Bobblybear's Book List - 2012

[poppyshake]

Haha .. Tom Kasey .. that's a no from me then .. my eyebrows can only take so much

 

Great reviews bobbly If a book makes you wander off and think about cooking/shopping/hanging the washing out then it's a sign that you need to pick another book up which is what you did. We need to know about that just as much as we need to know about the absorbing stories.

 

Btw, if Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell does make you think about the washing .. do try and stick with it because it's probably only the initial weight of information (or the footnotes) that's making you feel this way and that will .. I promise you .. subside in time (as in it will get easier .. the footnotes will remain but you will look forward to them ) The writing is just genius .. genius .. but what is she waiting for? I wish she would hurry up and write another.

[chesilbeach]

The writing is just genius .. genius .. but what is she waiting for? I wish she would hurry up and write another.

I heard her interviewed after JS&MN was published and I'm sure she said it had taken her 10 years to write it!

Edited July 16, 2012 by chesilbeach

[poppyshake]

I heard her interviewed after JS&MN was published and I'm sure she said it had taken her 10 years to write it!

Yes it did but I was hoping she'd got quicker ... apparently not

[Kylie]

If it takes her 10 years to write the next one, then we should 'only' have to wait another 2 years!

[poppyshake]

If it takes her 10 years to write the next one, then we should 'only' have to wait another 2 years!

Has it been that long already? Oh my! .. Oh well that's encouraging ... hope it's nearing the finish line (you haven't been sent it for editing have you Kylie? ) Going on JK Rowling though .. she seemed to take longer between each book

[Janet]

I wonder if I'm missing something with it. Maybe I wasn't in the right frame of mind, but it was one of those books where I'd be flipping the pages, then realise 5 pages later that I'm planning about what to cook for dinner, or whether to put the washing on the line, etc, instead of reading the words in front of me.

I hate it when that happens - that's definitely a signal that it's time to put it to one side (or give it away!) and pick up something else instead. Life is too short to finish a book one is not enjoying - it took me a long time to accept that!

[Kylie]

Yep! I looked it up and it was published in 2004. I think I was given it for Christmas that year. According to Wikipedia:

 

She is working on a book that begins a few years after Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell ends and which will center around characters who, as Clarke says, are "a bit lower down the social scale".

[bobblybear]

So, don't be shy bobblybear. Your views are just as valid and just as important as those of somebody who has finished. Life's too short for the alternative!

 

True, and I did end up sharing my thoughts about why I couldn't get into it. I guess I've always thought of a review as a viewpoint of something as a whole (ie. a finished book), rather than only a limited view of something (ie. an unfinished book!), but I suppose it's just as valid to write about reasons for not being able to finish a book.

 

Great reviews bobbly If a book makes you wander off and think about cooking/shopping/hanging the washing out then it's a sign that you need to pick another book up which is what you did. We need to know about that just as much as we need to know about the absorbing stories.

 

Thanks Poppyshake. I've read plenty of books I didn't like but forced myself to stick to the end, but with this one, I just couldn't stay focused. Everyone who reviewed it on Amazon raved about it, but I just couldn't even force myself to finish it.

 

Btw, if Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell does make you think about the washing .. do try and stick with it because it's probably only the initial weight of information (or the footnotes) that's making you feel this way and that will .. I promise you .. subside in time (as in it will get easier .. the footnotes will remain but you will look forward to them ) The writing is just genius .. genius .. but what is she waiting for? I wish she would hurry up and write another.

 

I'm only just over 100 pages in, and not a thought about washing or cleaning has entered my mind. I'm enjoying it a lot, and I find some of the footnotes very entertaining. I've got a long weekend this weekend so hopefully I can sit down and read it in a decent sized chunk of time. My reading lately seems to be in little spurts of 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. I miss the times when I could read for a couple of hours uninterrupted!

Edited July 18, 2012 by bobblybear

[bobblybear]

Mercury Falls - Robert Kroese

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

While on assignment in Utah, Christine Temetri isn’t surprised when yet another prophesied Apocalypse fails to occur. After three years of reporting on End Times cults for a religious news magazine, Christine is seriously questioning her career choice. But then she meets Mercury, a cult leader whose knowledge of the impending Apocalypse is decidedly more solid than most: he is an angel, sent from heaven to prepare for the Second Coming but distracted by beer, ping pong, and other earthly delights. After Christine and Mercury inadvertently save Karl Grissom—a film-school dropout and the newly appointed Antichrist—from assassination, she realizes the three of them are all that stand in the way of mankind’s utter annihilation. They are a motley crew compared to the heavenly host bent on earth’s destruction, but Christine figures they’ll just have to do. Full of memorable characters, Mercury Falls is an absurdly funny tale about unlikely heroes on a quest to save the world.

 

My Thoughts:

Bought this on impulse. I think it was part of the Kindle Daily Deal or the 12 Days of Kindle or something like that.

 

It grabbed me straight away, with its satirical humor which is apparent from the first few pages. However, I did find it quite detailed, and towards the middle I got somewhat lost with which fallen angels wanted what, and who was after whom, and who made or broke which pact with Lucifer. For a light-hearted and not-so-serious novel, it took quite a bit of concentration and thought (at least for me, but maybe it was my mind-set). I would probably read the sequel, but it would be a fair way down my TBR pile.

 

7/10

[bobblybear]

Argleton - Suw Charman-Anderson

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

Matt is fascinated by the story of Argleton, the unreal town that appeared on GeoMaps but which doesn’t actually exist. No one knows how the mistake made its way into the most widely used map in the world. Accusations that it was a ‘copyright trap’ intended to catch out businesses using the map data without paying for a licence are vigorously denied. GeoMaps promises to remove the anomaly but yet, it persists.

 

Finally, Matt can resist no longer. He persuades his friend and flatmate Charlie to drive them both down to to find the non-existent town. And when they are standing on the very spot, at the exact longitude and latitude that defines Argleton, Matt sets in motion a chain of events that will take him places he didn’t know existed… and which perhaps don’t.

 

My Thoughts:

 

Another impulse buy from Amazon. The premise sounded rather interesting, but I didn't realise how short it was. It's more a novella than a novel, and easily read in an hour or so (maybe a bit more, I don't recall). It's a bit simplistic, and seems to be awkwardly written, but I think that is the author's style.

 

I loved the mystery of it, and wondering what was going to happen next and in such a short number of pages. Not sure if I 'got' the ending, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

 

7/10

[bobblybear]

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

 

Two magicians shall appear in England. The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.

 

My Thoughts:

I have mixed feelings about this book. I’ve had it on my bookshelf for over 5 years but I’ve always been a bit intimidated to pick it up, not only because of it’s size, but just flipping through the pages you can tell it’s a pretty heavy read.

 

I enjoyed it very much when I started it. It’s a very detailed book, with lots of footnotes, some of which span longer than a page. It's very clear that the author did a lot of research into the story. The language used is of the time, with the spelling of various words changed to reflect their usage in the 19^th century (ie. “chuze” instead of “choose", and “sopha” instead of “sofa", and numerous others).

 

It’s not an easy read, and you really need to pay attention as you go along, and I sort of lost my reading rhythm about three-quarters of the way through. It’s the kind of book that is probably best read in big chunks, rather than a page here and the odd page there whenever you have a free five minutes (like I did), because there’s just too much to absorb and you need to give a lot of your time to it. I started finding it quite difficult to keep my focus, because the detail keeps going all the way through, and there is no let up in a way (which is usually a good thing). I have to admit to skipping some of the footnotes towards the end as I was getting quite eager to finish the book.

 

Having said all that, I can see why people absolutely love it, and I can also see why people hate it. I can’t for the life of me understand why it was ever marketed as “Harry Potter for adults” because I think that’s about as far from reality as you can get!!

 

My recommendation is to definitely give it a go, but only when you know you have the time to dedicate to it, as it takes some effort to concentrate all the way through (or at least it did for me).

 

8/10

[Kidsmum]

I loved Jonathon Strange Bobbly in fact i've still got my copy as i intend to re read it at some point but i agree you need to read it in large chunks. I suppose it's inevitable that any story about magic will be compared to Harry Potter but i can't see the similarity either. I read her other book Grace Ladies of Adieu but i didn't think much of it , it wasn't a patch on JSAMN.

[bobblybear]

I've just had a look at Grace Ladies of Adieu on Amazon, and it's a collection of short stories, some of which feature the same characters from Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I wonder if she wrote it parallel with JSAMN, or if she just used any 'extra material' to create the short stories. She seems to like the themes of olde England and ancient magic, and the land of Faerie.

[bobblybear]

The Magic Of Reality - Richard Dawkins

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

Magic takes many forms. The ancient Egyptians explained the night by suggesting that the goddess Nut swallowed the sun. The Vikings believed a rainbow was the gods' bridge to earth. These are magical, extraordinary tales. But there is another kind of magic, and it lies in the exhilaration of discovering the real answers to these questions. It is the magic of reality - science.

 

Packed with inspiring explanations of space, time and evolution, laced with humour and clever thought experiments, The Magic of Reality explores a stunningly wide range of natural phenomena. What is stuff made of? How old is the universe? What causes tsunamis? Who was the first man, or woman? This is a page-turning, inspirational detective story that not only mines all the sciences for its clues but primes the reader to think like a scientist too.

 

Richard Dawkins elucidates the wonders of the natural world to all ages with his inimitable clarity and exuberance in a text that will enlighten and inform for generations to come.

 

My Thoughts:

I'm always up for reading a good science book, even if a great deal of it tends to go over my head.

 

I've read several of Richard Dawkins' books, and bought this one because it was aimed at young children (or rather, early teenagers I think), so I figured it would be quite easy to understand.

 

For the most part, it's a pretty decent read. He opens each chapter with a question, then briefly describes some myths which have been created to explain what was unknown at the time. Then he moves on to the scientific explanation. I enjoyed the majority of the book, though I didn't really feel like I learned anything new, although for someone who hasn't read much science related books it could be quite good.

 

This is an illustrated book, though the Kindle version doesn't have any illustrations, so someone who wants the images would be better buying the tree-book version.

 

8/10

Edited August 26, 2012 by bobblybear

[bobblybear]

Full Dark, No Stars - Stephen King

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

Is it possible to fully know anyone? Even those we love the most? What tips someone over the edge to commit a crime?

 

For a Nebraska farmer, the turning point comes when his wife threatens to sell off the family homestead.

 

A cozy mystery writer plots a savage revenge after a brutal encounter with a stranger.

 

Dave Streeter gets the chance to cure himself from illness - if he agrees to impose misery on an old rival.

 

And Darcy Anderson discovers a box containing her husband's dark and terrifying secrets - he's not the man who keeps his nails short and collects coins. And now he's heading home . . .

 

Like DIFFERENT SEASONS and FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT, which generated such enduring hit films as The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me, FULL DARK, NO STARS proves Stephen King a master of the long story form.

 

My Thoughts:

I’m generally not a big fan of short stories, as I like to involve myself in long, detailed books with pretty complex characters. But, this one had great reviews, and it is Stephen King, so what the hey?!

 

It took me a while to get into the first story, mostly I think because I kept wondering where it would go in so few pages, but it actually turned out to be the longest of the four (and my least favorite). Once I got into the stories, they were very good. They are extremely dark, about the nastier side of human nature, and naturally are quite bleak.

 

My favorites were Big Driver (the stuff of nightmares) and A Good Marriage – maybe because both had female lead characters who went through significant changes by the end.

 

If you're a King fan, give them a go - chances are you'll enjoy them.

 

8/10

Edited August 26, 2012 by bobblybear

[bobblybear]

The Walking Dead Compendium, Vol. 1 - Robert Kirkman

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

Introducing the first eight volumes of the fan-favorite, New York Times Best Seller series collected into one massive paperback collection! Collects The Walking Dead #1-48. This is the perfect collection for any fan of the Emmy Award-winning television series on AMC: over one thousand pages chronicling the beginning of Robert Kirkman''s Eisner Award-winning continuing story of survival horror- from Rick Grimes'' waking up alone in a hospital, to him and his family seeking solace on Hershel''s farm, and the controversial introduction of Woodbury despot: The Governor. In a world ruled by the dead, we are finally forced to finally start living.

 

My Thoughts:

This is the comic/graphic novel on which the very popular TV series is based. I've become a huge fan of it, so thought I'd pick up the books. Individually they are very expensive - prohibitively so for me - so lucky there was compendium like this one available. I think the individual graphic novels are in color, whereas this one is black and white. It doesn't really deter from the story at all, though in a way I wish I hadn't read it so close to watching the TV series, as it got a bit confusing. The TV series only broadly follows the novels, and I guess they have to change a few things for it to appeal to a TV audience.

 

It's very graphic - both in terms of violence and sex - so if this kind of thing bothers you, then it's probably best left.

 

The second compendium is out in a couple of months and I'll definitely be ordering that one. It the same size, so around a thousand pages, so it's a well formed story with characters that you can really get to know and follow as they progress in their new world.

 

9/10

[bobblybear]

An Idiot Abroad: The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington - Karl Pilkington

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

Presenting the Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington: Adventurer. Philosopher. Knob head. Karl Pilkington isn’t keen on travelling. Given the choice, he’ll go on holiday to Devon or Wales or, at a push, eat English food on a package holiday in Majorca. Which isn’t exactly Michael Palin, is it? So what happened when he was convinced by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to go on an epic adventure to see the Seven Wonders of the World? Travel broadens the mind, right? You’d think so...

 

My Thoughts:

This was a cheapo from Amazon for the Kindle (I think it was £0.20, though I see now it has gone back up to £2.99). I've seen a few of the TV episodes, really liked it, but did wonder how it would translate as written word.

 

Karl has basically been sent off to see The Seven Wonders, and report back his thoughts - and sometime given 'side-projects' by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, who are funding the trip (I presume).

 

It's told in diary format, and right from the start Karl lets the reader know that he is a bit of a reluctant traveler, and sees travel as something one does to go on holiday to relax, rather than to broaden your horizon.

 

It's a pretty funny book, with some parts making me giggle out loud. I think the fact that he is so grumpy makes it a bit more entertaining, although at some points I did wish to slap him and tell him to appreciate this opportunity. I'm sure he enjoyed himself, even when pretending not to. It was a bit light on detail about the actual Wonders, but then it's probably not the kind of book to read if you want serious information about these places.

 

The Kindle version had quite a few photos in it (albeit black and white), but unfortunately it had a fair few typos, especially towards the end. It didn't really ruin the book, but it did detract from it. Still, for £0.20 I can't complain too much.

 

7/10

[bobblybear]

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

Angelfield House stands abandoned and forgotten. It was once home to the March family - fascinating, manipulative Isabelle, brutal, dangerous Charlie, and the wild, untamed twins, Emmeline and Adeline. But Angelfield House hides a chilling secret which strikes at the very heart of each of them, tearing their lives apart...

 

Now Margaret Lea is investigating Angelfield's past - and the mystery of the March family starts to unravel. What has Angelfield been hiding? What is its connection with the enigmatic writer Vida Winter? And what is the secret that strikes at the heart of Margaret's own, troubled life?

 

As Margaret digs deeper, two parallel stories unfold, and the tale she uncovers sheds a disturbing light on her own life...

 

My Thoughts:

I loved this book right from the start. The lead character helps her father run an antiquarian book shop, so her love of books shines through, which probably appeals to any book lover.

 

This is a tale of family mystery, which I'm coming to realise is a 'genre' I really love. Just in the style and themes of the story, it reminded me of The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, The Forgotten Garden and Breaking The Silence. All of which I read this year and thought were brilliant. It's full of subtle psychological mysteries, about what has happened in Vida Winter's life to make her how she is now, and as always, things are never what they seem. The story is revealed very slowly, going back into the past and then there is also a parallel story written in the 'now' that describes what is happening with the narrator's life. It's one of those books where when the surprise is revealed, it's just such an impressive thing for the author to have created, and I would probably have to re-read the book to see how little hints are dropped throughout the book that you can't pick up on until you know the whole story. I often wonder how any author writes a book like that - if they know how they plan the book to end before they start, and how they plant seeds along the way that the reader doesn't even notice until you get to the 'twist'.

 

A lot of the Amazon reviews mention that The Thirteenth Tale makes several references to Jane Eyre, The Turn of The Screw, and several other classics, probably due to the author's love of books. I haven't read any of those classics, so can't really say, but it is just beautifully written.

 

9.5/10

Edited September 16, 2012 by bobblybear

[bobblybear]

I've just updated my Books Purchased list. I've bought 75 books this year ( - I'm quite shocked at that; it's quite scary to see them listed like that), and of those I've only read 11 of them.

[julie]

Bobbly

Wow, I'm impressed ! You must have been doing some hefty reading lately.

I'm glad you liked the Karl book -- I just got the 2nd one for my Kindle( just released here on this past Thursday). I thoroughly enjoyed the first one ,but you are right. If you want lots of detail about the Wonders, this wouldn't be the book for that. I myself wondered if he was reaally that grumpy in life while reading it,then watcching the videos to go along with it. That's actually what made the book so good for me, were his funny comments all throughout .

 

The 13th Tale also sounds very interesting. I may pick that up at some point. Like you , I have an ever growing list of Kindle books . I need to put a stop to the book buying myself for awhile. I have also gotta quit picking up the freebies. I have found for the most part that you get what you pay for .Most are either really short or have lots of mistakes or are just plain written poorly .

 

Thanks for the reviews. I enjoyed them .

[bobblybear]

Thanks, Julie.

 

I do feel like I've been doing quite a bit of reading, but clearly my buying habits are winning over my reading. I blame the Kindle Day of the Deal, which is probably where I've bought the majority of books this year.

 

I think Karl Pilkington is probably a bit of a grump, but plays it up on camera as I'm guessing that is what he is known for. Didn't realise he had another book out - that is something I have to keep an eye out for.

 

The Thirteenth Tale is a great read. I highly recommend it.

[bobblybear]

A Game of Thrones - George R R Martin

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

Summers span decades. Winter can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne has begun.

As Warden of the north, Lord Eddard Stark counts it a curse when King Robert bestows on him the office of the Hand. His honour weighs him down at court where a true man does what he will, not what he must … and a dead enemy is a thing of beauty.

The old gods have no power in the south, Stark’s family is split and there is treachery at court. Worse, the vengeance-mad heir of the deposed Dragon King has grown to maturity in exile in the Free Cities. He claims the Iron Throne.

 

My Thoughts:

I’m not a keen fantasy reader, but I just had to give this one a go due to all the current interest around it. Right from the start, I suspected I would have a problem with the characters names, and I was right. Each chapter is written from the point of view of each of the main characters, and while I quickly came to grips with some of the main characters (especially the ones I liked), for the others I became easily confused by who was related to whom, and which ‘House’ they belonged to. This is something I tend to struggle with in books with many characters, and even though there is a character list at the back of the book, there are so many Houses and people, that the list is tedious to flip through!

 

 

There are various plot-lines, there was almost too much detail and too many things to keep track of at the same time. I probably would have enjoyed the book more, if there had been less of it (I don’t really mean length, I mean more in terms of plot and detail). I doubt I'll carry on with the rest of the series, but if the TV series ever appears on UK Freeview, I will most likely watch it. I think I'd enjoy it more than the book.

 

7/10

[bobblybear]

The Wind Through The Keyhole - Stephen King

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

For readers new to The Dark Tower, THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE is a stand-alone novel, and a wonderful introduction to the series. It is a story within a story, which features both the younger and older gunslinger Roland on his quest to find the Dark Tower. Fans of the existing seven books in the series will also delight in discovering what happened to Roland and his ka tet between the time they leave the Emerald City and arrive at the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis.

 

This Russian Doll of a novel, a story within a story, within a story, visits Mid-World's last gunslinger, Roland Deschain, and his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. (The novel can be placed between Dark Tower IV and Dark Tower V.) Roland tells a tale from his early days as a gunslinger, in the guilt ridden year following his mother's death. Sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape shifter, a "skin man," Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter, a brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast's most recent slaughter. Roland, himself only a teenager, calms the boy by reciting a story from the Magic Tales of the Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime, 'The Wind through the Keyhole'. "A person's never too old for stories," he says to Bill. "Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them." And stories like these, they live for us.

 

My Thoughts:

I'm a fan of The Dark Tower series and Stephen King, so obviously I have to give this one a read. As the product description states, it can be read as a stand-alone novel, as the stories within (and it really is a story within a story within a story) don't really have anything to do with the series, other than a brief bit with Roland and his ka-tet, and Roland as a youngster. It doesn't add anything to the series, and so it doesn't really make sense to review it as part of the series, as it can easily be missed. Having said that, it's a decent story, but not something I would have picked up if not for the Stephen King/Dark Tower connection.

 

My favorite of the series is Wizard and Glass, which is another Roland retrospective, and in my opinion far more interesting than The Wind In The Keyhole (if you can even compare the two).

 

I'd probably only recommend it if you are a fan of the series. I don't think I'd recommend it as a stand-alone novel - even though it doesn't add to the series, it seems almost pointless to read it as a completely separate piece.

 

The brief bit in the beginning with Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake and Oy, makes me realise how much I'd really like to re-read the series again.

 

7/10

[bobblybear]

Pure - Andrew Miller

 

Synopsis from Amazon:

Deep in the heart of Paris, its oldest cemetery is, by 1785, overflowing, tainting the very breath of those who live nearby. Into their midst comes Jean-Baptiste Baratte, a young, provincial engineer charged by the king with demolishing it.

 

At first Baratte sees this as a chance to clear the burden of history, a fitting task for a modern man of reason. But before long, he begins to suspect that the destruction of the cemetery might be a prelude to his own.

 

My Thoughts:

I got this one mixed up with Pure by Julianna Baggott, but as I had already borrowed it, what the hey.

 

It won the 2011 Costa Book of the Year award, so I thought it'd be worth a read. It started off quite interesting - Jean-Baptise is an engineer hired to move the contents of an overflowing cemetery to another location (which turned out to be a quarry). I got about half way through, when I decided to google the cemetery (les Innocents), and was fascinated to find out that it had actually existed in the past, and as in the book, it's contents were cleared up and moved to a quarry.

 

I really loved certain parts of the book - that food in the houses overlooking the cemetery had absorbed the odor of the dead; the cemetery was eventually used for mass burials with giant pits holding around 1,500 corpses; how these corpses began subsiding into the cellars of the surrounding houses (all sounds ghoulish, yet interesting). However, the other parts of the book - the fictionalised characters and their lives - just didn't interest me at all, and in the end I had to put the book aside unfinished (I got about two-thirds of the way through).

 

If the book had been written as a factual account I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more, and more than likely would have finished it. As it was though, I just wasn't very interested in the characters and I found them a bit silly.

I couldn't see the point of Jean-Baptiste's arrangement with the prostitute, and that was when I had to give up.

 

 

But anyway, the book won an award so it must have impressed someone somewhere, just not me.

 

6.5/10

[vodkafan]

Hi Bobblybear, this one ( pure )is on my wishlist, shame it was a bit of a damp squib for you.