Booklog # 17

Currently quietly 'LOL'ing to myself, as I'm off work tomorrow so completely forgot today was Sunday and I had a booklog to write...doh. 

This week I've finished:

* The Case of the Lamp That Went Out ~ Auguste Groner
Not the catchiest title in the world, but I'll forgive it as it is quite old (from somewhere around the early 1900s) and possibly translated (the author was Austrian) and perhaps that was the trend.  It's a nice little sleuth story featuring 'detective extraordinaire' Joe Muller - who has the makings of being one of those classic detectives, in my opinion, but sadly doesn't seem as well known as others.  It's Christie-esque, with Muller using his great powers of reason to piece together various clues (more successfully than I did, I must add!) and bring the perpetrator to justice.  I've just checked on Amazon and there is actually a Kindle download that's five books in one (one of which is this one unfortunately) for just 71p...so if you'll excuse me one moment...okay, that's that downloaded.  This single book was free to download, if you wanted to try it out first.  Let me entice you with the first line, which struck me as pure beauty:

"The radiance of a clear September morning lay over Vienna.  The air was so pure that the sky shone in brightest azure even where the city's buildings clustered thickest.  On the outskirts of the town the rays of the awakening sun danced in crystalline ether and struck answering gleams from the dew on grass and shrub in the myriad gardens of the suburban streets."

How beautiful is that?!  4/5

* The Invisible Man ~ H.G. Wells
Having delved into the world of Wells with The Time Machine and been pleasantly surprised, I decided to continue on to another of his classics.  I wish I could say I enjoyed this as much, but there was just something uncomfortable about it.  Without wishing to spoil it for you, it's pretty violent - much more so than I'd expected - and the invisible man himself is a very nasty piece of work.  I'm not sure what I'd expected to happen plot-wise but it certainly wasn't the events that took place (hard to describe without giving anything away!).  Unfortunately it just didn't grab me...fortunately, it was a freebie on the Aldiko ereader so didn't cost me anything to find that out!  1/5

* Emily Goes to Exeter ~ M.C. Beaton
After the unpleasantness that was The Invisible Man, I fancied something light and my book club buddy recommended I try this, which is the first of the 'Travelling Matchmaker' series.  M.C. Beaton wrote the Hamish Macbeth series, which was televised (in the UK at least) and also the Agatha Raisin murder mystery series, the first of which is in my 'To Be Read' Kindle category, so has a pretty good pedigree behind her. 

Set in the early 1800s, housekeeper Hannah Pym is left a large sum of money when her employer dies and decides to use it for travel.  Nowhere exotic (by today's standards) - she simply wants to take the stagecoach that she has watched drive past the house every day for years and have 'adventures'.  Well, she certainly gets one as her journey to Exeter is halted by a huge snowstorm blocking the road.  The passengers take shelter in an inn and have to learn to get along with one another and take care of themselves, as the innkeeper's wife is ill and unable to cook and clean for them.  For some, who are rather high-born, this is an considerable outrage, while for others it's an adventure and a chance to bond.  Cue Miss Pym trying to set up various couples whilst also trying to prevent one or two attempts at murder.  It sounds a little far-fetched perhaps, but it did work very well and was an enjoyable read (though the Emily of the title is immensely annoying!).  I'll definitely try the rest of the series.  4/5

This week I've started:

* The Money Magpie ~ Jasmine Birtles

I'm still reading:

* The Parthenon ~ Mary Beard (I will finish this off soon...I promise!)
* Styx and Stones ~ Carola Dunn (book club)
* The Best of Times ~ Penny Vincenzi (almost finished)

One thing I forgot to mention last week - probably because I was so upset about Japan (keep donating/sending positive thoughts by the way!) - was that I'd finally watched the TV shows I'd recorded on World Book Night.  One was called 'The Books We Really Read', where comedian Sue Perkins (a self-confessed literary snob) investigated why the genres of crime, thriller and romance sell so well.  It was really interesting, once I got over the feeling that she was criticising everything I enjoy reading and would love to have written, and her conclusion was rather insightful.  Essentially, she said that the split between literary fiction and popular fiction is (generally) that popular fiction has strong narrative and good pace - it's a page-turner - while literary fiction has beautiful language and is as precisely crafted as a poem but quite often has no plot whatsoever.  It's exactly what I've always felt but could never put my finger on!  Those books that you feel you should have read "because it's a postmodern classic, a reinterpretation of the blah blah blah" are basically just people showing off their writing skills, without considering what people might enjoy reading or what the experience will be like for the reader.  Quite a revelation - consider me 100% in the 'popular fiction' camp! 
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