks seemed really interesting as well, if I remember correctly he worked with the people who were on death row in a prison.

 

I think M�tley Cr�e was chosen because Lorelai was reading the book this one time and she was really grossed out by it, but not in an entirely negative way I'm personally looking forward to reading the book (did you read the small quote by the way? It was disgusting ), and I wouldn't mind doing it as a group reading

[Lucybird]

I couldn't find a magnifying glass but I really wanted to read it!

[frankie]

I couldn't find a magnifying glass but I really wanted to read it!

 

I didn't have one either but when I tried, I could make out the words. I'm not the most easily disturbed person but that was gross!