The Book Whisperer

jottings, musings and recommendations of an incurable bookaholic

Curl Up With…. The Victorians March 30, 2010

Filed under: The Victorians — The Book Whisperer @ 8:07 am
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Welcome to my first ever “Curl up with…” post. My first topic is something that is very dear to my heart – the Victorians.

Who are the Victorians?

Ah, that crinoline-clad lot who graced most of the 19th century and introduced us to the telephone, photography, coca cola, postage stamps, the electric light bulb, underground trains and gramophones. But more importantly (to me, anyway) is they are responsible for some of the greatest literature ever written. Under the rule of the mighty Queen Victoria from 1827 to 1901, beautiful and timeless novels were written by the likes of Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Thomas Hardy and Wilkie Collins to name but a few.

Why do I love the Victorians so much?

Interestingly, I didn’t until about a year ago. Yes, I had read a couple of Victorian books in school when we had studied them, but other than that I had little desire to delve any further into this world, imagining nothing but hard work and dryness. How utterly wrong I was! A couple of members of one of the groups I am in on Goodreads picked up Jane Eyre just over a year ago and started a discussion between themselves (interestingly they were the two friends who stayed with me only two weeks ago and I took them to Haworth to see the Bronte Village). I watched their conversation develop with interest and more than a mild dose of curiosity: these two friends were not massive classics readers either but yet they were using words like beautiful and fun. On a whim, I grabbed the tanned-paged copy that had been on my shelf for several years and flipped open to the first page. This was all it took! Page one of Jane Eyre is where I fell head over heels in love with the Victorians and I have never looked back.

What is my favourite Victorian book?

Jane Eyre. It has to be – this is where my love affair started. I was drawn so completely into that world and that place that it shot straight in at number 1 of my all-time favourite books. I read Villette, also by Charlotte Bronte, very quickly afterwards and my hero worship of this genius was sealed. I don’t want to dwell too much on the Bronte’s right now as I will be doing a separate Curl up with… about them in the future (I have too much to say).

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Which book surprised me the most?

Possibly East Lynne by Ellen Wood which I read only a few weeks ago. It’s not one of the well known Victorian classics but I was drawn to the cover and picked it up. I was expecting a nice read, with it not being so well known, but what I got was a GREAT read! What a fabulous romp through a 19th century English village, complete with adultery, murder, faked death, disguises and revenge. Brilliant!

East Lynne by Ellen Wood

Which book would I recommend for a beginner to Victorian literature?

There are so many! I remember being really surprised at how easy and accessible these books were when for years I had imagined dry and dusty. For a complete beginner then something like Lady Audley’s Secret is such good fun you can’t fail to love it. This is classed as one of the first sensation novels ever to be written and it’s full of swishing curtain and “DUN DUN DUNNNN” moments that are (in this day and age) really funny.

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

 

What about something a bit grittier?

Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a book that made me sit up and think. This is the book that her sister Charlotte wanted to burn as it was too scandalous. The book is way ahead of its time in terms of feminism, and it is also a really good read.  Charles Dickens is one author that I haven’t spent nearly enough time on yet, having only read (and loved) two of his books. His books are pretty gritty in terms of plenty of questionable characters and they centre more around the working classes than the aristocracy of some other books.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hally by Anne Bronte

What is my favourite Victorian lit genre?

It has to be the sensation novels. I just LOVE them. They have me turning the pages, and making me laugh (maybe in places I’m not meant to laugh, but that’s part of the appeal for me – such melodrama!). I can highly recommend The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins as well as the two I have mentioned above.

Where did my new-found love of Victorian literature take me?

Not long after I read my first few Victorian books I set up my own group on Goodreads.com called Victorians! (funnily enough). A year later we have almost 700 members, I have another fabulous (and life-saving) moderator, Paula, to help me run the group. We discuss all things Victorian and we nominate and vote on monthly reads where we then have group discussions. It’s a lovely group and I’m really proud of how the group has grown and lovely the members who participate are. If you want to check us out, here is the link. We’d love to see you around.

Introducing the Victorian Geek

Please welcome the Victorian Geek! I found Catherine’s blog a month or so ago and I have been reading it ever since – it’s fantastic. Catherine is a Victorian scholar and really knows her stuff. She also has another website that is dedicated to making neglected 19th century novels available to the modern public. I asked her if she would like to guest blog on my Curl up with…The Victorians post and here is what she had to say:

Boof:  Which book would you recommend for someone who hasn’t read any (or has read very little) Victorian literature to give them a taste for the genre and why? 

Victorian Geek: That’s an interesting question.  I actually asked it of the VICTORIA listserv last year and it was hotly debated.  The results are on my blog although they’re certainly not conclusive.  Many neophytes are simply overfaced by the sheer size of many Victorian novels (the three decker format is a menace, in many respects).  Also, it rather depends on the genres to which the prospective reader is normally drawn.

My general recommendation would be Thomas Hardy’s ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’, as there is a strong plot and a powerful evocation of the Dorset landscape. 

Boof:  Which is your favourite Victorian book and author? 

Victorian Geek: Well, there are so many Victorian novels I’ve loved, and for many different reasons.  The one I hold in the greatest affection is Mrs Henry Wood’s ‘East Lynne’.  I first read it about 12 years ago and it inspired my love of sensation fiction. 

The greatest Victorian novel, in my opinion, is Sarah Grand’s ‘The Beth Book’: it’s clever, witty, moving, and compelling – everything I would look for in a book. 

My favourite author would have to be Florence Marryat.  Not because she’s a great writer (she certainly isn’t), but because much of her work is so engaging and her themes so varied.  Fingers crossed this enthusiasm endures through the next three years of writing my doctoral thesis on her! 

Boof:  Which, out of the Victorian books that you have discovered during your studies that is currently out of print and really shouldn’t be? 

Victorian Geek: Ah, there any many that have been unjustly neglected.  I have managed to resurrect a few through Victorian Secrets, my tiny publishing house, and Valancourt Books (www.valancourtbooks.com) are doing brilliant work in this area, bringing us novels by Eliza Lynn Linton, Sarah Grand and Mary Cholmondeley. 

I’d very much like to see new critical editions of ‘The Beth Book’, ‘The Heavenly Twins’ and Mary Cholmondeley’s ‘Red Pottage’.  Pickering and Chatto are publishing a scholarly edition of the latter, but it will be a prohibitively expensive hardback.  

Boof:  What is it about the Victorians that fascinated you so much? 

Victorian Geek: I was struck by the fact that they are chronologically so close to us, yet often referred to almost as an entirely different breed.  I started out with many questions (some of which I’ve answered) and have accumulated more along the way.  The term “Victorian” is often used pejoratively to refer to a particular mindset and I feel duty-bound to protect them and elevate their image.  Of course, the Victorians did much that was bad and wrong (I could never forgive their imperialism, for example), but they also made many advances in science, welfare and the arts.  Many Victorian women writers are truly inspirational, and they have created my insatiable thirst to find out more about the age in which they lived.

Thank you to Catherine for stopping by and some really interesting answers. I really want to read The Beth Book now!

 

What other websites / resources are there?

There are a few blogs and websites that I follow that I really like and give some fantastic information on all things Victorian. They are:

 

So now I would love to hear what you think about Victorian literature? Are you an addict or never really tried it? What are your favourites?

 

Up coming posts in Curl up with…. will be Favourite Childhood Books, The Brontes, Ghost Stories and Mysteries (to name but a few).

 

Book Review: The Snowman by Jo Nesbo March 29, 2010

Filed under: Crime/Mystery/Thriller,Globe Trotting,Jo Nesbo — The Book Whisperer @ 2:29 pm

What Amazon says:

“The night the first snow falls a young boy wakes to find his mother gone. He walks through the silent house, but finds only wet footprints on the stairs. In the garden looms a solitary figure: a snowman bathed in cold moonlight, its black eyes glaring up at the bedroom windows. Round its neck is his mother’s pink scarf. Inspector Harry Hole is convinced there is a link between the disappearance and a menacing letter he received some months earlier. As Harry and his team delve into unsolved case files, they discover that an alarming number of wives and mothers have gone missing over the years. When a second woman disappears Harry’s suspicions are confirmed: he is a pawn in a deadly game. For the first time in his career Harry finds himself confronted with a serial killer operating on his turf, a killer who will drive him to the brink of insanity. A brilliant thriller with a pace that never lets up, “The Snowman” confirms Jo Nesbo’s position as an international star of crime fiction.”

What I thought:

What a blast this book was! I loved every minute and every page. When I won this book through BookRabbit I was so excited as I had already heard a bit of buzz generating around it and I do love a good whodunnit especially when combined with a rugged, loner Detective! I think Scandanavian crime novels are enjoying quite a bit of limelight at the moment and I did love Stieg Larssons books so I was very curious about this one too. Well, I picked it up last week to have a scan through and before I knew it I had read the first three chapters without pausing for breath. It was fantastic!

The book starts in 1980 with a young child being made to wait in the car for his Mother as she says she needs to pop into someones house for 10 minutes. When the Mother returns to the car 40 minutes later (scared, as she is sure that she saw someones face at the window) she finds her child in a state of fear and confusion saying that he “had seen him”. When his mother asks who, he can only reply “The Snowman”.

Fast forward twenty-four years, Oslo Detective Harry Hole (said rugged Detective) is investigating the disappearance of several women who all share the fact of being married with at least one child. He is assigned a new partner, the very pretty but aloof Katrine Bratt, and the two of them set about trying to find the connection between the women who have disappeared and the only thing that seems to connect them all is that there is a snowman at the scene of every disappearance and the women have all vanished every year on the first day of snowfall. Not only that, but Harry feels he is being watched. He received a mysterious note claiming to be from The Snowman and inviting him to find out who he is. Harry and Katrine then find out that a Detective in Bergen, who also appears to have been investigating the case, disappeared 14 years ago and has never been seen since.

As Harry Hole starts to fit all the pieces together, it is clear that there is more to the case than meets the eye. With a smattering of red herrings and mistaken identities you start to suspect everyone who graces the pages of this book. There is, of course, the obligatory nail-biting climax to the book when everything comes together all at once, and the old race-against-the-clock, will he / won’t he make it in time. I love that though; the edge-of-your-seet stuff.

The whole book, for me, pacey and gritty and just not wanting to put the damn thing down. If you enjoy crime / thrillers / whodunnits then you will LOVE this! I am over the moon that I have found a new author who has four other books that I am excited now to seek out (all in the Harry Hole series, yay!).

Massive thumbs up!!!

 

Boof’s Blah Blah Blah’s March 29, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 10:45 am
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Boof’s lovely weekend

This is where I get to gloat about how wonderful my husband is. All last week, Mr Whisperer kept telling me that he had a surprise for me on Saturday. I couldn’t get any clues out of him other than a categoric “NO!” when I gleefully asked if it was a 10 minute trolley-dash round Waterstones (sigh!). Mr Whisperer told me to set my alarm clock for 9am on Saturday, which I dutifully did (although I did end up getting up at 6.30am because it felt like my birthday!) and finally I got to know what my surprise was: a trip to the spa!

Oh yes! My day consisted of an aromatherapy massage, a facial with head massage, a manicure and a pedicure, all while listening to plinky-plonky music and surrounded by scented candles. Pure bliss.

And all this because I was made redundant (AGAIN!!) last week and Mr Whisperer wanted to cheer me up becuause I had been feeling blue about the whole job thing. I’m a very lucky girl!

Websites / blog’s I’ve found

I love discovering new bookish websites and blogs on the internet. This week I have fallen in love with BookRabbit. They are webiste where you can review books, connect with people who like the same books as you, they do author interviews and most importantly they do lots of freebie book giveaways of just-out books! Oh, and they’re UK based. What’s not to love?

24 hour Read-a-thon

Hurray!!! My first ever Read-a-thon is coming up on 10th April. Not only that, but I am an official Cheerleader for this. Yep, that’s right, I am donning white ankle socks, a short skirt and waving pink pompoms around especially for the occasion (OK, not really – I’m 38, that would be weird!).

So, what is the Read-a-thon I hear you cry. Well, it is what it says on the tin – 24 hours of pure unadulterated blissful reading. There will be teams set up and and prizes given out and lots of online encouragement and all you have to do is read. I know, perfect eh?

One of my jobs as a Cheerleader is to recruit more cheerleaders to spread the love and make sure that 10th April is fun! Does anyone want to join me? If you’re interested please can you let me know on the comments below and also go to this link and fill in your details. You don’t need to have a blog to do this – just a love of books and a sense of fun. That’s you, right????

What I’ve learnt reading this week

15-20% 0f all Norwegian children think that their Dad is a different man to who he really is. (The Snowman by Jo Nesbo).

 

 

In My Mailbox #7 March 26, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 6:49 pm
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It’s been an exciting couple of weeks Chez Book Whisperer! My NBF has been a busy boy again recently and brought me all sorts of goodies. For anyone with a nervous disposition please look away now.

From publishers / authors

Aren’t they beautiful? It’s amazing how long I can stare lovingly at a pile of books for, really it is. The following have been sent to me as review copies by publishers or authors (thank you all very much) and  also won two of them in a twitter competition.

 So what did I get?

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo (currently reading and LOVING it)

Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris

 A Taste of Sorrow by Jude Morgan

Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman

The Fallen by Mark Terry

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares

Timecatcher by Marie-Lousie Fitzpatrick

Burley Cross Postbox Theft by Nicola Barker

Jane’s Fame by Claire Harman

The Lost Sex Scenes of Jane Austen by Arielle Eckastut

Wild Romance: The True Story of a Victorian Scandal by Chloe Schama

Pearl of China by Anchee Min

 Picked up at a church sale for £1.00 for the whole bag

Yes, that’s right, you read that correctly! The church hall down the road has a used book sale (some of which look like they haven’t even been read!) and this week they had a sign saying “Fill up a carrier bag with books for £1.00″. Erm, OK then!

The Boleyn Inheritance by Phillippa Gregory (brand new hardback)

The Other Half Lives by Sophie Hannah (brand new hardback and signed!)

A Woman’s Life by Guy de Maupassant

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

I Claudius by Robert Graves

Hovel in the Hills by Elizabeth West

Stories for Summer by various (inc. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, D H Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, Oscar Wilde etc)

Second Fiddle by Mary Wesley

Portrait of the Artist by James Joyce

Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer

They Were Defeated by Rose Macauley

A Woman of Cairo by Noel Barber

Books I have bought or swapped online

You know, a girl’s gotta treat herself!

Esther Waters by George Moore (love my Victorian classics)

The Captive of Kensington Palace by Jean Plaidy (want to know more about the lady on the throne)

The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per Waloo

Jane Eyre’s Daughter by Elizabeth Newman

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

An Utterly Impartial History of Britain by John O’Farrell

The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles (given to me as a gift by the lovely Tisha who stayed with me last week on her travels round Europe)

Has anyone read any of these yet? Anything interesting in these piles that you would like me to review soon?

 

Ada Lovelace Day March 24, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 1:03 pm

Ada Lovelace

What is Ada Lovelace Day, I hear you cry. You may very well ask, and I have only just heard of it myself this morning. Apparantly it is something that started on 24th March last year and this is only the second year it’s run but it is Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of blogging to celebrate the achievements of women in technology and science.  Brilliant! Now, I’m not a very sciencey person (I remember those  days of cutting up sheeps eyeballs and singing my hair on the bunsen burner with a certain amount of horror – I prefered to be writing stories in English class) but this does mean that I have a huge amount of respect for those who are scientifically minded (because I don’t get it).

For my blog post for the Ada Lovelace Day I have decided to post about Mary Anning. Mary appears on the Royal Soceity Top 10 and the reason I picked her is because I read the most brilliant book about her only 5 months ago.

Mary Anning (1799-1847)
The daughter of poor Dissenters, the palaeontologist made a number of important finds in Lyme Regis, including the first correctly identified ichthyosaur skeleton and the first two plesiosaur skeletons ever found. She also discovered important fish fossils.

Mary on the beach in Lyme Regis with her dog Tray

I had never heard of Mary Anning before I read Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. The minute I picked up the book I was transported to this other world on a cold and blustery beach in 1820′s Lyme Regis. Mary was the daughter of a furniture maker and their family was very poor. Her Father wanted to be out on the beach all the time looking for fossils and that is where Mary learned her craft. Mary never married and instead spent her days on the beach and was responsiblie for finding huge intact fossils of creatures that the world had never before come across. Her fossils were exhibited in London but being a woman, Mary was never credited with their discovery in her own lifetime. It is said that the tongue-twister “She sells sea shells on the sea shore” is about Mary Anning.

The book by Tracy Chevalier was so beautiful to read; it brought to life an extraordinary woman that so few people have heard of. I found it such an engrossing read and I cared so much about the characters that I didn’t want the book to end, I didn’t want to leave them there in the pages.  To read my review of this book please click here.

Here is the website about Ada Lovelace and other women scientists. It makes for some great reading so check it out.

Letter from Mary outlining one of her discoveries

 

Book Review: East Lynne by Ellen Wood March 22, 2010

Filed under: Comfort Reading,Ellen Wood,The Victorians — The Book Whisperer @ 4:20 pm

  What Amazon says:

“‘Coward! Sneak! May good men shun him, from henceforth! may his Queen refuse to receive him! You, an earl’s daughter! Oh, Isabel! How utterly you have lost yourself!’ When the aristocratic Lady Isabel abandons her husband and children for her wicked seducer, more is at stake than moral retribution. Ellen Wood played upon the anxieties of the Victorian middle classes who feared a breakdown of the social order as divorce became more readily available and promiscuity threatened the sanctity of the family. In her novel the simple act of hiring a governess raises the spectres of murder, disguise, and adultery. Her sensation novel was devoured by readers from the Prince of Wales to Joseph Conrad and continued to fascinate theatre-goers and cinema audiences well into the next century.”

What I thought:

Eat your heart out Wilkie Collins. What a fantastic book this is! I just loved every minute of it (and there were a LOT of minutes – for some reason it took me an age to read). For about three weeks I felt like I was living in the middle of a Victorian soap-opera. There was murder, betrayal, divorce, disguises and death and all this set among a backdrop of stately homes and horse-and-carriages. What’s not to love?

I can’t understand why this book is not better known or held in higher esteem. Hallelujah for Oxford World Classics reviving this book (with a fab cover too). I haven’t read anywhere near the amount of Victorian classics that I want to yet but for me, this ranks among my favourites now. Classed as a sensational novel in the 1800’s when it was written, this book was serialised in a weekly newspaper. How I would have waited with baited breath for each new edition to hit the news- stands!

The books main character is Lady Isabel Vane who lives at East Lynne (a grand stately home) with her Father. When her Father, the Earl of Mount Severn, dies and his debts are discovered Lady Isabel is proposed to by the lovely young lawyer, Archibald Carlyle (much to the heartache of one Barbara Hare who, unbeknown to Archibald, is in love with him). Lady Isabel and Archibald seem happy together and go on to have three children, but all the while Archibald is helping Barbara Hare to clear her brother’s name for a murder that was committed some years ago and for which he escaped the scene of the crime and hasn’t been seen since. With all the clandestine meetings between Archibald and Barbara, Lady Isabel is overcome by jealousy and in the heat of the moment abandons her entire family for a man of very dubious character. I don’t want to say too much else for fear of spoiling the book for anyone, but needless to say that this is most definitely not the last we see of Lady Isabel (or the “cad” she ran off with). With misinterpreted conversations gallore, hushed secrets and christmas-cracker disguises this book gallops along with you not daring to let go.

I can honestly say that, for me, there was not a dull moment in this book. It is very accessible and easy to read, even for those who find Victorian literature hard going, and long though the book was, I was sad when I came to the end.

I think I can honestly say that the sensational novels of the Victorian era are becoming my favourites, having also loved Lady Audley’s Secret (Mary Elizabeth Braddon) and The Woman In White (Wilkie Collins). I love the dramatic story-lines and the fact that you can almost hear the swish of the stage curtain at the end of a chapter and the “DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN”!!!

Fabulous book. Highly recommended! Why oh why is this book not better known???

 

Boof’s Blah Blah Blah’s March 22, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 12:30 pm
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Good morning everyone! I had a really lazy weekend which consisted of lying horizontal on the sofa (book in hand), watching The Young Victoria (which SKY cut off 20 minute before the end – GRRRRRR!) and going to Ikea with the intention of coming back with a new bookshelf to house the increasing number of books that are slowly taking on a life of their own and spreading all over the house (which apparantly bothers my husband). We came back empty handed though as I didn’t like any of them (unless I want my office / library to look like a teenage boys bedroom!)

I hope you all had a great weekend? Anything exciting to report?

So, onto my bi-weekly blah blah’s:

Susan Fletcher book signings

A couple of weeks ago I interviewed Susan Fletcher, author of the fantastic Corrag (you can read the interview here). Susan will be doing a couple of booksignings in Scotland this week for those lucky enough to live up there. If I were closer I would be there in a heartbeat but if anyone does go and see her I would love to hear how you got on.

These are the dates:

Wednesday 24th March, 6.30pm

Talk and signing at Blackwell Book Shop, South Bridge, Edinburgh
Contact: 0131 622 8222

Thursday 25th March, 6pm

Talk and signing at University of Dundee
www.literarydundee.co.uk
Contact: 01382 200 322

Author Interview coming up

I am SO excited about this one! Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat (probably her best known book), Five Quarters of the Orange (in my top 10 of all time), Blackberry Wine etc has agreed to do an interview here at The Book Whisperer.Her lovely publicist, Louise, has sent me a gorgeous hardback copy of Harris’s new book Blueeyedboy which I cannot WAIT to dive into. Apparantly this book is similar in sytle to Gentlemen and Players which I just loved, rather than the foodie type books and is meant to be quite dark. I will be reading this book in the next few weeks and then sending my questions off to Joanne.  You can read all my Joanne Harris reviews here. Keep your eyes peeled for the interview!

I met Joe Hill!

In January I read a review copy of Joe Hill’s new book Horns (given to me by the lovely Lori of The Next Best Book Blog, my friend from Goodreads when we met in New York in December). For anyone who isn’t aware – Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son and has written a couple of horror books in recent years. Horns was my first book by Hill and I really enjoyed it. You can read my review here.

On Thursday last week, Joe was doing a booksigning at Waterstones in Leeds so off I went, review copy in tow, and I met the man himself. First impression: he is really tall! I felt like a hobbit stood next to him. Anyway, he signed my book and drew a picture of the devil (which he informed me was a different devil to the ones everyone else was getting as I had an American copy of the book) and posed for a photo with me. I got all star-struck and stuttered a shy thank you and slinked away to admire my lovely signed book.

Websites / Blogs discovered

It’s a small world out there. This week I got a new twitter follower, another book blogger,  and I immediately recognised the photo. David and I used to go to the same book group every month at Waterstones in Huddersfield and both left within a few months of each other as we both moved house – me only to the next town, David “darn sarf” about 18 months or so ago. I have checked out his blog and he has some really great reviews on there. Check out his blog at Follow The Thread.

Things I’ve learnt reading this week

Before the C17th carrots were purple, not orange! (courtesy of Queen Emma and the Vikings by Harriet O’Brien – currently reading)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boof’s Whisperings: Can you spot the difference? March 19, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 1:08 pm
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It’s a strange and wonderous thing, this book blogging lark. You meet so many new and like-minded people who drool over your lovely, shiny books with: brand new friends that actually congratulate you on your purchases, who coo over your finds and actually want to enter into a conversation with you about your very favourite subject! Seriously, what beats that?

My New Best Friend

Well, I must now introduce you to my new best friend. Is he a fellow book blogger, I hear you cry? No. Does he like reading? Not so much, he falls asleep a few pages into a book, he tells me. So who on earth could this new found best friend be????

My Postman, that’s who! 

Yes, the lovely man who brings my mail every morning. Allow me to explain. At roughly about 11.30am every day, I hear the gate click. Then footsteps crunch down the path. There is a pause (presumably while he grapples with arm-fulls of lovely brown packages) and then the letterbox creeks and…….THUD! This is the point at which I disengage myself from any work-related task I have been doing (yep, phone-calls are aborted, emails stop mid word) and I fly down the stairs to the front door to greet my new treasures. Come to Mamma!!!!

Now, my new best friend doesn’t just drop these lovelies through the letterbox. Oh no! He also rings the doorbell if there are any especially large parcels or if he happens to see my silhouette mid-parkour-leap down the stairwell. The conversation goes like this:

New Best Friend: Morning, love! (in very loud, very broad Yorkshire accent)

Me: Morning! Oh my, what have you got for me today?

New Best Friend: Eeeh, I knew you’d be pleased. I said to meself  ”She’ll be pleased wi’ this!”

Me: I am, I am!

New Best Friend: How do you find t’ time to read ‘em all?

Me: Let me worry about that, you just keep delivering them.

New Best Friend: Alright, love. See yer tomorrow.

You see, it’s a relationship made in heaven. I get my lovely new toys and he gets paid for delivering them. Win win. Apparantly I am even famous in the Royal Mail sorting office. My NBF says that he calls me “Savant” as he reckons I must be like Rain Man to read so many books.

So here is a little test for you. Look at the two pictures below and answer the question at the bottom.

NB: The top picture is not my ACTUAL new best friend, as I thought that maybe asking him to pose for a photo at my door might sour our relationship somewhat (stalker, much?) so I have used a stand-in.

 

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Have you had a good look? Have you really looked hard? Go on, look a little harder. And I repeat my question:
 

Can you spot the difference?

 Nope, me neither.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: You Belong to Me by Mary Higgins Clark March 17, 2010

Filed under: Authors,Comfort Reading,Crime/Mystery/Thriller,Mary Higgins Clark — The Book Whisperer @ 2:14 pm

Why is it that I never meet any other Mary Higgins Clark fans? This lady is my hero! She is my curl-up-on-the-sofa-with-the-fire-on-and-a-good-mystery-in-hand QUEEN!!

Are there any closet fans out there or is it really just me?

A young radio journalist, Susan Chandler, decides to do a new series on her show about women who just vanish without trace. With the help of a book written by psychiatrist Donald Richards (whos own wife disappeared) she begins her new series with a piece on the unsolved disappearance of Regina Clausen who vanished into thin air whilste on a round-the-world cruise three years ago. When Susan started the show, what she didn’t bargain for was a mysterious call from a frightened lady calling herself “Karen” and who said that she was approached by a man on a cruise ship two years ago and who gave her a turquoise ring with the word “you belong to me” on it.

When Susan recieves another call from a young girl who also has a ring, alarm bells start to ring and soon anyone who seems to have any sort of tenuous link to the mysterious man who has been buying the rings start turning up dead. With the usual several possible suspects, all of which have some link to Susan, it becomes a race against time to catch the culprit before Susan becomes his next victim.

As always, I love Mary Higgins Clark books. I love the feeling of knowing you’re in for a good ride before you even begin: the strong female protagonist, the list of potential culprits with several red herrings thown in for good measure and the short chapters that have you declaring “just one more” before you find you have read the whole thing. This lady never lets me down!

This book has now put me at completing 4 / 8 books in my thriller & suspense challenge.

 

Boof’s Blah Blah Blah’s March 17, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 12:46 pm
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My bookish and historical weekend

The Bronte Village (and lots of bookshops)

I had the BEST weekend! My two booky friends that I met on Goodreads stayed over (one from California and one from Manchester) and we had a blast; gosspied about books looked in bookshops, bought books in bookshops (OK, we did other things too but I’m getting my priorities straight, you understand). Both Tisha and Kirsty are really into history too so we had a great time wandering round castles, little villages with cobbled streets and museums etc. I had big plans to take them to see the Bronte Parsonage too (and we did get to the actual village of Haworth where the Bronte’s lived) but alas we got distracted in a book shop (yep) and missed the house’s opening times.

York (and lots of bookshops)

On the Sunday we went to York which is one of my favourite places in the whole world. It’s a walled city and has so much history there (and lots of ghosties too apparantly). Our first stop was the Jorvik Centre which I hadn’t been in for about 20 years and it was FANTASTIC!

There is a car (like the ones you get at a funfair) that takes you round a reconstruction of York in the Viking age (this was all unearthed about 30 years ago by archaeologists where they found a whole Viking village under the city). The model people move and speak (in Old Norse) and there are the smells too. It was brilliant.

When we got out at the other end we talked to one of the staff who was dressed as a Viking for about half an hour. He was so knowledgable and passionate about the Vikings it was fascinating; we kept bombarding him with questions – it was so interesting to learn all the myths about the Vikings too: Did you know that the Vikings didn’t really have blonde hair? They were mostly dark haired in Scandanavia but used to pour wee over their heads to kill lice and the amonia in it dyed their hair white blonde. Then blonde became fashionable and desirable so they sought out bondes to mate with and thousands of years later, the Scandanavians are blonde! On the way out we (naturally) stopped in the bookshop to feed our newfound thirst for knowledge on the vikings and I got two books that look really interesting and I can’t wait to read.

Next we went to visit York Minster. The Minster is the largest gothic chathedral in Europe and took over 250 years to build (longer if you count the extensive rebuilding after the huge fire in the 1980′s). It had just finished raining as we got there and the most brilliant double rainbow came out right above the Minster; it was amazing and stopped everyone in their tracks.

I mentioned the rain, right? Well, of course, not wanting to get wet we bundled into the first shop we saw which just happened to be a bookshop (what are the chances?). It had 5 floors of books in this higgledypiggledy (or pigglywiggly as Tisha thought it was :O) ) old building.

After a stroll down The Shambles we stopped at Betty’s for “a spot ‘o tea” (again, Tisha’s saying – apparantly we Brits sound posh!).

Ahh, so now back to the working week. A nine hour round-trip in the car to a meeting yesterday (back was killing and I neary fell asleep on the M1 but did manage to get two audio CD’s played so happy about that) and lots of calls and emails and updating of pipelines to do today: groan, groan, groan! How I despise that work gets in the way of my leisure time. I want to curl up on the sofa and read about Vikings!

Anyone else been to York? Care to sharre?

 

Happy St Patricks Day – A review and an interview March 16, 2010

Filed under: Authors,Biography / Memoirs,Thomas J Rice — The Book Whisperer @ 5:56 am

Happy St Patricks Day everyone! I have a review of an Irish memoir and an interview with the author, Thomas J Rice. But here is some beautiful Irish music for you to listen to to get you in the mood while you read on:

Far From the Land by Thomas J Rice

It’s been quite a while since I’ve read a memoir. I used to devour them when I was younger but in recent years I have got so sick of seeing the mis-mems littering the shelves in supermarkets and bookshops: “Don’t Hit me with That Bottle of Vodka, Mummy” or “Daddy, Please Don’t Make Me Steel Another Packet of Cigarettes For You “ (you get the picture). Something about the Far From the Land caught my interest though; a mixture of the cover (which I think if beautiful) and the fact that it isn’t a hard-luck, triumph-over-adversity type memoir. Thomas J Rice’s book is “a telling of a culture that no longer existed” and a “memoir about the way of life he had abandoned but that had not abandoned him”.

Tom Rice (or Sonny as he was known back then) was born in 1940’s Ireland and lived on a farm with no electricity with his Mother and six older sisters. The telling of Tom’s childhood is of a simple time when his days consisted of helping his Mother milk the cows, surrounded by a gaggle of mewing cats, playing in the fields surrounding the farm with his friends and sing-alongs round the kitchen table. Being an absolute sucker for animals, most of my favourite parts involved dogs, cats or horses. I laughed out loud at Tom’s very protective dogs snarling and barking at anyone who came up the path, his first dog Captain who was so protective that when he was helping Tom round up the cows he did his job a little too thoroughly and a few poor and unsuspecting cows got a nip on the backside. Another favourite moment of mine was when the young Tom wanted to copy his older friend Davy who was ploughing the fields with his horses, Tom would tether up the dogs and have him pull him up and down the fields too.

One of my favourite characters in the book was Tom’s Mother, Maggie O’Toole, a feisty, independent woman with a really interesting story of her own (in fact, her story would make a great book). When Tom finally left Ireland in 1959, he took his Mother with him. This is a book of two halves: An Irish childhood in a remote farm and a ticket to the industrial north of England where Tom experienced racism for the first time.

I enjoyed this book. To fans of biographies and memoirs and anyone who enjoys reading about life in Ireland or the Irish it’s well worth a read. I hope you enjoy. 

This book was sent to me for review by Lauren at the Jane Wesman Public Relations.

An Interview with the author, Thomas J Rice

You say in your introduction that you wanted to write a memoir about the way of life you had abandoned but that had never adandoned you. What does it mean to be Irish, to you?

To have a strong sense of Celtic identity, resonate with the music, poetry, myth and martyrs of our colorful history. Have a deep love of literature, of  storytelling in all its forms, of the power of narrative and its artistic construction, and a deep  sense of compassion for the underdog, wherever you may find them. Finally, given our colonial history and our centuries old struggle for freedom that still goes on, to be Irish is to have a deep and abiding appreciation and commitment to social justice and democracy and democratic movements around the globe. 

Which parts of your character (formed in your childhood, growing up on a remote farm in Ireland) do you still embrace and thank for where you are today, and which (if there are any) do you not?

All of it: the importance of having big dreams; the liberating effect of hard work and tenacity in pursuit of your dreams; the imperative of facing hard truths, and the importance of giving credit to the ancestors whose shoulders you stand on every day in every iota of success that you achieve. I won’t disown a thing; it was all invaluable and a part of who I am.
 
For me, reading this memoir about a childhood in a remote farm with no electricity and real hardship, your childhood sounded almost idylic. Do you see it this way, or do you think this has perhaps just come across this way to me (a reader) becuase you still have obvious warmth and passion for this place despite the hardships when really it wasn’t at all idylic?

No, it was not idyllic, but it was very, very good. In terms of place, there could be no place on earth more beautiful. In terms of people, they were surely the kindest, most trustworthy, compassionate imaginable. But I had a very difficult situation at the bottom of the family pecking order, only male and way younger than my siblings. The fact of not having a father was , in retrospect, a blessing that I had no way of seeing at the time—but I’m pretty sure I would have spent a good deal of my life overcoming his deeply flawed  personality, which would surely not have ended well for his only son.Still, not having a father is never, ever idyllic. I only knew what I missed later, as I became a father myself and knew the joy of that give and take.

 

The Rice's House

 
My favourite parts in the book where all centred around your animals; some stories had me laughing out loud.  When you left Ireland and had to sell your two dogs it broke my heart. Do you know anthing about what happned to any of your dogs or horses after you left Ireland?

Not a word. It ended with the auction; Tess was right to be so upset with me.  I never really got over that; it will always be a source of sadness(and guilt) for me.
 
My favourite character in the book was your Mother, Maggie O’Toole. She is such a fascinating woman to read about and I just loved her story (right from her childhood) and want to know more about this amazing woman. What happened to Maggie once she returned to New York?

She became a successful Practical Nurse, specialized in terminally ill cancer patients who drew  strength and solace from her strong, compassionate,  personality in their final days. 
 
You talk briefly about, what most of us know as, the Irish Potato Famine but which you know as the Irish Holocaust.  You still sound bitter about what happened to your ancestors and your fellow-countrymen and the death and displacement of so many people.  I am ashamed to say that I didn’t know the true story behind what happend either. Do you find this of most people and why do you think this is?

Yes, most people are ignorant about the events of 1845-1851—the so-called Famine. Small wonder; they scarely know what happened last year. But the real explanation rests in the highly successful propaganda effort orchestrated by the British spin machine, then and now. For a contemporary example, witness the news that comes out of Northern Ireland and how little we know about the IRA other than that they are all “terrorists.”

As for being bitter, I find it very interesting that no one ever asks an American Jew if they are still bitter over their holocaust. Bitter is the wrong adjective; it implies a kind of sore loser image that one should probably get over and move on. For me, the horror of that event, the deliberate starvation of between 3 and 5 million men, women and children—clearly an  attempted genocide—is  so widely misrepresented as a Famine that it remains for me an ongoing outrage. It’s a bit like a constant refrain of Holocaust Deniers here in the US. In the Jewish case, they have made”never again”  their mission and that involves a sophisticated and relentless educational and political campaign across the globe. Where is the Irish equivalent? A chapter in Far from the Land , referencing Cecil Woodham-Smith’s Great Hunger? That’s one of the few antidotes to one of the greatest crimes against humanity ever perpetrated where the killer escapes scot free.  And I, for one, will tell my  truth on that as long as I have a pulse.
 
When you left Ireland to go to Sheffield, I felt a sense of loss also. I had enjoyed watching you and your sisters grow up and now you were transplanted to grey, smoggy Sheffield and I had a feeling of misery through those few chapters. Was there any point when you seriously regretted leaving Ireland?

No, I never had any regrets on that decision. I never engage in shoulda, couldas.
 
Being from Yorkshire myself (not Sheffield though – and I definitely don’t talk like Mrs Higgins!) I was actually surprised and saddened by the racism that you encountered there. Has your impression of Sheffield or Yorkshire changed at all over the years or do you still regard that place as an unwelcome but necessary blip in your life?

I have no idea where Mrs. ‘iggins was from. All I recall was her horrible use of the English language and her “our knuck” taunts. Her boarding house was  in Birmingham, and while she was  clearly a coarse and  uneducated person,  I’ve come to feel some  compassion for her over the years. She was duped, like the rest of us, by my Da.

As for Sheffield and that experience, I consider it a necessary and valuable part of my socialization. I would never have any appreciation of prejudice or discrimination without that time and I had lots of fun there. After all, that’s where I discovered Hollywood, romance and all the loves of my life. ‘Sank heaven for little gorls.’ And I have long-since overcome my own prejudice–which was palpable and completely unattractive at the time—toward the British.

And, as you know, Sheffield is now  one of the most beautiful cities in the UK .

 
Did you write your memoirs as some sort of cathartic excercise or is there a message that you wanted to get out to people?  What would you most like readers to take away from your book?

  • See Ireland through a new lens,  as a place of rich cultural heritage(poetry, music, literature, storytelling) vs. alcoholics,  shamrocks, leprechauns and green beer stereotypes.
  • Learn how our colonial history shaped our identity as a people.
  • Get a different interpretation of “The Famine”—more a deliberate starvation of a despised people and  a nearly successful genocide that needs to be properly labelled.
  • Spend  a night at our “Rambling House” enjoying the ghost stories, poems, stepdancing, Irish stepdancing and communal rosary at the end of the evening.
  •  Experience the excitement of going inside a pub and participating in the real conversation; of going to a school house and witnessing the rote education; of going to a market fair and joining in the bargaining; of going to a football game and learning our national Gaelic passion; of going to a village  dance and engaging in the mating rituals of the day.
  • Know what is was like to pull up stakes, auction our life’s possessions and emigrate to a hostile, urban lunarscape.
  • Know what is was like to work with Arabian horses and brilliant Border collies, then leave them behind.
  • Run away from home with me(at 11) in defiance of my strong-willed mother.
  • Go inside Kilmainham Gaol with a group of teenage rebel girls and go on hungerstrike.
     

 And finally, the quick fire round:
 
         Favourite colour: Blue
         Favourite animal: Arabian horse
         Favourite holiday destination: West Cork, Ireland
         Favourite author: John Steinbeck
         Favourite song: Wild Mountain Thyme
         Favourite movie: Casablanca
         Favourite childhood memory: Riding that unbroken Arabian horse barebacked and staying on.

 

 

Boof’s Blah Blah Blah’s March 12, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 10:38 am
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It’s Friday!

*Does cartwheels and pops champagne cork* I have visitors this weekend so I have lots of rushing around to do today (inbetween my day job, naturally) tidying up etc. I’m really excited as my two guests are booky friends! Yes! I have known them both for going on for two years now – we met on Goodreads and we are part of the same small group who have got to know each other really well through our love of books. Tisha is from California and is travelling round Europe and she is flying to Yorkshire (from Amsterdam) tomorrow morning and staying with me until Monday. We’ve never met before! Also, Kirsty is the only other Brit in the group (we met for lunch about 6 months ago so we have met before) and she is going to join us. I’m really looking forward to it. I have lots planned: The Bronte Parsonage and village where the grew up, York (which will be a whole day as there is so much to do and see). I asked Tisha what she wanted to do when she came over and she is a huge fan of history (she reads alot of historical fiction) so she said “castles and quaint villages” which is basically what Yorkshire is full of so the problem is narrowing it down. I will post photos etc next week.

Blog Stuff

I have been thinking for a while now about getting rid of my star ratings. I have a 10 star system at the moment as on Amazon and Goodreads I always wish I could give ½ stars. However, the more I see star ratings the more I have realised that the influence me before I read a book. For example, if a book has an average of a 3 star rating, I won’t be as eager to pick it up as one with a 5 star rating and that has meant, in the past, that I have missed out on some great books. The way I write my reviews is to try and include both postitive and negative points so that others can make their own mind up. Just becasue I didn’t like a book, it doesn’t mean that you won’t like it.

What do you think?

 

And finally…

I found this picture and it made me laugh.

 

Boof’s Whisperings – Do you really NEED that book? March 11, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 11:16 am
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So I’ve been thinking this week about the very serious subject of want vs need when it comes to books. After some serious thought and trips to the bookshop to prove my own point (all in the name of research, you understand) I have come to the conclusion that I was right in the first place.

 There is NO difference between want and need when it comes to books!

Allow me to elaborate: My husband (who’s birthday it is today, by the way – Happy Birthday Mr Whisperer!) has suffered many years of hanging around bookshops with me while I lovingly browse amongst the shelves, touching, sniffing, cooing etc (NB I say “suffering” as that is the word he uses, I prefer to think of it as a little slice of heaven). If he’s had enough of wherever we are (or I have already looked in at least two other bookshops – which is entirely possible – only another bookaholic will understand that if you don’t go in that final one it can ruin the rest of your day wondering what you could have found in there) then I occasionally get timed. Yes, that’s right, I am allowed 5 miuntes from start to finish while he stares alternately at his watch and me which really puts me off and makes me very anxious because I can see down the other end of the shop that there are so many gems just awaiting discovery and I know I will never have time to get to them all. To be fair, he only does this when I have already spent about two hours in the previous bookshops, but still.

So, again, the want vs the need. Mr Whisperer (between sitting playing games on his iPhone on the first available chair he can find in the shop) will spot me, arms laden with books, wander past and say the now famous line “Do you really need all those?” to which I (naturally) reply “Yes”. This is then followed with “No, you WANT them all but you don’t NEED them all!”. Now, let me explain why this comment (after much consideration and research) is untrue:

Imagine, if you will, a heroine addict. Now, I have never taken drugs (probably too busy reading books at the time) so you may think it would be hard for me to imagine, but NO! You see, if a heroine addict was to walk down the street and there was a shops with beautifully arranged packets of white powder in the window with enticing offers like “3 for 2″ and a “Heroine’s Inc. Recommends” shelf, do you think they would be able to walk past and say “Oh, don’t worry I’ve already had my fix for the day. Let’s move on.”? Doubtful. My point exactly.

Let’s have another example of, say, a stressful day at work or a long drive home from a meeting or even just feeling the joys of spring and needing to celebrate (insert own reasons here). You see the bookshop, like a glowing beacon to a sailor in the fog, it’s beckoning you, you’re starting to foam at the mouth in anticipation and finally you’re there. You let out a sigh of satisfaction while you feast your eyes on all the beauties infront of you. Where do you want to be transpored to today? Africa? A post-apocolyptic wasteland? A shopping trip with a handsome beau? A castle dungeon in 1596? The world is your oyestrer, you can go anywhere, be anyone, do anything!!!

So, to conclude: There is no such thing as want for a bookaholic. I have an aholism and I need my fixes.

My name is Boof and I am a Bookahloic.

 

Waiting on Wednesday March 10, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 12:04 pm

This weeks pick for Waiting on Wednesday is The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell.

“Lexie Sinclair cannot stay. Enclosed within her parents’ genteel country lawn, she yearns for more. She makes her way to the big city, hungry for life and love, where she meets a magazine editor, Innes, a man unlike any she has ever imagined. He introduces her to the thrilling underground world of bohemian postwar London, and she learns to be a reporter, to know art and artists, to live her life fully and with a deep love at the center of it. When that love is threatened, she nearly loses the self she worked so hard to find. But then, she will create many lives, all of them unconventional. And when she finds herself pregnant by a man wholly unsuitable for marriage or fatherhood, she doesn’t hesitate for a minute to have the baby on her own, to be shaped by her love for her child.

Later, in present-day London, a young painter named Elina dizzily navigates the first weeks of motherhood. Her boyfriend, Ted, traumatized by nearly losing her in labor, begins to recover lost memories. He cannot place them. But as they become more disconcerting and return more frequently, we discover that something connects these two stories – these two women – something that becomes all the more heartbreaking and beautiful as they all hurtle toward its revelation.

A stunning portrait of motherhood and the artist’s life in all their terror and glory, Maggie O’Farrell’s newest novel is a gorgeous inquiry into the ways we make and unmake our lives, who we know ourselves to be, and how even our most accidental legacies connect us.”

Here is a video link of Maggie talking about the book. I found it really interesting and has made me want to read more.

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This event spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. Please visit Jill’s blog to find out what other book bloggers are waiting for.

 

Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher March 9, 2010

Filed under: Jay Asher,Young Adult — The Book Whisperer @ 5:16 pm

UK version

US version

What Amazon says

“Clay Jensen returns home from school one day to find a mysterious box, with his name on it, lying on the porch. Inside he discovers 13 cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker – his classmate – who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she did what she did – and Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out how he made the list – and it’ll change Clay’s life forever.”

What I thought

 

I’m finding this book really difficult to review. The main reason for this is that it’s a few years now since I was a teenager (OK, a great many years) and to do this review justice I am going to have to take myself back to those days; those days of of falling out with your best friend and it ruining your life for an afternoon, unrequited crushes, rumours and gossip that can make your life a misery for a whole day (which feels like a whole year when you’re that age). That’s where I need to place myself in order to get under Hannah’s skin as if I don’t this review will be completely different. In fact, let’s go there – let’s talk about what I thought reading it now and then talk about how I would have felt over 20 year ago.

I’ll start by saying that the premise is brilliant. A box of cassettes lands on your doorstep and when you play them, the voice coming through your speaker-phone is that of Hannah Baker. Only Hannah Baker killed herself two weeks ago. The young boy, Clay, is one of 13 people who will recieve these tapes in turn and each one of those 13 people contributed to why Hannah killed herself. An interview with the author at the end of the book says that he got the idea for the tapes when he was listening to an audio in a museum and he was fascinated with how spooky it was to listen to someones voice who wasn’t really there. That’s how it must have felt to Clay when he played the tapes – for not only was Hannah dead but Clay really liked her. How can he be one of the reasons for her wanting to kill herself? Clay takes the tapes and plays them on a walkman while he follows the map that Hannah also left to point out various places that mean something within her story like the park where she had her first kiss and the party that changed everything.

Adult Head

OK, so now onto what I thought: while reading this I decided that I didn’t actually like Hannah very much and had little sympathy for her most of the time. The things she was accusing people of doing to her (most of it unintentional) seemed (to my adult self) pretty lame in most cases. Hannah accuses people of not seeing the real her yet she makes little effort to make any real friends or to open up to others. Kids from her shcool are named and shamed as being one of the catalysts for her suicide and really they didn’t do much other than be normal high school kids. Don’t get me wrong, I know anyone who has read this book will be yelling at the screen “but what about so-and-so?” and yes, there were some horrible people who deserved their cummupance; Hannah was the victim of an untrue rumour that started the snowball effect of her downfall. So why am I so down on Hannah? The truth is, I don’t know. It could be that I’m over all the he-said-she-said school stuff, it could be becasue I’m a northerner and we’re well known up here for not being soft and “brushing ourselves down and just getting on with things”, it could be because Hannah seems so angry and vengeful – fancy making people listen to your last few days on earth and accusing them of putting you in an early grave! Suicidal people, from my understanding, tend to be in a depressive state, not a state of anger like Hannah is. She is bitter and wants people to pay. In my book, that makes her as bad as the people she claims to be the victim of – they will have to live with those tapes for the rest of their lives.

Teenage Head

Now onto my “teenage head”. If I had read this book in school I would have loved it, I know I would. At a time when every little thing is magnified to epic proportions, then I would have felt Hannah’s pain. I would have cried for her. She never really got the chance to fit in at her new school because a boy she liked over-egged the details of their first kiss and Hannah had to deal with the consequences for the next few years. As a teenager, I loved the dramatics and what Hannah did with the tapes would have had me punching the air for her – go Hannah! There are some very tender moments in this book too when you really begin to understand how one thing can snowball into another and before you know it you’re at rock bottom.

So, to conclude: I’m still as unsure about it as I was before. Good book? Yes, it’s a great book and quick read. But I still have my problem with Hannah. So my blunt northern self says “come on, pull yourself together, girl!”.

So what did you think? I’d love to hear.

 

 

In My Mailbox #5 March 9, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 11:18 am
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In My Mailbox is brough to us by Kristi at The Story Siren.

I think I’ve done pretty well again this week, with some nice suprises in the post and a few little treats (OK, more than a few) for myself.

Here is what gems are now adorning my bookshelves this week:

Bought for myself

Waterland by Graham Smith

Waterland by Graham Smith

I was recommended this book by Love Reading on their Like-for-Like page when I put that I love John Fowles. It looks beautifully written so can’t wait to read this one.

 

The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marghanita Laski

 

The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marghanita Laski

I managed to track a copy of this book down when I saw Savidge Reads and Novel Insights raving about it. It’s out of print now but apparantly Persephone Books are going to reprint it soon.

 

The Secret Cinderella Society by Carolyn Turgeon

 The Secret Cinderella Society by Carolyn Turgeon

 I have seen quite a lot of review on this book around th blogosphere and thought it was about time I got my own copy. There doesn’t seem to have been much fuss made about it in the UK though.

The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles

 

The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles

This book has been read by quite a few of my Goodreads friends and they all had great things to say about it so when I saw a copy staring up at me in Waterstones I just had to have it.

The Glass of Time by Michael Cox

The Glass of Time by Michael Cox

I love the look of this book. Gothic, Victorian, secrets: what’s not to love?

 

Books sent to me this week 

 

Bequest by A. K. Shevchenko

Bequest by A. K. Shevchenko

 Sent to me by Sam at Headline Books. Thanks, Sam. Looks like one I will enjoy.

 

and Falling, fly by Skyler White

 and Falling, Fly by Skyler White

 Sent to me by The Berkley Publishing Group. Thank you!

The problem with having so many new books is what do I read next when I want to read them all now?

 

 

Author Interview: Susan Fletcher March 8, 2010

Filed under: Historical,Susan Fletcher,Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 10:51 am

 Susan Fletcher – author of Corrag, Eve Green and Oystercatchers

I have been so excited about doing this interview since I read Susan’s latest book, Corrag. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy back in January and I honestly haven’t been able to stop raving about it ever since. It is truly one of the most beautiful books that I have ever read. My review for the book Corrag is here.

So what’s Corrag about?

Here is what Amazon says about it: “The Massacre of Glencoe happened at 5am on 13th February 1692 when thirty-eight members of the Macdonald clan were killed by soldiers who had enjoyed the clan’s hospitality for the previous ten days. Many more died from exposure in the mountains. Fifty miles to the south Corrag is condemned for her involvement in the Massacre. She is imprisoned, accused of witchcraft and murder, and awaits her death. The era of witch-hunts is coming to an end – but Charles Leslie, an Irish propagandist and Jacobite, hears of the Massacre and, keen to publicise it, comes to the tollbooth to question her on the events of that night, and the weeks preceding it. Leslie seeks any information that will condemn the Protestant King William, rumoured to be involved in the massacre, and reinstate the Catholic James. Corrag agrees to talk to him so that the truth may be known about her involvement, and so that she may be less alone, in her final days. As she tells her story, Leslie questions his own beliefs and purpose – and a friendship develops between them that alters both their lives. In Corrag, Susan Fletcher tells us the story of an epic historic event, of the difference a single heart can make – and how deep and lasting relationships that can come from the most unlikely places.”

 

On to the interview with Susan 

How did you come up with the idea for the book? 

  I had always had a strong pull towards the Scottish Highlands, and to Glencoe in particular. Towards the end of my second novel, ‘Oystercatchers’, I finally made my way up to the glen for a few days. The mountains were more dramatic and beautiful than I could have imagined, so much so that I felt emotional to be amongst them. Then, on my second afternoon there, I visited a local museum. I saw Corrag’s name on the wall, read her story, and I instinctively knew that she was to be the narrator of my third book. It was a surge, an absolute conviction – I’ve never had that feeling before. And that night, in my hotel room, I began to write the book.

Describe Corrag in 3 words

 Spiritual, loving, brave. 

The way Corrag notices every little detail of nature, embraces it and describes it is so breathtaking that from reading the book I can only assume that you are a nature lover. Is this correct and if so, where are your favourite places?

 Thank you for saying that! And yes, I adore nature. I’ve always felt calmer and happier outside. In general, I love woods and mountains. More specifically, nowhere comes close to Glencoe. There is a rock high up in the glen which I would take my notebook and a flask of coffee up to, and I’d sit there and just look. I’ve seen deer from there, and eagles, and there is so much sky! Several scenes in the book were written up there, and far more of it was conceived in that spot, or near it. Of all the beautiful places, I think that’s the best of all.

 

Did your opinion of what happened in Glencoe in 1692 change at all while researching and writing the book? 

I knew very little about the Massacre before researching it. I only knew - wrongly – that it was Campbells murdering MacDonalds, and not much more. But the reality is far more complicated than that. Many people were involved or implicated, and whilst the murders were dreadful, the truth is that day-to-day clan warfare brought about far more deaths than those that happened in Glencoe that night. We know about the Massacre because of its deceit (it was ‘Murder Under Trust’) and its political ramifications, more than anything else. It fuelled Jacobitism, and changed allegiances.

 What were the easiest and the hardest thing about writing Corrag?

  All the research was tricky! I wanted to portray the Massacre as accurately and fairly as I could – for there are many misconceptions about what happened, even to this day. I also felt nervous writing about real people, as there’s an element of responsibility there: I didn’t want to paint a person in a dubious light unless there was evidence to support it. The easiest part about writing the book was writing about nature – about my character’s love of it. It meant I had no choice but to sit in beautiful places, to watch the minutiae of the natural world for hours in the name of ‘research.’ I had half-an-hour of watching a bumble bee visit foxgloves, writing down how it looked and sounded, and knowing that Corrag would have loved such a thing. I remember thinking how blessed I was, to have such a job!!

 Where is your favourite place to write? 

That rock above the glen is my favourite, by far – but not in the rain! If I’m using a notepad, then I love being in coffee shops, making notes. If I’m typing, then it’s at home - sometimes even in bed! (The Massacre scene was mostly written in bed – it was a sad and challenging scene to write, and I somehow felt safer there.)

 Are you working on anything else now and can you give us any little tidbits?

 It’s very early days and I am always reluctant to give too much away – as things change so quickly, at this stage. But I’ve always had a novel in me that starts off in Africa. I’m researching around that, just now.

 You’re about to be stranded on a dessert island and can only take 3 books with you. What do you take? 

It would have to be books of hope and reassurance – nothing gloomy! Mary Oliver’s poetry is full of both these things - so I would take her Selected Poems. Then, perhaps, Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible. I’ve read it many times over, but it’s still humorous, beautiful and profound. And I’d finish with Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes – neither a novel nor poetry, but rather a book that celebrates womanhood, nature, instinct, and which I always turn to when I’m feeling in need of guidance. It would keep me happy and strong until the boat arrived!

 Have you ever read a book and thought “Damn! I wish I’d written that”? 

All the time! Most recently I wished I’d written Philip Hoare’s Leviathan – an incredible study of man’s relationship with the whale. It’s both mournful and beautiful, and my head was full of whales for weeks afterwards…!

If you could travel back in time for one year anywhere in the world, what year would you choose and where would it be? 

It would have to be the Scottish Highlands in 1691 - I’d want to meet all these people I’ve spent the past two years imagining. 

Finally the quick fire round: 

         Favourite colour: All of them – honestly. Couldn’t pick one.
         Favourite animal: Too many! Ducks, owls, hedgehogs…
         Favourite holiday destination: Scotland (I’m in love with it), and I hear Bali’s pretty nice.
         Favourite aurthor: Don’t have one. Sorry…
         Favourite song: There’s a lovely combination of Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World, sung by a man with a banjo (I can’t remember his name!). It’s joyous and bouncy and sweet. It’s what I’d like to have played at my funeral so that people could walk out with a smile.
         Favourite movie: Amelie and The Thin Red Line.
         Favourite childhood memory: Crab-fishing with my brother near Christchurch, Dorset, and tipping up the bucket onto the pier when the boat came in. All those people squealing as the crabs ran over their feet! Naughty but brilliant.

 

Want to know more?

 Here is a link to a podcast that Susan did over at Fifth Estate - it’s a short interview but really interesting and definitely worth listening to.

I also came across this on Love Reading yesterday – Susan is the Guest Editor for March and disucsses her favourite authors and books.

You can check out more reviews etc on Amazon too.

 

And finally… 

Thank you so much to Susan Fletcher for joining me for this interveiw, and to Fifth Estate for organising it. I truly adored this book and highly recommend it as one you pick up soon. If you enjoy historical fiction, lyrical fiction, feel-good books then you will love this. For anyone who appreciates beauty in the written word then this is for you.

 

 

Boof’s Blah Blah Blah’s March 5, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 11:37 am
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Hurray, it’s Friday! I’ve had a pretty gruelling week at work this week and not been able to read or post as much – jobs are so inconvenient to a bookaholic!

UK Book Blogger meet-up

Anyway, quite a few updates for this week. Firstly, I have found out about a UK Book Blogger meet up in London on 8th May which I am going to go to and I’m really excited about. Being pretty new to this blogging lark it will be great to meet and chat with like-minded book-lovers and get to know the people behind the blogs I have been reading recently. The meet-up is being organised by Simon at Stuck-In-A-Book and there are still places available. If there are any UK book bloggers out there who would like to meet up in London on May 8th just stop by Simon’s blog and mail him and he will put your name down (then let me know if you’re going as I haven’t met anyone else yet so feeling a bit shy).

 

Websites and blogs I’ve discovered

I found a great website this week called Love Reading. It’s got loads of suggestions about what to read next etc, but the bit I really love is the Like for Like section – you enter the name of an author that you like and it comes up with other authors that it thinks you will like and lists all the books by them so you can have a browse through some you might not have thought of. I tested it with a few of my favourite authors and it works! It came up with some authors that I already know I like and also recommended some others that when I looked into them more I think I will really enjoy their books. I have already added quite a few new authors to my TBR list. One I’m particularly looking forward to is Graham Swift’s book Waterland (this was recommended to me because I love John Fowles).

Some great book blogs I’ve discovered this week too are:

Novel Insights

I love this blog. I really like the books reviewed – I think we have quite similar taste.

Farm Lane Books Blog

Another great find. There are lots of discussions going on here which are really interesting and also Jackie offers some great blogging advice and tips.

 

My name up in lights

I am going to be answering some questions on Bookworming in the 21st Century‘s blog this weekend in Kristen’s Sunday Spotlight. It feels like ages since I answered the questions so I can’t even remember what I wrote. This blog does weekly spotlights of other blogs which is great as you can find some real gems this way.

 

Meet the author

My next author interview is coming up on Monday 8th March. Susan Fletcher is the author of the fantastic Corrag which I reviewed in January and is due out in shops next week. I cannot rave about this book enough and the interview is really interesting so I hope you’ll stop by for that .

 

New at The Book Whisperer

I have two new posts series’ coming up shortly that I have been thinking about for a while and I will be doing the first post in each series within the next few weeks. One will be all about Yorkshire authors and books. There are so many great authors that were either born here or now live here and I will be showcasing books and authors from this region as well as doing some author interviews etc. There will be a few other surprises thrown in too.

The second will be a series of posts called Let’s Talk About…… and each time a new topic will be picked. The first one I am planning on doing will be The Victorians. There will be discussions about authors and books from the Brontes to Dickens and some of the lesser known books and links to other blogs / websites etc. I also plan on doing: historical fiction, YA fiction, chicklit, dystopia fiction, British authors, Great bookgroup reads, mysteries and thrillers, debut authors, books due out in 2010 and many more. I will do one post every few weeks (or at least every month) and then invite discussion, recommendations etc.

What do you think?

 

And finally…

What are everyones plans for the weekend? I have my inlaws coming to stay tonight (up from London). We are planning another lovely long hike tomorrow in the Yorkshire Dales again – it’s just the most stunning place and the weather is meant to be cold but sunny so it will be perfect. Then Sunday will be a slob-out day. I plan on staying horizontal on the sofa, coffee cup in one hand and book in the other. Bliss!

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Nighttime is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark March 4, 2010

Filed under: Comfort Reading,Crime/Mystery/Thriller,Mary Higgins Clark — The Book Whisperer @ 6:29 pm

What Amazon says:

“A high-powered Hollywood agent is found drowned in her swimming pool. Jane Sheridan, a former classmate of the deceased, believes this new death – the fifth from her graduate year – is related to the forthcoming twenty-year reunion of Stonecroft Academy. She is there to be honoured during a ceremony, but slowly realises someone is out to stop her. And when she recieves a mysterious, taunting fax about her daughter Lily – a daughter she secretly gave up for adoption twenty years before – Jean understands that whoever it is knows far more about her life than she first thought. With the deaths and the message haunting her, Jean attends the reunion – but events begin to spiral out of control. As she draws closer to the truth, Jean is unaware that a vicious killer is among the guests; a killer who works under the cover of darkness, and who will stop at nothing to complete his mission…”

 

What I thought:

You probably know by now that I am a huge Mary Higgins Clark fan. Her books are what I class as comfort mysteries; I can always rely on them for a quick, page-turning read and I have never been disappointed by one yet. This one was no different – to me it’s like snuggling up in a cosy blanket by the fire.

In this book, Jean Saunders attends a school reunion (2o years after graduating). She is on the honour list of ex-pupils who are now authors, actors etc. There is Jean herself, her old friend Laura and 5 guys she went to school with who are all now well-known in their own right. Before the reunion, however, Jean had started anonymous letters from someone about a daughter she gave up for adoption 20 years ago when her boydfriend was killed in a hit-and-run. Nobopdy, she belives, knew about the pregnancy, let alone the baby (whom she called Lily). The notes get more and more sinister and evetually threaten Lily’s life. While Jean is occupied with who could be sending these notes, someone else from the reunion has noticed that 4 out of the 6 girls who used to sit together at luch all those years ago, are now dead (in the order that they sat) and the only two left are Laura and Jean.

The killer in Nighttime is My Time is one of the former pupils who is on the honour role at the reunion, but we just don’t know which one. Any one of the five could be the perpetrator. The only thing that know about him is that he was teased at school and called “The Owl” which he now adopts as his murderous persona.

As per all of MHC’s books, there are plenty of suspects and red herrings to throw us off the scent and we don’t find out right until the end who The Owl is. With several murders, kidnappings, threatening letters all going on at the same time….it’s a race against the clock to stop the killer in his tracks before Laura and Jean (and Jean’s daughter) becoming his next victims.

Highly recommended as always for some good old-fashioned mystery story-telling. MHC is my hero!

See my other Mary Higgins Clark reviews here.

This book is #2 / 8 completed in the Thriller & Mystery challenge hosted at Book Chick City’s blog.

 

Waiting on Wednesday March 3, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 1:50 am

UK version

This weeks Waiting on Wednesday is Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman. Here is what Amazon  has to say:

 
“For two hundred years, painters, poets and musicians have come to the Catskill Mountain village of Arcadia Falls to escape the pressures of modern life and pursue their artistic visions, and Arcadia College was founded with a mission to nurture young artists and writers. When Meg Rosenthal gets an offer to teach at Arcadia College, it seems a godsend – an escape from a life that’s fallen apart. She hopes, too, that Arcadia Falls will be a place where she and her daughter Sally can find some peace and reconciliation. But even though Arcadia Falls proves to be even more beautiful then Meg imagined, it is hardly peaceful. Soon she begins to realize that the public story behind the school conceals deceit, betrayal, and perhaps even murder. As Meg struggles to reconcile the choices she’s made in her own life, she begins to fear that by coming to Arcadia Falls she’s put herself and her daughter in danger.”
 

US version

 
This book is available in the UK on 11th March and the US on 9th March. The picture above is for the UK version and the one to the right is the US version. At first I prefered the UK one but I think I prefer the US version now as I find it really intriguing and it makes me want to read to know more. Which one do you prefer?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. This event spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. Please visit Jill’s blog to find out what other book bloggers are waiting for.
 
 

Boof’s Blah Blah Blah’s March 1, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 12:26 pm
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It’s Monday! How did that happen? I’ve had a really lovely weekend. For the third weekend in a row we’ve been hiking – this week was in Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales. Went with my lovley husband and my parents and we spent about 5 hours walking over hills and through the dales and forests and by rivers. Places like that are my favourtie places in the world -  I love nothing better than complete solitude and quiet. Every time I walk through a Dale or a Moor I always swear that I’ve had a previous life living on one because every time I spot a solitary house (even if it’s crumbling away to nothing) I always say “That’s my house! I want to live there.”

Here is a photo of the Yorkshire Dales – these are from last weekend when we went to Malham (haven’t uplaoded the most recent ones yet). How lovely does it look here?

 

Yesterday we went to the cinema to see The Lovely Bones. I read the book about when it first came out (about 7 or 8 years ago) and really enjoyed it. The film was really well done and stayed faithfull to the book (what I can remember of it). The music was really atmospheric and worked brilliantly. Has anyone else seen this yet? What did you think? How did it compare to the book? I am going to do a post soon comparing books with their movie counterparts.

Onto books – I am still reading East Lynne. It is taking me so long to get through for some reason but I am just loving it so much that it feels like a real treat when I get the time to settle down and read a few chapters. I am really going to miss this book when I finally finish it.

What did you do this weekend?

 

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