Spellbound

Having enjoyed but not been overly struck by Faulks' novels so far, I was thoroughly spellbound by this one. As Faulks' dark, lone anti-hero, Engleby, reveals himself and his background, the reader is invited into his sardonic, autobiographical reflections, his musings on the period in which he is living and the characters (many of them real) that inhabit it. Readers over 50 who can look back on the same time frame will relish Engleby's cynical recollections. I was continually impressed by Faulks' ability to evoke the atmosphere and thinking of the 70s and 80s and his occasional neat trick of applying the irony of hindsight.<br /><br />However, the principal force of the book is the gradual exposure of Engleby as a brilliant scholar from a poor, violent background who initially seems to have survived early abuse and the atrocities of public school bullying (Faulks' exposé of this is painful and shocking but the reader's sympathies with Engleby take an abrupt turn away when he metes out the same offence on a younger boy) to evolve into a quasi-savant intellectual and then a successful and respected national journalist.<br /><br />As the mystery of the girl's disappearance unfolds, it is inevitable that the reader will predict the outcome and inexorable fate of Engleby's solitary and impaired personality. Any other possibility would reduce the novel's power and purpose. It is a chilling account of deep psychological damage hidden for many years beneath an `acceptable' individual. Finally, Faulks' fascinating portrayal of our current fixation with finding `psychobabbly' causes for Engleby's mindset and behaviour emphasises our limited understanding of the human mind and simply serves to nourish this cold and superior individual's narcissism and self-obsession. Nothing fits, and right to the end he keeps us guessing.<br /><br />Normally, I am able put a book down (well, one has to work, eat and sleep eventually) but this one was hard: the story gripped me slowly but persistently. I found Faulks' style to be concise, witty and moving - I have tagged several pages to revisit. Definitely, worth a second read. <br />

Discworld by Numbers

This is an enjoyable Discworld adventure that follows on from Going Postal. It sees Moist Von Lipwig put in charge of the Royal Mint with the task of making it some money.<br /><br />It's a very easy read and has the usual Discworld humour, but I can't help but feel that Terry Pratchett was going through the motions a little when writing this - it feels a little bit like Discworld by Numbers. The story just seems to amble along and there aren't any great twists or surprises. Having said that, Moist is a good character and he is fleshed out more in this book. We also get more insights into the mind of Lord Vetinari. The villian of the piece - Cosmo Lavish doesn't seem quite nasty enough.<br /><br />Still, Pratchett remains a great observer of modern life and even seems to be able to have foreseen the credit crunch with his musings on the way in which money markets work. <br /><br />Still a worthwhile read, but there doesn't seem to be much happening in the Discworld of late - a really good adventure that shakes things in Ankh Morpork up a little is required I think.

One of the most romantic titles around, but the content disappoints

Ok, have to admit the book title itself deserves 5 stars, and I really wanted a good read about love, loss and emotional journeys - to the extent that I picked up only on the positive reviews, having seen other books I'd read and loved attract their own fair share of detractors. <br /><br />However, it's been a struggle - the characters are strangely...I can only describe it as 'unevocative'. Some of the means employed to give insight into the wellspring of characters' emotions are almost clumsy, and the dialogue is another thing again - I could only imagine that the author must have lived through similar unfortunate tragedy, and is faithfully reproducing his true experiences under the guise of fiction, because as one of life's little ironies we know that truth exists in the phrase"If you wrote a book about it, people wouldn't believe you" - because I find the dialogue (only in the Leo episodes granted) thoroughly unbelievable.<br /><br />The most interestingly drawn and lovingly described character is dead from the very get go, so you only get to see her through flashbacks and the occasional dream. You almost feel cheated, like you've just got to a wine and cheese party, and find that there's only the mild cheddar left. <br /><br />As a reader, I found the storyline overly dependant on the book jacket's promise that"two men('s)...hidden connections are revealed in a stunning climax that lives long in the heart", because there is little if any poetic tension between the two tales in the book itself - if it hadn't been spelt out that there was going to be a"stunning climax" you'd think that it wasn't just the lorry and the bus - two books had also collided together and"Random Acts..." was the result. <br /><br />I Really wanted to like this book, and I'm sure that some people will love it (just look at the real mix of reviews). My personal recommendation would be to borrow it from the library or a friend, so if you end up indifferent to its charms at least you won't resent being out of pocket too. <br /><br /><br /><br />

An Entertaining, Spell-Binding Tale

Although the title refers to May, the daughter, this story is very much the story of both mother and daughter. It begins with Ida as a teenager, meeting and falling for Errol.. a love that never leaves her.<br /><br />I initially had reservations about using a real famous person in a fiction book, but it does work. Errol is obviously important, and I did find myself looking him up, to see how realistic his character was, but he's not a central character, and this helps. Once past the initial part of the story, there is so much more to keep you interested.<br /><br />Whilst reading, the book seems to move at a fairly comfortable pace, but at the same time, I often found myself wanting `just one more chapter'. I carried this one around, just so I could dip into in my spare minutes. It's the type of book that you get caught up in before you realise it's happened.<br /><br />The majority of the story is set in Jamaica, during a period of unrest - the history is quietly presented.. enough to give an insight, without distracting from the real story.<br /><br />It also deals with racism from a slightly different angle.. because of May's mixed background, she never feels completely accepted, as she feels neither `coloured' or white. This leads to May feeling an outsider.. a feeling I'm sure many feel at some point at their lives.<br /><br />This is an entertaining, spell-binding tale, which would make a perfect holiday read.

A surprisingly good read!

I found this book for a sale in an airport bookshop when it first came out and having read the back of it, I thought it would be worth £1.50 of anyone's money. I wasn't expecting it to be particularly brilliant, more of a timefiller for the plane. I thought the shop didn't have much faith either in it as it was so cheap! But I couldn't have been more wrong! I found it a little irritating in the beginning due to the poor grammer and badly formed sentences, but its a translation so I guess its to be expected to some extent. After a while your brain allows to you stop re-writting the sentences and actually enjoy the story. I throughly enjoyed it and found it to be a real page turner - I would definately recommend it! Its certianly memorable and an unusual read, I've certainly never read anything like this before. I won't go into all the detail about it as it will spoil the story - the back of the book does that a little which is a shame, but there is plenty there to keep you intrigued.

Man overboard!

`Sail' is the new stand-alone thriller from the fastest writer on the planet James Patterson, again teaming up with co-author Howard Roughan. The story begins when Katherine Dunne and her family are not getting along very well after the death of her husband and the children's father in a boating accident a few years ago. So, in an attempt to bring the family closer together again, Kath, her 3 children and her brother-in-law Jake take to the seas for 2 months of family time. Kath has also recently re-married to handsome, rich and charming New York lawyer Peter Carlysle who is staying behind to work on one of the biggest cases of his life and to also sit back while his family goes missing - something that he is behind in order to inherit Kath's $100 million fortune following their"mysterious" deaths. First a storm hits and then a bomb on the boat smashes the boat to pieces leaving the family stranded in the middle of the water, unable to be found because of the fake co-ordinates that Peter and his accomplice have deliberately set up to send the coastguard completely off-course. <br /><br />I started this book on Sunday morning and had it finished by Sunday evening, so it's not short of exciting thrills and fast-paced storyline, but I just felt that the book was completely let down by Patterson's (or maybe Roughan's) terrible style of writing with this one. For a start it feels like it has been written aimed at 12 year olds as it is just so simply written and everything that was just explained was repeated in a way that I haven't came across since I used to read young adult novels back when I was in my early teens, so I can only imagine that he must have been still in Maximum Ride/Daniel X-mode when writing this one. Then it is just full of product placements and stupid and childish catchphrases that just became annoying after a few chapters. <br /><br />The story itself is actually pretty good with a decent plot, likeable characters and some great and unexpected twists. The short chapters keep the pace flowing smoothly and quickly, so you'll fly through it in no time at all. It's not the best book Patterson has ever written by a long shot but it's definitely not the worst, but of all of the co-authors Patterson has written with I'd have to say that Roughan is the worst with this being the second in a row (as well as You've Been Warned) that has been nothing more than average. <br /><br />Overall, if you can put up with being baby-fed the story this isn't a bad book that I think is actually a perfect holiday read that can be read with no real thought involved and can then be forgotten about. Just don't expect nothing near the quality of Patterson's Alex Cross or Women's Murder Club novels.<br />

A quirky romance

Grace has a type of OCD which means that she is obsessed with counting and measuring her world. Numbers and routines dictate her life. For example, the number of poppyseeds on her cake determine how many bites she must take to eat it - between 20 and 30 is optimal. She shops in multiples of 10 and when she discovers one day in the supermarket that she has only 9 bananas, she swipes one from the shopper behind her. Which is how she meets Seamus.<br /><br />I thought the subject matter of this book might make it a sombre read, but it's not at all. Grace is a witty narrator and the books tears along - I easily read it in a day. The story is about her relationship with Seamus and how they come to terms with her condition. In many ways it's a celebration of the way that we are all unique. It's a sweet, quirky, warm little book, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It's hard to believe that this is Toni Jordan's first novel. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

engrossing and fun read

I always enjoy reading harlan Cobens books as they are engrossing page turners and witty at the same time. I really enjoyed this book and was always thinking ahead trying to figure out what was going to happen next. Definetly recommended for its twist and turns and suprises along the way..

Oh, justice is what you're threatened with - Thomas Cromwell

A Brief overview of Dissolution History, Henry VIII Tudor England. <br /><br />The Act in Restraint of Annates in 1532 was the start of the process that removed Papal (Pope) authority in England and Wales, Annates (Royal Donations) were the main source of income in Rome from England but it was only initially used to suspend in terms of it's introduction, Henry VIII wished to pressurise the Papacy into giving him an annulment from Catherine of Aragon, only this didn't work. <br /><br />Later in 1532 chief minister Thomas Cromwell set in motion to move all legal power from the Church to the Crown. Henry used Parliament to give an air of legitimacy to what he was doing but the end result was as he wanted; a divorce from Catherine of Aragon and marriage to Anne Boleyn. In 1533 the Archbishop of Canterbury (Thomas Cranmer) took over Power of the Pope, Cranmer concluded that the Pope's dispensation for Henry to marry Catherine of Aragon had been null and void. King Henry and the now pregnant Anne Boleyn were free to marry. <br /><br />In 1534 Pope Clement VII announced that Catherine was still the rightful queen of England, such a statement played right into Cromwell's hands. Henry was infuriated and pushed ahead with further changes to the church. The Reformation Parliament passed several acts between 1534 and 1536 and all direct payments to the Pope were halted; by 1536 an act called `Act Extinguishing the Authority of the Bishop in Rome' tied all pervious acts but adding one other law, anyone who defended the former powers of the Pope would have their property confiscated, Dissolution (Gaining Control) was a decisive step, the Monasteries were to be dissolved. <br /><br />C.J Sansom's - Dissolution Review <br /><br />C.J Sansom has woven a fantastic dark historical mystery from his title word Dissolution"dissolved". It's 1537, Henry VIII has control of the Church of England, institution of monastic life with it's rich beautiful interiors and libraries filled with illuminated manuscripts are about to be destroyed. Thomas Cromwell King's chief minister has found more way's to fill the King's swelling treasury, boosting his own pockets in the process. Selling physical property for bargain basement prices to either wealthy gentry who greedily want to increase their own estates or middle classes who were given a chance to become land gentry, selling lands and taxing therefore solving any problems of imposing unpopular taxes later on. <br /><br />Cromwell renowned for his shrewdness user of all methods and means in greed, sent forth a team of commissioners into the depths of England to confiscate and dissolve smaller and less powerful houses at first, making them unsuitable to be lived in by doing this he avoided much outcry from the people. With his ears always close to the ground Cromwell was shocked to learn through his network of informers that one of his most trusted negotiating commissioners, lawyer Robin Singleton has turned up dead. <br /><br />Crookback London lawyer Matthew Shardlake is summoned, a protégé of Thomas Cromwell and a long time supporter of reform also trusted with keeping delicate matters quiet. Shardlake is commissioned by Cromwell to investigate Singleton's death at Scarnsea monastery on the Sussex Coast along with all it's dark happenings. Upon arrival he is far from welcomed but that is only expected. On closer inspection the monastery holds more than just religious and political chaos. Events begin to Spiral out of control, corruption rife and dark truth forces Shardlake to question everything he believes facing his own fears, passions and doubts. <br /><br />This is a well crafted Tudor mystery, although it's similar to Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose, with its dark monastery mystery storyline, Sansom's book for me reaches further in History. It's showing a changing shift in English history after centuries in the old way of life. The 1530's descriptions pour out from this book, sights, sounds and smells the constant danger and fears, brutality of life in the Tudor period. Throwing at you the political and the religious workings in uncertain times and the deviousness of how powerful Thomas Cromwell had become. Sansom has also written an in depth character London lawyer Matthew Shardlake full of honesty and humility his disabled hero lives in Chancery Lane but uses Lincoln's Inn to Socialize for work purposes about 300 yards from Chancery, situated in Holborn, this is a great touch on History added. Wonderful start to a series, I think we can safely say I thoroughly enjoyed this book being a lover of English History. <br /><br />Andrea Bowhill<br />

Brilliantly different

This is the kind of book where you fall in love with the characters and don't want it to end. It's storyline is incredibly unique. A brillaint book which I found hard to put down and although you're given indications of how the book is going to end you can't help praying for a different ending. Are the prayers answered? Well you'll have to read it to find out.

Here & Now. And then

As a child the Paddington books were a great pleasure to me, managing to be both cosily conventional and yet utterly iconoclastic at the same time. To a child, the experience of watching an ingenue in the adult world is one with which it is very easy to identify. This was the great strength of the series. And now, after all this time, Paddington returns. So has time been kind to our friend form Darkest Peru? Happily, the answer is a very resounding"yes".<br /><br />The book itself is a solid and heavy hardback and the illustrations are charming and of good quality, as is the jacket. Such presentation gives a good feeling about what lies inside. <br /><br />As for the book itself, in all honesty the style has changed not one bit. The odd thing is that it is really quite difficult to identify when these stories happen. There is no sense of any great time having passed at all since the earlier books. There is a passing oblique reference to a nefarious journalist having a mobile phone and a visit to the London Eye, but otherwise these stories are resolutely old-fashioned in tone and the Brown family hardly seem to have aged at all. It's all the better for it and actually quite comforting that Michael Bond hasn't been too gimmicky with this update. It gives the book its considerable charm. <br /><br />The opening chapter deals with our ursine friend's experiences at the police station after his shopping trolley goes missing. The events are gently satirical and manage to poke some good-natured fun at the puzzlement that older readers may feel about policemen looking ever younger. As can be expected, Paddington enjoys some run-ins with the familiar Mr Curry, has a Hallowe'en party, plays the piano suspiciously well and towards the end gets a huge surprise. As ever the prose is clear and contains several laugh-out-loud moments of fun. It's probably not giving too much away to say that Paddington comes out on top in the end, but it's the journey that's the most fun. Indeed, the last chapter or so is really rather touching and cuts to the heart of what it feels to be feel wanted and part of a family.<br /><br />A must read for children of any age (including those of us in our thirties and above!). Very highly recommended.

A fantastic way to move the series on...

My copy of this book arrive in the post from amazon yesterday and I read it on one sitting. I though it was a fantastic read.<br /><br />I'm probably not typical of Ward's hard core fans in that I came to her writing because of the Fantasy elements rather than the Romance elements, and it is because of the fascinating world building rather than the love stories that I continued to read her work.<br /><br />Firstly, let me make it very clear that this book falls clearly into the Urban Fantasy category rather than the Romance category and as far as I'm concerned this is not a fault in the book. The move away from straight forward romance has led to huge plot developments in the black dagger world that will mean that the series will continue to grow and grow. (One happy ever after after another without moving the war on gets a bit stale in my eyes, and there were initially only a finite number of Brothers whose stories she could tell to begin with.) If you're looking for romance alone you're probably not going to enjoy this book, but if you loved the world you're in for a treat...<br /><br />Ward has picked up the pace and upped the danger level by introducing a new supper villian half vampire son of the Omega. I loved the way there were so many new plot threads developing and the possibilities for future books are immense. (More dangerous and knowledgeable Lessers, Rehv, Lassiter, Payne, the symphath princess...) Phury and Cormia's story was only average, despite the insight into Phury's tortured character, but the depth and variety of the side plots more than made up for this in my eyes. <br /><br />All in all I think Ward has upped her game.

Not for the faint-hearted

This is a good, well-written and interesting book.<br /><br />However, it is not as good as his previous efforts, mainly because there is too much emphasis on the personalities of two of the main characters. For example, both the inspectors are not as most readers would see as average police officers. The female is outrageously butch and the other a bad-tempered fat slob. It seems very unlikely you could find two such officers in the same police station.<br /><br />In fact the whole book, at least to me, is over-the-top, albeit an enjoyable and easy read.

Brilliant or Rubbish?

One star or five? Well judging by these reviews what makes a good book is far from clear and highly subjective.<br /><br />There are parallels here with Scott Fitzgerald's"The Great Gatsby" which received similarly mixed reviews on its release - some totally dismissed it for its"novelette" length and its superficial and incomplete story-line while others lauded it as a work of pure genius. In fact what Fitzgerald had done, which only a highly skilled writer can, was to take a complex love story and then cut everything back to its bare essentials, re-crafting every paragraph and sentence to the absolute minimum and, in doing so, leaving the reader to imply key elements of the plot and to ponder on how and why these things happen. The result, as time has shown, was a novel that precisely because of its superbly compact writing and pervading air of mystery was far more emotionally charged and thought provoking than novels of double or treble the length and, as a result, unforgettable and timeless.<br /><br />And this is exactly what McEwan does here. Beneath"On Chesil Beach's" short and superficially simple narrative is a complex, multi-layered and deeply moving love story, executed in a similarly minimalist style that ultimately leaves the reader to reflect on the reasons for its outcome. Almost every page requires one or more repeat readings to appreciate how incredibly well written and constructed they are, while his ability to distil genuine tension, emotion & mystery into single sentences of superficially casual observation turns the whole book into something that's equally thought provoking and unforgettable.<br /><br />Maybe McEwan is trying to emulate Fitzgerald's masterwork, maybe not, but the parallels are uncanny - not least in peoples' initial reaction to it - and, while not in the same highly rarefied class as"The Great Gatsby", my guess is that time will also show"On Chesil Beach" to be seen for what it is... which is?... a quite brilliant piece of writing.

brilliant.

The Road was the first book by Cormac McCarthy I read, and I did so on the back of the rave reviews it had received in all the newspapers, and also because I am interested in this sort of post-apocalyptic, what-if fiction, and what writers do with the idea of the future. <br /><br />The story is of an unnamed man and his son who are travelling the width of America. It's a lonely and bleak pilgrimage and as it goes along, more and more of their background and situation is revealed to us, so if at the start you're not sure where it's going, keep with it. <br /><br />I'd also like to comment on a couple of previous reviewers who have said how bad the grammar and punctuation are. Please don't be put off if you set store by such things and think it will ruin your reading experience - I'm an English graduate, very into correct punctuation etc (that's my geeky side coming out!) and I enjoyed this style immensely. The unusual way McCarthy uses punctuation (or lack of) is part of his style and it doesn't mean the man has no idea what the 'right' form is. You have to go with it, and you'll see how it contributes to the overall feeling of the book and the characters. I really enjoy when authors play with structure and ways of writing, and this was definitely a great example of a very skilled writer doing just that.<br /><br />The Road might sound a depressing read, and for a lot of the time it is rather bleak, but it's also thought-provoking, fascinating and ultimately uplifting. I bought three more McCarthy novels after finishing this one, and it's not often I become a real fan of a particular author. I would recommend this book highly.

Can't believe so many people are in love with this book!

I don't think I'm the only person that found this book boring? It goes on forever, the story as in the theme and ideas are okay but it's not interestingly written, didn't hold my attention and took me an age to read. Maybe because I had to read it for school I dunno, I couldn't be bothered with it really. The rumour is that Harper Lee didn't even write it- don't know if it's true or not? But to be honest Capote is better than this.... controversial you might say?

Not entirely fact...

It's a good book, easy to read, informative and amusing. In fact, it's so informative that one is tempted to learn parts of it as ammunition for showing off how impressively clever you are to your friends; dismissing common knowledge as fiction is a satisfying thing to do. That is, until you come across something that the book claims to be true which you know in fact to be false (or more likely, not the entire truth). And by"know" I mean parts that cross over with my degree and which I have studied actual research journals on. Once I realised that the book takes liberties for the sake of sounding a bit impressive and sensational, I lost faith in pretty much everything else it claimed to be true. I'm sure alot of it is genuine, but how do you know which bits? And if it's not necessarily true, where's the fun in knowing it?

A feel good read

A story that every girl can relate to, especially where evil mother-in-laws come in. Just when Elizabeth thinks she has everything she needs it is all turned on its head. She already has her handsome Italian husband but numerous attempts at conceiving the babies, that Elizabeth so desperately wants, has pushed him into the arms of his ex leaving Elizabeth to fend for herself. Following a move to the country she loves, Italy, Elizabeth finds that it is not all its cracked up to be and the language barrier is proving difficult. In a search to give her life some meaning and get away from her disapproving mother-in-law, Elizabeth enlists the help of a handsome American language teacher. He becomes a very close friend, but Elizabeth secretly wants more. Torn between making her marriage work against all odds or falling into the arms of her American friend, Elizabeth has to search her heart. A wonderful happy ending. Romance is not dead!

Good enjoyable read, but could have been so much better

I bought this book before a recent holiday and was hoping that it would be gripping and entertaining. I did enjoy it a lot and to be honest couldn't put it down, but that was more because I wanted to reach the end than because I wanted to savour every word.<br /><br />DISAPPOINTMENTS:<br />I was looking forward to a gritty step by step account of how life was during the first world war, and although this book did recount a lot about the state of mind of the character, it doesn't quite have enough to keep war history enthusiasts gripped. For example, in the 'over the top' scenes, so much detail is skipped. One minute they've gone over the top and the next they're in the middle of no-man's land with not enough detail of how they got from a to b.<br /><br />The other big disappointment was the VERY LONG peacetime love affair at the beginning which could have been recounted more briefly. Also I was disappointed with the way the story skipped around from era to era with, for example, the romance story from the most recent era seeming a little perfunctory at times.<br /><br />All in all I did very much enjoy this book but all I would say is if you are looking for a decent war story think about looking somewhere else.