Joe's bookshelf 2009

[joe]

Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard

 

 

This book was absolutely fantastic, it took my breath away. I found myself unable to put it down as I wanted to know what would happen to the characters of Rose and Callum, would they or wouldn't they get together? Would rose's bi polar illness destroy their future happiness? What would Megan think of them together? So many questions. The backdrop to the story, the bleakness of the island and the coldness also added to the whole feeling of Rose feeling isolated and alone within the community and within herself. The entire book was so beautifully written, merging poetry and art together. I also found myself falling in love with Callum a little bit and i absolutely grew to despise Gavin.

This is a book I will return to again and again and i most definetly have to have my own copy

 

10/10

Edited May 18, 2009 by joe

[joe]

I am about to start reading running with scissors by Augusten Burroughs

[Linda Gillard]

Well, reading that made my day! Thanks, Joe. So pleased to hear you enjoyed EMO GEO. I think everyone falls a little bit in love with Calum. I know I did.

 

The other one of my books that's similar to EG is STAR GAZING - another love story with an unusual angle (she's blind), another Highland hunk and another beautiful setting (Skye).

[joe]

I will have to hunt that out, cannot resist another highland hunk. thank you for writing such a beautiful story.

[Chrissy]

I just started 'Star Gazing', and am already hooked. You absolutely MUST read Linda's other works.

[~Andrea~]

I have both star gazing and emotional geology on my shelf. I can't wait to read them.

[joe]

I am going to order Star Gazing from the library:smile2:

[joe]

Reading in Bed

 

 

Opening at the Hay Festival, and ending with the prospect of a spring wedding, Sue Gee's novel is a lively story of tangled relationships and the sustaining powers of good books, loyal friends and conversation. Friends since university, with busy working lives behind them, Dido and Georgia have long been looking forward to carefree days of books and conversation, when each finds herself caught up in unexpected domestic drama. Dido, for the first time, has cause to question her marriage; widowed Georgia feels certain her husband will return to her. Meanwhile, an eccentric country cousin goes wildly off the rails, children are unhappy in love, and perfect health is all at once in question.

 

 

I was hugely excited about reading this book but about half way through it I began to lose heart. I found myself not really caring about the characters and I found the ending far to predictable.

 

 

 

5/10

[joe]

Running with Scissors

This is the story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of grandeur) gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead ringer for Santa Claus and a certifiable lunatic into the bargain. Suddenly at the age of 12, Augusten found himself living in a dilapidated Victorian house in perfect squalor. The doctor's bizarre family, a few patients and a paedophile living in the garden shed completed the tableau. Here, there were no rules or school. The Christmas tree stayed up until Summer and valium was chomped down like sweets. When things got a bit slow, there was always the ancient electroshock therapy machine under the stairs.

 

I absolutely loved this book but at the same time hated myself for enjoying it so much. It felt so much like a guilty pleasure as I was gaining enjoyment from reading about the life of a really dysfunctional and chaotic family. There were some really funny moments in the book but there were some truly horrific and uncomfortable moments as well, especially the scenes between Augusten and Nick. I have never read a book like it before and think that I will never read a book like it again, utterly mesmerising.

 

10/10

[joe]

Enduring Love by Ian McEw

 

This story begins on a windy summer's day in the Chilterns when the calm, organised life of Joe Rose is shattered by a ballooning accident. What happens is shocking and tragic, but strangely inco-sequential. The consequences come after, for that fatal accident brings Joe together briefly, with Jed Parry. Unknown to Rose, something passes between them - something that gives birth to an obsession so powerful that it will test to the limits Rose's beloved scientific rationalism, threaten the love of his wife Clarissa and drive him to take desperate measures merely to stay alive.

 

 

 

I had watched the film adaptation of this many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it, maybe because Daniel Craig was in it, Anyway I digress, I decided to read the book and I am so glad that I did. I have enjoyed other Ian McEwan books and this did not disappoint.

 

I found the whole of the book very difficult to read as I was made to feel very uncomfortable about the relationship between Joe and Jed. However having said that I needed to continue reading to find out how it would all end, If Jed would kill Joe or indeed if things would happen the other way round. It ws not a feel good book at all but still a very good read and a book that I shall probably read agai.

 

9/10i

Edited June 23, 2009 by joe

[Kylie]

Nice review. I've only read Atonement by Ian McEwan so far, but I bought Enduring Love first, after hearing about the story when the movie came out. I'm looking forward to reading it

[joe]

Star Gazing by Linda Gillard

 

Blind since birth, widowed in her twenties, now lonely in her forties, Marianne Fraser lives in Edinburgh in elegant, angry anonymity with her sister, Louisa, a successful novelist. Marianne's passionate nature finds solace and expression in music, a love she finds she shares with Keir, a man she encounters on her doorstep one winter's night. Whilst Marianne has had her share of men attracted to her because they want to rescue her, Keir makes no concession to her condition. He is abrupt to the point of rudeness, and yet oddly kind. But can Marianne trust her feelings for this reclusive stranger who wants to take a blind woman to his island home on Skye, to 'show' her the stars?

 

I absolutely loved this book and I need to own it, such a shame that I borrowed it from the library. I could not put this book down and I read it within a week which is very quick indeed for me. I found the issue of Marianne's blindness very interesting to read as there is a history of eye disease within my family. My nan is registered blind and my mum is partially sighted. I found that Linda wrote about this subject with great warmth, humour and honesty which I found refreshing. I also found the character of Keir very likeable and a total highland hunk. I fell a little bit in love with him myself.

 

10/10

[joe]

Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann

 

Can love outwit death? A heartbreaking epic story of two lives sustained by the memory of love 1992: Leo Deakin wakes up in a hospital somewhere in South America, his girlfriend Eleni is dead and Leo doesn't know where he is or how Eleni died. He blames himself for the tragedy and is sucked into a spiral of despair. But Leo is about to discover something which will change his life forever. 1917: Moritz Daniecki is a fugitive from a Siberian POW camp. Seven thousand kilometres over the Russian Steppes separate him from his village and his sweetheart, whose memory has kept him alive through carnage and captivity. The Great War may be over, but Moritz now faces a perilous journey across a continent riven by civil war. When Moritz finally limps back into his village to claim the hand of the woman he left behind, will she still be waiting? Danny Scheinmann paints a dramatic portrait of two men sustaining their lives through the memory of love. Cinematic and brimming with raw emotions, it is the magnificent and emotive debut from a remarkable new writer.

 

This was such a beautiful book to read and actually made me cry from the very beginning. the portrayal of Leo's grief felt so real to me and I really wanted him to be happy by the end of the book. The two stories of lost love intertwined so well although I felt the link was a little too obvious. This though did not distract me in anyway or diminish the impact that the book had on me. a truly beautiful book about love and how it so easily can be taken away. I gave my husband a big hug after reading it.

[joe]

Have given up on Scottsboro for now, just couldn't seem to get into it. So am starting to read the Palace of Strange Girls by Sallie Day.

 

-SPY AT THE SEASIDE Hello, children! Welcome to your very own I-Spy Book. In these pages you'll be able to look for all kinds of secret, exciting things that are found only by the sea. Blackpool, 1959. The Singleton family is on holiday. For seven-year-old Beth, just out of hospital, this means struggling to fill in her 'I-Spy' book and avoiding her mother Ruth's eagle-eyed supervision. Her sixteen-year-old sister Helen, meanwhile, has befriended a waitress whose fun-loving ways hint at a life beyond Ruth's strict rules. But times are changing. As foreman of the local cotton mill, Ruth's husband Jack is caught between unions and owners whose cost-cutting measures threaten an entire way of life. And his job isn't the only thing at risk. When a letter arrives from Crete, a secret re-emerges from the rubble of Jack's wartime past that could destroy his marriage. As Helen is tempted outside the safe confines of her mother's stern edicts, with dramatic consequences, an unexpected encounter inspires Beth to forge her own path.Over the holiday week, all four Singletons must struggle to find their place in a shifting world of promenade amusements, illicit sex and stilted afternoon teas, in this touching and extraordinarily evocative novel.

[Linda Gillard]

Thanks Joe for the great review of STAR GAZING!

 

Keir is pretty damn gorgeous isn't he? I don't know where these guts come from... They just walk into my mind and take up residence for a year. (Er, I'm not complaining. )

[joe]

Synopsis

 

I-SPY AT THE SEASIDE Hello, children! Welcome to your very own I-Spy Book. In these pages you'll be able to look for all kinds of secret, exciting things that are found only by the sea. Blackpool, 1959. The Singleton family is on holiday. For seven-year-old Beth, just out of hospital, this means struggling to fill in her 'I-Spy' book and avoiding her mother Ruth's eagle-eyed supervision. Her sixteen-year-old sister Helen, meanwhile, has befriended a waitress whose fun-loving ways hint at a life beyond Ruth's strict rules. But times are changing. As foreman of the local cotton mill, Ruth's husband Jack is caught between unions and owners whose cost-cutting measures threaten an entire way of life. And his job isn't the only thing at risk. When a letter arrives from Crete, a secret re-emerges from the rubble of Jack's wartime past that could destroy his marriage. As Helen is tempted outside the safe confines of her mother's stern edicts, with dramatic consequences, an unexpected encounter inspires Beth to forge her own path.Over the holiday week, all four Singletons must struggle to find their place in a shifting world of promenade amusements, illicit sex and stilted afternoon teas, in this touching and extraordinarily evocative novel.

 

 

I was really looking forward to reading this book and I found that i was not disapointed. I really enjoyed the characters of Helen and Pat and i eventually warmed to Ruth. I think that this is a book that ill become better with each reading so will be reading it again in the near future

 

 

7/10

Edited August 5, 2009 by Janet
Removed spaces from top of post. :)

[joe]

The Trouble With Marriage by Debby Holt

 

What happens after the 'happy ever after'? When Robin asked Tilly to marry him, it was the happiest moment of her life. Ten years on, the sparkle has faded - household bills, household chores, two small children and a boisterous dog have seen to that - but Tilly is convinced their love can survive even the attentions of interfering in-laws and a glamorous ex-girlfriend. When dramatic news ignites the simmering undercurrents into a full-blown crisis, Tilly is forced to face the fact that her marriage is under threat. Can she and Robin find a way to recapture the love, lust and sense of fun that filled their early years together? Can Tilly find the strength to overcome the obstacles in the path of true happiness? And when temptation arises in an unexpected form - can she, should she - find the will to resist?

 

 

 

I finished this book recently and found it to be a light enjoyable read. The characters were hugly likeable, the perfect summer read

[joe]

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger

This extraordinary, magical novel is the story of Clare and Henry who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry thirty. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself pulled suddenly into his past or future. His disappearances are spontaneous and his experiences are alternately harrowing and amusing. The Time Traveler's Wife depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare's passionate love for each other with grace and humour. Their struggle to lead normal lives in the face of a force they can neither prevent nor control is intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

 

I recently read this book for the elevenmth time and love it as much now as when I first read it, my all time favourite book

[joe]

The Blue Nowhere by Jeffrey Deaver

 

Synopsis

 

Someone is killing people in Sacramento Valley. Seemingly unrelated, the deaths are perpetrated by a murderer who knows everything there is to know about the victims - who can kill them because of the intimacy he seems to have with them. An intimacy which is created by his ability to track their every move through the virtual world, as soon as they switch on their computer. Streetwise cop Frank Bishop is detailed to the case, allied unwillingly to a young hacker, Wyatt Gillette, who is sprung from prison to pit his brilliance against the criminal's. But no one knows who to trust in an environment where everything is suspect, and pressing the wrong letter on your keyboard may mean death. This is the novel that will make you hesitate every time you click on the box that says 'Are you sure you want to send this over the Internet?'. [From Waterstones.com]

 

 

I actually listened to the unabridged audio version of this book and was totally gripped by it, it took me a week to listen to it. The whole idea that someone can hack into your computer and steal your identity is chillingly true and it makes you realise how vulnerable you can be while on the internet. This is the true beauty of this book as what happened in fiction could happen in reality. I really enjoy crime and thriller novels and will definetely be reading more books by the author. i was hugely disapointed when I finished it.

[Chrissy]

It's a really good read / listen isn't it? I'm glad it's made you want to get hold of more Deaver, he does write a gripping story.

 

Can I ask who read the book on your audio version?

[joe]

No problem, it was Tim Machin. May I ask what other Deaver books are good to read?

[Chrissy]

This is the listing taken from fantastic fiction. I have read all the Lincoln Rhyme series and can thoroughly recommend them all. I have read the first Katherine Dance book, and am really looking forward to reading the second.

 

Lincoln Rhyme

1. The Bone Collector (1997)

2. The Coffin Dancer (1998)

3. The Empty Chair (2000)

4. The Stone Monkey (2002)

5. The Vanished Man (2003)

6. The Twelfth Card (2005)

7. The Cold Moon (2006)

8. The Broken Window (2008)

 

Kathryn Dance

1. The Sleeping Doll (2007)

2. Roadside Crosses (2009)

 

Aside from the first two and the last one on this list, I have read the others and can recommend them.

Novels

Always a Thief (1988)

Voodoo (1988)

Mistress of Justice (1992)

The Lesson of Her Death (1993)

Praying for Sleep (1994)

Speaking in Tongues (1995)

A Maiden's Grave (1995)

The Devil's Teardrop: A Novel of the Last Night of the Century (1999)

The Blue Nowhere (2001)

Garden of Beasts (2004)

The Bodies Left Behind (2009)

 

I own, but am yet to read any from below! I'm not sure why I haven't got round to them yet.

Rune

1. Manhattan Is My Beat (1988)

2. Death of a Blue Movie Star (1990)

3. Hard News (1991)

John Pellam

1. Shallow Graves (1992) (writing as William Jefferies)

2. Bloody River Blues (1993)

3. Hell's Kitchen (2001)

 

 

Jeffrey Deaver is such a good writer, with fabulous twists and turns. His characters are always well drawn, and you are always kept guessing. I rate him as one of the greats.

 

I'd read the Lincoln Rhyme series. Katherine Dance is introduced in the books, then has gone on to get her very own books! The novels are great too. 'A Maiden's Grave' is one of my favourites.

 

Happy reading.

[joe]

thank you so much, am going to start with the Lincoln Rhyme books and read them in order, many thanks again

 

Jo

[frankie]

Happy reading Joe

[joe]

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Meggie loves books. So does her father, Mo, a bookbinder, although he has never read aloud to her since her mother mysteriously disappeared. They live quietly until the night a stranger knocks at their door. He has come with a warning that forces Mo to reveal an extraordinary secret - a storytelling secret that will change their lives for ever.

 

This book was not really my cup of tea, I normally would not read books like this as fantasy books rarely interest me. however because the story centred around the love of books i thought i would give it a go. I found it disappointing and would not read it again but i know that my husband would really enjoy it, its just not my reading taste