The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

I flew through this is 3 evenings as this Booker winner is more of a novella. The writer build anticipation brilliantly, and I ended up reading the ending at 4 in the morning when I couldn't sleep and decided I couldn't wait till the next night! I really enjoyed 95% of the book but the ending left me a little disappointed. However, on reflection it was unexpected and that has got to be good - as to realistic? I look forward to discussing this with my customers. The first one of Barnes' novels that I have read and I will be reading more.

*******************************************

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

I really enjoyed "Norwegian Wood" and have always meant to read another Muakami novel so was glad when the Soul Stop Cafe (see Cafe Book Group tab) picked this as their January read. We all agreed that it was just a really good story as the description is wonderful and the characters incredibly interesting. However you could also choose to put much more consideration into what is actually being meant by some of the dream sequences and what the different characters represent. I think everyone at the group had enjoyed the book which is quite unusual but there was still much to discuss including the Oedipus complex, the links to the writing of Kafka and the man who could talk to cats!

******************************************

Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas

I read this just before Christmas and it was the perfect book to relax with at the end of a busy day when your mind is buzzing. When clearing her mother's house Mair discovers a beautiful shawl that belonged to her Grandmother who was a Welsh Missionary and travelled to India in the 1940's. Mair decides to trace her footsteps and so we get the two stories of Mair and her Nerys, her Grandmother, running in parallel. The descriptions of the places and people really transport you there and the mix of characters in both the past and present day are very appealing. I always enjoy Rosie Thomas's attention to detail and this book is no exception. Plus there's a bit of romance!

************************************

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jenifer Egan

This won the Pulitzer prize this year. It is a clever, witty, wise novel. It's about a group of people who were in a punk band in the seventies. The novel introduces the people in separate chapters at different times in their lives and as a reader you gradually put the pieces together. Wildly different characters - each very real and compelling in their own way. I was charmed and impressed by the chapter that consists of slideware created by the daughter of one of the characters. I really want to read more of Jennifer Egan's books.

******************************

The Affair by Lee Child

Regular visitors to the shop will know I am a big Lee Child fan though I am still in shock at the idea of Tom Cruise playing Reacher in the first movie of the books to be made. I really like Tom Cruise but he is NOT Jack Reacher. 

Child goes back to when Reacher was still in the army and we travel with him during what turns out to be jack's last case before he left the army. For me it was a classic Reacher novel - more like the early ones than the last 2. Less violence, more suspense, good twists and turns in the plot. 

If you haven't read Lee Child and you like an action packed novel with a lovable hero then give him a go. As they say, men want to be Reacher and women want to be with him!

**************************************

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

Those of us who work in the shop all enjoyed "Middlesex" (a Pulitzer winner). I also enjoyed the Marriage Plot but one of the main characters is a manic depressive and inevitably reading about his depressive and manic periods is a little depressing itself, albeit very interesting to understand what goes on in the mind of someone who has this debilitating condition.

I really like Eugenides' use of language and description  Middlesex was hard act to follow and this book is completely different. I did feel it stretched me mentally in trying to understand some of the issues the students on campus discussed, the love triangle was unusual in that I had no idea how it would actually turn out and neither did I know how I wanted it to turn out. A good literary read.

**************************************

Before I go to Sleep by S J Watson

A woman wakes up in a room she doesn't recognise with a man she doesn't know and then looks in the mirror to discover she is 20 years older than she thinks she is. What an amazing start to this thriller. One of the best books I have read this year.

***************************************

Books by Mary Stewart

I decided to re-read a few Mary Stewart books. Mary is 95 and has published about 20 books. I read a few in my teens and then carried on reading them in my 20s and 30s as new titles came out. She was known as the maestro of mystery and romance. As some of the books are written in the 1960's the terminology and the position on women in society can be a little bit old fashioned but the gripping, well thought plots, the wonderful description and the characterisation more that compensate. Having just visited Scotland I re-read "Stormy Petrel" (Set of the coast of Mull) and "Wildfire at Midnight" (Set in Skye). I also re-read "The Ivy Tree" which I have read at least 6 times and is my favourite. I think I get something new from it every time.

***************************

Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton

This mystery novel is unlike any I have read. A fire takes place at a school and a Mother and daughter get caught up in the blaze. The cause of the fire is then gradually revealed through overhead conversations inside and outside the hospital. I don't want to give too much away but the story is told is a compelling style and in the end is both a crime novel and a love story. I found it addictive.

***********************************

Vespasian, Tribune of Rome by Robert Fabbri

Regular readers of this page will know I love a good Roman setting and Simon's Scarrow's books are some of my favourites. Scarrow's books feature Vespasian so I was interested to see a book by a different author about his early life. I wasn't disappointed, intrigue, politics, romance and plenty of Roman name dropping. Thoroughly good Roman romp, I can't wait for the second one.

******************************************

Alison's teen read summer fest

I've read 4 really good teen books over the past 6 weeks. All had a similar survival theme which I always enjoy as I love how creative and resourceful people can be in a crisis. I would recommend Pod and the Zombie books to 14+ teenagers and A Small Free Kiss to 11+.

POD by Stephen Wallenfels is a gripping read. Imagine waking and discovering the Earth covered by black PODs that send bolts of lightening into anyone who ventures outdoors. Life as we know it changes overnight and people are trapped wherever they were when the aliens (if that's what they are!) arrive.

The Enemy and The Dead by Charlie Higson are teen zombie books - zombie's are "in" at the moment what with Brad Pitt being over here making a film of World War Z and Darren Shan's new series being zombie based.

Charlie Higson's world has everyone over the age of 14 getting a disease with zombie like symptoms. Puss, boils and a need to eat other humans. Children have to abandon their homes and survive together in groups and fight off the diseased adults. The setting is London and his descriptions of the kids navigating the streets as they try to find safety were excellent. The desperation the kids experience really comes across and as Charlie has no compunction regarding killing off main characters no-one is safe!

A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard

Skip lives on the streets and befriends Billy an older homeless man. War strikes and suddenly everyone is living on the streets. The two of them become a family as they are joined by Max, Tia and the baby. Where should they go, how will they endure. A book of relationships, war, love and survival.

***************************************

The Dubious Salvation of Jack V by Jacques Strauss (H/B £12.99)

An interesting novel about the main character, Jack, growing up in South Africa. Jack is the son of an Afrikaans Father and English Mother and much is made of the different ways of life of those two sorts of families, Jack having a mixed upbringing which is neither one nor the other. He is also the middle brother between two sisters and not close to either ends up becomes friends with the house maid Susie. All is well until Susie's son comes to stay.......and a chain of events is triggered with disasterous consequences.

I liked Jack's narrative, it really made me laugh out loud in places. The description of South African life was also very interesting - I had no idea there were so many differences between the Afrikaans and the South African English ways of life. It did remind me how obsessed with ones own life one is at 11 and how much over thinking goes on. An enjoyable read.

****************************************

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell

I've always enjoyed Maggie O'Farrell's writing and this Costa winner was no exception. Fresh out of university in the 1950's and in disgrace Lexie meets Innes, a magazine editor, debonair, educated and good looking and takes off for London where they get together. In the present Ted and Elina are coping with a new baby and the dramtic change to their lifestyle and relationship. The two stories are quite compelling and you will find yourself looking for the links. Both Dilys and I felt it reminded us of the writing of Patrick Gayle who we also love.

---------------------------------------------

Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson

I really enjoyed about 90% of this book. The book is set in the 1950's and 60's and Grace is a severely disabled child who is put into care at the age of 11. We get to understand what is going on in Grace's mind. As she can only occasionally manage two words at a time those in Grace's presence have no knowledge of her intelligence and at times treat her abominably. It is only those scenes that were very upsetting and make up the 10% of the book I did not enjoy. And that of course, is more my problem than the books problem. I think Emma Henderson has written a clever, fascinating, romantic story of love, friendship and family that needed to be told.

---------------------------------------------

Trespass by Rose Tremain

I had really enjoyed "The Road Home" by Rose Tremain so picked up her new paperback with fairly high expectations. I was not disappointed. Her characters are so well described I could have picked them out of a crowd. The novel is mainly set in France and gives an interesting view of how the locals view the English who decide to retire there. The novel is all about relationships, an elderly French brother and sister where the relationship could not be described as healthy, an English landscape gardner and her lover who have settled in France and are seemingly very content, and also the uncomfortable tension when her brother comes to stay.

There is a sense of tension building throughout the novel which comes to a head about three quarters of the way through. The description in the novel, as in all of Tremain's works, is exquisite and I felt very satisfied with the conclusion of the story.

******************************

The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman

My cousin lent me this book and I was hooked from about page 20. When the women in the Sparrow family reach the age of thirteen they develop a special ability. We join the book on Stella's thirteenth birthday and follow her journey as she develops and uses her ability while also understanding the journeys her  Mother and Grandmother took as their lives were impacted by their own ability.

It is the first Alice Hoffman I have read and it was with great excitement that I looked inside the cover and so about twenty other titles.

Bring them on!

**************************

When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman

I was sent a proof of this book which comes out in March. Headline is confident it will be their next big title and I think they could be right. It is about the relationship between a brother and sister in a quirky family. It has laugh out loud moments and moments when a box of tissues is required. It has echoes of other book, a nativity scene to challenge that of A Prayer for Owen Meany and the kind of eccentric friends that I have encountered in Anne Tylers work, but at the same time it is very original and incredibly enjoyable. To top it all the first third of the book is set locally. Highly recommended.

*******************

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

I received a proof of this ...it's not published till June 2011. What a great teenage read. Perfect for fans of the Knife of Never Letting Go it follows Saba as she tries to rescue her twin who has been stolen by mysterious black robed riders. Fiesty Saba vows to rescue her brother if it is the last thing she does .......much conspires to thwart her but never seems to defeat her. A resourceful and appealing character, I was gripped by her from start to finish.

*****************************

Twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

This was the perfect read in the run up to Christmas. Light, good characters, lots of food descriptions and a fairly predictable but fun plot. I then read one of Trisha's earlier books and was disappointed to discover such similar characters that I had to double check I hadn't picked up the wrong book. Don't get me wrong it was still a fun read but it was my mistake to read two of her books in a row. If you fancy a light frothy read though (very like Katie Fforde) she definitely fits the bill.

*********************************

Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy

I hadn't read a Maeve Binchy novel in a long time and I am very glad I picked this one up (it's her new release). It's a bit like being hugged by a favourite Irish Aunt. Lots of characters but they are gradually introduced until you feel you know them all personally. Cousin Emily visits one family from America and gradually gets them to open out to each other and becomes the lynch pin of the neighbourhood. Everyone's lifes become intertwined when baby Frankie arrives and they all take turns to "mind" her. The novel managed to surprise me in a couple of places and I was sorry to see it finish.

******************************************

Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick

This book won the Samuel Johnson prize for non fiction this year and is about the lives of 6 people in North Korea. What a fascinating read. I realised how little I knew about North Korea and found the information compulsive, fascinating , touching and disturbing at the same time. I had no idea of the contrast between North and South Korea and just how extreme the poverty is in North Korea. The 6 people featured are all from very different backgrounds and so it is fascinating to see the same country from the different points of view, but who all gradually come to the same conclusion.

***************************************************

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

I haven't written anything for a while as this book has taken me a while to read. I am a John Irving fan but I have resisted this book for many years as I found the whole concept of Owen accidentally killing his best freind's Mother just too horrific to contemplate. Also Owen has a very unusual voice and it is represented in Capital Letters in the book. This has also put me off in the past. One of my regular customers, Jeff, told me that this is his favourite John Irving so I had to give it another go.

It took me a good hundred pages to get into it but then I really enjoyed it. I got used to interpreting Owen's voice with the Upper Case and the matter of the killing of his friend's matter was dealt with so well, I could feel the pain of both boys. There were moments of laugh out loud brilliance in this book. The nativity play comes to mind...........almost Tom Sharpe farcical in places. I enjoyed John Irvings usual style of writing, the repitition for dramatic effect, the jumping in time and the feeling of anticipation as we wait to find out how Owen's dream will come true. I cried......alot...at the end.

******************************

S is for Silence and T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton

I started reading this series of books in the 1980's and there is a new one every year as Sue works through the alphabet. It's been 8 years since I picked one up and I've just read 2 in quick succession as I had forgotten how much I like Kinsey Millhone, the PI who is the crime solver in this series. The books are very American in their language and formulaic in the way they re-introduce you to Kinsey and her life but the mystery element in each one is always suitable unique and usually very intriguing. I especially liked T is for Trespass and the issue of identify fraud was described very well and is very topical. What I like best is that Kinsey is an old friend now and I enjoy the reminder every time of her taste in men, her eating and exercise habits and her relationship with her landlord. A comforting, but enjoyable read.

*******************************

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

If you are a sci-fi/fantasy fan who loves a hero with some super powers, a suitably evil villianous race and a good chase you will love this novel.

The concept is brilliant, nine aliens are hiding on Earth from the Mogadorians who have all but obliterated their race, The Loriens. The aliens are protected by a charm which involved them having a number each and which means they have to be killed in order. The first three have been tracked down and killed and the book is about "John Smith", Number Four and his guardian, Henri. The Loriens develop legacies, basically super powers as teenagers, and boy do they need them to fight the Mogadorians. The book follows John and Henri as they take on new identities and yet another move trying to fit into normal life but knowing the Mogadorians will be putting all their efforts into hunting down John. There is a film planned next year and I can't wait!

*********************************