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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