The Book Whisperer

jottings, musings and recommendations of an incurable bookaholic

I’m back from NYC! December 21, 2009

Filed under: Alyson Noel,Cassandra Clare,Connie Willis,Gail Carriger,Joe Hill,Maggie Stiefvater,Paranormal,SciFi / Fantasy,The Victorians,Young Adult — The Book Whisperer @ 3:53 pm

I’m back in good ole Blighty, armed with brand spanking new  books (bliss!) and although I had the greatest time, it’s good to be home.

As I am a good law-abiding citizen I didn’t want to be arrested for committing the crime of not obeying the law of “YOU MUST BUY BOOKS - AND PLENTY OF THEM – ON HOLIDAY!”, and dutifully managed to pick up plenty of lovely new shiny things. I spent lots of time in Borders (I had to pay hommage now that my beloved Borders is closing in the UK – waaaaahhhhh!) and also Barnes and Noble ‘cos we don’t get that over here so it’s like being let loose in a new playground. I love looking at books in the States as they have different covers to us in the UK so it’s like there’s a million new books that I have never seen before to make me run wild like a kid in a sweet shop.

As well as shop for books we walked in Central Park (love that place) and walked over Brooklyn Bridge for some amazing view of Manhattan. We also did the Christmas markets Bryant Park which had some gorgeous things. Our hotel was a suite in the Doubletree Hotel right in the middle of Times Square so we had the absolute best view!

I also met up with Lori, my lovely friend from Goodreads (who runs the TNBBC group and also has her own blog on www.thenextbestbookblog.blogsptot.com). Lori lives a couple of hours from NYC and came over with her family and we met at the Rockerfeller Centre christmas tree. We went ice-skating which was such good fun and Lori gave me a pressie of Joe Hill’s new book Horns that is due out in March 2010 (thank you Lori!). It was so cool to meet up after we have been chatting on GR for the last few years.

Anyway, so this is what I got in NYC:

 

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

 

 

 

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

 

 

 

Soulless by Gail Carriger

 

 

 

 

Lone Wolf by Kathryn Lasky

 

 

 

 

Blue Moon by Alyson Noel

 

 

 

Ballad by Maggie Steifvater

 

 

 

 

The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain

 

 

 

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

 

 

 

Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeta Naslund

 

 

 

 

The Animal Dialogues by Craig Childs

 

 

 

The Ghost Huntress by Marley Gibson

 

 

 

Secret Lives (Darke Academy #1) by Gabriella Poole

 

 

 

 

Horns by Joe Hill (my gift from Lori)

 

 

 

So, a pretty successful trip there I think. I keep looking at my new toys and admiring them. I can’t wait to dive in and get started on them. I think I will be buried in books over the Christmas holidays!

 

Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins December 21, 2009

Filed under: Dystopia,Suzanne Collins,Young Adult — The Book Whisperer @ 12:30 pm

This book is amazing! It was so difficult to put it down that I cursed every time I had to. Such a brilliant idea for a plot and coupled with being so well executed has made it one of my favourite books, possibly of all time.

The book is set in Panem (formerly the USA) where there are districts known as the Capitol (who rule everything else) and Districts 1-12. Seventy-five years ago, the people of the Districts (who are fenced in and not allowed to communicate with other districts) staged a rebellion so in order to make sure that it never happens again, the Capitol invented THE HUNGER GAMES. Every year, two children (one girl and one boy, aged 12-18) are picked randomly from each district and are put into an arena which can be anything from swamps to lakes or forrests or deserts and the victor is the last one standing once all the others are dead. The Hunger Games are mandatory TV viewing for all Districts who have to watch their loved ones be killed on live TV. The only ones who relish this are the people of the Capitol where the cheer their favourite tributes on and place bets about who will survive and who will die.

Katniss Everdeen is sixteen years old and when her 12 year old sister’s name is read out at the reaping (the televised event where the names are called) she steps up and volunteers to go in her place. Katniss’s district partner is Peeta, a boy from school who has always liked her. The book follows their journey from District 12 to the Capitol where they are put into the arena to fend for themselves.

I read that the author got her idea for the book when she was flicking between channesl on the TV and on one side was a reality TV show and on the other was footage of the horrors of the war in Iraq and she wondered what it would be like to put these two together. The synopsys for this book may seem farfetched but to be honest I’m not so sure that we’re all that far away from these games anyway. You only need to watch Jerry Springer or Big Brother (the UK version) to realise that so much of it is set up or instigated to get the best arguments and subsequently ratings possible. It’s not that far away from the Gladiators in Rome killing each other for the publics viewing pleasure.

Having said that, this book is aimed at young adults and although the theme of the book is one that really makes you think, it isn’t gory or gruesome and is appropriate for its intended audience. I may be well past my teenage years but I can honestly say that this book is one of the best I have read for pure excitement and that “un-put-downable” factor.

I highly, highly recommend this book!

The second in the trilogy is just as fantastic and I cannot wait for the final book to come out in August 2010!

Click here to see this book on Amazon

 

Book Review: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games 2) by Suzanne Collins December 21, 2009

Filed under: Dystopia,Suzanne Collins,Young Adult — The Book Whisperer @ 12:25 pm

The second in the trilogy of the amazing Hunger Games. There’s not so much I can say about the plot of this book without giving away the ending of the first one, or ruining the surprise of the second.

What I can say is that it is just a brilliant! I cannot wait to read the last in the trilogy. I want it NOW!

(Hunger Games 3 is out in August 2010).

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Dashing Through the Snow by Mary and Carol Higgins Clark December 21, 2009

Filed under: Crime/Mystery/Thriller,Mary Higgins Clark — The Book Whisperer @ 12:21 pm

I am a huge fan of Mary Higgins Clark (her books are real comfort reads) but this one really let me down. It is the first I have read by both MHC and her daughter, Carol, and I noticed such a difference in the quality of both the plot and the narrative. The plot was really pretty terrible and had me rolling my eyes and groaning on a page by page basis. A small town is gearing up for a Christmas festival when a small group of shop-workers in a syndicate win the lottery, then the next day one of them goes missing. Throw in a couple of dastardly crooks with corny lines and a some amatuer sleuths whose reason for being there I can’t quite figure out, and that is pretty much it. Such a shame.

Having said that, it certainly won’t put me off reading any more of MHC’s books, but I may give the joint written ones a wide berth in the future.

 

 

Book Review: Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong December 21, 2009

Filed under: Globe Trotting,Jiang Rong — The Book Whisperer @ 12:16 pm

I read this book 9 months ago, after having my head buried in it for 4 days and I still can’t stop thinking about it. It is the most wonderful book and is quite possibly now my favourite book of all time.

 
From the very first page I was hooked. Jiang Rong creates such a vivid and compelling narrative that I found myself similtaniously gripped with the story yet trying to slow down and savour every word, so beautiful was each sentence.

Wolf Totem is semi-autobiographical and Jiang’s passion for the Mongolian grasslands shines through on every page. The description of the grasslands themselves, the wildlife, the lifestyle and survival was stunning. So few books make me believe that I am there at the actual place, but with this book I was there on horseback, hiding from wolves, fleeing for my life, braving blizzards and building campfires. I smiled, I cried, I hoped and I silently pleaded all within the space of an hour. I also fell in love with wild Mongolian wolves. To get to know them was a pleasure – they are clever, cunning, brave, brilliant and I loved following their story (from both sides – the good and the bad). The Little Wolf that was captured and raised by humans both endeared me and broke my heart.

While this book is most certainly a tale of the grasslands of the last 10,000 years and what happens when modern living creeps in, it is also a book about so much more. I can’t praise this enough; I am sad that it has ended as I could have read on for another 500 pages. What a beautiful book, one I highly recommend and one I will be reading again and again.

I also have these books at home that are set in Mongolia (or partly set there). I really want to read these soon:

Hearing Birds Fly - Louisa Waugh

The Empire of Genghis Khan - Stanley Stewart

Shadow of the Silk Road - Colin Thubron

 

Book Review: River Town by Peter Hessler December 21, 2009

Filed under: Globe Trotting,Peter Hessler — The Book Whisperer @ 12:11 pm

What a fantastic book. This, for me, was one of those rare books that you can’t put down but don’t want to end. Having just finnished it this morning I am already at a loss. I have read many books on China and this ranks among the best for me.

This is the story of Peter Hessler, an American student, who takes up an English teaching post in a remote town called Fuling where the River Wu meets the Yangtze. Fuling becomes his home for the next two years and here we are treated to a feast of Chinese life in a town where they are very unused to “waiguoren” (foreigners). We go through the many highs and lows with him and we meet a collection of fantastic characters along the way. To view this town and its people through waiguoren eyes is fascinating and a real eye opener.

Having been to China only once on holiday (to satisfy my enthusiasm) I am left feeling that spending all my time in Beijing and Shanaghai is abit of a cop out and I am now left with a real urge to travel deeper into this wonderful country and expore some more. This book has certainly given me a taste for that.

I highly recommend this book. I found it a real page turner.

I also can’t wait to read Oracle Bones which has been on my shelf for far too long now:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks, also, to Cannon Gate for sending me a copy of Hessler’s new book Country Driving due to be released in March 2010. I can’t wait to read it!

 

Book Review: The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George December 21, 2009

Filed under: Historical,Margaret George — The Book Whisperer @ 11:41 am

“I’m Henry VIII, I am, I’m Henry VIII I am, I am!”

Wow! There’s never a dull moment with old Henry. Teenage King, always warring with France, cuts ties with Rome and changes the course of history just so he can get a divorce, six wives – two have their heads lopped off, one dies in childbirth, one is too ugly, one won’t provide him with a son (tsk! what was she thinking?) and the other gets to mop up his gangrenous leg until he dies. Phew!!!

This is a fabulous book: long, but so worth it. Written from Henry’s point of view so we get to see his life as he sees it. We all know what a bad-tempered tyrant he was supposed to have been, but in this book we get a glimpse at what may have made Henry make the decisions he made. He was born into royalty, taught to believe that he is above others (and boy, does he!) but we also see another side to him. There are times when I actually felt sorry for him; to be surrounded all your life by “yes-men” and never really knowing who you can trust must have been pretty tough even if you are surrounded by jewels and banquets all day long.

Not surprisingly, his poor wives come in for a pretty raw deal; but again it is written from Henry’s point of view. Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard never stood a chance and Katherine of Aragon was treated appallingly in later life when the King decided that he wanted to move on to a younger model. No wonder when it came to searching for a new wife 4th time around, all the eligable young European princesses were hiding in the shadows.

This is a real tome of a book and one I enjoyed immensley. The fact that it took the author 15 years to research, I knew I was in safe hands with getting a wonderful peice of fiction based entirely on fact. I would highly recommend this to history fans. Big thumbs up for this one. I now want to check out more of George’s historical books:

   

 

Book Review: Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan December 21, 2009

Filed under: Francoise Sagan — The Book Whisperer @ 11:30 am

This book was written by an 18 year old which, when you consider the richness of the narrative and the emotions involved, I find quite astounding. Or maybe I’ve just got too old and have forgotten how complex emotions are when you’re teetering on the brink of adulthood. Either way, I thought it was brilliantly done.

Bonjour Tristesse (Hello Sadness) is a tale of one tragic summer through the eyes of a seventeen year old girl. Spoilt and extrovert, Cecile is used to living the high life with her 40 year old Dad whom she goes out drinking and gambling with as if she were his contemporary. They head off from Paris to a villa in the south of France for 2 months one summer (taking along Elsa, her fathers current girlfriend) and spend the first few weeks doing little else other than sumbating and swimming in the sea. Then Anne arrives (Cecile’s dead mothers best friend) who is sensible, intelligent and calm (everything Cecile and her father are not). Cecile loves Anne, but having been used to doing exactly as she pleases, she is not pleased when Anne treats her as the child she is and makes her study for her exams. Cecile is adamant that she doesn’t need exams – she is already leading the life she wants (living in luxury and partying none stop). This sort of attitude reminded me so much of those vile brats on MTV’s My Super Sweet Sixteen - the ones who make my blood boil by demanding and expecting everything and you know damn well they will never have to work for anything in their lives. Shortly after, Anne and Ceciles father announce that they are getting married and here Cecile hatches a plan to stop the wedding at all costs (fearing for the lifestyle she loves with her father and knowing that it will all change). She involves Elsa, the spurned girlfriend, and Cyril, the boy from the next villa whom she has been sleeping with, to help her plot the undoing of the engagement. Everything seems to be going according to plan, and then it all goes horribly wrong…

I loved it. I don’t know if it is because Sagan was the same age as Cecile herself or that she was an incredibly perceptive young lady, but she really captures the fine balance of not being sure whether you’re an adult or a child. Interestingly, although Anne appears to treat her as the latter and her father as a contemporary, Cecile herself says that she feels like their pet kitten (something to be cooed at and petted).

I really enjoyed this.

 

Book Review: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys December 21, 2009

Filed under: The Victorians — The Book Whisperer @ 11:27 am

 

     How disappointing. After completely falling in love with Jane Eyre I was really looking forward to reading this. Perhaps, though, the reason I didn’t like this book is because of my love for Jane Eyre .

I didn’t like anything about this book: the style, the subject, the plot, nothing. I started it a few months ago, put it down and then decided to try it again – still didn’t like it. Sorry, but cannot recommend this one at all.
 

 

 

Book Review: Cold Earth by Sarah Moss December 21, 2009

Filed under: Laugh Out Loud,Sarah Moss — The Book Whisperer @ 11:09 am

Ahahahahahahaha! OK, this book isn’t supposed to be funny but it’s only for the fact that I laughed through most of it (albeit when I wasn’t supposed to) that it gets 5 stars and not one.

Oh dear, oh dear. Plot idea = great. Execution = erm, not. When I first read the blurb on the back of this I really thought I was in for a treat. Six archaelogoists on a dig in Greenland and then they get news of an epidemic back home and their communication with the outside world falls away and they are left stranded with not enough food or shelter. The book is written in the form of last letters home by each member of the party in turn.

So what happened? Very little, as it goes. Each character was so underdeveloped I didn’t give a monkeys about any of them, the “inbetween plot” of ghosties and ghoulies haunting their little camp was hilarious and not in any particular order that I could fathom and there were so many academic “in-jokes” that had me groaning on almost a page-by-page basis. I know this book was written by a senior literature professor, but seriously love, stick to your day job. Frankly most of the narrative left me appalled by its stiltedness and the oodles of references to 19th century classics only served to show off the authors knowledge than to enhance the plot in any way. Why did we need to know what picture was on the cover of Villette and Middlemarch? I sort of got the impression that alot of the authors own opinions were coming through her characters (imparticular Nina): there were left-wing views, snobbery about package holidays, views on femenism and all that had no relevence to the plot.

One of my favourtie parts was when the group had realised that they had had no internet connection for several days. They were wondering if maybe the epidemic had spread from the USA to Europe. So instead of testing a website in, say, Australia or Malaysia what do they do? Check a real-estates in Scotland and the Guardian Newspaper, that’s what. Genius!

So, the 5 stars – I laughed. I laughed a lot. And, weirdly, I felt compelled to keep reading. Did I enjoy this book? Yes, sort of. Would I recommend it? No.

 

Book Review: Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon December 21, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 11:03 am

This book was such good fun. A 19th century who-dunnit complete with beautiful but cunning villainess, rambling old houses and an upper-class layabout-turned-detective. Fabulous!

This was one of the first “sensation” novels ever written, and while it doesn’t have the sophisticated and multi-layered plots of today that keep us guessing until the very end and on the edge of our seets, it is nonetheless a great page turner and so much fun. This book was originally serialised in a paper back in 1862, and I can imagine eagerly awaiting the next installment as they would have done back then. The language is not complex either, which makes for an easy and much quicker read than some novels of this era.

I thoroughly enjoyed Lady Audley’s Secret although I am ashamed to say that I had never even heard of the author until I picked this up. I will now be checking out her other books:  

 

 
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