Carrie, book review. (Stephen King)

So, the return to my roots continues with this, Stephen King's first novel, Carrie.

Carrie White is a loner, she has no friends - and I'd ask you to pause there for a moment and think about that, SHE HAS NO FRIENDS - and ask yourself how life would be for you, if you were in that same situation, with no-one to call when you needed a chat, no one to laugh or cry with. Pretty shitty would be my guess.

Okay, so on top of the lack of friendship, she has a matriarchal mother who is deeply religious and (as most of you may already know) hasn't told her teenage daughter anything about the natural monthly cycle of women, and so, when Carrie starts to bleed, have her first period (she is seventeen) in the communal showers at school, she thinks the worst; she thinks something's wrong, very wrong. Her classmates, however, think it's the ideal time to taunt her and throw sanitary products at her.

The basic premise of the book is that one of her tormentors gains a conscious whilst another does not, in fact, the other goes out of her way to be cruel and nasty, getting herself banned from the up and coming prom, and thinking she did nothing wrong in the first place, seeks revenge.

In a slightly odd way, this book is like a coming of age novel: you have the bully, the loner/geek, the popular beauty and her boyfriend - who are in no doubt who will be crowned prom king and queen - the nasty spiteful girl with the criminal boyfriend, the deeply religious mother and of course, telekinesis, adding yet more layers to our scene.

What I like about this book is threefold. It is written in a way where extracts of books and case studies are inter-spliced with the narrative, giving the reader a sense of reality as if the event depicted actually happened. It builds brilliantly from the very beginning and due to the aforementioned extracts, you get a sense of what's happened before it's revealed in the narrative, which pulls you through the book quickly, and thirdly, the tension between Carrie and her mother.

In spite of her mother's draconian rules, Carrie loves her deeply, but the cracks start to show the minute she gets home from school after the shower incident, with the true extent to which she will go to, to 'protect' her daughter, not felt until Carrie confesses her wish to go to prom later in the book.

There is no doubt that the highlight of the book is the last third, where Carrie literally ripped the town apart. With her peers burning alive in the school - punishment for the years of torment they have rained down on her - she then goes on a rampage, and it is superb. Exploding petrol (gas) stations, pulling down power cables to electrocute the masses, tearing down buildings, all before seeking out her main tormentor, and as a reader, you will her on, you want her to get justice, get her revenge, and it really doesn't stop until the very last few pages.

Four stars for this one then, and an excellent first King novel if you've never read him before.

The Colour Purple, book review. (Alice Walker)

A recommended read from my wife this one, and now it is a recommended read from me too, but a word of warning - this book plays with your emotions. It is not an easy read.
The pain of what Celie goes through in the book, the trials of a life with a father who rapes her, a husband who beats her, loves another woman, can only be described as a hard, wretched life, but forsaking all of this, Celie pulls through. She has her God and there is joy in friendship, love from family and music in her soul.

Born poor, black, and down south, Celie has little going for her, even her sister manages to escape her fate by having a good head on her shoulders and the ability to learn quickly, something Celie finds hard, and so, barely a teenager, Celie gives birth to her first child, fathered by her dad, and it doesn't stop there.
Told in a series of letters written by Celie, firstly to her God and then to her sister, Nettie and eventually from her sister back to her, The Colour Purple is a fiercely compelling book that has you at times on the edge of your seat. The letters from Nettie come from Africa where she has ventured as a missionary, and these were some of the highlights for me.
Not knowing whether Nettie would succumb to infection or disease whilst in Africa, whether Celie would ever see her sister's letters - her father intercepts them for many years - or whether Nettie would ever find out what Celie has had to endure in life, keeps the narrative flowing and the pages turning fast.
By reading this book you open yourself up to a roller-coaster of emotion: there will be tears, you will feel fear, hatred and anger, but as the book comes to a close you will feel a deep, deep respect for the main character and the author, for this is a journey that feels so real it could be autobiographical.
Praise be then for The Colour Purple. Four stars.

Dolores Claiborne, book review. (Stephen King)

Dolores has a story to tell, her story, but don't think she's about to admit to killin' that bitch Vera, 'cause she ain't, she din't; she did however kill her husband, but everyone's known that for years, haven't they?

Told in one long continuous monologue, with no chapter breaks, breaks in the text, and with no interruptions from the policemen and woman who are present at her confession, this novel is a masterpiece.
Dolores is a normal, run of the mill, wife, mother, carer and all around nice person, but when Vera Donovan dies and she . . . better not give the story away here . . . the locals start to talk, point the finger at her. After all, Delores was the last person to see Vera alive, the person that spent the last few decades looking after Vera, listening to all her vile diatribe, and the person whose husband mysteriously fell down a well some years earlier.
As Dolores recants her story we fall under her spell, and so sincere is her confession that you don't think to question what might be true or false, whether her husband really was that bad, whether he really did hit on her, do the things she says he did to . . . well, we just have no way of knowing, we just trust the narrator and go with it, believing all that we are told.
It wasn't until later, whilst making notes for this blog post, that I realised this, that not once whilst I was reading the book did I question what Dolores was saying, that it might not be true, and here in is the cleverness of the author, making me question it, think about the story, the characters, days and weeks after I thought I'd finished.

Of course that question is still there, did she or didn’t she do it, and every now and then I will turn it over in my mind and wonder.

Four well deserved stars then and another King favourite.

Ready Player One, book review. (Ernest Cline)

Is sci-fi your thing? No.

How about something apocalyptic, geeky '80's retro? Four hundred pages about gaming?
No! Still not on board?
Well, you’re gonna miss out on one hell of a good book then because, Ready Player One is fantastic.
It is 2044, we’ve used all the oil, there's widespread famine and poverty, but hidden in the OASIS, (a computer generated universe consisting of thousands of worlds), there's hundreds of billions of dollars waiting to be won. All you have to do is solve the riddles set out by its deceased creator, Halliday, find the keys to the three gates and it’s yours. Some seek the fortune for good, to prosper, not only themselves but others, but the IOI Corporation wants it for itself and will stop at nothing it seems to get it, including murder.
Living at the top of a twenty story stack of mobile homes with limited aspirations, other than to win the fortune, Wade Watts, aka, Parzival spends all his spare time logged into Oasis, trying to solve the riddles.
When he stumbles upon the first of the three gate keys, he becomes instantly famous, a target, once he's made it through the first gate, he's on borrowed time. His aunt and the trailer where they lived, are blown to pieces, there's coercion, a feigned suicide, proposed kidnappings and more.

As riddles get solved, an epic game of Pacman is played, tempers fray and trust issues arise, you forget you’re in a fictional world within a fictional world and get pulled along for the ride, and all the while the characters in the book are, for the most part, avatars in a computer game.
Parzival is super geeky, but he's educated himself through the OASIS school system, his fellow gunters, (people who spend their time in OASIS looking to solve Halliday's riddles, but who haven't sold out to the corporation of IOI), all bring something different to the narrative, some more than others, of which we find out at the end of the book!
The author’s love of the 1980's was right up my street and some of the games, the computers, and most of the films he makes reference to - Parzival flies around in a DeLorean for goodness sake's - had me reminiscing, and there's always a sense that something's not quite right, that one of the gunters might not be telling the whole truth. With that in mind, the sixers (derogatory name for those who spend their days trying to crack the riddles in OASIS for IOI), gradually close in on Parzival and his friends but, can they beat them to Halliday's Egg and win the prize - Ownership of the entire virtual word, the Oasis?.

There is a huge amount of info-dump throughout this book, which gets a bit annoying but with the epic battle at the end, the tense week that preceded it, the journey through the various challenges, great characters and (for me anyway), the books effortless mix of nostalgia with a possible future and superb researching and originality, it easily earns four stars.

I just hope the film doesn’t let it down.

Don't forget to search my blog for your favourite authors and books and if I haven't read them, message me with your recommendations

No Country for Old Men, book review. (Cormac McCarthy)

Have you ever been punched in the face by a book?

It's a simple question, and up until now I can't honestly say that I have.

I've been wooed by books, romanced, charmed and frightened by them, I've even been brought to tears, be them happy or sad, but never in my many years and hundreds of books, have I ever been punched in the face, (although Fight Club was like a good slap), but I have now.

The simplicity of the writing that annoyed me so in, The Road, is here, as is the non-existent grammar, but with a relentless madman on the loose, (Chigurh), several trucks full of dead Mexicans, a missing case of money, and a Sheriff who's not as stupid as you might think, the action and sheer pace of this book make you forgive it those annoyances.

When Llewelyn Moss discovers a drug deal gone wrong, and figures out where the money might be at, his life expectancy takes a turn for the worse.

The relentless pursuit of Llewelyn and the money across the barren Texas landscape, through towns, hotels and even across the border to Mexico, is punishing, sad and thrilling in equal measure. The innocent suffer, as do some of the criminals, but the stand out character has to be, Anton Chigurh. Never have I come across such an empty shell of a man, someone so devoid of emotion; he's just so convincing it sends shivers down your spine.

You may all have seen the film, it's a very good representation of the book, so maybe y'all know what to expect if you read this, but for me, there's nothin' like discoverin characters for yourself.

The deep, deep, sadness that this book left me with, might not be y'all cup o’ tea, nor might the violence, but it's not a long book, so I say give it a go, especially if y'all like a good punch in the face!

So the non-existent grammar didn't bother me as much, the southern Texas drawl was beyond convincing, probably the most convincing dialect I have yet read, (I'm not brave enough to read Trainspotting yet), but due in part to the books brevity, and what I thought was a rather pointless conversation between Sheriff Bell and the old man at the end, I'm gonna have ta knock a half star off.

So, four and half stars for, No Country for Old Men then.

Bloody fantastic!

The Girl with all the Gifts, book review. (M.R.Carey)

Post-apocalyptic horror books come in all different shapes and sizes, from the true epics like, The Stand, to thin slivers of excellence like, I am Legend, but most of them fit into just a few categories: The Virus, The War or the Invasion; this book however, is harder to categorise.

There is a virus of sorts, but we only know that it turns people into 'hungries', zombie like creatures that feast on non-infected people, but, and it's a big but, there are the infected children, like Melanie, the girl with all the gifts: super intelligent, nice, articulate and more, who has the virus, but has no desire to feast on humans - or does she?

The book is told predominantly from Melanie's point of view, and it's all the better for it. She is kind and thoughtful, sad when her fellow classmates go and don't come back, but after the facility she has been kept, (imprisoned in), gets overrun by hungries, driven and herded by non-infected humans that eke out an existence in the wild, she and her teacher, the lovely Miss Justineau, have to leave, and leave quickly.

Together, with two soldiers and the doctor who was about to cut her up, they must travel across mile upon mile of unfamiliar, untamed territory, to London, and this part, for me, was of particular interest, because they are heading south through Hertfordshire, (which is where I live), Barnet, and then through north London, which I know well.

As the story develops, Melanie earns her freedoms: first, her handcuffs are removed, then, she's aloud to remove her face mask and find food, feast, but we don't see that, we don't need to, because we know how hungries feed!

There's something else, too. Some of the hungries have died and sprouted what look like organic tentacles! Could this be part two of the virus? After all these years, could it be mutating into something else?

With food and water shortages, Melanie's need to feed, Sergeant Parks trying to get the power back on and fix up an abandoned armoured vehicle, along with doctor Caldwell still readying herself to kill Melanie, things look bleak, but then, then the kids come and . . .

No; no spoilers here, you'll have to read it to find out how it all ends, but suffice to say, this book has pace, intrigue, and is quite different to anything else I've read. I love the characters, even doctor Caldwell, who you dislike intensely, and the tension, the constant threat that the author builds, the feeling that someone, or something, is always watching, that our band of survivors are just one wrong turn from death - or worse, zombiehood - is profound and creepy.

This book was not what I was expecting, it's not a save the world, 'The Passage trilogy', kind of thing, it's more, I am Legend, creepy, which was a nice surprise, and so, with the hairs on the back of my neck still prickling, a thoroughly well-deserved four stars for, The Girl with all the Gifts.

The Road, book review. (Cormac McCarthy)

Okay, so this is an interesting book, it's interesting because it breaks the rule; it's also frustrating for that very same reason.

The book is about a man and a young boy making their way south, along, The Road. There isn't much to see and very little to do, other than hide from any would-be criminals and scavenge for food and water.

The book paints a very bleak future of a world that has been ravaged by . . .? Well, we don't know, it's just ravaged, and our two main characters, er! lets just call them, the man and the boy, because that's what they're called in the book, have their entire life in a shopping cart.
As they move ever closer to the sea, they have to hide, fight, run, lose all their possessions, get them back again and more.

The sense of isolation here, of hopelessness, is akin to John Wyndham's, The Day of the Triffids, and really punches through. The suspense: when they see or hear other humans, enter what they hope are unoccupied buildings, descend into cellars, where the man finds fresh clean drinking water, all have you biting your nails in anticipation, but, and this is where I feel the book lets itself down, it's all a bit too bland.

The world is grey, covered in ash, the sun never penetrates and the nights are cold, very cold, (it's because of the cold that the man and boy are heading south), but it's bland to the point of annoyance.

Back to my opening statement: this book breaks too many rules, well, it does in my opinion.

Books are supposed to have a beginning middle and an end, this one only has an end; the whole thing feels like the last few hundred pages of a much longer manuscript.

Not naming the characters, okay, fine, but without that, they lose some of their humanity, their identity, and you sort of stop routing for them, and my biggest gripe? No speech marks! Why? Why, why, why, do authors and/or publishers think this is okay? It's not clever, it's just bloody annoying.

So, in summary, it's a book about a world we don't know, with people we don't know, or get to know, travelling south to a place we don't know, with no speech marks.

For the sense of isolation and the tension created when the man goes into the cellar and confronts a would be attacker, and the fact that it is short and doesn't take long to read, I’ll give this one three stars.

The Green Mile, book review. (Stephen King)

I happened upon this six-book set on the internet a few weeks ago, and thought it was about time I added it to my collecting, and so, on arrival, I dipped in. Two hours later and I'd finished the first book and was reaching for part two.

Ever read a book you literally can't put down? A book you slip into your pocket in case you have a spare five minutes? A book you take to the little room? You know the one I mean!

Well, this is that book.

Told in the first person by an ageing ex-prison guard from Cold Mountain penitentiary, who worked on E-Block back in the late 20's and early 30's, we quickly find ourselves immersed in the day-to-day running of the establishment, the prisoners, guards and the warden's lives.

E-Block is where death-row prisoners spend their last few weeks, and it's a relatively quiet place, calm and solitary, (but for Percy Wetmore). As the reader is introduced to the various characters on the mile, (the green mile), one becomes accustom to its routines, and before you know it, you're so immersed in the 1930's American penal system, that you forgot you're reading a book of fiction.

You barely get to know some of the inmates before they visit the chair, but the main death-row prisoner is, John Coffey, a mountain of a man, but a man with a gift, a gift for healing.

King's build up, of Coffey curing the narrator's urinal infection, bringing Mr Jingles, (a mouse that's been stamped on by Percy Wetmore), back to life, and then going on to cure the warden's wife's brain tumour, is stunningly good, and the realisation towards the end of the book, that maybe Coffey didn't murder and rape the two young girls he was on death-row for, that maybe he was actually trying to help them, puts a nice twist on proceedings, but the most shocking part, the part that is at the heart of how horrific humans can be, is part four: The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix.

Percy Wetmore is the antithesis of John Coffey: He is a cruel, vindictive, educated white man with friends in high places, and with his connections he pulls a few strings, struts around like he owns the place, even managing to convince the warden to put him 'out front' for an execution.

I won't describe the results here, you'll have to read the book, but be warned, this part will make your toes curl, (if you've seen the film, you'll have a taste of what happens), and I won't divulge how old the narrator is at the end of the book either, or which friend from the mile still visits him, or what happens to Percy Wetmore, but what I can and will tell you, is that this is one of King's finest books, (I've yet to read them all), and that you should all grab a copy and give yourselves nightmares; you'll thank me for it in the end!

Five stars then, and a very Merry Christmas to all you bibliophiles out there.

The Dark Tower, (Pt1), The Gunslinger, book review. (Stephen King)

So, the beginning – the beginning of the longest story I am ever likely to read!

As Roland Deschain, the last Gunslinger, follows the man in black: death, preacher, shaman, et-al, across unyielding desert, for a purpose we don’t yet know, he meets a corn farmer and we learn about Roland's escape from Tull, (the last town before the world turns to dust). Thirty-nine dead and hardly a scratch!

Then, he meets Jake at a Way Station, and as the desert morphs into mountains and Jake becomes companion, we learn that the man in black killed Jake in modern day New York, brought him here: to use him, weaken the Gunslinger’s hand, give Roland something to care about, something to lose.

On entering the mountains, Roland must face the Oracle, an ancient malevolent force that will not give something for nothing, but the Gunslinger needs answers, he needs all the help he can get, and like the gunfight in Tull, I particularly liked this part. It is slightly surreal, which is the point, and feels like one of the older parts of the book; more honest, less polished maybe.

Before finally settling Ka with the man in black, Roland must let Jake go (for the good of the quest for the Tower), but will he let the boy die a second time? Will he let the slow mutants take him? Does he have a choice?

There are elements to this book that are classic King, but there are parts that feel alien, as if they were written by another author, which is somewhat explained in the introduction and forward of this revised edition. The author was only nineteen when he first started to garnish the idea for this novel, some thirty year before this edition was published.

A short novel then, (it is only a beginning after all) and a slightly surreal one, but with the battle in Tull, the Oracle in the mountain, the slow mutants and the almost biblical showdown with the man in black, a rather good introduction to the quest for The Dark Tower.

Four stars.

My Cousin Rachel, book review. (Daphne du Maurier)

I purchased this book from the charity shop (nothing out of the ordinary there then) about five years ago, and there it languished, on the 'to-read' shelf in the wardrobe: constantly overlooked, constantly put aside for something else, something more modern, more exciting, faster paced, more edgy.

That's sixty months, sixty! Or to put it another way, one thousand, eight hundred and twenty-six days I wasted, before reading My Cousin Rachel.

What an idiot, what a fool.

If only someone had told me. If only someone had written a review or a blog post, explaining how stupid I was being, telling me how I should have read this the day I bought it - hell, telling me I should have gone and bought it sooner, read it years earlier; well, now there is.

I implore you all, fellow book bloggers, bibliophiles, bookaholics, all those lovely people around the world that might read this post, all those that might have done as I have, and left this book to gather dust, read it now.

Du Maurier's incredible writing comes to the fore here, such believable characters, such eloquent prose, such beauty in her portrayal of Cornwall, (where the book is mainly set), and such suspense.
When Ambrose goes to Florence for the winter, to enjoy the warmer climes of Italy, his cousin and ward, Philip, thinks nothing of it, but when he marries and his letters become increasingly erratic, Philip starts to worry, so much so that he heads over to Italy himself.
On his arrival, he finds that Ambrose, who had looked after him since he was a small child, has died, and his wife, the mysterious cousin Rachel, has vanished.
Shortly after Philip's return to England, Rachel appears, but his anger, the betrayal he felt, evaporates. He is under her spell, captivated by her, but all is not plain sailing. One minute, there's delightful frivolity between Rachel and Philip, the next, it turns on a sixpence and one is shrouded in doubt.

Is Rachel all she is supposing to be? A grieving widow? Penniless? Did her first husband really die in a duel? Who is the mysterious Signor Rainaldi, friend or foe? And what of the hidden letters from Ambrose, talking of deceit, poison?

Du Maurier weaves such a web of doubt and intrigue here, that you just can't help but continue to read. You stay up late, you get up early, you skip lunch, avoid going out, and you put aside the chores, until you've reached the fabulous climax.

With the film released on June 9th (in England at least), I implore you to read this before seeing the screen adaptation, you will not be disappointed.

Five great big giant gold stars for this book then, and the best book I've read so far this year.

The Vanishing, book review. (Tim Krabbe)

This book is a tiny thin sliver of excellence.

Told in the third person but from just two perspectives - the victim's boyfriend’s and the perpetrator’s - it is simple, short, but shocking in equal measure.

I haven't seen the film or films - apparently there are two - so I didn't have any spoilers to deal with, and whizzed through it in just a few hours; yes, it is that short.

I've read quite a few books by European authors recently, and have liked them all, Tim Krabbe's being no exception, but ultimately, this book is too short; a novella really.

The story starts with Rex and Saskia driving through France, they are going on holiday, but before they reach their destination, they decide to stop for fuel and sustenance.

Before continuing their journey, Saskia returns to the shop for drinks and vanishes.

Cut to Frenchman, Raymond Lemorne, a married high school teacher, who dives into a canal and saves a young girl from drowning, and then, after his act of valour, he wonders: is he's capable of doing something equally vicious?

He'd saved the life of a random stranger, but can he now take one, and in the cruellest possible way?

Skip forward eight years: Rex has sort of moved on, but he still thinks about Saskia everyday, and then, out of nowhere, a stranger leaves him a message.
Raymond has found him and admit that it was he, that took Saskia, but before he will tell Rex what happened, he must agree to go through what Saskia went through; he must drink from the cup he is offered, and only then will Raymond reveal all.

Will Rex take the bait? Is it a trick? What became of Saskia? 

I won't spoil it for anyone here, you'll have to read the book, it is after all, only a hundred pages or so, so no excuses, but what I will tell you, is that it's definitely worth finding out.
Could have been a five star book this one, but it's just too short, so four stars.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, book review. (Ken Kesey)

I'm not going to lie to you; I found the first half of this book hard going. (Hence the Whisky!) I don't know what it is about classic American literature, but I always seem to struggle with it, be it F Scott Fitzgerald, Steinbeck or Salinger, there just seems to be a disconnect.

Many of you will have seen the film with Jack Nicholson, and therefore know the basic story - McMurphy is a wise cracking, gambler, who has avoided gaol (jail) for what he thinks is going to be a few easy months in a mental hospital, and he brings turmoil and discord to what was once a peaceful, psychiatric ward.

From what I remember, the film was really quite good, but I saw it too long ago to make any meaningful connection with the book; which I felt dragged, to the point where I had to put it to one side and read something else, before coming back to it.

I suppose, being told in the first person by an American Indian, who pretends to be deaf and dumb, is regularly drugged and resides in a mental institute, may have had something to do with that, but it's not until a fishing trip, (about half way through the book) that I felt it really started to get interesting.

There are flashes of greatness here, some of the group therapy sessions are tense and leave you guessing. McMurphy's ability to talk everyone around to his way of thinking, are intriguing but soon grow tiresome; the Chief's flashbacks of home are convincing and come with a hint of sadness, but his visions of a hidden world, a world where everything is controlled by the Combine, are lacklustre.

I think perseverance is the key with this book. I'm glad I stuck with it, and in the end I can see why some of you might like it, but for me, I can't recommend it.

Just scrapes three stars for those flashes of excellence then, the fishing trip being the one true highlight, but without that scene, it really don't think it would have been worth my while.

Fight Club, book review. (Chuck Palahniuk)

Seen the film? Of course you have. Read the book? Maybe you have maybe you haven't, but the first rule about fight club is, you don't talk about fight club, so, hear endeth this blog post!

Only joking.
In fact, not talking about fight club is the last thing you should do, because like the film, this book is great.

I don't know about any hidden meaning, and I certainly don't intend to psychoanalyse this book, (that's not the purpose of this blog), so if that's what you're after, sorry to disappoint, but what I will say is that this is a damned good yarn, about characters that will take a while to leave you, and whose impact on the world of film and hopefully literature, has had, a profound effect.

If you've seen the film, then you'll know the twist, but even armed with that knowledge, you still need to read this book.

Marla Singer is so tragically cool, and the narrator, (Tyler Durden's softer side, for want of a better expression), is in an almost constant battle over his appearance and work ethic with his boss, that culminates in an excellent scene that surpassing anything Hollywood could do, and makes you wonder what would happen if you decided to do the same, the next time you went to work!!!

I love the way this book builds and how the narrator becomes evermore trapped in a world that he and Tyler created, the pressures of being homeless - his apartment explodes early in the book, and destroys everything he owns - from work, from the police, and then, there's Marla Singer, Robert Paulson, testicular cancer, death, and a whole lot more.

Suffice to say, I liked this book, it's short, so there's no excuse not to get yourselves a copy, and it deserves a solid four stars.

Inspiration for the day: Do something different. Don't get a coffee from there, go to an independent, don't get in the car, walk, don't shout at the idiot who almost crashed into you, but cast your mind back to when you almost did the same. Cancel Facebook, even if it's just for a day, don't look at your mobile when it rings, phone someone instead of texting them, bring back randomness, and if that's not a real word, who cares, and don't, what ever you do, ever, talk about fight club!

The Girl on the Train, book review (Paula Hawkins)

I am not the sort of reader who runs out and purchases the latest must have, must read, Richard & Judy recommended, if you're not reading this like everyone else is right now, then what the hell are you doing, sort of book; so this review might be a bit late for some, but with the film release last week, I thought it was probably the right time to get it out there.

As many of you already know, I read all sorts, (and why not, I say), with most of my books coming from charity shops, but I have a confession to make. I pilfered this one from my mother whilst her back was turned, in the shameful attempt at being able to converse in the pub, (or equivalent) if the topic of the film came up. (Which in spite of its Americanisation, I'm still looking forward to seeing).

So, what did I find in the three hundred or so pages of Paula Hawkins' bestselling thriller? Quite a lot actually.

There is a love triangle of sorts: Ex-wife who drinks too much, harasses ex-husband and new wife, (who now have the baby that she couldn't have).

Ex-wife then loses her job, keeps drinking, keeps getting the train every morning, in order to keep the fact that she's lost her job from her flatmate, and makes up little fantasy worlds in her head, about the people she sees, including a couple who's garden backs the railway where the train stops each morning, which is also, only a few doors down the road from her old house, where her ex-husband and new family still live.

It's all a bit screwed up then? Well, you'd think so wouldn't you, but then the girl a few doors up goes missing and the shit really hits the fan.

I like this story, it's told in the first person, by three different women, over two time lines, (hold on a minute, Girls on Fire, anyone? See my blog post from 25th July), and hops about a bit, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

We find out from the missing girl that she was seeing a therapist the year before, who then becomes a suspect, all whilst the tension between the ex and the current wife builds.

The main character has major memory lapses due to her drinking, but over time, and with a little detective work, (she's unemployed remember), things start coming back to her, pieces of the puzzle start slotting into place and then, the truth!

Criticisms: It’s a bit hard to accept that out of the three women in the book, one is an alcoholic, one needs a therapist and the new wife is prepared to 'sort the ex out' (read into that what you will), and (spoiler alert) the ex-husband is a serial adulterer and maybe a lot more!!! 
Where may I ask, are all the normal people?

That aside, it is a good read, so grab a copy quickly, because the film came out on the 5th October, (UK release), and looks riveting.

Can't wait for the next big, you must read this because it's in every shop window in the world book, by Paula Hawkins.

Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant, book review (Veronica Roth)

I might as well do these three all in one hit, because you're unlikely to read books two or three if you haven't read book one. (You might not read book two or three thought, once you've read book one!)

Okay, I'm going to just get this out there at the start: for me, Divergent always felt like the poor cousin to The Hunger Games. There, I've said it. (Dystopian trilogy: similarity number one).

Riding on the crest of a dystopian wave, we find ourselves in a world (well city really) of factions, five to be precise. At the tender age of sixteen, (similarity number two) the children of the city must decide how they feel about the world, and in which faction they want to spend the rest of their lives. (Most choose the faction they were born in).

Once that decision is made, it's faction before blood, but what if you don't fit in? What if you're Divergent? 

Well, if you're Divergent you need to keep it a secret, which Tris - our main character - manages to do reasonable well, before joining the police/army faction of Dauntless, meeting the love of her life, losing her brother to Erudite (the brains behind everything) and seeing her mother get shot. (Losing a parent: similarity number three). 
There's more in here than in some books but just not as much as The Hunger Games. 

It's believable, but all along I'm thinking there should be more, that something's missing. Well maybe I'll find it in book two, Insurgent.

NO, I didn't find it there.

Tris acts even more selfless than she does in book one, her boyfriend Four (or Tobias) - also divergent - rescues her again, but not before she opens the secret message that the Erudite have been so desperate to lay there hands on, only for the city to be told that the Divergent are their saviour, not their enemy. 

So, more of the same than, which as I say, is all quite good, but I still can't quite put my finger on what's missing. 

Book three then! Allegiant.

NOooooooooo!

This book starts off by telling the reader that everything they’ve read in the first two books is a lie. That all the people who died, died for nothing, that all the power struggles were for nothing, and (Spoiler alert) that the cities entire existence is just one big genetic experiment.

Oh come on!!!

It really felt like the author was on to something with the first two books, but this lets the whole story down. Developing characters and plot lines, creating a new world that is believable yet different, and then throwing it all away, was so disappointing. 

I did like the end though. It was a nice surprise when one of the main characters met his or her demise (no more spoilers here) and on this alone, the third book gains a second star. (I wonder if the soon to be released film will be faithful to this part of the book?) 

So to sum up: Three and half stars for Divergent, three for Insurgent and just two for Allegiant. 

N.B I watched the first two films with my kids and they're not too bad, so worth checking out. 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, book review. (J.K. Rowling)

Okay, so what can one say about a story that everyone already knows?

Well, lots actually. 

Seen the film, don't need to read the book! Think again.

Don't get me wrong, I love the film, but there's just so much more intricate detail in the book, and once read (again), you really do start to understand the depth of the story. 

Take Dobby, everyone's favourite house-elf, not in the film but he and another house-elf named Winky, play a big part in getting Harry through the second task of the Triwizard tournament, and help an escaped criminal from Azkaban, bring about the rise of Lord Voldemort. 

Sirius Black appears briefly in a fireplace in the film, but in the book, Harry corresponds with him regularly and they meet up in Hogsmead with Ron and Hermione. 

Barty Crouch, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, (hardly in the book), mysteriously disappearing due to illness and then ends up being killed by his own son; who is then killed by a Dementor, (not in the film). Another character not in the film is Ludo Bagman, another ministry employee, (ex beater for the English Quidditch team), and then there's Rita Skeeter.

She's in the film of course, but in the film you don't really find out just how low she'll sink for her next sensational headline, but you do in the book.

Severus Snape is revealed as being a reformed Death Eater, Hermione catches Rita Skeeter in the act whilst trying to free house-elves, and Barty Crouch Jnr, gives a much more detailed explanation into Lord Voldemort's comeback. 

More detailed than the film then, more story, more twists and turns, more intrigue; this book is just so good you need to read it. It's long, so not a quick read, but you will not regret spending the time it will take, and it will leave you with a rich experience that sets you up perfectly for book five.

The lovely Bones, book review. (Alice Sebold)

Wow. A book about murder, death, abandonment loss and depression, that leaves you feeling happy, joyous and longing for more. Wow indeed. 

This book got some good reviews when it first came out and was of course made into a film (which I saw a few years ago), but like most of the books I read, I read them when I feel ready, not when the hype or the movie release dictates. 

Told in the first person by a murdered fourteen year old girl, (Susie) the book takes you from the high of a teenager's first kiss, to the low of her death. Raped and killed by a neighbour, in a hole he'd dug in a corn field, (and then dumped in a sink-hole), Susie's body is never found; so her family never really find out what happened to her.

Once dead, Susie is unable to rest in her heaven, so she visits her family and friends as often as she can; her brother repeatedly comments on how he can still see his sister, but as a reader, we're never really one hundred percent sure if he can or not. This, I think, adds a nice element of uncertainty to the book. 

We witness her father's slide from successful businessman and loving husband, to a broken man who's lost his daughter, his wife and his mobility, (he suffers from a heart attack later in the book), all whilst Susie's brother and sister grow up, with their mother in California. 

There is great drama when Susie's sister goes in search of clues in the killer's (neighbour's) house, and then there's chapter 16, where the family, her school friends and the local community, go to the field where she died, in recognition of the anniversary of her death. This is one of the best chapters I have ever had the pleasure of reading, in any book, ever. It is so moving, so perfectly timed within the story and just has you reeling for more. 

Powerful stuff them? You bet, and Alice Sebold keeps it coming until the very end, but I won't reveal any more here, I’ll just finish by saying whatever you do, READ THIS BOOK. 

The Fault in Our Stars, book review. (John Green)

WOW!
Love the characters, love the style, love the way the author grabs terminal cancer by the balls and subjects the reader to a frank, no holes bared, journey of love, lose and despair.
The book is narrated by Hazel Grace Lancaster, a terminally ill, sixteen year old cancer patient, who falls in love with a fellow patient, (Augustus) who is in remission. There's teenage angst, disputes, love, anger and of course, a hell of a lot of heartache; but in spite of it all, this book left me wanting more.
It inspires hope where there is none, laughter where there's pain and like Hazel Grace and her unquenchable thirst for what happens to the characters in 'Imperial Affliction', I want to know what happens to her, and her parents, and . . .
I'm selfish, I want more.
So, a big fat four stars then. Hold on a minute! Four stars, FOUR!
Yes, four.
I loved so much about this book, but why Hazel Grace and Augustus had to go to Amsterdam to meet their favourite author, is beyond me. It would have been so much better if they'd visited because their favourite book was set there, or that they just wanted to experience the city. I realise that meeting the author ties in with the end of the book, but still felt it could have been handled differently.
Inspiration for the day goes to all the lovely people that work for Marie Curie, (www.mariecurie.org.uk) who in England, support the terminally ill. God bless them.

The Remains of the Day, book review. (Kazuo Ishiguro)

Another gem, from a master storyteller.

England in the 1950's, told from the prospective of Stevens, an ageing butler from Darlington Hall.

Beautifully written and another of Ishiguro's books that has been made into a film.

I can't comment on the film, as I haven't seen it, but his skill in writing a novel in the late 1980's that depicts the 1950's so convincingly, is amazing. The sense of 'Old England' that he portrays, the stiff upper lip, the congenial mild mannered ladies and gentleman Stevens encounters whilst on his travels, are all so totally convincing for a middle England in the decade after the war, that it feels like you're really there.

Ishiguro uses both Historical and fictional characters in this novel, which adds to the sense of realism.

Having visited Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh whilst reading this book, I was able to see first hand what it is like, to live in a large, stately home, and enjoyed the book more for it. 
A lovely book, deliciously written by an author of many talents.
Four well deserved stars.

Inferno, book review. (Dan Brown)

If you've ever read one of Dan Brown's other Robert Langdon novels, The Da-Vinci Code, for example, which most of the world has, then you'll sort of know what to expect with this one.

The thing is they seem to be getting more and more elaborate, and clutching at more and more straws, yet draw a similar conclusion. 

Take Angels and Demons as an example. Mad man steals a lethal vial of anti-matter, which if the church don't pray hard enough and finish conclave, elect their new pope, the said madman, the whole of the Vatican along with the whole Catholic religion, will be destroyed.

The Da-Vinci Code: mad man decides to put an end to the holy grain, (which happens to be a human, not a chalice) by killing all those who might be descended from Christ (this has been going on for centuries apparently), but if Langdon can solve the unsolvable cryptext, which first he has to find, and then elicit the help of a Grail lover, who happens to have loads and loads of cash, all might end well. 

So, Inferno! Inferno is about a mad man, who has untold wealth, (ring any bells yet) who intends to change the world for ever, because he believes that humans will go extinct within the next one hundred years. Good plan, well, forget about the plan for a second, we're in Italy, Florence to be precise, where we get to experience the beauty of that ancient city, as our main character gets repeatedly shot at, escapes, shot at again, bundled on a plane, taken to Turkey, where more mysterious stuff happens, so all can end well, again.

Don't get me wrong, if you like fast paced action, you'll like this book. If you like expertly researched books, which make you feel like you're actually there, then again, you'll like this book. My problem is that all this running around by the same character is getting a bit long in the tooth now. 

So Inferno gets a well-deserved three stars; and I hope, I wish, that Dan Brown moves on from Robert Langdon now, and his next book is just as well researched, just as fast paced, but more believable. 

Inspiration for the day goes to all the men and women who are manning the phones, driving the ambulances and stick or sowing us back together this Christmas. I salute you.