The Book Whisperer

jottings, musings and recommendations of an incurable bookaholic

Dare you read it? September 30, 2010

Filed under: Horror,Paranormal,Spooky — The Book Whisperer @ 9:37 pm
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And so it begins…

It’s that time of year again. The evenings are drawing in, there’s a crisp wind starting to whip up around you. Autumn is here.

This is my favourite time of year; snuggling up in front of the fire, toasty slippers on my feet and warm drink in hand – the perfect time for a spooky book!

Throughout October – up until Halloween itslef – I will be doing a series of posts called “Dare you read it?”. I plan on reading spooky, gothic, scary and horror books. My mission, as well as the cosying with some old Victorian ghost stories I plan to read, is to find the book that scares me the most…. 

Your mission, should you choose to accept, is to join me.

 

  Mwahahahahahaha!

 

I will also be doing posts with authors, publisher and book bloggers alike to find out what their scariest ever book is. What sent Linwood Barclay and R J Ellory scuttling back under the covers? You’ll have to wait and see…….

 

 

Join me for a month of ghosts, ghools and thrills…..if you dare!

 

 

Mummy Whisperer reviews: By Fire, By Water by Mitchell Kaplan September 30, 2010

Filed under: Authors,Globe Trotting,Historical,Mitchell J Kaplan,Spain — The Book Whisperer @ 9:55 am
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A big welcome!

Please all welcome Mummy Whisperer to my blog for her first ever review!

Mummy W loves reading as much as I do; in fact she and Daddy W are entirely responsible for my love of books. I have such fond memories of them reading to me as a child and I love nothing better than meeting up with my Mum for a cup of coffee and a chat about what we’re reading and nipping into bookshops to top up our mounting collections.

Due to my mounting review copy pile, I have asked both my parents to pick anything that they think they may fancy from my shelves to help me out and this is the first book my Mum picked. This book was sent to me directly from the author and I have every intention of reading it myself too.

What Mummy Whisperer thought:

By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan is a very good read if you enjoy fiction based on historical fact.

Louis de Santángel, chancellor to King Ferdinand’s and Queen Isabel’s court, is from a family of ‘conversos’. His Jewish heritage makes him a target of the Chief Inquisitor of Aragon and he is implicated in his murder as he reconnects with his family’s Jewish faith. He meets and falls in love with Judith Midgal, a clever and enterprising Jewish woman and as his friend, Christopher Columbus has plans to discover “paradise” in the west, Louis de Santángel helps him at a time when love, faith, politics and torture of the Jews, Christians and Muslims is at its height in 15th century Spain.

Kaplan left me feeling that his research on the Spanish Inquisition  was sound and extensive. It took him six years to research and write. I really enjoyed this book!

 

Thank you to Mummy Whisperer for her first review here. Number two is coming up shortly.

 

 

 

Book Review: Dog Boy by Eva Hornung September 28, 2010

Filed under: Animals,Authors,Eva Hornung,Russia,Tear-jerkers — The Book Whisperer @ 8:18 pm

The Blurb:

“Four-year-old Romochka is left alone in a dark, empty Moscow apartment. After a few days, hunger drives him outside, where he sees a large, yellow dog loping past and follows her to her lair on the outskirts of the city. During the seasons that follow, Romochka changes from a boy into something far wilder. He learns to see in the dark, attack enemies with tooth and claw, and understand the strict pack code. But when he begins to hunt in the city, the world of human beings, it is only a matter of time before the authorities take an interest.”

 

(source: Amazon.com)

 

What I thought:

As soon as I saw this book sitting on a shelf in Waterstones I made a bee line straight for it. I am such a huge animal lover and I am a sucker for books with animals on the cover, in the title or narrated by them. Wolf Totem, Animal Farm, Black Beauty and Life of Pi all feature in my list of favourite books of all time.

Dog Boy is narrated by Ramochka, a four year old boy who lives with his mother and his latest “unlce” in a high-rise appartment block in Moscow. After several days of his mum not returning, seeing Unlce moving out all the furniture, and being left to fend for himself in freeing conditions and with no food, he finally ventures outside. Cold and hungry, Ramochka follows a large sandy coloured dog back to her lair. The dog becomes the only source of food,warmth and comfort that Ramochka has available to him and he begins to see the dog as his Mamochka. The puppies that Mamochka is already nursing become his siblings and they accept him into their fold immediately and unquestioningly. The two older siblings, however, take more convincing but eventually Ramochka becomes a permanent and invaluable member of their little family, all living together in the basement of a derilict church in the harshest of conditions. The longer the new family are together, the more Ramochka begins to forget his old life, and before long he is eating rats and other fresh kill that any one of the pack manage to bring home.

What I loved about this book was the real love and strength of the bond between human and animal. It was amazing to see how the pack of stray dogs veiw the world, through the eyes of a small boy. The story is alternately shocking, pitiful, heartbreaking, tender, joyful and fascinating. I fell in love, smiled, cried and hoped. To live with this group of animals for a few days was a privelidge and one I won’t forget easily.

A highly recommended read. This is firmly in the top few books I have read so far in 2010. Wondeful, captivating, a must-read.

 

 

I’m going to Whitby with my Dracula book! September 24, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 6:57 am
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Whitby Abbey

“You may go anywhere you wish in the castle, except where the doors are locked, where of course you will not wish to go.” 

 

By pure coincidence I am going to be in Whitby this weekend and I am still reading Dracula.

If you’ve never been to Whitby, it’s a little seaside town on the east coast in Yorkshire (about an hour and a half from my house). It has a harbour, some cute little streets (with several lovely book shops!) and overlooking the whole town is the Abbey which stands proudly on top of the cliff at the top of the steepest (and most knackering) steps up.

“We are all drifting reefwards now, and faith is our only anchor.”

In the book Dracula, one of my favourite parts is when a freak storm descends on Whitby and a strange and seemingly abandonded ship manages to stear its way into the harbour with no crew on board. Once the ship docks, a large lone wolf jumps off and runs towards the Abbey and all the townsfolk find on board the ship is the captain who is dead and tied to his wheel and the ships log that details the mysterious and frightening things that have happened on board. Fabulous!

“The man was simply fastened by his hands, tied one over the other, to a spoke of the wheel. Between the inner hand and the wood was a crucifix…”

The Demeter arriving in Whitby

I am enjoying this book so much and I’m thrilled that I can take it with me to Whitby this weekend; the town will take on a whole new meaning now.

Mwahahahahaaaa

Have a great weekend everyone.

 

A Banquet of Books September 23, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 7:52 pm
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"Read, flip pages and be merry!"

 

I’t been quite some time since I last posted about my new arrivals so once I had collected all my books from their new homes (my shelves) for their first photographic outing I looked down and found myself surrounded what can only be described as a veritable banquet of books. Lovely!

Books sent to me by publishers or authors

Thank you to Oxford University Press, Harper, Haus Publishing, Chatto & Windus, Jonathan Cape, Orion, Little, Brown and Amazon Vine:

 

Trick of the Dark – Val McDermid (I asked for this and I am so excited about reading it!)

London Labour & The London Poor by Henry Mayhew (had never heard of this but it looks fantastic!)

The Kill Call by Stephen Booth (never read anything by him before but it’s a crime series set in the Peaks which I love so I’m curious)

The Secret Life of Saeed the Pessoptimist by Emile Habiby (I love the look of this book as it is set in Palestine/Israel which is dear to my heart having lived there)

Red Wolf by Liza Marklund (loving my Scandanavian crime and this is supposed to be a good one)

February by Lisa Moore (longlisted for the booker prize)

C by Tom McCarthy (shortlisted for the booker prize)

The Reversal by Michael Connelly (an ARC of this book due out next month)

Won in competitions

The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill

Midnight Fugue by Reginal Hill

Killing the Lawyers by Reginald Hill

Born Guilty by Reginald Hill

The Group by Mary McCarthy (I got this in a blogger swap hosted at Unputdownables and will be reading and reviewing shortly – heard good things about this)

Small Island by Andrea Levy (won from Kim at Reading Matters – thanks Kim!)

Moby Dick by Herman Melville (won all the next 3 on the Oxford University Press Twitter comp)

Billy Bud, Sailor and Selected Tales by Herman Melville

The Confidence Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville

Swapped through readitswapit.com or found for pennies in second hand shops

Evelina by Frances Burney (love the cover and love my Vic lit!)

Mysteries by Knut Hamsun (Norwegian author from the Victorian era who I have been dying to read)

Name to a Face by Robert Goddard (couldn’t get enough of his books in the 90′s – so full of twists and turns – looking forward to getting reaquainted)

Blind to the Bones by Stephen Booth

A Cotswold Mystery by Rebecca Tope (looking forward to this cosy mystery)

Ferney by James Long (this was recommended to me as a great book for discussion)

The Chalet Apprentice by Nicolas Le Floch (French and a mystery – what’t not to love?)

Fima by Amos Oz (really looking forward to this Israeli author)

The Indian Trilogy by Lynne Reid Banks

The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch

The Prestige by Christopher Priest

Books I couldn’t resist whatever the price

Gothic Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell (spooooooky! Perfect for Halloween reading)

The Lady with the Little Dog and Other Stories by Anton Checkov

The Monk by Matthew Lewis (read some great reviews of this gothic classic recenlty and dying to get stuck in)

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott (this looks like such fun)

Helen by Maria Edgeworth (never heard of this author but she was apparantly more popular than Jane Austen in her day)

Jezabel by Irene Nemirovsky

Because of Pity by Stefan Zweig (read a review that made me HAVE to buy this!)

The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths (I cannot WAIT to read this! Second in the series and loved the first one)

Changeless by Gail Carriger (second in this steampunk series and I just adored the first one)

The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg (another Scandanavian crime book: what can I say? I can’t resist them.)

The Reunion by Simone van der Vlugt (psychological thriller translated from Dutch – seen some great reviews on this)

Sister by Rosamund Lupton (part of Richard & Judy’s new bookclub and looks intruiging)

 

Have you got or read any of these? Any favourites among them?

 

 

 

Boof’s Blah Blah Blah’s September 20, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 8:36 am
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It’s Monday…

which normally means back to work, but as I am still on holiday until my new job starts I am going for a walk in the Pennines today with my parents. We’ll be getting the train there (time for reading) and also, there are several coffee pit-stops planned along the way (time for more reading) so I’m looking forward to a nice day out in the fresh air. Boo hiss to all of you who are on your way to work!

 

 

I’m reading…

Well firstly, I have to say that a couple of days ago I finished Dog Boy by Eva Hornung and it has made it on to my current list of best books of 2010. I LOVED it! My review will be up next week sometime so please look out for that.

 

I started reading Dracula by Bram Stoker this weekend and I am just loving it so far. The first few chapters were so spooky and eerie and brilliantly written. I am currently at the part where the ship the Demeter has just sailed into Whitby Harbour (with no crew) and they have found the captains log book….dun dun duuuuuuunnnnnn!!! Has anyone else read it? I can’t wait to get stuck in and read some more.

 

 

Dare you read it?

In October, the month of Halloween when the nights draw in, I plan on doing some posts about spooky or scary books that I am either going to read shortly or review some that I have read in the past but haven’t got round to reviewing on my blog yet. Books that are perfect for those chilly evenings where all we want to do is curl up infront of the fire with a good (spooky) book. I will call the post “Dare you read it?”

What do you think?

 

  BBAW

I loved the BBAW, did you? I discovered some fantastic new blogs that were  completely new to me and enjoy similar books to me so I have spent many a happy hour trawling through reviews and picking up recommendations to add to Mt.TBR.

I didn’t do the final post about my blogging plans for this year on Friday as I wasn’t sure I had much to say as I don’t plan on making any big changes to my blog just yet. However, I have made one resolution and this is to read more books off my own personal TBR pile as I do sometimes feel pressured with reading review copies. The dilemma is, though, that I love receiving them in the post (it’s like Christmas every day I get one – I can’t smile wide enough!), but sometimes they look at me from the shelves and make me feel guilty everytime I walk past them. It’s so nice to just be able to pick up a book off my shelf that I haven’t read yet (i.e. Dracula) that I haven’t got round to reading yet but really fancy picking up. Do you have this problem too? I swear I will need to live to be 500 years old to fit in all the books I want to!

 

Have a great week and happy reading :)

 

 

 

Book Review: Daddy’s Little Girls by Mary Higgins Clark September 18, 2010

Filed under: Authors,Comfort Reading,Crime/Mystery/Thriller,Mary Higgins Clark — The Book Whisperer @ 10:09 am
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The Blurb

“At just seven years old, Ellie Cavanaugh lost her sister Andrea to a brutal murderer. It was her testimony that put Robson Westerfield away, but now, twenty-two years on, he is about to be released. Ellie, now a writer and investigative reporter, senses trouble and travels to her hometown just as Westerfield arrives and begins a campaign to prove his innocence. Ellie still suspects him, as does her estranged father, and both are determined to thwart his attempts. But someone has other ideas…Someone who is picking up where Westerfield left off, commiting other dangerous acts that send Ellie spiralling into a whirlwind of secrets, lies and deceit. Can she uncover the truth before a desperate killer sets his sights on her? As events reach a head, Ellie realises she might be the only person who can seek vengenance for the past…”

(source: Amazon.com)

What I thought

I love Mary Higgins Clark! You know that – I rave about her every chance I get :)

In Daddy’s Little Girl, the book is narrated by Ellie Kavanagh who, as a 7 year old, found her sister Andrea’s murdered body in a hide-out in a neighbouring property. Twenty-two years later, Andrea’s convicted killer (her boyfriend Rob Westerfield) is about to be let out of prison based on some fresh evidence that casts doubt on his guilt and Ellie is determined that he should be put back behind bars. As Ellie hunts for clues and new witnesses that will prove what she always believed – that Rob did kill Andrea – she finds her own life in danger the deeper she delves.

I have to admit, that despite still loving this book (I love all her books) this is probably my least favourite out of all the ones I have read – about 13 or 14, I believe. I can’t really put my finger on why although if I was to take a guess it would be that it was pretty obvious who the murderer was right from the start, despite several attempted red herrings. There wasn’t much guess work or suspense involved. Having said that, as Ellie uncovers more and more evidence the plot picks up real pace and there are the usual cliffhangers and race-against-time’s that are the blueprint to MHC’s novels.

In summary, I really enjoyed this – as I do all her books – but it just wasn’t one of my favourites.

 

I read this book as part of the Queen of Suspence hosted at Tea Time with Marce (2/6)

and also as part of the R.I.P. V challenge (2/4)

 

 

 

Book Review: The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell September 16, 2010

Filed under: Alden Bell,Authors,Dystopia,SciFi / Fantasy — The Book Whisperer @ 9:13 pm
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The Blurb

“God is a slick god. Temple knows. She knows because of all the crackerjack miracles still to be seen on this ruined globe… 

Older than her years and completely alone, Temple is just trying to live one day at a time in a post-apocalyptic world, where the undead roam endlessly, and the remnant of mankind who have survived, at times, seem to retain little humanity themselves.

This is the world she was born into. Temple has known nothing else. Her journey takes her to far-flung places, to people struggling to maintain some semblance of civilization – and to those who have created a new world order for themselves.

When she comes across the helpless Maury, she attempts to set one thing right, if she can just get him back to his family in Texas then maybe it will bring redemption for some of the terrible things she’s done in her past. Because Temple has had to fight to survive, has done things that she’s not proud of and, along the road, she’s made enemies.

Now one vengeful man is determined that, in a world gone mad, killing her is the one thing that makes sense…”

(source: Amazon.com)

 

  What I thought

This isn’t normally the sort of book that I would pick up. Although, in recent years, I have read and really enjoyed a number of post-apocolyptic novels, I was initially somewhat put off this book by the promise of zombies. Then I read that I it had elements of McCarthys The Road (which I LOVED!) and Matheson’s I am Legend (which I expected to hate when given it to read for a bookclub, but actually really enjoyed).

The book started really well. Temple is 16, alone and kick-ass. She has spent the last few weeks on an island off the Florida coast catching and eating fish and spending her days looking out over the water to make sure she remains alone. Life as we know it is hinted at with details like Temple finding a stash of magazines (from before) which have glossy pictures of a life she has never known. The only thing that upsets Temple’s solitary existance is coming across a body on the beach. The body, as she suspected, is one of the undead (or Slugs as she calls them): it looks like the Slug has got wind of her on the island and tried to swim over but been dashed on the rocks and left for dead. Temple knows that it’s only a matter of time before more follow and she picks up her handful of belongings and makes her way back to the mainland to set off north and on to the next place.

The world that Temple inhabits is a mixture of humans (some nomads and some who have set up communities in the wake of whatever happened) and zombies who roam the the land looking for flesh to feed on. Temple encounters several people along the way: some who help her and some who are after her. Temple does whatever she has to to survive, and boy does she. She has never known a different world and it is clear early on that her parents weren’t around for very long so she has had to cope for herself all her life. There are scenes of violence as Temple is ruthless in her desire to stay alive, but this isn’t just a book about destruction and desolation; it’s also about human emotion. Temple picks up a mute man along the way (whom she calls “Dummy”) and despite her thinking that she can cast him off onto someone else, she becomes strangely attached and realises that she does have it in her to help and be kind (which is something unfamiliar to her).

The narrative in this book is clean and uncluttered and exactly what I loved about The Road. I think it will and can be enjoyed by those who love fantasy type fiction, but also those (like me) for whom this isn’t their normal genre. There was only one part that bothered me, and that was in the middle when Temple meets a group of people called “The Inheritors of the Earth”: I just didn’t get wht they were in it; it seemed unecessary to me and made what seemed a plausible storyline (even with the zombies which I could accept) into something that instantly made me snap back to reality and disbelieve again.

In summary, I enjoyed this book and would  recommend to anyone who likes post-apocolyptic novels and fantasy.

 (I reveived my copy of this book from Amazon Vine)

Have you read any post-apocolyptic books? What do you think of them?

  This book is 1/4 in the RIP V Challenge

 

 

 

BBAW: Forgotten Treasure September 16, 2010

Filed under: Authors,Ellen Wood,Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 8:56 am
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Todays Book Blogger Appreciation Week theme is “forgotten treasures” and is aimed at bringing attention to books that we wish would get more exposure.

I have thought long and hard about this because I could quite happily have showcased at least 5 books I wish were read more widely read but after much deliberation I have decided to go with a good old Victorian sensation novel:

East Lynne by Ellen Wood

I read this book about 6 months ago and it has instantly become one of my all-time favourites. I read it alongside other books and it actually took me about 3 weeks to finish but that was partly because I wanted to savour every word. Whenever I came back to this book, I felt like I was settling down to watch my favourite soap opera: there was murder, betrayal, divorce, disguises and death and all this set among a backdrop of stately homes and horse-drawn-carriages. What’s not to love? When the novel was first published in the 1800′s, it was serialised in a weekly newspaper. How I would have waited with baited breath for each new edition to hit the news- stands!

 

 

You can read my full review of East Lynne here to find out more about the plot but in summary I loved 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”!!!

If you’ve never read any Victorian sensational novels before then this is a great place to start – it’s fun, engaging and really easy and accessable to read so don’t be put off by the fact that it’s a Victorian classic if the likes of Hardy and Eliot don’t float your boat.

I wish this book was better known – it really is a cracker!

 

Have you read any Victorian sensational books? Which ones are your favourites? Have I tempted you to give this one a go? 

 

 

BBAW: Unexpected Treasure September 15, 2010

Filed under: Authors,Marghanita Laski — The Book Whisperer @ 9:35 am
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Today’s Book Bolgger Appreciation Week topic is “An unexpected Treasure”: a book or genre that we have discovered via another blogger.

My discovery: Marghanita Laski

I have only been blogging for nine months but already I have found some real gems of books thanks to other blogs but as I am only allowed to pick one then I am going for the author Marghanita Laski.

I first heard of her about 6 months ago on Polly’s Novel Insights blog. In her review of The Victorian Chaise-longue, Polly mentioned that the book had a feel of Rosemary’s Baby to it and that was a book that I read in the early 90′s and LOVED! Also, I am a huge fan of Victorian literature and books set in the Victorian era so I suspected that I was on to a winner with this book, even thought I had never heard of the author. I ordered a battered old copy from Amazon and found myself reading the whole thing in practically one sitting once it had arrived.

Here is my review of The Victorian Chaise-Longue. In brief it is the story of a woman who is ill and being cared for at home and she is moved to an old victofian chaise-longue that she has picked up in an antique shop so that she can sit by the window. She falls asleep and when she wakes up she is still on the chaise-longue but in a different room, in a different time. She is being cared for by her sister who is dressed in long victorian attire and the more she protests that she doesn’t belong here, the more they think she is losing her mind.

battered and scuffed but much loved

Not long after I read The Victorian Chaise-Longue I discovered that Persophone Books have reprinted some of Laski’s other books and after reading several reviews of Little Boy Lost, ordered myself a brand spanking new edition of the book and settled down to read.

Shiny new copy

My review of Little Boy Lost can be read here. In brief, a man is at home with his family in England one Christmas just after WW2 and there is a knock at the door. A French man has tracked him down and claims that the son he thought was dead may actually still be alive. The little boy would now be 5 years old and thus begins a treck across Paris and a little village in northern France to find the boy. But is the boy really his?

I love discovering a new author and then tracking down all their other books. There are still a couple of others that I have yet to read so I have those to look forward to.

Have you read anything by Laski? Have you ever discovered a new author and then gone on to read everything they have written?

 

 

Book Review: The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson September 14, 2010

Filed under: Authors,Chick Lit,Dorothy Koomson,Summer Reads — The Book Whisperer @ 5:39 am

The Blurb:

“As teenagers, Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe were the only witnesses to a tragic event. Amid heated public debate, the two seemingly glamorous teens were dubbed ‘The Ice Cream Girls’ by the press and were dealt with by the courts. Years later, having led very different lives, Poppy is keen to set the record straight about what really happened, while Serena wants no one in her present to find out about her past. But some secrets will not stay buried – and if theirs is revealed, everything will become a living hell all over again …Gripping, thought-provoking and heart-warming, The Ice Cream Girls will make you wonder if you can ever truly know the people you love.”

(source: Amazon)

 

What I thought:

Despite the appearance of the cover (which although it didn’t put me off, I am convinced that it will disuade others from even picking it up to read the blurb on the back) this is more pyschological thriller than chicklit.

The Ice Cream Girls has two narrators: Serena Gorringe and Poppy Carlisle. The book starts with a newspaper clipping reporting the story of the trial of two teenage girls accused of the murder of history teacher who is reported to have been the victim of a jealous school girl crush and tortured before the final stab that killed him. The paper shows a photo of Serena and Poppy wearing bikinis on a beach and eating ice cream which is how they came to be dubbed The Ice Cream Girls by the press. What the paper doesn’t report is that the two girls were never best friends; in fact they hardly knew each other, and that they were the victims, not the teacher.

Over twenty years later, Poppy Carlisle is released from prison and she vows to clear her name but in order to do that she must get Serena to confess. Serena is happily married with two children and the last thing she wants is the past raking up, especially as she believes that the right person went to jail.

The book alternates between the two girls and also between time periods so that the reader learns only snippets of information at a time, and is kept guessing. This format works really well as it kept me turning the pages and guessing what had happened to the girls to bring them to that fateful day back in 1989.

I have to say one last thing about the names of Serena and her sisters, Faye and Medina but only because I have seen so many reviews point this out – I am about to show my age now ;) In the book, when talking to each other, the three sisters call each other Sez, Fez and Mez, which hasn’t gone down well with some reviewers. However, growing up in the 80′s I can report that name abreviations of this kind were pretty much the norm in the UK at that time. School playgrounds were littered with Caz, Daz, Baz, Shaz and Maz’s. It’s more that likely that Serena and her sisters would have called each other by these names back then.

Anyhoooo…

I read this book on holiday and I have to say that it was a perfect sunlounger read: it was pacey, engaging and entertaining. Recommended.

 

 

BBAW: The first book blog I discovered September 13, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 9:30 am
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In celebration of all things book-bloggish I have decided to join in the festivities and celebrate some of the wonderful blogs I have discovered since joining this community 9 months ago.

When I first started blogging I had absolutely NO idea that there were so many other book blogs out there – I was amazed and astounded by the shere number and the passion of the people who wrote them. It was like a whole new world opening up to me and the best thing – all these people love books just as much as I do. Heaven.

I honestly can’t remember the first blog that I found so I have decided to go with one of the first ones I discovered and in this case it is a blog that I still follow (I get email updates when new posts come out). That blog is Book Jouney. Sheila’s blog grabbed my attention by being so colourful and having so much going on. Another thing I noticed was the huge number of comments on each of her posts – and she replied to every single one of them. It was clear early on how popular Sheila was, and having followed her blog for the last 9 months now, it is obvious why – she is so warm and welcoming as well as writing brilliant posts. Sheila does a post called Morning Meanderings every day where she sips her morning coffee and talks about what’s she’s up to and what bookish things are on the horizon. I love that she has a very eclectic taste in books too, so there is something for everyone. Sheila is also one of the most amazing people I have come across – she is regulalry out doing charity bike rides and helping at fund-raising events, yet she works full time, has two sons, reads and blogs so much and yet she still pops over and comments on other peoples blogs too -I often find comments on my reviews and I know she does the same on so many others too. I think she might secretly be Wonder Woman ;)

As you can tell, I am a big fan of Sheila – please pop over and check out her blog – it’s great and you can be sure of a very warm welcome.

 

 

Boof’s Blah Blah Blah’s September 11, 2010

Filed under: Crime/Mystery/Thriller,Mary Higgins Clark — The Book Whisperer @ 5:59 pm
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On the slopes

Hope you’re all having a great weekend? Mr Whisperer have been snowboarding at the slopes in Xscape in Castleford – just for the hell of it.  Yowzer – it hurts! Two hours of snowboarding, I reckon, is the equivalent of doing at least 1000 squats! I think I used every muscle in my legs and backside (including some I didn’t even know I had) just to stand up on the damn thing. What fun though :) Once we actually managed to stay upright for more than a few seconds it was fun going down the slopes (expecially when Mr Whisperer did the best comdey fall ever). We think we might have a go at skiing next and see what that’s like. Have you ever done snowboarding? What did you think?

This is EXACTLY what I looked like on the slopes ;)

 

  Mary Higgins Clark challenge

Oh my, I am loving this challenge. Anyone who has followed my blog for any length of time will know what a huge fan of Mary Higgins Clark I am! I discovered her books last year by accident and I can’t get enough of them now – they are my ultimate comfort reads. So imagine how thrilled I was to discover that Marce from Tea Time with Marce has started “The Queen of Suspense” challenge. The challenge lasts for a year and I am opting for reading 6 of her books: considering that I read one on holiday last week and I am currently reading another I’m off to a pretty good start. Please check out Marce’s blog if you want to join in with me.

 

  Meet the Whisperer family

A few weeks ago whilste in the middle of a panic attack about how many review copies I had on my shelves, I had a brainwave: My parents love books; I have loads of unread books; they can help me read and review them. Genius! Mummy and Daddy Whisperer will making their debut in the next few weeks.

And also, I am thrilled to be introducing one of the biggest loves of my life – my gorgoues 7 year old niece, Sophie Whisperer. Sophie, to my immense joy, is a book lover too:  when she was up in Yorkshire a few weeks ago staying with us, I was giving her a goodnight kiss and cuddle and she said “we’re like twins, you and me; we both like books, we both like cats and we both wear glasses”. Exactly! ;) Sophie will be reviewing some of her favourite books and I can’t wait to see her reviews.

 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Have you got up to anything exciting or just having a chilling one?

 

 

 

Book Review: Faithful Place by Tana French September 10, 2010

Filed under: Authors,Crime/Mystery/Thriller,Tana French — The Book Whisperer @ 3:18 pm

The Blurb:

“The course of Frank Mackey’s life was set by one defining moment when he was nineteen. The moment his girlfriend, Rosie Daly, failed to turn up for their rendezvous in Faithful Place, failed to run away with him to London as they had planned. Frank never heard from her again. Twenty years on, Frank is still in Dublin, working as an undercover cop. He’s cut all ties with his dysfunctional family. Until his sister calls to say that Rosie’s suitcase has been found. Frank embarks on a journey into his past that demands he reevaluate everything he believes to be true.”

(Source: Amazon)

What I thought:

Having recently read and loved The Likeness, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Faithful Place. I saved it to take on holiday with me as I just knew that I would be in for a treat and wanted something to look forward to round the pool. Yay me, I was right!

Frank Mackey works in the Undercover squad in Dublin’s police force. He is hard-working, ruthless and comes with the baggage of an ex-wife, and child whom he adores and a highly dysfunctional family that he hasn’t seen for over 20 years. Frank made an appearance in The Likness as Cassie’s boss in her undercover operation, but in Faithful Place he take centre stage.

The book opens with Frank waiting outside number 16 Faithful Place (the house at the end of the street he grew up in), at midnight, for his childhood sweetheart, Rosie. They have arranged to meet there, unbeknown to their two families, and already have ferry tickets booked for their new life in England. By 6am Frank knows that Rosie won’t show and he leaves Faithful Place and his family never to return until a phonecall from his sister shakes his comfortable existance and turns everything he thought he knew on its head. Rosie (the girl he thought had gone to England without him) may not have left him afterall: her suitcase has been found behind the fireplace in number 16, undisturbed since that night.

Frank is flung, reluctantly, back into the (un)welcoming arms of his family, which only serves to convince him that he was right to leave all those years ago. French has beautifully captured family dysfunction at its craziest and I read this book with the uncomfortable feeling of mild claustrophobia. Something that she also did extremely well was the dialogue: normally if authors write in partcularly broad accents, I can get irritated by it but in Faithful Place I actually found myself reading the whole thing with Irish accents in my head which felt so right and is praise indeed as that is one of my major pet peeves about books when done badly.

If I am to sum up this book as a work of fiction, not genre, then I could offer many superlatives to describe my thoughts of the narrative, sence of time and place etc. French has perfectly captured the dynamics of a family and a street that I am sure as hell glad I didn’t grow up in. The cast is three-dimensional, the narrative pitch-perfect and it was a joy to read.

If I was to sum up this book as a work of crime fiction, there I struggle slightly. Despite the blurb being about the discovery of a 20 year old suitcase and the re-examining of everything that people held true, it is not really a crime fiction book in my opinion. The front cover tells us of bodies buried in Faithful Place which is misleading: there is one body but that’s it. Although the plot does try to centre around this discovery, for me it never really felt gripping enough to be a crime thriller: there were no cliff-hangers and very little to guess at.

Having said that, I would still highly recommend this book. It is fantastically written and French certainly has a great ear for dialogue and eye for those details that make you empathise with the characters, likeable or not. A great read!

 

Have you read this yet? Have you read anything else by Tana French? What do you think to her books? I am a huge fan.

 

(This book was sent to me by Hodder & Stroughton – thank you!)

 

 

Book Review: Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon September 9, 2010

Filed under: Chick Lit,Comfort Reading,Paige Toon — The Book Whisperer @ 8:32 pm

The Blurb:

“‘Will you marry me?’ I think of you, then. I think of you every day. But usually in the quietest part of the morning, or the darkest part of the night. Not when my boyfriend of two years has just proposed. I look up at Richard with his hopeful eyes. ‘Lily?’ he prompts. It’s been ten years, but it feels like only yesterday that you left. How can I say yes to Richard with all my heart when most of it has always belonged to you? I take a deep breath and will myself to speak…Ten years ago when Lily was just sixteen, she fell in love with someone she really shouldn’t have fallen in love with. Now, living in Sydney and engaged to another man, she can’t forget the one that got away. Then her past comes back to haunt her, and she has to make a decision that will break her heart – and the heart of at least one of the men who love her.”

(source: Amazon)

What I thought:

This is the first of my recent holiday reads – the perfect book for chilling round the pool with.

Pictures of Lily is a book in two parts, the first of these set 10 years ago when 16 year old Lily is dragged reluctantly to Adelaide in Australia with her mum who has met someone on the internet. Lily has no intention of trying to settle in until she goes to do some voluntary work at the local animal sanctuary where her mum’s boyfriend works. Lily loves animals and soon finds herself head over heels with both the animals and also the rather hunky Ben who also works there; the only snag is that he is 28 and about to get married.

Fast forward ten years, Lily is living in Sidney with her boyfriend Richard, and he has just proposed to her. Depsite being happy and Richard being wonderful, she has never quite got over Ben, the first love of her life and when she suddently finds him in her life again, Lily has a big decision to make.

Paige Toon is the reason I fell in love with chicklit a few years ago. I used to be a bit of a snob when it came to anything with a pastel cover and would wrinkle my nose at anything on a supermarket shelf. I honestly don’t even know what made me pick up Toon’s debut book Lucy in the Sky, but something compelled me to buy it and, despite my reservations, I loved it! That was the book that started my love affair with chicklit and I am now LOUD AND PROUD! ;) You honestly can’t beat some feel-good fluff when your brain is yelling for a respite from literary fiction; it’s such a tonic.

What I loved about Pictures of Lily was that some of the characters from Lucy in the Sky turned up in this too and it was lovely to catch up with them. And there was a definite “awww” factor at the end of this one.

 

Do you read any chicklit? If not, why not? I’m curious as I was a self-confessed snob and now I am converted.

(I recieved my copy of this book from Simon and Scuster – Thanks Ally!)

 

 

Goodbye sun, hello rain September 8, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 8:36 am
Tags:

Blue Lagoon at Olu Deniz, Turkey

Hello everyone

I’m back from the most wonderful week in Olu Deniz in Turkey. I landed back in the UK at 4.20am yesterday and was greeted by the rain and cold :(

This is the third time that Mr Whisperer and I have been to this area of Turkey as we have always had such a great time there. Guaranteed sun, great food (and lots of it!), beautiful scenery and amazing places to explore.

 

The Intrepid Explorers

Whenever we go on holiday we like to go off exploring and finding new places. We have already explored a lot of the coast around Olu Deniz on previous holidays when we hired cars so this time we decided to hire quad bikes and head to the hills.

The mean machine

It was the BEST thing we did – it’s the most amazing feeling to feel the wind rushing by as we hared down country roads surrounded by pine forrests and views of the coast. We found some secluded beaches where we stopped for a drink and a couple of hours of reading and swimming in the sea before getting back on the bike and seeing where we would end up next.

Tucked away and a wonderful respite

We visited a village called Kayakoy which is now a ghost town of about 500 houses on a hillside. It was inhabited by Greeks until the population exchange after the Greco-Turkish war, when in 1922 the entire population fled and the village has remained abandonded ever since. It’s so eery to see all these hundreds of houses and churches and imagine how this was once a thriving community of people living and trading. Along the main road, a handful of restaurants and cafes and the odd hotel has sprung up to cater for tourists but it still keeps its quiet and peaceful ambiance and made a lovely stop off for us on our quad tour.

Kayakoy, the ghost town

And of course, what is a holiday without books? I managed to get through four books (either round the hotel pool or on our little stops along the way).

Chilling with my book on a pit stop at a beach

 

  One week, four books

I love reading on holiday – OK, I love reading anytime but there is nothing like lying round a pool with the sun beating down, only laying my book down to dive into the pool or take a cheeky snooze. Bliss.

The books I read were:

Faithful Place by Tana French

The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson

Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon

Daddy's Little Girl by Mary Higgins Clark

Reviews for all four will be coming up shortly.

  Mr Whisperer reads…

Miracle of all miracles has happended….Mr Whisperer read two books this holiday!

 Who is this man and what has he done with my husband?

I persuaded him that he would enjoy The Hunger Games series and I was right. He ripped through the first two books and loved them. I had to laugh several times when I heard the the famous words “just let me finish this chapter…” as that is one of my own catch phrases. In fact, several times when I was trying to get his attention and I was met by a zombie-like stare made me feel like I was looking in a mirror.

Mr Whisperer will be making his debut on my blog in the coming weeks when he writes his very own reviews of The Hunger Games series. I can’t wait to see what he writes as we enjoyed some really good conversations about books and styles and plot etc when he was reading these, and he noticed some things that I didn’t which I found really interesting.

  Back to reality

I hope you have all had great weeks and read some good books. I will by stopping by your blogs when I can in the next week to catch up :)

In the meantime, here is a picture of what the sky looks like where I am today :(

Rain, drizzle and grey skies

 

 

 

 

 
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