A good month for me!

Starting with one I missed off last month's -
The Raw Shark Texts - Steven Hall - what can I say, I thought it was brilliant, left me breathless and wanting more but it was his first and only novel! Absolutely fantastic, would recommend to anyone - though I have got hold of a short story of his, if anyone wants it just PM me!

The Twilight Time - Karen Campbell (mob lib) - enjoyed this, nice light read and good characters.

The Book of Laughter and Forgetting - Milan Kundera - unfinished - you know that guy who said Canada's a great place, but not for the whole weekend - I feel that way about Kundera I think.

The Boy in Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne (on loan - cheers Anne)  - oh my god haven't cried that much at a book in a long time

Corpsing - Toby Litt - really liked this - fairly light and funny, a patishe on detective novels with a black sense of humour

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell - another infinished, I'm afraid - some parts I really liked, and some I couldn't get into at all.

Thank You For Smoking - Christopher Buckley - very interesting issues - more to do with the media in general than smoking, good characterisation.

Life's Too F***ing Short - Janet Street Porter - very funny - mostly common sense but a funny book

Addition - Toni Jordan - (mob lib) really liked this, mainly for its veiwpoint on off beat people, though as I said in my review I thought Seamus was just too damn perfect...

On The Road - Jack Kerouac - still reading, liking more than I thought, but wish I'd read as a teen!

Count - glad to hear you aren't hating On the Road but I know what you mean about it probably meaning more as a teen.  I loved the film of "Thank You for Smoking" but haven't read the book, but think I might have read something else by that author.  Raw Shark Texts sounds good.

I've read more books this month than I have in years, and I've really enjoyed most of them.  In fact quite a few would probably make it onto my all-time favourites list.

Exit Music - Ian Rankin - a good ending to the Rebus series I thought.

The Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills - read about this on this forum.  Really enjoyed the black humour of it and will definitely give his others a go

So Many Ways to Begin - Jon McGregor - I enjoyed So Many Ways to Begin so thought I'd read his other book.  I enjoyed this too, although it was rather sad.

A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon - a fairly light read although perhaps too long for the slightness of the plot. 

Replay - Ken Grimwood - I don't normally do Sci-fi/Fantasy but I liked the idea behind this one. 

Elephants on Acid - Alex Boese - my OH was sent a copy of his at work so I borrowed it.  It is non-fiction and about weird experiments.  Funny in places, quite disturbing in others.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay - very similar to the television series but a slight plot difference so I still enjoyed it and will read the rest of the series.

The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas - I loved it even though I'm not entirely sure I understood it all!  One of those books I wish I was clever enough to have written.

Saturday - Ian McEwan - I eventually managed to read this on my third attempt and was so proud of myself for getting through it.  I didn't enjoy - my least favourite book of the month.

Fup - Jim Dodge - a beautiful little book.  Funny and unique.  I'll probably buy this for a lot of birthdays in the future.

The Shape of Water - Andrea Camilleri - a good police story and a pretty easy read,  Again I'll read more of this series in the future when I want something I don't have to think about too much.

Stuart: A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters - rather disappointed with this given the rave reviews it had received. 

The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion - just beautiful, so moving and wonderfully written. Anyone who has lost someone should read this.

84 Charing Cross Road - Helen Hanff - I love the film so wanted to read the book too.  I read it in one sitting and cried!

and past half way through Return of the Dancing Master - Henning Mankell which has an intriguing plot and good characters, but I'm keen to finish it just because I've got a pile of other books that I want to read.

I just love all Magnus Mills novels - I'd recommend All Quiet on the Orient Express and Three to See the King. I got some of his short stories recently and was fairly disappointed - they weren't bad, just very very short and there were only four of them! I got it off Amazon marketplace but really not worth the RRP and nothing as good as the novels.

You must read The Raw Shark Texts, you will love it. Steven Hall has both the same agent and the same publisher as Scarlett Thomas.

Have been meaning to read The Year of Magical Thinking since I read about it in the paper - sounds excellent, that's one for the wishlist for sure then...

The Godfather - Mario Puzo. This is one off of my 1001 books to read before you die list. Excellent read I thought. 9/10

Tara - Lesley Pearse. Another great read from my favourite author. 10/10

Pure Evil - Maureen Harvey. This is written by the mother of Lee Harvey who was killed in a so called road rage attack by his girlfriend Tracy Andrews. 8/10

The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini. Amazing book, can't believe I left it this long to read it. 10/10

Girl with A One Track Mind - Abby Lee - was an ok read 6/10

I managed 20 books this month...and started another one today

1. Not Another Bad Date - Rachel Gibson   Loved this, one of my fav authors 8/10 (keeper)
2. A Hard Man is Good to Find - Jane Blackwood   Enjoyed this, worth a read 7/10
3. Something Sinful - Suzanne Enoch   Loved this, best one in the series 8/10
4. Sins of a Duke - Suzanne Enoch   Enjoyed this, good series 7/10
5. Blind Promises - Diana Palmer   Short book, enjoyed this 7/10
6. Dead Simple - Peter James   Fab, scary, was a brilliant start to a new series 8/10
7. 3 Brides for 3 Bad Boys - Lucy Monroe   Ok read, not one of her best, bit too much sex in this 6/10
8. Never Marry a Cowboy - Lorraine Heath   first book i read by this author was an ok read 6/10
9. Priceless - Christina Dodd   Love this author but not one of her best 7/10
10. The Fire Inside - Kat Martin   Really enjoy this author, book was really good 7/10
11. Love Lessons - Cheryl Holt    Enjoyed this, wont read any more from this author tho, a bit sex obsessed 7/10
12. 22 Indigo Place - Sandra Brown  Usually enjoy this author, didnt like this as much, a bit mills and boon like 6/10
13. Long, Lean & Lethal - Heather Graham   Loved this, really good read, books get better the more you read of her 7/10
14. Dying to Have Her - Heather Graham 7/10
15. Just Friends - Robyn Sisman   First book from this author was a really good read, love the characters 8/10
16. A Perfect Bride - Samantha James   This was an exellent book, trying to get more of hers 8/10 (keeper)
17. Missing - Chris Mooney   Really good read, scary but really good 8/10
18. Extreme Bachelor - Julia London   This was ok, not a brill read tho 6/10
19. Highland Velvet - Jude Deveraux   If you like this author definately worth a read, didnt like it too much, heroine was too whiny for my liking 6/10
20. The President's Daughter - Mariah Stewart   This was an ok read 7/10

I managed eleven books this month - pretty good considering I was in school for half of it! Annoyingly, only four of these books were adult ones, and only three were from my TBR, but it's a good start.

1. The Catalogue of the Universe by Margaret Mahy 6/10 This is a teenage book which my mum bought me when I was about fourteen, and had nearly completely moved on to adult books. As a result of this - and the fact that this looked like a sci-fi novel from the synopsis - I never read it until now. It was an okay novel, one which I would have eaten up as an eleven-year-old - but not the kind of thing I'd really enjoy now. It tells the story of how the lives of two teenagers change in the days after they graduate from high school. Nothing particularly special about it, but it was well written and not too much of a chore to read. However, definitely not a keeper! Now on my swap list if anyone wants it.

2. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett 9/10 Fantastic book! I started reading this as a child, but I think the old-fashioned language made it hard to trudge through. It's a lot more easy to read than The Secret Garden, which I read in July, and much more enjoyable. Sara is a really great character, although the "genius child" is so unbelieveable that it's not completely up to 10/10. Still, a great read, one which I really enjoyed. Definitely a keeper.

3. Nancy Drew: The Treasure in the Royal Tower by Carolyn Keene 7/10 This cost me 29p from a charity shop in Corstorphine, and although it's nowhere near as good as the original Nancy Drew books, it was worth the money! A good mystery, one which I actually couldn't solve before Nancy (unlike some other 1990s Nancy mysteries) although it is a bit odd to see Nancy going on adventures without her dad, and saying things like "Oh, what a bummer!" Still, a keeper for now as it was a fun read, and kept me occupied during a particularly bad car journey to Yorkshire.

4. A Quiet Belief in Angels by R. J. Ellory 8/10 I wanted to like this more, but it was hard. I lost interest in the story a bit when he went to New York, and so many bad things kept happening to him that it was quite depressing. (This may have been because I came off the Pill while reading this novel - that always makes me more emotional). I did really enjoy this book, and picked up on the red herrings so didn't guess the ending until it happened, which made it very surprising! However, it was really sad, and I got bored at some points - plus, some things were a bit graphic. There was one scene which he had flashbacks of twice, and I hated reading it. However, a good read! One I might invest in.

5. Iggie's House by Judy Blume 8/10 Another cheap charity-shop buy. I loved this book as a kid, but was really surprised by it reading it as an (almost) adult. I'd forgotten how horrible and racist the families in the street were - sticking signs in the black family's lawn and starting petitions. For some reason, I wasn't shocked by this as a child, but I was really amazed when I reread it. I hadn't seen much racism as a child, so I don't know why I wasn't amazed when I read this book. I just seemed to accept it. I think this book was probably very effective when it was written, but maybe a little dated today. I'm keeping it for now, as it was a childhood favourite, but it isn't as good as I remember it being. I would like to read the Sally J. Freedman book again, as that was my favourite.

6. The Girls by Lori Lansens 7/10 A good book, and very well-written. It read just like an autobiography. However, it didn't stay with me very long, and I'm struggling to remember things about it. [SPOILERS] I was also a bit annoyed that they had to put the pregnancy bit into it - why does every book these days have to have some sort of sexual trauma in it? I think I'm going to order a whole load of Babysitters Club books from eBay and sit down and read them for a whole month, just so that I don't have to pick up a book from my local library and discover that it has something traumatic in it! Nevertheless, it was a very good book, but not one I'd invest in.

7. Othello by William Shakespeare 8/10 I actually began reading this back in June, but didn't finish it until the day before I was due to go back to school. Apparently there are loads of sexual references in this, but according to her ex-students, my English teacher finds sexual references in anything, so I'm going to ignore her comments. It was an interesting play, well-written, but the lack of stage-directions annoyed me. [SPOILERS] As many critics have said, this play should really have been titled Iago's Revenge, as it is more about his revenge than the downfall of Othello. Also, Othello's marriage clearly had communication problems, as the whole "tragedy" would have been put to a stop if he simply said, "Desdemona, are you cheating on me with Cassio?" or even "Cassio, are you having an affair with my wife?" The key to marriage is trust, and Othello had a whole lot of trust in his best friend, and not a lot in his wife.

8. Mercy by Jodi Picoult 7/10 Definitely not her best! However, I didn't dislike it as much as The Pact. [WARNING, RANTING SPOILERS TO FOLLOW] And Picoult did redeem herself when Allie stood up to her husband. Her marriage problems should definitely have been dealt with long before the novel started, which is why I found it hard to like her for the first half of the novel. But after she stood up to him, the book was easier to read. I actually found that Jamie was my favourite character, even though I don't believe that we as human beings ever have the right to take someone else's life. Jamie just wasn't as much as an idiot as the rest of the characters! Cameron was a complete Arschloch and was not in love with Mia - it's called LUST. Allie should have kept him in the doghouse longer than she did. And Mia is the most unlikeable character on the planet. How are women meant to symphathise with someone who seduces married men? Horrible person. Okay, the storyline for this book was good, but the characters were so unlikeable that I found it hard to read. It's the kind of book where I want to jump into it and slap all of the characters around. *sigh* I feel a lot better now that I have ranted about this book

9. Georgia Nicolson: Luuurve is a Many Trousered Thing by Louise Rennison 5/10 Oh dear. Will Georgia ever grow up? I can't remember what age she's meant to be, but as a nearly seventeen-year-old (5th of Sept!) I am glad to tell you all that I have never in my life acted like her. This wasn't a totally bad read, I just found it a bit tedious after nine books to be reading about the same things. It was fun for the first five or so books, but now I'm like "Why are all of these grown-men finding her attractive when she talks drivel? Why does she only ever think about snogging? And why the hell didn't I notice her slagging off the German language before?" She is, however, a much more likeable character than Mia from the Princess Diaries books, which is why I didn't drop this book below 5/10, and the stories are fun to read - I just wish she'd grow up one of these days. Or else that's another series which I'm giving up on!

10. The Babysitters Club: Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook by Ann M. Martin 7/10 This book was a lovely surprise from Kate, svh_mad. Thanks Kate! I vaguely recognised the storyline, but it was still fun to read. I do have to say that these books were better when they weren't ghostwritten, or were at least written by the guy who wrote book 100. Despite this, a quick, fun read. I think my favourite parts were the babysitting chapters.

11. Marshmallows for Breakfast by Dorothy Koomson 10/10 I didn't think this would be a great book to begin with, but it turned out to be! It was really well written, especially the parts where she wrote about Kendra's SECRET. That was dealt with so well, and what brought it up to a 10 as opposed to a 9. I think what put me off to begin with was the fact that it was written in first person, and I'm not so keen on that in adult books. The characters were really realistic, and I was totally gripped for the last quarter, so this is definitely this month's book. Maybe one to get my own copy of.

pixieholopainen:

2. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett 9/10 Fantastic book! I started reading this as a child, but I think the old-fashioned language made it hard to trudge through. It's a lot more easy to read than The Secret Garden, which I read in July, and much more enjoyable. Sara is a really great character, although the "genius child" is so unbelieveable that it's not completely up to 10/10. Still, a great read, one which I really enjoyed. Definitely a keeper.

Was this made into a film? I saw a film with that title ages ago and really loved it, unusual for me as it has the word "princess" in the title. Is it about two girls in an orphanage?

From what I remember there are lots of sexual references in Othello - "the beast with two backs" etc - but Iago is definitely the a very imp character - probably the most interesting because his motive is so mysterious, and yet the plot seems very organic.

Judy Blume - I just ate these up when I was a kid, I loved them all. My favourite was Just as long as we're together and Here's to you, Rachel Robinson - I read both recently out of curiousity and while I didn't love them the way I did back then, but I liked it because I could remember it all as I was reading.

Your comments are very comprehensive and fascinating - you should post in the review section!

The Colour of Heaven - James Runcie:  Short sighted Italian embarks on the search for lapiz lazuli the "colour of heaven" which leads him to Afganistan and the silk route to China.

Mrs Frampton - Pam Gems:  Mr and Mrs Frampton sell up and retire to Spain.  Mrs Frampton makes new friends, and starts a new life, but Mr Frampton is not happy..... at least, not at first.

Gaudi Afternoon - Barbara Wilson:  Nice little detective tale with a twist, set in Barcelona.

Never Let me Go - Kasuo Ishigo:  First of his I've read.  Haunting.  Will stay with me forever.

The Soldier in the Wheatfield - Philip Hook:  Clever thriller ranging from 2nd WW until the present.  The story of a missing masterpiece worth millions.

The Invisible Friend - Louise Arnold:  A child ghost adopts a boy who is being bullied, and somehow the bullying stops... perhaps the ghost helps?  or perhaps the boy learns how to deal with it.

The Little Lady Agency - Hester Brown:  She starts an escort agency with no sex, but finds her forte in arranging things for mostly male clients who want their lives under control.  Light, fluffy, and amusing.

The Outcast: Sadie Jones: S P O I L E R ! ! A small boy who loves his mother deeply  sees her drown, and his emotionally deprived father cannot come to terms with this.  When he remarries, the child is lost to everyone including himself.  The story of how he comes to terms with his life.  Quite harrowing.  Made me cheer for the child, and hate everyone who could not understand his suffereing.

I have had a fantastically good month!

 The Hours, by Michael Cunningham: I haven't seen the film, but this is the story of three women in different eras and countries, but their stories are interwoven quite well and linked by Virginia Woolf. 8/10

A Widow for One Year, by John Irving: I had only read one John Irving book before, but I have started collecting them, and haven't regretted it with this book. This follows the story of Ruth Cole in three periods of her life - as a child, as an adult, and as a widow - and of how she falls in love for the first time at the age of 41. 9/10

The Archivist's Story, by Travis Holland: I swallowed this book up in a day. I picked it up because of its title (I am an archivist) but it is a wonderful story of censorship in the Soviet Union and is very thrilling. 9/10

Twilight, by William Gay: This is a strange story of grave-robbing and desecration, and a manhunt through the wilds and backwoods of America. It is very evocative and descriptive, and kept me on tenterhooks until the end. 8/10

The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster: Three stories within one book, all linked by the city they are set in, and by the loose theme of private detective/mystery tales. Different from a lot of things that I have read, and makes me want to find more books by Paul Auster. 9/10

Beach Music, by Pat Conroy: A tale of a group of friends who grew up in South Carolina, and are now dispersed across the world, and the events that made them what they are today. This book wasn't really my kind of thing, but it was a lot better than I expected 7/10

A Dog Year - Jon Katz

The Appeal - John Grisham

Baby Baby - Viv French

Nightmare Park - Philip Pearce

Witness - Anne Cassidy

Chocolate Moon - Mary Arrigan

Devil For Sale - E. E Richardson

I See You Baby - Kevin Brooks & Catherine Forde

Johnny Delgado: Like Father. Like Son - Kevin Brooks

Prisoner In Alcatraz - Theresa Breslin

Snakebite - Robert Swindells

Crowgirl Returns - Kate Cann

A Faint Cold Fear - Karin Slaughter

Johnny Delgado - Kevin Brooks

Crowgirl - Kate Cann

Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella

Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City - Holly Denham

Housewife Up - Alison Penton Harper (reading, but will finish today)

• Coming up Next - Penny Smith - didn't like this at all - 1/10
• Deadline - Simon Kernick - always enjoy his books although didn't think this was quite as good as his earlier ones - 8/10
• Missing - Susan Lewis - liked it but it was a bit of a struggle to get through and normally I enjoy her books - 5/10
• No time for Goodbye - Linwood Barclay - excellent book - 10/10
• Killing Helen - Sarah Challis - quite enjoyed this one - 8/10
• Memories of the Storm - Marcia Willett - took a while to get into but enjoyed it - 7/10
• The rain before it falls - Jonathan Coe - an interesting book, each chapter is centred around a photo - 7/10
• He sees you when your sleeping - Mary Higgins Clark - nice story - 7/10
• Secrets on Saturday - Ann Purser - an ok read - 5/10
• Its a kind of magic - Carole Matthews - enjoyed it but not as much as some of her others 7/10

I seem to have gone a bit mad this month, but a lot of them were thin books which only took me a day to read.

Good month for me with being off work. Looking back I thought I would have got through more.

Father Unknown by Lesley Pearse
Thought this was ok but wasn't quite what I expected. Never read anything by this author before and although it hasn't put me off it doesn't have me rushing to the TBR to try another.

By The Time You Read This by Lola Jaye
Once again an ok book but felt the author couldn't quite pin down what kind of genre she was writing:coming of age, love story, messages from the dead.

No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
Good thriller with plenty of suspense. I'd pretty much guessed the "what had happened" by half way through but thought the author did well keeping the suspense going until the end. Reminded me very much of Harlan Coben.

Addition by Toni Jordan
Quick and quirky love story. Really enjoyed all the references to numbers (yes I am a sad Maths teacher) and Nikola Tesla.

Encyclopedia Of Snow by Sarah Emily Miano
I really didn't understand this. Written like a dictionary/encyclopedia/glossary with references to snow, interspersed with fables, myths and stories and people in the Buffalo. Thank goodness it was only a short read.

Soveriegn by C. J. Sansom
Love this series and this is my favourite of the lot. Shardlake is trying to uncover a plot to prove Henry VIII isn't the real king. Lots of action, political intrigue and pace. My favourite of the month.

The God Of Animals by Aryn Kyle
Set on a horse farm in the mid-west the narrator is a young girl who doesn't fit in anywhere. The writing style is very easy and you are engrossed pretty quickly. The description of the treatment of the horses is tough to read and all the way through there is a sense of disaster looming.

Scapegallows by Carol Birch
Based on a true story of a woman in the 1800's who managed to escape being hung twice. A love story with a tragic twist, felt this didn't really do justice to the womans story after deportation.

The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale
Interesting true story about a murder in England in 1860. The story of the murder itself was a bit slow but loved reading about the early detectives and how the6y and the murder influenced (and even started) detective fiction.

Martin Misunderstood by Karin Slaughter
Great little murder story.

Revelation by C. J. Sansom
This time Shardlake has to deal with a medieval serial killer using prophecies from the Book of Revelation. Pretty gruesom in parts. Hope the next in the series arrives quickly.

Cats In May by Doreen Tovey
Read the first in this series last month and enjoyed it but found it a little bit dated. Enjoyed this book much more and an eager to read more from this author. Whilst the books are primarily about the siamese cats that rule the household the best bit in the book is about Blondin the pet squirrel they owned.

The Two Pound Tram by William Newton
Written in a very nostalgic style, the story centres around two young boys who run away from home to buy a tram just before WWII. Lots of adventures follow but everything is dealt with in a very shallow way. You don't really feel for any of the characters.

Fractured by Karin Slaughter
Another good thriller from Slaughter. Plenty of pace and absolutely no way of guessing who until she tells us.

UKDana:

 

Encyclopedia Of Snow by Sarah Emily Miano
I really didn't understand this. Written like a dictionary/encyclopedia/glossary with references to snow, interspersed with fables, myths and stories and people in the Buffalo. Thank goodness it was only a short read.

 

 

I've also read this Debbie, well I say read, I did give up on it as I found it impossible to grasp what on earth was going on. If anybody is looking for a unique read - this is the book to pick!