A group of Latin and Ancient History students are misfits in their college and have a very close bond with each other. However, the bond is tested and ultimately broken as they face newcomers, love, hate and death. Henry - completely fascinating, a genius. Bunny - you just love to hate him, loud, obnoxious. Charles and Camilla - twins, a little too close for comfort? Francis - kind of a bit part really, I don’t think he’s essential to the story. Richard Papen - your narrator. It really draws you in to the moment. It feels as though you are taking part in the situations or have become a fly on the wall. It is beautifully constructed, each word necessary to make it a wonderful story.
An eye-catching premise about a psychiatrist who gets increasingly bored with his life and so decides to leave it all up to the hands of Chance. He gets to place the options, the dice get to pick the outcome. Obviously, his world starts to shred and tatter, but not necessarily always in a bad way. The interesting thing about this book is that I can’t relate to any of the characters, I don’t feel any sympathy or empathy or anything remotely connected to them. And I think that’s why I found it a struggle to read. It’s a bizarre mixture of first person, third person, dialogue and just narrative, diary style and letters from ‘fans’ of the dice life. It keeps you interested and the short chapters make you want to keep turning the pages. I thought it was going to be really good but in the end, I was left feeling confused, disappointed and not really any better off. I think the idea is brilliant, but it doesn’t come off well in this way.
Ray is a Professor of law and likes to fly. He goes home to see his dad who is dying but finds him already gone, along with a simple will that omits the boxes containing three million dollars in the cupboard. Where did it come from? What should he do with it? Ray seems normal enough, his brother Forrest is a drug addict. Both are described very well. It’s really interesting to follow how Ray changes when he decides what to do with the money. Cash changes people. This wasn’t as much about law as in a usual Grisham book, and it was a very slow-starting story. Everything gripping seemed to be left until the last minute. I thought the ending was good, that was where everything happened but also there was an unexpected turn of events that genuinely surprised me and I hadn’t guessed would happen. The rest just rolls along, keeping you interested but not giving much away.
Luke is a seven year old boy living deep in the heart of Arkansas, picking the cotton fields over the searingly hot summer. There’s the threat of rain, the family and the newcomers to deal with along with a scarily close at hand killing that Luke is witness to. Luke’s a great little guy but sometimes you tend to forget that he’s only twelve. I kept getting confused because his Pappy is his grandfather and he didn’t really call his dad anything (sir!), just ‘my father’ a lot. It took me ages to realise his name was Jesse! Very slow and methodical, the story is set at it’s own pace and will not be rushed. I think I enjoyed it but then again, maybe I didn’t. It’s hard to tell and if I could make a decision, I couldn’t tell you why. I’m not such a fan of the slow pace of story, but I did like the way it flowed through the summer.
Another adventure starring the marvellous Dirk Pitt and his very best friend Al Giordino. This time they are faced with a mixture of oil tycoons, an engineering genius and ancient Vikings, all joined together in a mysterious plot that could ruin the government and eventually the world. Obviously, we adore Dirk, he’s strong and adventurous and yet the most complete gentleman you could ask for. Almost suspiciously so! I was less averse to the details instilled in this book but I found some of the descriptions quite obvious.
I thought it was going to be great, it starts off well and Marc writes in first person, letting you right into the depths of what he’s going through. But, then it switches from first person to third person and that completely threw me off. I think it’s supposed to add to the suspense but I found it very distracting. The story was interesting and readable but the constant switching takes away from the good points.
I forgot to write about DVD Day #2, which included Spiderman 2 (not as good as the first) and Garfield (not as good as the trailer), so it wasn’t really worth talking about.
Today, whilst partaking in popcorn, Pringles and dips, we’ve seen I, Robot and King Arthur. I, Robot was brilliant, funny and unusual, and I didn’t find myself picking many holes in it at all. Plus, Will Smith is pretty much always a guaranteed success. King Arthur could have been a little too predictable, but was forgiven because of Ioan and Keira.
The book is really, really, formatted. There’s a book a month and then each month is split into headings of the different peoples names, whoever that particular section is about. I like the style of writing and the story comes across really well, it was just a little bit too ‘young family’ orientated for me.
In accordance with some websites that I have been perusing recently, it appears to be important where you fare on a search in Gooooooogle.
Woke Up This Morning is way too far down the list to make it worth my while searching, but “101 Words” (without the quotation marks) is around about 63. Check it out for yourself - how cool am I?
Of course, if you search for “101 Words No More No Less Every Day” (including quotation marks), as many a person is sure to do, I’m number one!
It’s set an age ago, when tribes killed each other and sacrificed to the gods to keep famine from striking them each winter and to bring them strong and healthy sons each summer. It’s a story of three sons who battle it out to rule the tribe, to appease the gods and to bring a temple across from another land. A temple of stone. Lengar, the evil brother, you really hate him and he gets what he deserves. His name is the only one on the back cover but bizarrely his brother Saban is the book’s main focus. He’s the good guy and your genuine pre-history hero. Also, Camaban, the other brother, a little eccentric, you might say.
Starbuck is an interesting character, particularly headstrong although he values his morals and his friendships. Washington is really nice to Nate at the beginning of the book but when he turns against him, you just love to hate him. Bernard Cornwell writes well but I got a little bored of the detailed battle scenes. I do like the conversations and the relationships between the historical people. It was good but I much prefer the Sharpe books. Apparently Bernard had to choose between extending this series and the Sharpe series and I think he chose the right one.
I was going to sit down and think of something intelligent to write, but when I arrived home after a stressful day, Mr C had purchased me the new Zoo Tycoon 2. That’s distracted me for the next century!
Lincoln is a cantankerous old fellow, bless him, you really feel for him and get inside his head though. Amelia Sachs bugs me a little bit because it’s so obvious that her and Rhyme should be together - he’s never going to make the first move, so it’s up to her. Would they just get on with it? I love these books because there’s always a good structure and the plot doesn’t falter at all. My dad said this one was better than the Bone Collector, but I’m not really sure I prefer it. They’re just as good as each other, and both brilliant.
Sam is really great, the kind of person I would like to talk to. Unfortunately, I don’t have fantastic amounts of sympathy for Lucy. She doesn’t seem to care much about Sam, with their childlessness engulfing their entire relationship. There’s only so many times I can read the word WHY before I lose patience. This probably says more about me than it does about the book though. I like the way it flicks between the two perspectives, although as I wasn’t particularly fond of Lucy, I very much preferred whenever Sam got to tell the story. It was good, but a little drawn out. A nice story with a happy(ish) ending.
Lots of people feature in this book: Dave Gorman, obviously, a lot of googlewhacks who really are too plentiful to count, plus the David Gorman who made the bet, his agent Rob and his book publisher Jake. I did miss Danny Wallace a little bit, but I bet DG is fed up of the association there. It was very funny, insightful and very literal about everything. Whipped along at a great pace and very honest about every step of the way. Must admit that about 70% of the way through, I was sure that if I ever heard the word googlewhack again, I’d run away screaming. But it’s worth it.
You feel a great deal of sympathy for Dominick, although he does get a little angry at times, you can’t blame him. And his brother Thomas, although scary, still pulls at your heartstrings. All the other people come and go, but all leave an impression on Dominick and on you. I found this just impossible to put down, one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. If you have the opportunity to read it, don’t turn it down.
I’m not watching X Factor anymore, due to its descent from a decent talent contest into what is essentially a forum for Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell to bicker with each other. Not good television. And Kate Thornton is just too strict, making sure everyone is in their place - sometimes with live TV, you just have to just go with the flow - take a leaf out of Davina’s book, okay?
Set in Rome AD 70. Marcus Didius Falco bumps into a beautiful young girl and the next thing he knows, she has been murdered. Being of the private investigative sort, he begins to unravel a huge plot that leads him through Rome, to Britain and back, to a meeting with his high and mighty himself, the emperor. Marcus is a nice little character, he lives on his own and is fond of women but takes care of his mother and his family as well. He spends three months as a slave in the mines, just to gain some new information - a brave man!
With a struggling family to feed, Griet is forced to work as a servant in the house of an artist and his family. She gets closer and closer to the man of the house, whilst becoming less and less popular with the family. Eventually, he asks her to pose for him and you just know it’s going to cause trouble.
Fen is very interesting, her obsessive looking at each of her hands in turn, looking for an answer is something I can relate to, although I don’t actually do that. I may start though! Matt and James are both really sweet and you feel bad for them when she’s not being nice. It’s a bit weird when the book starts to talk to the characters, so I wasn’t sure but overall I liked it.
It took me three months to read this book, it is so descriptive with a lot of big sentences that I had to read several times to get them to make any sense. And it’s a really hard book to get into, it’s like reading the story on the surface but not really connecting with the book at all. By the end, I was sick of it.
Christopher Boone is the narrator of the story and he’s a fifteen year old boy with autism. It’s a simple, interesting little story that gives you a completely amazing insight into the mind of an autistic person. I was very impressed. Christopher is so smart, it’s actually quite humbling. Obviously, his downfall is dealing with people - he can’t bear to be touched and often tries to shut the world out. He’s a fantastic character, noticing everything around him, so the book is very detailed. I like that the chapters are numbered by prime number order.
Clay is an interesting character because in his desperation to get somewhere in life, he’s willing to sacrifice his principles and lower his standards. Once he has money, he begins to change and it’s interesting to see whether he can hold on to any of his opinions from before. It’s an interesting insight into what could be a stereotypical view of how money affects you. You know from the start that he’s going to be knocked down a peg or two but it manages to keep interest all the way. Up to the usual Grisham standard.
The basic premise is a plane crash and a group of boys of varying ages stranded on a deserted island. They start off well, organising themselves into groups, making sure they can survive. They sort out hunters and people to keep the fire going, they participate in regular meetings, but as time goes on and minds start bending, the group begin to disintegrate. Ralph and Jack are the main two, starting as irritants to each other and ending up as leaders of rival groups and mortal enemies. All the boys are portrayed well and it’s interesting to see how they react without the presence of adults. The very start of the book was a little confusing for me, and setting up the storyline took a moment to get used to. Overall, it was good, although I’m not sure I would give it rave reviews.
I’d just like to say that although I appreciate the sentiment of the Girls Aloud Children In Need single “I’ll Stand By You”, they just shouldn’t do it. They’re too happy about it, they don’t have the emotion in their voices and they don’t appear to understand what they’re saying - they may as well be singing about candyfloss. As I have been saying all weekend - It’s just wrong.
I really liked it, there was a lot of dialogue and it kept things running smoothly. It could have been very confusing with all the body travelling going on, but it all flowed nicely until the conclusion. Really good, a little gory but apparently the least gory of Laymon’s writings, so eeshk!
Lincoln is described really well, you get right inside his head and can practically feel how frustrated he is. Amelia is a little distant, not really revealing much until right near the end, but she makes a good heroine, and crucially, they make a good team. I couldn’t put it down, the plot moved along really swiftly but made sure everything was understood. Deaver wasn’t afraid to portray how disturbed the kidnapper was, and although a surprise as to who it was, it all made sense in the end.
Harriet is just an amazing little character, you get to see right inside her and she’s described so well, that you almost feel like you’re twelve again. Sadly, the structure of the rest of the family confused me a little. It’s very descriptive but not overly so and no words out of place. I liked it, but I found it a little - well, I got to the end and I couldn’t really believe that was the end, I felt like it could have gone on for a long time more, but not because it was exceptionally good, just because the ending felt a little, weak.
This Boycotting Christmas thing is much harder than you’d think. It started with me just saying I wouldn’t go to the Christmas Meal. Then a colleague said that if I didn’t go, he wouldn’t go and then he’d have a miserable Christmas and it would be all my fault. Well, I have principles, but they don’t stand up to that kind of pressure, so I agreed to go.
But now, there’s a Christmas Outing and a Secret Santa all about to be organised and everyone else will be enjoying it and will expect me to take part. I don’t want to take part in these Christmas activities, I’m supposed to be boycotting the whole caboodle! But, of course, if I go to the Meal, then I’ve got no excuse not to join in with the other fun festivities, so I decide not to go to the meal but then I’m back at square one all over again! Help me!
I can really relate to Luthor because I loathe Christmas but even though his plans were thwarted, I still thought it was a fun read. His wife seemed far too preoccupied with other people’s opinion. I thought it was great, heart-warming at the end, if a little too Scrooge-some in the middle. It’s a nice, short read you can get through in a day.
The book switches between the actual story of what happened to her, to memories of her earlier childhood and then a brief synopsis of what she did with the rest of her life. It was good, difficult to read - very gruesome but with a great sense of achievement as she starts to move on.
Edgar starts out as a timid piano tuner who has a small existence in London, but by the end of the novel he is passionate about things and has wild emotions and dreams he never knew existed. It’s beautiful and descriptive, sucking you into the experiences of Burma with a passionate love of the place. I really only picked this up for the piano in the title but I ended up really enjoying this book.
This was the third of the three book omnibus by Howatch. The three books do make a series together but are easily read apart as well. I did like the way it kept switching between Carta’s POV and Gavin’s as that managed to keep the story interesting. Despite my complaints, I really did like this book, it was just a little pretentious, concentrating too much on trying to be modern, maybe? I don’t know. I’m undecided whether to read the others in the series, but I did buy other books of hers to read.
Tom Jericho is a brilliant cryptologist, successful in cracking the German’s hardest code Shark. He’s suffering from nervous exhaustion and recuperating in the country but when the code is changed and his girlfriend disappears, he must return to Hut 8 to continue his work, re-crack the code and discover the mystery that surrounds Claire. He was an interesting character, but the 1940s is not a period I know very much about, and it’s hard to know what the people were or should have been like then. The descriptions weren’t that fulfilling but there were a lot of different characters involved. It’s really a bonus that there were so many without managing to be confusing.
Lorraine Connor, Rainie, has a deeply troubled history and she takes the reigns of the terror embarked on the town well, although starts to lose the plot a little herself. The object of her affection, Quincy, just seems like a really nice guy. The writing is very open and clear and sympathetic to what is a very hard and appalling subject to write about. I think it lacks the big thrills that it tries to pursue but manages to be about the town dealing with the horror instead. Read this if you want to see no matter how awful the world can be, people can survive it, if they stick together.
Decima is a little paranoid, but ultimately seems like a good person. Charles seems to be quite distant and lofty above the others. Rachel seems a little bit uptight but then falls in love far too easily. You’re wary of Daniel right from the start. Rohan is the normal girl’s best friend. I like Howatch’s writing, as mentioned previously she’s got a nice modern style that is easy and compelling. Overall, it was very good, but as I read it immediately after a previous Howatch book, I probably didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have.
We so should have called our film festival DVD Day. Anyway, we watched The Day After Tomorrow and Troy.
During the week, Mr C purchased Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack Adventure and Live Aid 4 Disc Special Edition. He’d previously seen Dave Gorman live on stage, and laughed so much that DG actually stopped and looked at him, so my expectations were pretty high. I only managed to watch half of it in one go, but it was funny. I remembered parts of it from the book, which helped, as he talks really fast. It was good though, I’m going to watch the second half soon.
Elizabeth is actually quite a complex character. I found the romance aspect of her life refreshing, as she didn’t just fall into the arms of the sheriff, even though it seems obvious that they will end up together. The book has a lot of Americanisms in it, which is fine but takes a little getting used to. Sometimes I found myself looking up a word or two just to make sure I was on the right track. The storyline’s a little obvious and the writing takes some getting used to but it is very readable and keeps the interest up.
Unusually written in first person, present tense but once you get used to the style it flows very well. Overall, I loved it, I thought that the way the sections were headed up by the book was great and the way she transformed and learned things about herself, I took the book really to heart and read it in two days.
I like Howatch’s writing, it feels modern and easy and compelling, but I read this book in an omnibus of three. I read two at once, with the outcome that I felt they were too similar. They’re separate books, and yet they felt almost the same. However, this one was excellent and kept me guessing right to the last.
I think the book is more about Martha than Eliza, and it’s lovely to see her blossom from a quiet little mouse into a kick-ass single mother. Eliza, you feel, just needs to be taught a lesson. And I don’t know if it’s just me who feels that Jack really is just too good to be true. It was easy to read, quite open and gets across emotions very well. I liked it, but I found it a little bit unbelievable. A great fairy-story though.
Of course Harry is as confused and wandering as ever, and he gets on my nerves a bit but just occasionally, I can see where he’s coming. I get him far more in this one than I did the first. His wife continues to come across as uncaring. The style of writing is good, open and occasionally funny. I couldn’t remember the first book to start with but it brings you right back into the swing of things and it’s like you never left. A good story with twists and turns but a conclusive ending. Recommended if you want to see how to get over and on with divorce and marriage.
When I was younger I used to do 24 Hour Famines for World Vision, and it used to be really difficult. These days, I don’t blink if I forget to eat all day and when I do eat, I don’t really appreciate what I’m taking in.
I was never very good at the sponsorship side of the fund-raising, I detest asking people for money, especially the people who would put their names down and then be very evasive about coughing up the dough. I would often top up the money with my own, just to avoid having that confrontation.
I so desperately wanted to call it “Film Fest Friday” for alliteration and general coolness reasons, but unfortunately it takes place on a Sunday.
Following a complaint from me about the amount of Quality Time we were spending together, Mr C made a special effort and we are now taking part in our second Film Fest Sunday. This involves me renting us two films, us digesting the first along with a bucketful of popcorn, then walking and discussing what we have just seen before watching the second film. And at some point dinner can take place, depending on how much popcorn we have stuffed.
The thing is that it’s told from Harry’s point of view, which is fair enough, only he’s a man, who cheated and ends up looking after a child. I’m a girl, I haven’t cheated, and I don’t have a child. So I found it hard to relate to him. But he’s a genuine character with a lot of love going for him. A nice story, well told, a little too manly for me, but I read it and will read the sequel and others by him. Recommended if you want to see parenthood from the other side.
Tony makes a bet that he can play and beat the whole National football team of Moldova at tennis. He goes to Moldova and finds it a lot harder than he first thought it would be, and he wasn’t exactly expecting an easy ride! He’s spurred on by the thought that losing the bet means naked singing.
We had an email at work today, with an Excel spreadsheet attachment, inviting us to select our Christmas Meal Menu. I have a slight problem with this, as I am not participating in Christmas this year.
Call me a Scrooge, a Bah Humbug, a grumpy old woman, all you like, but I have legitimate reasons and they are five-fold.
Christmas is first and foremost a Christian festival. I am not religious in the slightest, despite my name actually meaning follower of Christ (thanks mum and dad). The lovely red and white bubbly personality known to us as Santa Claus was actually fictionalised by Coca Cola. Saint Nick existed and although they didn’t create the character, the soft drink makers did paint him in their own brand colours and made him accessible to children. Christmas is too commercialised and companies are always looking for a way to make an easy buck at Christmas. I don’t believe in giving presents for presents sake. If something is highly desired and sought after and another soul has the kindness to take the time to think of you and purchase something that you really want, then fair enough. But to trail the shops looking for that gift for the person who has everything, when you know you’ll end up buying socks or candles which will just end up in the bin - pointless. I’d rather save my money until a time when I could bestow a gift that actually means something to me and to the receiver. And don’t get me started on the Buzz Lightyear madness… The amount of cards, envelopes, wrapping paper and boxes that are used to give said presents is ridiculous. How many trees could have been saved if people didn’t bother? Individuals, companies, retail outlets, supermarket chains and many others all begin preparations for Christmas in the midst of September. I consider this to be a waste of three glorious months. What happened to Autumn? To Halloween? To Fireworks night? Christmas shouldn’t be mentioned until December and in my house, won’t be mentioned at all.
Julie’s good, Mike’s too good to be true and Richard’s a regular psycho. They’re good characters but exactly as you would expect them to be, no surprises. It bugs me how simple the writing is. Sparks would rather tell you exactly how Julie is feeling about a situation instead of maybe writing about what is happening and letting you feel what she’s feeling instead.
