The Book Whisperer

jottings, musings and recommendations of an incurable bookaholic

Blogging plans for 2012 December 30, 2011

Filed under: Agatha Christie,Authors,Charles Dickens,Charlotte Bronte,Classics,Cormac McCarthy,Daphne du Maurier,Edith Wharton,Elizabeth Gaskell,France,French,George Orwell,Guy de Maupassant,Jose Saramago,Margaret Atwood,Margaret Mitchell,Mary Elizabeth Braddon,Sarah Waters,The Victorians,Uncategorized,Wilkie Collins — The Book Whisperer @ 2:11 pm
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I have noticed something…

…I am rubbish at making plans. OK, not strictly true – I am great a making plans, just rubbish at sticking to them.

After a very murderous 2011, I have an urge for something a little gentler right now and I plan to raid my own shelves in 2012 and read some of what I actually own. This year I have had the absolute best fun reading about serial killers and detectives and crime fiction was all I craved for a long time: I will still be reading crime fic in 2012 as it is one of my favourite genres but at the moment I am craving books that have been sat on my shelves and whispering my name for years.

So, knowing full well that these best-laid plans will fall by the way-side by around mid January, let’s have a little fun pretending for now:

 

  Plan #1 – The Victorians

I am dying to get back to the Victorian classics and have read Little Women and Oscar Wilde’s Complete Short Fiction over Christmas. These are also some authors that I would like to read more of in the new year.

Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre and Villette are two of my favourite books of all time and so this year I’d like to read Shirley.

Thomas Hardy

I have only read Tess of the D’Urbervilles and think it’s about time I read some more. I am thinking The Mayor of Casterbridge and Jude the Obscure first.

Charles Dickens

This Master of the Tome has always been slightly daunting to me (despite me loving Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol) but this year I am determined to read at least one more of his and on my hit list are David Copperfield, Oliver Twist and The Old Curiosity Shop.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon

I absolutely loved Lady Audley’s Secret and have heard great things about Aurora Floyd so that will be next. I just love Victorian sensational novels.

Elizabeth Gaskell

I loved North and South and my cousin bought me a copy of Wives and Daughters for Christmas which I have heard great things about.

Wilkie Collins

I have only read The Woman in White so it is high time I picked up more of Collins’ work and next up are Moonstone and Armadale.

 

 

  Plan #2 – The French

I love reading books set in France or by French authors. At the end of February I am going to Paris for 4 days so I plan to read some Paris-based books before I go to get me in the mood:

Emile Zola

I have only read Thérèse Raquin and I am about ¼ of the way through Germinal but I would also like to read The Belly of Paris or The Ladies Paradise this year.

Victor Hugo

I am thinking about joining in the year-long read-a-long of this book, hosted by Kate at Kate’s Library as I have wanted to read it for years and it does seem like a good way to do this, but like I said, I am crap at sticking to plans so let’s see…

Two other authors I would like to read are Ernest Hemingways’ A Moveable Feast and George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London and some shorter stories by Guy de Maupassant.

 

 

  Plan #3 – Authors I want to read more of

I have a habit that goes like this: I read a book by an author, I love it, I buy a tonne of other books by that same author, they sit on my shelves waiting to be picked up.

So, with that in mind, plan #3 entails taking said books down from said shelves, dusting them off and actually reading them. Authors include:

Edith Wharton

Daphne du Maurier

Margaret Atwood

Sarah Waters

John Steinbeck

Cormack McCarthy

Agatha Christie

Jose Saramago

 

 

  Plan #4 – Authors I want to read for the very first time

I also have a habit of buying books by authors I think I should be reading but never get round to. Yes, I’m looking at you

Doris Lessing

Ernest Hemingway

China Melville

Amoz Oz

 

 

  Plan #5 – Books I have waited to read for far too long

There are certain books that have been on my wishlist for reading for so long that I almost cringe out of guilt when I hear them mentioned. Fortunately, two of them are being read this year in my on-line book club: Gone with the Wind and The Grapes of Wrath. Others that look at me longingly from my shelves are: Shantaram, Shogun and My Antonia.

 

 

  Plan #6 – Review Copies

I successfully managed to avoid the great publisher/blogger debate that was doing the rounds last month, and I still intend to. What I will say is that when an unexpected (or expected) package lands on my doormat I still get that feeling like it’s my birthday and Christmas rolled into one. There is not much more exciting than ripping the packaging off something book-shaped. Having said that, I do regularly get overwhelmed with the number of books that drop through my letterbox and my guilt at not reading them all still hounds me, but this year I have decided that I want to concentrate more on the books I already have rather than spending the majority of my reading time on proof copies. It’s a tough one really as despite the fact that  a) I don’t get the time to read them all and b) abandom some pretty quickly, two of the unsolicited copies that arrived at my house this year (and to be honest, I may not have picked up myself in a shop) ended up on my top 10 of 2011 list.

So, there are my current plans for 2012. This may change. In fact, this probably will change. Afterall, when something new and shiny lands on the doormat, what’s a girl to do? ;)

 

 

  Do you have blogging plans for 2012?

 

 

 

Merry Christmas to you all! December 24, 2011

Filed under: Christmas — The Book Whisperer @ 3:15 pm
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Christmas is here…

…and tonight Santa will  be doing his rounds and dropping off those bundles of gifts and leaving them under the tree for us to find on Christmas morning (“please let them be book-shaped, please let them be book-shaped”).

On this most magical evening of the year, I wish you all (and your families) a wonderful time together over the holidays. Enjoy your time together, eat lots and read lots and don’t forget to leave out some carrotts for the reindeers…

 

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

 

 

The Christmas Note by Donna van Liere December 23, 2011

Filed under: Authors,Christmas,Comfort Reading,Donna Van Liere — The Book Whisperer @ 9:39 am
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In three words:

Heartwarming, sweet, festive

 

What I thought:

These books aren’t on sales in the UK shops (not that I have seen anyway). The first time I came across a Donna van Liere book was on a visit to the USA a few years ago in December; we were at a little village in New Jersey with my American family and browsing in a Christmas shop when I saw a pile of these little books on a table and I just had to have them – they looked so welcoming and delicious. I read the first three while in NYC over the next 2 days and I have read them several times since. I ordered this latest book online and read it this weekend and it still had the exact same magic of all the others.

Gretchen has moved to Grandon (the setting of all her books) with her two small children to be closer to her Mum. While unpacking she meets the very odd and reclusive Melissa, her new next-door-neighbour, who is determined to be unwelcoming and succeeds. Melissa had a horrible childhood with a drunk, uncaring mother and when she finds out that her mother has died, Melissa doesn’t feel anything except relief and rebuffs Gretchens offer of help to clean out her mothers appartment. Once she gives in though, she finds a half fisnished note from her mother to herself that opens up a whole new world to her…

These books wouldn’t be for everyone, I accept that. They are very sweet and some may find them too sweet. I just adore them though; they are full of hope and kindness and salvation and magic and they have the most gorgeous covers ever. I have loved every one of Donna van Liere’s Christmas books and reading this latest one has made me want to go back to my shelf and read the others all over again.

Verdict: If you are feeling bah humbug at Christmas, these books cannot fail to cheer you up. Just lovely.

 

The Greatest of Expectations December 21, 2011

Filed under: Authors,Charles Dickens,The Victorians — The Book Whisperer @ 8:17 am
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Once upon a time…

…back in the mid 80′s when I was slightly more interested in boys and ra-ra skirts that great literature, I was made to read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens for English lessons. I hated it! I came to dreaad those lessons where we would be expected to disect this book to within an inch of its life and gained no enjoyment from it whatsoever – in fact the only thing I did gain was  an aversion to anything Dickens-related for the next twenty years!

About four years ago, I was browsing in Borders (ahhhh, remember those days?) when I came across a copy of Great Expectations: it was staring at me from the shelf. I half-smiled as I picked it up for old times sake and flipped to the front page. Within 5 minutes I found myself sunk into one of the comfy chairs and completely and utterly engrossed in this wonderful (and so FUNNY!) tale. How did I miss the fact that Dickens was a comedy genius? Perhaps it was because we (the class) were trying to work out if the colour of Pip’s underware was a reflection on Dickens’ mood (or some such nonsense). Seriously, who’da thunk? That copy of Great Expectations found its way home with me that day and in the days ahead it had me howling with laughter at all the stuff I had missed all those years before.

That year I went on to read A Christmas Carol (while snuggled up on the sofa on Christmas Eve) which rapidly became one of all-time favourite books. I remember being so in awe of Dickens and his ability to suck me into the book so entirely that it was often a surprise to surface for a moment and realise that I wasn’t flying through the air hand-in-hand with a ghost and was, in fact, still in my front room.

So why haven’t I read any more Dickens since? THAT is a very good question! I actually don’t know. The only reason I can come up with is that most of his books are soooo long that I know I will have to sacrifice at least 4 other books in the time it would take me to read one of his.

A month or so ago, I received a gorgeous hardback copy of Clare Tomalin’s new Dickens biography - Charles Dickens: A Life - from the lovely Riot Communications girls (they know my love of Victorian lit) and I have been dipping in and out of it ever since. I haven’t read the whole thing yet so I can’t do a proper review but it was awakened my passion for wanting to read more Dickens – and soon!

Also, I am so looking forward to the new Great Expectations drama from BBC that is coming out in the UK on 27th December. It looks like it’s going to be fantastic – and the brilliant Gillian Anderson as Miss Haversham is sure to steal the show once again. This is definitely one show I will be settling down to with a glass of mulled wine and plate of mince pies.

It must be because it’s Dickens’ 200th birthday in February but it does look like 2012 is going to be the year of all thing Dickens. It appears that the BBC will also be doing The Mystery of Edwin Drood (the book he never quite finished before dying). I haven’t read this book and actually don’t know very much about it so I am excited to see this one too. I wonder what else is in the pipeline? I would love to see some of his longer books made into a series (maybe Our Mutual Friend or Dombey and Son – the ones that don’t seem to get as much attention as the others).

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

   Dickens in 2012

I am going to make an extra special effort to read more Dickens in 2012. I keep meaning to pick up Oliver Twist or David Copperfield but are there any others that you recommend or insist that I absolutely MUST read?

 

 

 

Divergent by Veronica Roth December 19, 2011

Filed under: Authors,Dystopia,Uncategorized,Veronica Roth,Young Adult — The Book Whisperer @ 4:05 pm
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In three words:

Dystopian, violent, bravery

 

 

What I thought:

Up until about a week ago I hadn’t even heard of this book. Then I saw that it had won both Best YA book and Best Book of 2011 on Goodreads as voted by the members. I was curious about this book that hadn’t reached my radar yet and upon reading the reviews discovered that it was being hailed as the new Hunger Games (which is one of my all-time favourite books). A day or so later I happened to be in a bookshop (what are the chances? Okay, I jest, I am almost a permanent fixture in bookshops) and saw a copy of Divergent staring out at me from the shelves and I just had to have it.

Before I comment on my thoughts I will briefly outline the plot for those, like I was, are unfamiliar with it: This is a world sometime in the future and set in a city that I believe was once Chicago (as the now-abandoned Sears Tower is based there). Every person in this city belongs to one of five factions: Abnegation (selflessness), Erudite (learning), Amity (kindness), Candor (honesty) or Dauntless (bravery). Beatrice Prior (or Tris as she becomes known) is a member of Abnegation and the book starts with the day that she and every other 16 year old from all factions undergo a test to see which faction they will belong to from then on: if they chose a faction other than the one that they were born into it means betraying their families and potentially never seeing them again). However, Tris’s test doesn’t turn out quite as she had expected as her results mean that she could choose one of 3 factions. She is told in confidence that this is because she is a Divergent but she must not tell anyone, even her family, as this is an extremely dangerous thing to be. On the day of the choosing ceremony, Tris abandons her family to join the Dauntless faction and that is where the adventure starts.

I thought the idea of this was brilliant and I was excited to find out about the factions and how Tris’s choice to join Dauntless would affect her. However, the more I read the more disillusioned I became: I never felt that I got a proper sense of the city or why it was like that or why the factions had come about and I would have liked to have learnt more. Also, as the book moved along I became more and more frustrated at why each person would only fit into one of the factions; afterall I don’t know anyone who is honest but can’t be kind or intelligent with it or brave but can’t be honest etc. I would expect that the majority of people would fit into more than one category – I certainly would; in fact I think I could fit into all of them (except Dauntless ironically – particularly after reading what they had to go through).

As well as some other minor annoyances, I did have one huge dislike too and that was the violence that went on for chapters and chapters. Each faction had to train its new recruits to pass an initiations (and those who fail are kicked out and become known as factionless and have to live on the streets), and despite knowing that the Dauntless faction was all about bravery, I found most of their training completely over the top and unsavoury to read. Fighting each other until someone passes out, throwing knives at each other, almost killing someone to test their mettle: I accept that some of this may have been necessary to show us what they recruits had to go through but for it to go on for so long and to be so brutal left a really bad taste in my mouth.

I would really have liked to know more about the other factions and how the city came to be like this but we got little information about anything outside the Dauntless compound until the end. Is this just in one city? Are there other cities exactly the same with their own compounds and set of factions? None of that was even addressed, never mind answered. I know this is the first book in a trilogy so maybe some of this will be answered in the future books, but even a little teaser or snippets of info would have been good.

Despite my little rants, I sort of enjoyed this book. I understand that it is the debut novel written by a 23 year old and that has to be commended. I hope that the books become tighter and more polished as the series continues and I am curious enough to want to read them to see what happens.

Verdict: Some major disappointments and it certainly is no Hunger Games (not in my mind at least). Aside from my ramblings though, it is still a fast-paced adventure story and should appeal to the masses.

(Source: I bought this book myself)

 

 

A winner and a big thank you! December 14, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 11:02 am
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What a lovely bunch…

…of people you all are! Just when I was feeling a little overwhelmed with blogging I got so many messages of support and it really is appreciated. The blog shall remain :)

 

 

A winner

And now on to more important matters: I have a winner from my giveaway. I love to giveaway books and if I was a millionaire I would make it my lifes mission to be a Bookish Santa Claus. I’m not a millionaire however, so I have to make do with the odd givaway here and there. And the winner from my blogoversary giveaway is the very lovely

 

Judith at Leeswames Blog

 

I am really pleased that Judith has won as not only is she one of my favourite bloggers, she is also the mastermind behind the Literary Giveaway that is run a few times a year so instead of giving, now she is receiving. A brand new shiny copy of The Snowman is on its way to you, Judith :)

 

Miracle on Regent Street by Ali Harris December 12, 2011

Filed under: Ali Harris,Authors,Chick Lit,Christmas,Comfort Reading,Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 8:04 am
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In three words:

Vintage, magical, nostalgic

What I thought:

♪ ♫ Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…♪ ♫

What a wonderful book to read in the run up to Christmas. I have just been swept away on a tide of vintage clothes, soaps and old-school glamour.

Miracle on Regent Street is about Evie Taylor, the stockroom girl at Hardy’s – a 100 year old department store in London – and despite feeling that her talents should lie on the shop floor, she is completely invisible to anyone else who works there (OK, she’s not exactly invisble as oposed to blending into the background so much that the entire staff still call her Sarah which is the name of her predecessor of two years before). One day, right at the beginning of December, Evie overhears a conversation between the owner of Hardy’s and her manager, and it horrified to realise that if Hardy’s fortunes don’t turn around before Boxing Day they will all be out of jobs. What follows is Evie’s secret attempt to turn the shop around before Christmas, with a little help from some rather unexpected corners – Sam the delivery boy, Lily from the tea-shop who still dresses as though she’s going to a tea dance from the good old days, Felix the security guard and a couple of eastern european cleaners. I loved the whole cast of characters in this book, and despite wanting to shout at Evie for not standing up for herself (I’m not one for keeping my mouth shut if something bugs me at work ;) ), I still found her engaging and routed for her and her friends throughout.

One of the things I loved about this book was the wonderful nostalgic trip through a long-ago age where shop assistants spent time with customers, women were made to feel like women and a trip to the department store was a special treat. The transformation of the store through Evie and her secret elves made me long to be part of that world and I could see this wonderful place so clearly in my mind that I wanted to wander round the stalls and browse through the gold compacts, crystal perfume bottles and vintage peep-toe shoes (and this from someone who is not remotely a girly girl!); I wanted to glide down the huge wooden staircase and pick up the handbags, trilbys and corsets and then pop into the tearoom for tea and cake, red lipstick and stockings firmly in place.

I do love a chicklit book now and then, but I have to say that this is one of the most sophisticated that I have read; it didn’t have the cheesiness or sickliness of some and instead it had old fashioned glamour, romance, wit and warmth and it was a delight to read.

Verdict: If you are looking for a christmassy feel-good read then please, please look no further than this book. It is a real treat.

 

(Source: I received this book for review from Simon & Schuster)

 

 

A blogoversary, a giveaway and a decision December 10, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — The Book Whisperer @ 10:50 am
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Today I’m two!

It is exactly two years ago today that made my first foray into the world of book blogging and what a journey it’s been since then. I have have fallen in and out of love with my blog at various points but I love being able to look back and see the record I have made of books I have read, conversations I have had and probably the best thing about it is the friends I have made through doing this – some whom I have been lucky enough to meet in real life and others whom I have loved getting to know via our love of books.

Here are a few stats since my time as The Book Whisperer:

A total of 218,000 hits

Most viewed post of all time is The best 11 BooK Club Reads of all time EVER! followed by my interview with the lovely Kathryn Stocket (author of The Help)

The five most looked at book reviews are: The Snowman by Jo Nesbo, Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson, Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa, Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella and The Legacy by Katherine Webb.

I like looking at the search terms that bring people to my blog too as some of them make me laugh. They are ususally terms along the lines of best book club books etc but I have to wonder how peoole searching for Bali sexy girls and scary forrests ended up on my blog!

  A big thank you

Of course, although I love the fact that this blog is keeping a record of my reading that I can look back on in years to come, I still absoloutely love the fact that you all take the time to stop by and read or comment – it really does make my day when people take the time to comment :)

So, as a big thank you for your continuted support I am doing a little giveaway to celebrate my two years running The Book Whisperer:

All you have to do it click on the “reviews” tab on the blue bar at the top of the page, pick any book that I have reviewed here on this blog (there are about 180 to chose from) and post a comment to say which book you would like to win and why. I will then pick a name using random.org and the winner will receive a brand new shiny edition of that book from The Book Depository or Amazon. This competition is internation and you have until midnight (UK time) on Tuesday 13th December to enter and the winner will be informed on here and also by email the next day.

Good luck!

 

  A decision

Now a confession: Last week I considered giving up my blog. Yep, I did that thing that I think most bloggers do at some point or other – I decided it was too much and that I was going to put The Book Whisperer to bed. Then, a day or so later I got a lovely messgae from someone saying that she had been recommended my blog by a librarian as a great place to look for books to read in book groups and how she loved my blog. I immediately remembered why I love doing this so much again. I think maybe I have been so busy lately with a hugely demanding day job (that rarely turns out to be 9-5pm due to my work load) and when I have some free time sometimes I just want to curl up with my book (or even watch TV!) rather than sit and think carefully about what I want to write in a review. I am currently about 6 books behind in my reviews and that had been stressing me out too. When I got that message it reminded me of all the lovely comments and emails I have had in the past about my blog (and I particularly love it when I review a great book and people post that my review has made them want to read it too!). So….after much deliberation, I have decided to carry on…..

Here’s to the next year! :)

 

 

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey December 7, 2011

Filed under: Authors,Eowyn Ivey — The Book Whisperer @ 5:29 pm
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In three words:

Magical, spellbinding, beautiful

 

 

What I thought:

This book is truly magical. It hooked me from page one and did not let me go until I closed the final pages, and it was with a heavy heart that I said goodbye to this wonderful place and its small cast of characters.

Jack and Mabel arrive in Alaska in 1920 to make a new home for themselves and to get away from the terrible heartache of losing their only child at birth ten years before. Their sense of loss and grief is palpable and their sadness at realising that they are also losing each other is felt clearly through those opening pages. Just as things seem to be coming to a head, Jack and Mabel – in a rare moment of companionship – build a snowgirl together when the first snows of that winter arrive at their homestead. They dress it in mittens and a scarf and use the juice of berries to give some colour to its lips. The next morning, not only is their snowgirl gone, but there are little footprints leading away from the mound of snow and the couple start to be convinced that they have seen a little girl in a blue coat dashing between the trees in the snow, followed by a red fox.

What follows is a truly captivating and spell-binding tale of a little girl, who we come to find out is called Faina, and her place in the rebuilding of the lives of Jack and Mabel. As the elderly couple open their hearts once again, Mabel remembers a book that her father used to read to her when she was a child: a snow child that appears at the house of a childless couple and, despite many re-tellings and different endings over the years, always ends with the little girl melting back into the snow, and Mabel comes to dread the day that Faina will leave them too.  Faina herself is not quite tamable and always slightly out of reach of the couple and it is through her that the reader is treated to such a feast of beauty and nature and landscape. Just wondferful.

Istill can’t quite believe that this is a debut novel and beacuse of this, I cannot wait to see what else she comes up with in the future. The Snow Child isn’t released until 12th February 2012 but I just had to review it right now and yell that you MUST, MUST, MUST get yourself a copy of this book when it is out - run to the shops!  

Verdict: Wow, just wow. My favourite book of 2011 and I am head over heels in love with it.

 

(Source: I received a review copy of this book from Amazon Vine)

 

 

 

 
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