Booklog #23

So a fortnight has passed - apologies for that, but last weekend we were down visiting my little brother and his fiancee in their new house.  I say 'little' - he's 24 and about six feet tall - but he'll always be little to me!  We didn't get home till Sunday night and after a weekend of Eurovision, FA Cup watching, walking through wheat fields and dancing to the Xbox Dance Central game (awesome!!) I was just too tired to post. 

Since last booklog I've finished:

* My Life On A Plate ~ India Knight
My sister-in-law gave me this as she was going to donate it to a charity shop (don't worry, they haven't missed out as I will still do this!) - it's chick lit, or possibly more accurately 'mummy lit', if that term exists?  As such, I have to say that being child-free I found it almost impossible to relate to and therefore didn't really enjoy it much.  The heroine, Clara, is 33 (though I had to keep reminding myself of that as she didn't seem it, she seemed much older somehow), married to a man who works in fashion, with two small children.  She does an occasional bit of writing for a magazine but is otherwise a housewife and the main gist of the book is that she's bored with her life. 

Don't get me wrong - I don't doubt that this is a very real issue for some women, but there was just something about the way Clara whines on about it to her friends and dithers about until the end of the book where things change (though not really because of her actions, rather the actions of others) that really irritated me.  She just seems a bit wishy-washy, especially compared to her friends who are very well written as peripheral characters.  There are also plot factors that never seem to be resolved, for example (SPOILER!), various hints are dropped throughout that seem to indicate that she might be pregnant - I expected that the realisation of this might be a turning point near the end and hoped that it might force her into taking action in some way, but it never happens.  Just isn't mentioned.  I hate to say it, because now I've started my own chick lit story I can appreciate how hard it is to write one, but the book overall just feels a little half-hearted.  Because I liked the comedy friends and because the writing style itself is sparky and quick, which I enjoy (it was just the subject matter that didn't appeal to me), I give it:  2/5


* Dead Men's Money ~ J.S. Fletcher
Another mystery written back in days of old (J.S. Fletcher lived 1863-1935), although this one is more similar to Treasure Island than anything Agatha Christie - it starts with a mysterious stranger taking up lodgings in the home of the narrator and leads to murders, intrigue and a lot more action than I expected!  It becomes fairly apparent who is responsible for the murders and is then more a case of whether our hero and his contemporaries will catch that person.  The ending seemed quite abrupt, but otherwise the story is well-paced throughout.  The only thing that annoyed me was the constant use of the word 'yon', which I've never really seen in any other book, as in 'what happened to yon man from yon house?', 'I saw him go over yon hill' etc.  I suppose it was a natural part of Fletcher's dialect but it does seem to crop up where 'the' or 'that' could easily have been used instead.  Other than that, very enjoyable!  4/5


Since last booklog I've started:

* Unseen Academicals ~ Terry Pratchett
* The Hemlock Cup ~ Bettany Hughes

Both from the library - for some reason I've brought home a load of massive books with no hope of being able to finish them all within three weeks (stupid girl!).  Thank goodness I can renew them online...


I'm still reading:

* Crime and Punishment ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky
* Rattle His Bones ~ Carola Dunn

Things are a little closer to normality here now - the big issue that has been plaguing us (which will remain unexplained to you I'm afraid - sorry about that but there are reasons) is nearer resolution so I should hopefully have more time to a) write on Wednesdays and b) blog on both Wednesdays and Sundays. 

For now, adieu! 
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Booklog #22

I wouldn't be surprised if you were wondering who this is, it's been so long since I last posted..!  I have no excuse - thanks to all those bank holidays I only had to take a couple of days of leave to get two full weeks off work (the day job), so that's what I did.  After about three days I totally lost track of what day it was or even whether it was a weekend/week or a working day/public holiday and so all routine went out of the window.  I'm back at work now (booo) so am hoping to get back into the swing of posting here. 

As a result of that I have a ton of updates for you - much reading has been done! 

Since last Booklog I've finished:

* Take the Monkeys and Run ~ Karen Cantwell
Fun!  A comedic tale of a suburban American housewife who gets mixed up in the dealings of some very stereotyped Mafia gangster types in her neighbourhood.  It's a fast-paced story with more than a couple of unexpected twists (they were unexpected to me anyway) and a lot of humour.  Try it!  5/5

* In Praise of Savagery ~ Warwick Cairns

Hmm...I'm not sure whether I liked it or not!  It's about two journeys through Africa, one in the 1930s and then the same route again in present times (by different people).  The two stories interweave, comparing the journeys and the different problems they experienced.  I'll be completely honest - I'm not really that drawn to anything African-based (while I'll read pretty much anything Japan or China-related), for no particular reason it just doesn't do much for me, however the chapters in this are really short and snappy so you keep thinking "oh I'll just read one more, and one more, and...".  There's also a sprinkling of philosophical thought, which usually puts me off but in this case integrated quite well and did actually make me think (as opposed to making me skip past it..!).  I'd say that if you can get it for free or cheap (as I did) then give it a try...otherwise I probably wouldn't bother unless you're really interested in Africa during more colonial times.  2/5 

* Winter's Passage ~ Julie Kagawa

This is a novella which is set midway through a series, though I hadn't realised that when I downloaded it (another cheap Kindle bargain).  I could have done with reading the first one beforehand really as there are constant references to things that happened in it which clearly set up the relationship between the human/faery girl and the faery prince which is the focus here, as well as the reasons for the journey they're on throughout this tale.  Still, it was very good - well-written with good characterisation and a nice mix of real world locations with the world of faery.  I'll probably seek out the others in the series now...perhaps at the library now I've rediscovered it! 4/5

* Peter Pan ~ JM Barrie

I've never actually read Peter Pan...having seen the Disney film I never really felt the need to read the book (much like Alice in Wonderland).  However I was intrigued by the recently-written sequel Peter Pan in Scarlet and wanted to read that so thought I'd best zip through this first (especially as it was a free classic).  As with many stories, the original book is darker than the Disney film - there's more violence and death and it seems a lot more melancholic.  I felt so sorry for Wendy, John and Michael's parents, we return to them a couple of times after the children fly away with Peter and they were so sad - something you never consider during the film.  Perhaps it's because I'm reading it as an adult, but I spent most of the time feeling annoyed with the children for just upping and leaving!  Still love Tinker Bell though...you can't go wrong with a feisty fairy ;o)  3/5 

* Colosseum: Rome's Arena of Death ~ Peter Connolly

I got this from the library (prepare to hear that a lot over the coming months!) to help with my final Classical World course assignment - it's hardback with a lot of beautiful pictures of Rome, but also incredibly interesting (if you like that kind of thing) and very absorbing.  5/5 

* The Hunt Ball Mystery ~ William Magnay

As the name suggests, a mystery (in the form of a dead body in a locked room) that arises at a ball in a country house.  The usual Agatha Christie style hi-jinks ensue, with a gentleman questing to solve the mystery and protect the honour of the lady he loves.  Nothing earth-shatteringly original, but pleasant enough. 4/5

This puts me at 40/100 in the 100 Books in a Year Challenge! 

Since last Booklog I've started:

* My Life On A Plate ~ India Knight

I'm still reading:

* Crime & Punishment ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky (almost half way through - really enjoying it!)
* Rattle His Bones ~ Carola Dunn (book club was suspended temporarily while each of us was off work - we meet again tomorrow)

While I was off hubby and I visited the little library in our town and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised.  The last time I used a public library (as opposed to the in-house one when I was at uni) I was about 16/17 and with the librarians' best intentions it was a bit dingy, the books weren't always in great condition and it felt a bit oppressive.  But this one couldn't be more different - though it's smaller (I live in a different town to the one I did as a teenager) it's spacious and light, all the books have plastic jackets on to keep them clean and nice, there's free wifi and it just seems a lot friendlier. 

The only thing that sucks is that it's shut on Wednesdays...yes, the one day of the week I'm off.  Typical!  I'll just have to go when they're open later into the evenings and on Saturday mornings.  You can renew loans and order/reserve things online (drastic improvement on how it used to be!) and even request books that are held anywhere else in Wales and they'll get it in for you.  I'm uber-impressed and will hopefully save a load of money now as I won't have to buy as many books (yeah, we'll see how that goes!).  If you don't already use it - try out your local library! 
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