Tunn 300's 2011 Book List

[tunn300]

I love your review of 'A Visit From the Goon Squad' Tunn I had heard it was a little bit different and difficult and so was not sure whether to attempt it or not, I will most definitely now it sounds quirky and interesting.

 

Sorry you had a bad cinema experience .. why on earth would they cast Anne Hathaway? The Yorkshire accent is not the easiest in the world to imitate, even if you're British. What a shame because Emma was the best thing about the book and to have her miscast Anna Maxwell Martin would have been perfect .. she's from Yorkshire too but I guess she's just not box office enough. Well, it's another one to add to the pile of 'great books turned into bad movies'.. I'm going to give it a miss.

 

Thanks Poppy, hope you enjoy A Visit from the Goon Squad as much as I did. I will certainly look forward to reading your review.

 

I really don't understand the Anne Hathaway casting either. Jim Sturgess who was cast as Dexter is pretty unknown so I don't understand why they couldn't take a similar risk with Emma. Anna Maxwell Martin would have been an excellent choice and someone I had not considered. Maybe you have a future career in casting Poppy.

[poppyshake]

I wish I'm usually rubbish at it though. I remember thinking that Renée Zellweger was a terrible choice for Bridget Jones .. until I saw her in the part and she was a triumph. I guess sometimes it's worth taking the risk and they probably wanted at least one big box office name. I thought of Carey too, I'm sure either of those two would have been fantastic but we'll never know now I read an interview with David Nicholls over the weekend and the question came up about Anne Hathaway and he fudged around it a bit and said that plenty of British women play American parts and it's seen as a good thing which missed the point a bit I thought (but you can't blame him, the criticism puts him in an awkward position) If Anne had nailed it then nobody would be complaining. I watched the trailer and her accent, which was only vaguely British, kept catching the plane home to America

[tunn300]

I watched the trailer and her accent, which was only vaguely British, kept catching the plane home to America

 

I found the absolute worst bit to be when she attempted for the full blown Yorkshire accent!

 

I have been steadily reading through 'Eleven' this past week and have enjoyed it. Will hopefully finish it before heading back to work on Thursday when my reading will no doubt begin to slow again.

[willoyd]

I really don't understand the Anne Hathaway casting either. Jim Sturgess who was cast as Dexter is pretty unknown so I don't understand why they couldn't take a similar risk with Emma.

 

Maybe because they felt they needed at least one 'name' to put up to appeal to the American market? Totally agree with you about Anna Maxwell Martin - she would have been perfect.

[tunn300]

Well I managed to finish 'Eleven'in the last few hours of August. This also represented the last few hours of summer for me as I am now back at work. I know my reading will now inevitably slow but am determined to read more than I did in the last 4 months of the year last year where only 1 book was finished.

 

Will post my review of 'Eleven' over the weekend and choose a new book too.

[tunn300]

Eleven - Mark Watson

 

 

Synopsis Amazon

This is the story of radio DJ Xavier Ireland, who by night offers words of wisdom to sleepless Londoners and by day keeps himself to himself. That is, until a one-of-a-kind encounter forces him to confront his own biggest regret. Meanwhile, a single moment sparks a chain of events that will affect eleven lives across the city, with unstoppable consequences...Eleven is a tale of love, loss, Scrabble and six degrees of separation, asking whether the choices we don't make affect us just as powerfully as those we do.

 

Review

I recently bought this book with some vouchers I received for my birthday. I wanted to read it as I am a big fan of Mark Watson's stand-up and not because of the comparison on the front to 'One Day'.

 

In this book we follow the story of Xavier Ireland an Australian that moved to London, for reasons unclear at the start, five years ago and stumbled into a job presenting a late night radio talk show. Whilst Xavier is the central character that the story revolves around we also get an insight into the lives of 10 other characters that are effected by one of Xavier's actions early on in the book. The story is told by an omniscient narrator who often tells us the futures of even the minor characters we encounter.

 

The thing I really enjoyed about this book was the way it showed the connections between people and how are actions can have such an enormous effect not just on ourselves but others. Xavier's actions at the start of the novel are forgotten by him pretty quickly but the consequences of it for others are far reaching. I am not going to go into detail with what they are as I think it would spoil the book for others.

 

These actions and consequences form one part of the book and we keep referring back to it in each chapter. The other half of the book deals with Xavier's day to day life, his worklife, his friendship, his love life and also the real reason he left his friends in Australia and moved to London. I found this part was really well written and the relationships between these people well executed making me really believe in their stories.

 

The book has many humorous moments as you would expect from Watson but also a certain sadness that I did not. The comparisons with 'One Day' are ridiculous as the books have a very different style but I understand publishers using this as a ploy to sell more books. I certainly hope it works as this is a good book that I would recommend and enjoyed greatly myself.

 

9/10

[tunn300]

Have made a start today on 'Fingersmith' by Sarah Waters. Have had this on my TBR since my birthday last year and thought it was time to give it a go. I read Little Stranger last year and enjoyed it so looking forward to reading this. My mother in law regularly attends a reading group and she said it is the highest rated book she has read over the last two years!

[I'mRose]

Eleven - Mark Watson

 

 

Synopsis Amazon

This is the story of radio DJ Xavier Ireland, who by night offers words of wisdom to sleepless Londoners and by day keeps himself to himself. That is, until a one-of-a-kind encounter forces him to confront his own biggest regret. Meanwhile, a single moment sparks a chain of events that will affect eleven lives across the city, with unstoppable consequences...Eleven is a tale of love, loss, Scrabble and six degrees of separation, asking whether the choices we don't make affect us just as powerfully as those we do.

 

Review

I recently bought this book with some vouchers I received for my birthday. I wanted to read it as I am a big fan of Mark Watson's stand-up and not because of the comparison on the front to 'One Day'.

 

In this book we follow the story of Xavier Ireland an Australian that moved to London, for reasons unclear at the start, five years ago and stumbled into a job presenting a late night radio talk show. Whilst Xavier is the central character that the story revolves around we also get an insight into the lives of 10 other characters that are effected by one of Xavier's actions early on in the book. The story is told by an omniscient narrator who often tells us the futures of even the minor characters we encounter.

 

The thing I really enjoyed about this book was the way it showed the connections between people and how are actions can have such an enormous effect not just on ourselves but others. Xavier's actions at the start of the novel are forgotten by him pretty quickly but the consequences of it for others are far reaching. I am not going to go into detail with what they are as I think it would spoil the book for others.

 

These actions and consequences form one part of the book and we keep referring back to it in each chapter. The other half of the book deals with Xavier's day to day life, his worklife, his friendship, his love life and also the real reason he left his friends in Australia and moved to London. I found this part was really well written and the relationships between these people well executed making me really believe in their stories.

 

The book has many humorous moments as you would expect from Watson but also a certain sadness that I did not. The comparisons with 'One Day' are ridiculous as the books have a very different style but I understand publishers using this as a ploy to sell more books. I certainly hope it works as this is a good book that I would recommend and enjoyed greatly myself.

 

9/10

 

What a great review! Makes my fingers itch to go out and buy it, must stop my self, it will go on the wish list as I have a weakness for this types of stories.

[tunn300]

What a great review! Makes my fingers itch to go out and buy it, must stop my self, it will go on the wish list as I have a weakness for this types of stories.

 

Thanks Rose, sorry for causing you itchy fingers. Hope when you get around to buying and reading it it lives up to expectations.

[tunn300]

So as predicted my mid-week reading all but ground to a halt this week with my return to work. I managed to get in a good session in yesterday though and am just under 200 pages into Fingersmith and have finished part one. I am really enjoying it so far and the twist that came at the end of this section of the book really took me by surprise. Although it had been hinted at with clues earlier in the book it was not what I was expecting. Hope to get through some more of this today!

[tunn300]

My reading has been at a complete standstill for the past few weeks as I have been ridiculously busy at work. I have read a chapter here and there of 'Fingersmith' but not that much really. As I now have eleven whole days off to myself I am determined to dedicate some time to reading. Whilst I will continue with 'Fingersmith' at some point I am leaving it for now. Not because it is a bad book but because I feel I am doing it a great disservice reading it in such tiny little chunks. I made a start today on 'The Sense of an Ending' by Julian Barnes as it is this years Man Booker Prize winner. Having read Pigeon English, another of the short-listed nominees, I was excited to read something that had been judged better.

 

I am about 50 pages in and it is only 150 pages long so I imagine I will finish it quite quickly. Have come away to Devon for a few days which has really inspired me to do some reading. Have quite a few other books lined up on my kindle that I am desperate to read too!

[tunn300]

The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes

 

 

Synopsis Amazon

Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life.

 

 

Now Tony is in middle age. He’s had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He’s certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer’s letter is about to prove.

 

 

The Sense of an Ending is the story of one man coming to terms with the mutable past. Laced with trademark precision, dexterity and insight, it is the work of one of the world’s most distinguished writers.

 

Review

When I visited the local library last week I spotted this on their Man Booker Prize stand they had created. It had been announced as the winner only a few days before and I was eager to read it.

 

It is a very short book, standin at exactly 150 pages in the hardback edition I had and I finished it in just under 2 days. The book is written from the perspective of Tony, a man who is neaing the last chapter of his life and is reflecting back upon his youth. The first half of the book details Tony's early life and friendship with three other boys, the most interesting being Adrian Finn. For me the book seems to show the way in which our minds can alter history to make it easier for us to live with and this is a theme constantly referred back to throughout the book. We are often quoted the 'history is the memories of the survivors.'

 

I think it is fair to say you should not go into reading this book expecting a great deal to happen. It is more of a character driven story in which we journey with Tony as he first re-tells and then re-discovers his past. It is hard to go into great deal what the plot revolves around as it really would spoil the surprise it creates.

 

I found the writing to be interesting and very tought provoking and fairly easy to read. I did enjoy the book and am glad I have read it but would not heartily recommedn it to anyone as a must read. It has left me thinking about a few issues, especially the way we percieve history, but I doubt it will be a story that lives with me for any great length of time.

 

8/10

[tunn300]

Dear Coca-Cola - Terry Ravenscroft

 

 

Synopsis Amazon

Putting pen to paper with hilarious results, in Dear Coca-Cola Terry Ravenscroft homes in on the Food & Drink industry. Household names such as Heinz, Ryvita, Tesco, Cadburys and of course the Coca-Cola Company are the targets for his entertaining epistles, resulting in a laugh-out-loud letters book with a difference.

From gripes about missing characters in a cartoon spaghetti dish to recommendations for made-up recipes (including ‘Cock-of-Puddings’, inspired by a tin of Baxter’s Cock-a-Leekie soup), Dear Coca-Cola is a freewheeling gag fest from start to finish, from a comic genius who previously wrote sketches for Les Dawson, The Two Ronnies, Not the Nine O’Clock News and Morecambe and Wise. Food & Drink books were never like this.

 

Review

I bought this book due to 3 factors. 1. The favourable reviews on Amazon. 2. Its apparent similarity to 'The Timewaster Letters' a book I really enjoyed. 3. Its low price, at just 71p on Kindle it was never too much of a risk.

 

This book is a series of leters written to major companies under the guise of compaints/recommendations/enquiries. The humour from these type of books generally comes from the response of the company written to and the authors follow up. As stated above I have previously read 'The Timewaster Letters' by Robin Cooper and found them hilarious. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for this book. There were very few letters that actually made me chuckle, let alone laugh out loud.

 

Ravenscroft follws a very similar pattern with each letter and in my opinion lacks the wit of Cooper with his replies. He appears to get fixated on the fact that writing to someone about how a said product effects your sex life is funny all by itself and in the last half of the book alomst all his letters deal with this. The first few letters are much more amusing but in my opinion it really goes downhill after those.

 

It is a relatively short book and took me under a day to read but I would not really recommend anyone else to do so. Instead use your 71p towards saving for Cooper's book, which whilst being 5 times the price (on kindle at least) is at least 100 times funnier.

 

6/10

Edited October 23, 2011 by tunn300

[bobblybear]

I've 'ummed and ahhed' about Dear Coca-Cola for a while, but will save my £0.71 for something else now. I shall download a sample of The Timewaster Letters, as I do love a good giggle.

[tunn300]

After uhmming and ahhing for a bit I decided to make 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett my next read. I am about a third of the way in and I have to say so far it has been a truly excellent book. The three characters that tell the story are so different but all so believable. I think the film has just been released of this book too so may try and see it once I have finished the book.

[poppyshake]

Hi Tunn good to see you. Loving your reviews, was particularly interested in your thoughts about Julian Barnes's book as it's got such a buzz around it at the moment. I've decided, going on what you said, that it's one to borrow rather than splash out on .. the libraries will probably have multiple copies now that it's won the Booker.

 

Glad you're enjoying The Help .. I thought it was fantastic and the film is getting good reviews so fingers crossed.

[tunn300]

Hi Poppy,

 

Long time, no speak. That is obviously down to my poor showings on here over recent months. How are things with you? Is everything starting to sort itself out for you?

 

I am now about half way through 'The Help' and still thoroughly enjoying it. I did see some of the reviews of the film and it does look promising, it may not be as much of a flop as 'One Day'.

 

Hope you enjoy 'The Sense of an Ending' and that you can find a copy in stock somewhere soon.

[Weave]

Hi Tunn, great reviews all round

[tunn300]

Hi Tunn, great reviews all round

 

Thanks Weave

[tunn300]

Was just having a quick browse on the Kindle store this morning and spotted 'Snowdrops' by A.D. Miller for a steal at just under £3.50. This is another of the shortlisted books for the Man Booker Prize this year and just reading the synopsis and the first couple of pages had me hooked.

 

It really is far too easy to buy new books using the Kindle online store, anything you can access directly from the reading device to obtain more reading is always going to be dangerous to people like me!

[poppyshake]

Hi Poppy,

 

Long time, no speak. That is obviously down to my poor showings on here over recent months. How are things with you? Is everything starting to sort itself out for you?

 

I am now about half way through 'The Help' and still thoroughly enjoying it. I did see some of the reviews of the film and it does look promising, it may not be as much of a flop as 'One Day'.

 

Hope you enjoy 'The Sense of an Ending' and that you can find a copy in stock somewhere soon.

 

Hi Tunn, thanks for asking everything is fine with me .. life has evened out again and I'm less like a headless chicken and more like a sane person (I should set my sights lower though .. that's probably an unrealistic target )

 

I'm quite excited about the good films on at the moment, The Help sounds great, and I also want to see The Adventures of Tintin and The Woman in Black. I don't normally go to the cinema much, it's too expensive but I am hopefully going to see these (I'll try and cut costs a bit .. smuggle in sweets etc and try and steer hubby away from the counter and the big bucket of coke/popcorn.)

 

I will be off to Swindon library soon (either North or Central) and hopefully they'll have The Sense of an Ending there, but then if it's a fastback I'll have to pass .. I'm no good at slowback let alone fastback. In which case I'll have to exercise patience.

 

I hope Snowdrops is going well, I'm reading another of the shortlisters at the moment .. Jamrach's Menagerie .. I'm enjoying it, it's a real adventure story, sort of reminiscent of Robert Louis Stevensons stories with a touch of Moby Dick thrown in. I've read Far to Go too which is one of the longlisters but really fancy Pigeon English and The Sisters Brothers .. they sound phenomenal.

 

Luckily I haven't got a Kindle, I need to exercise restraint when it comes to buying books and I can see that it would be all too tempting to be able to download a book in minutes and start reading it .. and so cheaply too. I have said from the start that I won't get one but I find myself coming around to the idea, edging ever nearer as it were. Who knows, I might have one by this time next year

[willoyd]

Luckily I haven't got a Kindle, I need to exercise restraint when it comes to buying books and I can see that it would be all too tempting to be able to download a book in minutes and start reading it .. and so cheaply too. I have said from the start that I won't get one but I find myself coming around to the idea, edging ever nearer as it were. Who knows, I might have one by this time next year

 

One of the advantages I find with a Kindle is that, because books are so easily downloaded, I tend not to buy until I actually want to read the book, unlike hard copies which I tend to buy to have them ready to read (and then don't, at least not for a while, a long while in some cases). I also take advantage of the samples as well to see if I'm likely to get into a book or not. I'm actually finding I'm spending less not more (which has just about made up for the £150 or so spent on the thing in the first place!).

[tunn300]

 

Luckily I haven't got a Kindle, I need to exercise restraint when it comes to buying books and I can see that it would be all too tempting to be able to download a book in minutes and start reading it .. and so cheaply too. I have said from the start that I won't get one but I find myself coming around to the idea, edging ever nearer as it were. Who knows, I might have one by this time next year

 

Well I never thought I would see those words come from your keyboard Poppy. I think your resolve is cracking. I sometimes get withdrawal symptoms from real books and have to read one with actual pages that you turn and stuff. I don't regret getting my Kindle one bit though.

 

Am glad things are evening out for you. Am looking to move back to Swindon in the next couple of months so I shall be back at North Swindon library helping to keep the visitor numbers up.

 

Haven't started 'Snowdrops' just yet as I still have about 80 or so pages of "The Help" to finish off. Hopefully will do that tonight or tomorrow and then make a start on this book. "Pigeon English' is a truly excellent book and I really recommend it. It deals with some extremely topical issues and raises some interesting questions about modern society. I am also intrigued by 'The Sisters Brothers".

Edited October 29, 2011 by tunn300

[vodkafan]

Hi Tunn don't think we have spoken before. Wondered how you were getting on with The Help , I loved this book and look forward to seeing the film.

[tunn300]

Hi Tunn don't think we have spoken before. Wondered how you were getting on with The Help , I loved this book and look forward to seeing the film.

 

Hi Vodkafan, we did have a brief chat about 'The Little Stranger' by Sarah Waters right after I joined in February last year but other than that I don't think we have. I finished 'The Help' last night after a lengthy reading session. I simply could not put the book down as the tension

about what would happen when the book was finally released was incredible.

 

 

I thought it was a fantastic book and one that raised so many issues about racism after slavery had been outlawed in America. I was surprised to discover that Kathryn Stockett was white (I think from her vivid descriptions of experiences the maids had) and from her description of her experiences with her own maid, reminded me an awful lot of Skeeter.

 

What did you think?