Vodkafan's 2012 Reading List and Genre Challenge

[vodkafan]

Although I am not supposed to be buying any more tree books, I have gotten on top of my finances this month as well as dealt with some personal stuff and moved on , so I felt I deserved a treat. When all the sums were done and everything put in the bank I had £10 to spend on myself; I spent £4 yesterday in London on some London souveniers and today went into a couple of charity shops and came out with 6 books, 2 music cds and a DVD.

I really enjoyed spending that money and got a great haul which I am sure will give me hours of quiet pleasure.

 

the books are:

The Midnight Palace Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Book Thief Markus Zusak

Pemberley Emma Tennant (P&P sequel?)

Girl Meets Boy Ali Smith

Gunners On Tour Maurice Court (WWII memoir)

The Almost Moon Alice Sebold

 

Cds and DVD were:

Love Angel Music Baby Gwen Stefani

Call On Me limited edition Eric Prydz (including 2 versions of the video)

Heat with Robert De Niro (haven't seen this one)

[chesilbeach]

I'm sure you can imagine how happy I am that you've got hold of a copy of Boy Meets Girl - I've gone on about it enough! My favourite book ever

[chaliepud]

The Book Thief is amazing, I'm sure you've seen the rave reviews on here.. I did enjoy The Midnight Palace, but not as much as The Shadow of the Wind, it's a young adult read though so fairly quick and straightforward.

 

I watched Heat many moons ago and remember enjoying it, but then Al Pacino is in it!

[vodkafan]

I'm sure you can imagine how happy I am that you've got hold of a copy of Boy Meets Girl - I've gone on about it enough! My favourite book ever

Yes Claire I thought of you when I saw it! It was just sitting there on the shelf next to another copy of The Accidental.

[vodkafan]

The Book Thief is amazing, I'm sure you've seen the rave reviews on here.. I did enjoy The Midnight Palace, but not as much as The Shadow of the Wind, it's a young adult read though so fairly quick and straightforward.

 

I watched Heat many moons ago and remember enjoying it, but then Al Pacino is in it!

Hi Chaliepud yes I have read everybody's reviews of TBT and could not allow this one to escape. Won't be reading any of these new books until I have finished my "old" TBR though.

[chaliepud]

 

Hi Chaliepud yes I have read everybody's reviews of TBT and could not allow this one to escape. Won't be reading any of these new books until I have finished my "old" TBR though.

 

How many do you have left on your "old" TBR VF? I've cooled off buying books now so I have a (very) vague hope of clearing it one day...

[vodkafan]

How many do you have left on your "old" TBR VF? I've cooled off buying books now so I have a (very) vague hope of clearing it one day...

16 after my current read

[chaliepud]

 

16 after my current read

 

That's pretty impressive!

[vodkafan]

I don't think I will be able to beat Chesilbeach....but yes it feels good to finally read some of the ones that have been on the shelf for years.

I am on the last 75 pages of The Little Stranger; should finish it by the end of the shift.

Edited September 1, 2012 by vodkafan

[vodkafan]

Just finished The Little Stranger....it was great hope to get some reviews done tonight.

[Kidsmum]

16 after my current read

 

Don't think i'll ever manage to get my TBR books down to that amount but like you i haven't bought as many books this year so at least i feel like i've chipped away at the mountain a bit

 

 

Just finished The Little Stranger....it was great hope to get some reviews done tonight.

 

Look forward to hearing what you thought of this one VF

[poppyshake]

Just finished The Little Stranger....it was great hope to get some reviews done tonight.

I'm glad you enjoyed it (< see) .. such an atmospheric book .. what did you make of the ending though? Lots of people get their knickers in a knot about it. Hope your knickers remained smooth and unknotted

[vodkafan]

Hope your knickers remained smooth and unknotted

 

I didn't wear any when I got to the end to avoid danger

[vodkafan]

The Little Stranger

Sarah Waters

 

This one was on my shelf for a good six months. I did not know what to expect, but it still ended up being not what I expected, if that makes any sense.

If someone was expecting a Woman In Black style ghost tale they might be disappointed , but I think that would be a shame because they would miss the point of a great story. Going to have to resort to spoilers here:

 

I think the way Ms Waters tells the tale is quite masterful , all the way through you don't actually know whether there is a supernatural force at work or not, the reader can make up his/her own mind, even at the end .

 

 

I really liked the ending, it was so ambiguous. The pace is slow , it was 180 pages before anything major happened, but she develops the characters so well it is not a chore at all and I was quite caught up in their lives. One thing I had fun doing was trying to work out where the fictional village of Lidcote was, as Waters mentions all the real towns roundabout quite often, Rugby, Southam, Daventry, Leamington and Warwick. All places I know well. I worked out through various clues that Lidcote must be just on the Leamington side of Southam .

The novel is also about the British class system and how it changed after the war. The story is told in the first person by Dr Faraday, a country doctor who's parents sacrificed for his education. He has a chip on his shoulder and a slight connection with the great House in the story, as his mother was a servant there.

I am a sucker for stories with crumbly old houses in them ( Mistress Masham's Repose, House of Silence, I Captured The Castle) and of course in this story Hundreds Hall is just such a house.

Strange things are happening there. For most of the book Dr Faraday is the voice of reason and always has an alternative explanation. The reader of course can make up their own mind, not least about Dr Faraday himself !

A quick note about the character of Caroline. Sarah Waters usually writes about lesbian characters, and I just read another review of the book that surmised that Caroline is a lesbian hiding in plain sight, and showing all sorts of "clues" and allegories in the writing.. I read an interview with Sarah Waters where she said there were no lesbian characters in it, it was just a story she had inside her...I guess like the other themes of the book you can find all sorts of things if you want to, the characters are like real people.

Edited September 1, 2012 by vodkafan

[vodkafan]

Just had to go shopping on Amazon to find something specifically for the remaining genres in my Genre Challenge

[julie]

Hi James

Thanks for the review of Little Stranger. I was wondering myself wbout it. Have started it a few times,but didnt stick with it . Now that I know the "action",so to speak ,doesn't start anywhere close to the beginning,maybe I'll give it a go again sometime soon .

It sounds like you liked it .

I'm a little concerned with the ending though.Miss Poppy sounds like it was less than satisfying,possibly.

Funny comment about you not wearing any Knickers at the end. I hope you didn't peel them off at work.

That might have gotten you written up .

[poppyshake]

I didn't wear any when I got to the end to avoid danger

cheeky

I'm a little concerned with the ending though.Miss Poppy sounds like it was less than satisfying,possibly.

I'll hold my hand up here and say that at first I didn't 'get' the ending. I read, either on the blurb or on Amazon or somewhere, that there was a shocking chilling twist at the end and I thought 'was there'? .. and then I went back and read the end chapters again and saw it but James is right, it's ambiguous and Sarah says you are free to make up your own mind.

 

Love your review James I like books with crumbly old houses in too.

[Kidsmum]

Love your review James I like books with crumbly old houses in too.

 

Bumped this one up my list.

[vodkafan]

I just got a couple of second hand books through the post from Amazon, they are to fill in gaps in my Genre Challenge.

 

The Mitfords : Letters between Six Sisters (letters and diaries)

The Forsyte Saga Vol 1 (saga)

 

They are both more huge than I expected....

[vodkafan]

I am not enjoying The Bourne Identity. My image of Bourne comes from the Matt Damon film. The one in the book is totally different and so is Marie. Other things are so different too. If it was not a Genre Challenge book I would stop reading it.

[Kidsmum]

I just got a couple of second hand books through the post from Amazon, they are to fill in gaps in my Genre Challenge.

 

The Mitfords : Letters between Six Sisters (letters and diaries)

The Forsyte Saga Vol 1 (saga)

 

They are both more huge than I expected....

 

Hope you enjoy The Forsyte Saga VF

[vodkafan]

Hope you enjoy The Forsyte Saga VF

 

Thanks Kidsmum, think it was your review that sent me looking for it.

OK, The Bourne Identity just took a more interesting turn a couple of pages ago. I will keep reading

[poppyshake]

The Mitfords : Letters between Six Sisters (letters and diaries)

Ooh .. one of my favouritest books ever (as a doorstop ) No, really, I love this book with a passion .. they are such a fascinating bunch. I hope you enjoy it James. Will be good for your biceps and triceps anyway

[vodkafan]

Ooh .. one of my favouritest books ever (as a doorstop ) No, really, I love this book with a passion .. they are such a fascinating bunch. I hope you enjoy it James. Will be good for your biceps and triceps anyway

 

I didn't know you had read it Poppyshake.

OK just finished The Bourne Identity yesterday; 14 books to go.

[vodkafan]

Reading has slowed right down because of the gym mainly, I am just reading a few pages a day of my current book