50 Book Challenge 2015 Part 3

remus I loved koomsom 's ice cream girls
Hated how they changed the ending in the mini series on the Beeb

31. Thomas Hardy little book of poems introduced by Claire tomalin

32. The wave - book about the 2004 tsunami very moving

Book 15: at the waters edge by Sara Gruen

Set in 1945 3 Americans arrive in Scotland to search for the Loch Ness monster. Two men and the narrator who is married to one of the men. The men have avoided joining the war and are treated with disdain by the locals. The story is of the narrator Maddie realising that her marriage is not what she thought it was and as she discovers this she forms friendships with the local girls and falls in love with the owner of the inn.
This is by the author of Water for Elephants which I enjoyed and whilst this book is readable and entertaining it is not as good. The characterisation of the Americans and the Scottish girls is good and I really liked some and couldn't stand others. The metaphor is a bit heavy handed but works (searching for fictional monsters when real ones can be the people closest to you) but what lets the book down is the love story. We barely know anything of the man she falls in love with and it goes from nothing to them declaring their love for each within a few pages. I actually reread because I thought I must have missed a bit! It's a shame because it makes the whole book weak where as up to that point I really liked the female characters and cared about what happened to them.

Overall an entertaining read but not one I will read again and not as good as the authors previous.

35. Sisters of Treason by Elizabeth Fremantle

Elizabeth Fremantle, with her second novel, appears to be cornering the market in detailing the lives of the quieter figures from history. With Queen's Gambit it was Katherine Parr and with Sisters of Treason it is Katherine and Mary Grey, sisters of the more famous Lady Jane Grey.

Interwoven into the stories of Katherine and Mary Grey is the story of Court painter Levina Teerlinc, friend of the Grey family. This provides the opportunity for third party observation of Court life. She was an interesting figure but who I felt was rather under used in the narrative. Her story began to tail off as the novel progressed but I felt that more could have been made of her third party observations.

I really wanted to give this novel four stars, and it so nearly got there. Four for meticulous research, but just losing a little bit because the pace of the story dipped in places. Furthermore, the novel is slightly confused - most of the time it wants to be taken seriously as an historical novel, but just occasionally it wanders off into romantic bodice-ripper mode. In order for it to be "perfect for Wolf Hall fans" as the sticker on the front of the book says, it needs to be taken seriously all of the time. The bodice-ripper bits weren't really necessary and rather spoilt my enjoyment of an otherwise good read.

Next up - reading The Girl on the Train (along with nearly everyone else :o). It's not bad, fits the bill - I wanted something lightish and undemanding before tackling something a bit meatier.

Clash is talking about, 'Lullaby.'

It is comic.

:)

I've just treated myself to This little beauty I suspect the story itself will be middling, rather than brilliant, but the books are just beautiful.

Ah see I'm the other way around - have loved all his other books, but just didn't enjoy this one. Worst bit was him finding and shagging his dead wife, it was quite graphic and put me off my crumpets

Anyway, I have three hours of train journeys tomorrow so on the prowl for a 'banker' book that will get me through...

15. Man called Ove. Very easy read. Quite amusing in parts (dragged a little bit 3/4 of the way through). Akin to the 100 year old man who climbed out of a window (or whatever it was called) but better IMHO.

15. Stoner - John Williams - reviewed before by others, the story of a university lecturer from approx 1915 onwards and his rather sad life. I enjoyed the book very much, it is beautifully written and extremely sad in many ways. A very realistic portrayal of a life that didn't quite work out as planned narrated from the male perspective.

I read, 'Lullaby' when it first came out. I enjoyed it - didn't like his others though. I can't remember anything really awful in it, but it was a long time ago and I was less fussy then! :)

Goodness, my knowledge of Ottoman/Turkish history is even worse than I thought! I hadn't realised it was Istanbul from the 1400s.

Ottomans conquered Constantinople in 1453 and renamed it, so it would definitely be Istanbul by the 19th Century.

There were references to Sultan Abd-ul Hamid II, the decline of the Ottoman Empire, and Stamboul, Galata and Pera, but the city as a whole was referred to as Constantinople. I must admit my knowledge of Turkish/Ottoman history is not great so I wasn't sure whether it would still have been Constantinople or Istanbul at the end of the 19th century, but I think it probably added to the feel of things not quite being right, along with the use of American terms for elements of life in Victorian London.

Chillie - That book sounds confused. Surely, it should be talking about a Turkish prison in Istanbul or Byzantine prison in Constantinople.

More accurately, given the time period (pre-1920s), it should be talking about an Ottoman prison in Istanbul.

26. The Infernal Device by Michael Kurland

The first in a series of Holmesian novels, but centred around Professor Moriarty. An American journalist, Benjamin Barrett, is employed by Moriarty after having been rescued from a Turkish prison by the Professor where he was awaiting the death sentence, having been accused of the brutal murder of a British spy. He had been in Constantinople to report on the sea trials of a new submarine, which was sabotaged and blown to pieces. Moriarty in turn is employed by the Russian Tsar to track down and foil a rogue agent of their own secret services who is plotting an attack in Britain which would result in all out war with Russia if it succeeded. As Moriarty and Barrett attempt to track down the Russian agent they find their footsteps dogged by Sherlock Holmes, who will keep on getting in the way.

Reasonable read, not brilliant but entertaining enough, though the language is too American for Victorian London - not necessarily in what the characters are saying, but in the narrative. It grates a little to me because it feels so out of place in a Holmesian setting.

Finished A Single Breath...seems to have taken me ages! I was put off this about halfway through. It was repetitive and a bit boring, I also guessed the twist which was obvious. I skim read the last chapter to get through it

On to book 13.... undecided!!!

Meg thanks for the Waterlog recommendation. I have added it to my 'to read' pile.

Bugrit I loved I Capture the Castle when I read it.

We've had family here so I haven't done much reading and seem to be stuck halfway through How to be Alone by Jonathan Franzen and halfway through Waiting for the Barbarians. All weekend I have fought the urge to sneak off and read!

We are now dragging the kids geocaching. They are less than thrilled

33. Lullaby by Chuck palaunick

(Sorry about spelling!)

A young man accidentally kills his wife and child by reading a lullaby which is actually an old culling song. Over the course of the next twenty years, he realises that other people are inadvertently killing people through the song, and he kills several people mainly unintentionally before managing to get it under control. He then goes on a mission to track down and destroy all copies of the song, together with a female estate agent who has lost her son due to the song, her Wiccan receptionist and her Wiccan receptionist's boyfriend.

This started well and was very engaging. It then descended into total chaos that didn't even make much sense and was difficult to follow. All the usual CP hallmarks are here - the repetition of phrases and themes, the surreal-ness. However, definitely one of his weaker books and I'm still not really sure what happened at the end.

this book felt like it was written primarily to shock - and whilst CP is not known for his subtlety, blow by blow accounts of necrophilia and constant references back to this point were just OTT, even for him.

Wouldn't recommend.

I've got Waterlog on my tbr list on Goodreads after getting a recommendation for it. It sounds exactly my kind of thing so will bump it up the list now

Calling all Robert Macfarlane fans! here's one for you...

11. Waterlog - Roger Deakin An absolute classic that was recommended by RM when I saw him speak recently. It is credited with starting off the current reinvigoration of nature writing (and inspiring RM, Helen Macdonald et al) - only it's better than their books. It's the account of a year Deakin spent swimming around the UK - mostly wild swimming in rivers, lochs, the sea etc but also taking in lidos and a handful of indoor pools. It's about the joy and freedom of swimming, the people he meets along the way and how wild swimming gives a connection to place and nature. His writing is funny, inspiring and lacking the heavy-handed way with metaphors that sometimes clogs up RM and HM's style. I can't recommend it enough.

#15. An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth - Chris Hadfield. Chris Hadfield was the first Canadian to walk in space. This is a sort of autobiography but essentially a gentle guide to some life lessons in how to fulfil your potential. In places, it came across as a little smug, but I suspect this is down to the edit, as all in, he came across as dedicated, assured, and humble. Some really interesting anecdotes about flying the Soyuz and being on the ISS. This really made me think about how much we take for granted, and just how much we don't know.

#16. Elizabeth is Missing -Emma Healey. I did guess at the 'twist' about halfway through, but not quite how it had happened. This was a really interesting, and sometimes saddening read, as some of the subjects were quite close to home.