I know, I've been a bit slack lately with reviews! Sorry!
So here are some of the books I've read in the last couple of months.
A
few customers came in looking for this or recommending it, so I felt I really
should give it a go.
Well,
I have to say, I was quite disappointed really, and I think it’s my own fault. I
expected a dystopian style novel, only for it to be a coming-of-age-in-time-of-disaster
type of novel instead. Very Judy Blume-ish.
In
that vain, it did a great job, though the main character seemed a lot older
than her 11 years of age, to me anyway.
I
thought the author portrayed the way humans are likely to cope with a situation
like this very well, though a little exaggerated. I don’t really think there
would be such a divide between the 2 ways of life i.e. living with a 24 hour clock
or with the sunset/sunrises, or I have more faith in human nature than her!
However,
as I said, it did what it said on the packet and in a successful way.
Another
book to recommend to the teenage girls today who are loving their dystopian/coming-of-age
novels
Shades of Grey By Jasper Fforde
Jasper
Fforde has an odd mind, that’s what I kept thinking all the way through this
book!
To
invent a world where our class/position in life is determined by the colours we
see, is an odd concept to come up with but because of the incredible detail he
went into with this world, it works!
There were many little things in the book
that made me laugh, and even more that made me yell out ‘What!!’ much to my hubby’s
annoyance!
The
storyline itself is fairly dull, but it’s the world the characters inhabit that
makes this book so much fun to read.
If
you enjoy a little bit of silly with your books every now and then, this is
definitely worth a read.
Shatter Me By Tahereh Mafi
I
had this book on my shelf for quite a while before I read it. I bought it because
I thought the blurb made the book sound interesting.
I
wasn’t disappointed. From the start, I adored the way the author wrote, the way
she portrayed this girl and her broken mind, how she’d coped being locked away from
any human contact for nearly a year. As the book went on with the main character having more and more
contact with the outside world, she slowly got better and better at coping with
reality and the many people she came in contact with. She was strong and fought
back when she had to so she could survive.
I
also loved that the author didn’t forget what the girl went through, that
the fears never truly left her.
I
can’t wait to pick up the next book in the series.
If
you love dystopian teen fiction, this is a series for you.
The Things We Never Said By Susan Elliot Wright
*SPOILERS*
I
was sent this book by the publishers as a possible book club book.
It
arrived and I was very excited-my first reading copy! It had a lovely cover and
I thought the blurb about a past and present life intertwining sounded very
intriguing.
So
I sat down with this book with a great deal of anticipation. I read this book
very quickly as I wanted to know why Maggie was in the psychiatric ward and how
it related to Jonathon. However, I have to say, whilst I thought the story was
good, I felt a little flat after reading it. I’m not sure if it’s because
Maggie and Jonathon needed more depth or the story did. I also got a little
annoyed at the fact that if Jonathan’s wife couldn’t handle the obvious stress
he was under, how was she going to cope with a baby?
Also
Maggie seemed to be doing a great job of raising her twins, then later in the
book, she says that she was a terrible mother but that just didn’t come across
to me at all.
So
whilst it’s a book that I would recommend as a light read, I wasn’t entirely
convinced my bookclub group would like it.
The Casual Vacancy By J K Rowling
Of
course I heard about this book before it was even released, we all did. I just
did not seem to be able to get around to reading it until now. No particular
reason, I knew it would be in a completely different vain to Harry Potter of
course, so it wasn’t that, I think I just didn’t have time to fit in such a
large book amongst my already huge reading list!
Once
it was released, the vast majority of readers of this book seemed to fall into
2 categories, those that loved it and those that hated it. I did wonder if that’s
because most of them really did expect a Harry Potter style of writing and were
just disappointed but I couldn’t comment until I read it.
Well,
I have read it now and I loved it! The descriptive style of writing that she
developed through Harry Potter is very evident is this book and sometimes to it’s
detriment but aside from that, it is a wonderfully written piece of literature
that shows an honest and comical take on a small English town. Being English myself
and having grown up in a small town, I felt she did a brilliant job of
capturing the attitudes of the men and women who live there (myself included, though I’m
not saying what traits of mine those were!) as well as the attitude to council
estates and the populace who abide in them.
I
adored all the characters and couldn’t put the book down until I knew what
would happen to them all. I laughed out loud on many a train ride, much to the disapproval
of fellow train passengers and also cried like a baby a couple of times, though
luckily not in public!
I
felt Rowling must surely be a fan of Roddy Doyle as I did feel the style of
writing in some places was very similar to his.
I
would recommend this book to anyone who loves Roddy Doyle, A.M. Holmes even
Michael Chabon.
My Life as a Traitor By Zarah Ghahramani
This is a beautifully written memoir full of fascinating facts about the history of Persia, quotes from many wonderful Persian poets and fables tied in with the brutal honesty of Zarah’s experience in prison.
What made the book for me was Zarah’s account of how she emotionally coped with the torture, how she quite easily backed down and was happy to give them whatever they wanted, which know we would all do in the same situation, just to make it all stop.
She thought she was weak but in reality, I felt she was incredibly strong for not just lying down and giving up.
I finished this book with a realisation, which I must admit I’d never thought about before, of how lucky I was to be born where I was.
How lucky to have been able to wear pink shoes or say what I think or wear what I like without worrying about retribution.