January 2016

Half the World – Joe Abercrombie

Having successfully read book one in this trilogy I happily ploughed into book two but found myself back where I began. Stumbling through it and dissatisfied.  I guess I really need to have my head in a certain place to enjoy Abercrombie, and at the moment I guess that I just don’t need that much snot in my life.

The Constant Princess – Philippa Gregory

Not awful but not great either. Didn’t finish or might have done. Can’t remember. Forgotten I’d read this until I saw it on my Instagram feed. (that was just two weeks ago)

The Moth Catcher – Ann Cleeves

Oh dear, I think my head is in the wrong place at the moment. This was OK but relied on some whopping coincidences to get the plot to work.  Also a constant repetition of how fat Vera was got tiresome.

The Book of Life – Deborah Harkness

After the frustrating Shining Girls I went back to finish the Harkness trilogy.  First time I read it I was disappointed as I didn’t think it was as good as the first two books. Now part of that is down to simple expectations. I read the first two as they came out and loved them so I had been desperately waiting for the concluding book and it just didn’t feel as good.  This would be my second read so it was interesting to see what was wrong with it.  Having enjoyed it more the second time I think its problem lay in having too much to fit in, too many characters and too many locations.  Everyone was constantly running around the place with more and more story lines being introduced and would up. It could probably done with a fourth book or better editing.  Either way I’m glad I read it again as it was better than I remembered by still not as good as books on and two.

Half a King – Joe Abercrombie

Having decided that The Book of Life was better than I remembered I returned to Half a King, a book I started last year but struggled with. I picked it up but this time was hooked straight away. I couldn’t even work out what I had found difficult. Abercrombie is a pretty gritty writer but this series is aimed at a younger market and was slightly toned down from his Best Served Cold books. That said it’s not exactly lacking violence or bodily functions.  Standard fantasy themes but told with spit and sawdust.

 

The Giant Under the Snow – John Gordon

November was all about going back because this was a book that I had loved as a child and had always wanted to re-read but couldn’t remember the title, just the book cover and a vague sense of plot.  Of course there is a huge risk of disappointment in going back to a childhood favourite but not on this occasion although there were a few surprises. The first was that it was set in Norfolk where I grew up, so obviously the descriptions of the city and the countryside resonated. The second was that the main protagonist was a girl, I’d have put money on it being a boy. I’m guessing that was the tomboy in me, that or I wasn’t used to reading books were the central character was female, I mostly read adventure and fantasy stories, books about school, ballet or horses just didn’t appeal. The next surprise was that it wasn’t the right book! Or at least it was but there is another book out there very similar and I read that as well and have managed to blend them in my memory. So that’s another book to track down, only now I don’t have a book cover either. The final surprise in tracking this down is that it apparently is about to be made into a film. Go figure. Anyway, it’s very good and hasn’t dated. A very good tale based on English folklore. Along the lines of Susan Cooper or Alan Gardner

A Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness

Not sure why but I’ve ground to a halt with books to read, I think its just because I’m busy and don’t have the time to get into anything new. When I feel like this I like to reread old favourites, I know what I’m in for and I don’t have to concentrate. So that’s why I’ve returned to the Deborah Harkness trilogy. I love everything about it, its an academic girl, old manuscripts, magic, love, treachery and good writing and vampires in Oxford.

Shadow of Night – Deborah Harkness

What can I say but more of the same only this time we travel back in time to Elizabethan England, France and Prague. Harkness is first and foremost a historian and academic so her books are full of lovely historical references and anecdotes. I spent most of my time on-line looking up paintings and artefacts and listening to beautiful music.

The Shining Girls – Lauren Beukes

Change of tack and I saw this on a friends bookshelf. I had dismissed this originally as it had been touted by Richard and Judy and appeared to be an American crime book.  Two things that don’t appeal.  Now I know they don’t appeal to my friend either so on his recommendation I gave it a go.  Beukes first two books were fantasy / horror; this I would consider a cross over.  It started with a very promising concept. A serial killer wanders into a house that acts as a time portal from the 1920s to modern day he wanders back and forth through time killing girls that shine out to him and leaving mementos from previous kills at the next scene. He is unchallenged until one girl escapes and she tries to track her would be killer down. And here the story starts to stutter, it really should have worked better but for some reason it just doesn’t hang right. It becomes stilted, sometimes hopelessly over-complicated, other times really interesting thing aren’t even considered. Why do the girls shine? Why can he see them? What is the house about?

Beukes is clearly moving into John Connolly territory and is going to do well with great writing and imagination.  I just think this book was a stumble, I’ll definitely try something else by her.