Bobblybear's Book List - 2013

[frankie]

I've somehow missed your reply earlier, sorry!

 

I probably will read the second novel at some point, as I own it on my Kindle. It's not that I didn't like it, it was just very light. I prefer books with a bit more of a serious story, but still like to occasionally delve into books like Bridget Jones' Diary. I know I've watched the second movie, but I can't remember it at all, aside from thinking it wasn't as good as the first one. Still, Colin Firth.......

 

Yeah, I understand the want of a more meaty book. But a bit of fluff can be nice every now and then... The second movie was pretty horrid, so maybe it's better you don't remember much of it

 

I'm studying CIMA, which is a Management Accounting qualification. It's pretty intense - can't wait till I'm finished with it (in two long years).

 

Okay, thanks Yeah I bet you can't wait to finish, so you can concentrate on recreational reading more It's not quite the same to read study books for school....
 

 

The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste – Rose George

 

You read the most... interesting books

 

I know I'm a few reviews behind, but I've selected the next chunk of books to read (in no particular order):

 

Hyperion - Dan Simmons

While We're Far Apart - Lynn Austin

The Sisters Brothers - Patrick DeWitt

Safe House - Chris Ewen
Plague - Lisa C Hinsley

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 - Sue Townsend

The World's Greatest Idea - John Farndon

Megacatastrophes! - David Darling & Dirk Schulze-Makuch

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce

World War Z - Max Brooks

Born Liars: Why We Can't Live Without Deceit - Ian Leslie

 

Will this be your first endeavour in the Adrian Mole books? They're great

 

I haven't heard of the other books, but The Unlikely Pilgrimage is supposed to be good Happy reading!
 

[Athena]

I really liked Hyperion, I hope you like it too . The Unlikely Pilgrimage I'll read in a bit too.

[bobblybear]

Will this be your first endeavour in the Adrian Mole books? They're great

 

I read the first Adrian Mole book years ago, when I was probably only 12 or so. Needless to say, I didn't understand it and didn't particularly like it much. So I figured I'd give it a re-read as I'm sure I like it a lot more now that I'm (much) older.

 

 

I haven't heard of the other books, but The Unlikely Pilgrimage is supposed to be good Happy reading!

 

 

Thanks. I have pretty high hopes for The Unlikely Pilgrimage, as it sounds like my kind of book. But even if I don't like it, at least it's one off my TBR pile.

 

I really liked Hyperion, I hope you like it too . The Unlikely Pilgrimage I'll read in a bit too.

 

I hope I'll like Hyperion. I've heard many good things about it on here recently; I enjoy sci-fi although sometimes I find it can be a bit too heavy. Hopefully that won't be the case!

[bobblybear]

The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber

Set in Victorian era London, the story follows the life of a very popular and highly recommended young prostitute named Sugar, and her desperate desire to escape the life that was forced upon her at a young age.

 

Reluctant perfume heir, William Rackham is trapped in an unhappy marriage, with a daughter he barely knows or wants to know. He seeks out a way to improve his life, and is recommended a visit to Sugar. Following their ‘interactions’ he decides he must have her exclusively, with Sugar at the same time seeing Rackham as her meal-ticket to a better life.

 

The book has an unusual writing style with an omniscient narrator who introduces us to the city and characters at the beginning, and occasionally interjects with some narrative, telling the reader a few key things they would otherwise be unaware of. I quite liked this style – I didn’t find it pulled me out of the story; it was just another dimension to the tale, and I quite enjoyed the brusqueness of the narrator.

 

It’s a pretty long book, at over 800 pages but I really don’t think much of it could be trimmed without losing significant parts of the detail and characters. A minor warning: it’s very graphic in it’s descriptions of sex and Victorian life. That didn’t bother me, although some parts did have me cringing with the way they were described.

 

All in all, a very engaging and interesting story, I think a pretty realistic approach to describing life in Victorian London and both ends of the social ladder.

 

5/6

[bobblybear]

A 1950's Childhood: From Tin Baths to Bread and Dripping - Paul Feeney

 

This was a Kindle deal, and I thought it would be an interesting read as I’m quite curious about life in the earlier decades. Unfortunately I ended up skimming a fair bit of it. It started off well, but it became a bit disjointed and the later sections of the book just seemed to be lists that spanned numerous pages, of things like TV shows of the time, or well-known celebrities. It just didn’t hold my interest. I don’t think it’s because I wasn’t a child of the 1950’s. I’ve read a few reviews on Amazon and the negative ones share the same view as mine, mainly that it just became a series of lists and not much more.

I’m sure there are better books about life in the 1950’s out there.

 

1.5/6

[bobblybear]

Pure - Julianna Baggott

 

The Detonations have divided Earth’s inhabitants into two groups – the 'Pure' who were pre-selected into the protective Dome when the bombs fell, and the 'Wretches' who were left outside and had to fend for themselves. It is about nine years since Detonation. Pressia, a young ‘wretch’ has just turned 16, and is now required by 'law' to hand herself in to the OSR – a militia organisation of Wretches intent on taking down the Dome. Within the Dome, Partridge – the son of the Dome’s creator – hatches a plan to escape and find his mother who was left in the outside world.

 

What I loved most about this book is the post apocalyptic world. I haven’t read anything similar in terms of the characters/mutations. Those outside during the detonations have become fused with whichever inanimate object they were in contact with at the time. Pressia has a doll’s head instead of a hand, as she was holding onto it at the time. Another character was in the midst of a flock of birds at the time of detonation and now has these birds (still alive) fused to his back. Dusts are fused with the earth and pull others down into the ground where they can devour them. Groupies used to be 7 or 8 people, and is now one massive body with an assortment of arms and legs.

 

I really liked the imagery of this; it was so original to anything I have read before.

 

As for the story itself, while enjoyable there wasn’t anything too remarkable to it. If you took it out of the particular unique world, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much, and it would have lost it's originality. Having said that, I did still enjoy it, and I shall still read the sequels. Apparently movie rights have already been sold, and I think it would be great to see it on the big screen, given that it is such a visually-orientated story.

 

4/6

[Karsa Orlong]

I hope I'll like Hyperion. I've heard many good things about it on here recently; I enjoy sci-fi although sometimes I find it can be a bit too heavy. Hopefully that won't be the case!

 

I hope you enjoy it, too - it's one of my faves!  The good thing with it is that it's a series of interlinked stories within an overarching storyline, so there are lots of different aspects to it.  I seem to remember it being labeled as the SF equivalent of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales 

[bobblybear]

I've never read Canterbury Tales so I don't know if that means I'll like it or not!   Still, I do like sci-fi as long as it doesn't confuse me too much, so I am looking foward to it.

Edited June 13, 2013 by bobblybear

[bobblybear]

The Devil Wears Prada - Laura Weisberger

 

Andrea Sachs, a not very fashion-conscious budding writer joins fashion magazine Runway in the hopes of it helping secure her dream job as a writer for The New Yorker. Her job is personal assistant to Miranda Priestly, the editor of Runway, who wreaks fear amongst her staff with her unruly demands and over-the-top behaviour.

 

There’s constant designer and model name-dropping, with many references to clothes and accessories (which is to be expected, given the title). But even though I’m not really into fashion, I still enjoyed Andrea's fumblings and Miranda's bossiness, and it managed to hold my interest for most of the book. It’s just under 400 pages and I think it was a bit too long, for such a simple premise. The first 300 pages was essentially the same thing:

 

Miranda demands something, her minions panic and fall over themselves in order to fulfil her every whim. Rinse and repeat.

 

Still, her demands were amusingly ridiculous enough to keep me engaged until about the 300 page mark when I’d really had enough. That of course is when the story changed it's tone/message, but I’d felt drained from what had gone before, so wasn’t particularly interested in this moralistic message that the author threw in there. I just wanted it to be over, and I wish it had stuck to what it was at the start: a funny, non-serious novel about the bitchy world of fashion.

 

3/6

[bobblybear]

Now Then Lads: Tales of A Country Bobby - Mike Pannett

 

Mike Pannett is a police officer who has recently relocated from London back to the county of his childhood – Yorkshire.

 

I bought it because I liked the blurb (obviously) and it was a Kindle cheapie (back in about 2011 when I bought it), but it had sat around on my TBR pile because it just never seemed to appeal to me since then.

 

I have to say, I really liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It was very interesting to read about the various relationships Mike built amongst the close-knit villagers, getting them to all work together as a proactive sort of Neighbourhood Watch team. There was some light-hearted moments, such as holding up traffic so that he could escort a mole across the road. These were balanced by some heavier moments, like when he came across a group of men partaking in some illegal deer-hunting.

 

One thing that interested me was his mention that as a country copper you encounter more dead bodies than you’ll ever have to face in the big cities, due to policing a much larger rural area.  I’d always expected it to be the other way
around.

 

He has written a few other books, and I shall certainly pick them up at some point.

 

4/6

[Athena]

Funnily enough, I think The Devil Wears Prada is one of those few cases for me where I like the film better than the book. It should be said though that I did see the film first, so that might've made a difference. I thought the book was nice but it could've been so much better. Nice review !

[bobblybear]

Thanks Athena. I think the movie gave Miranda a more human-quality, whereas in the book she was just a she-devil. I loved Meryl Streep's performance though. She was great.

[bobblybear]

World War Z - Max Brooks

 

This book is a series of interviews, set 12 years after the ‘victory’ against the Zombie War (or World War Z). Each chapter is an interview with a different person, offering their experiences on how they overcame the zombies. The people represented are global and from all sorts of experiences – political, military, an astronaut on the ISS, a commander in a submarine, and K-9 trainer, to name a few examples.

 

Apart from the first chapter or so of the book there is very little description of how the epidemic spread. It’s not a plot-driven book at all. It is literally interview after interview. I struggled with this format, as there was no continuity or any character to grab hold of and follow through to the end. It was too disjointed for my liking, with no-one real to relate to. I would have preferred a central group of characters, and following their experiences as they struggled to survive, but I guess that would be a different book entirely, and the author isn’t there to fulfil my requirements.

 

I don’t quite know how to describe it, but I felt the book was a base on which the author could express his world-views on different countries and societies and how they would approach conflict (of any sort – even human to human).

 

I would have enjoyed reading more about the ‘human experience’ rather than the militia or political experience, but that’s just me, and I don't think that was the point of the book.

 

2/6

[lauraloves]

I have Tales of a Country Bobby on my Kindle, might have to bump it up a bit after reading your review

[Devi]

World War Z basically sounds like a book of short stories - I have to say, I'm not so keen on having it on my wishlist after your review. Wonder if the movie is just basically people talking?

[Michelle]

I started World War Z, and didn't get very far. I don't think I'll bother now, as I'm also much more interested in human stories.

[bobblybear]

I have Tales of a Country Bobby on my Kindle, might have to bump it up a bit after reading your review

 

I really enjoyed it; it's a light and easy read, and one you can read a few chapters, and then put it away for a while and pick it up when you fancy.

 

 

World War Z basically sounds like a book of short stories - I have to say, I'm not so keen on having it on my wishlist after your review. Wonder if the movie is just basically people talking?

 

I think the movie just took the basic background of the book and developed a story around it. I really don't think it's going to have any similarity to the book aside from the title. It looks quite action-orientated so hopefully it will be more than just people talking.

 

I started World War Z, and didn't get very far. I don't think I'll bother now, as I'm also much more interested in human stories.

 

I think that's the main part that left me feeling cold towards it. I just couldn't relate to any of the characters, as they told their story in a few pages and then you never heard from them again. However, looking at Amazon, more people gave it positive reviews than negative ones, so this style must work for a lot of people.

[bobblybear]

Updated reading plan:

 

Hyperion - Dan Simmons

While We're Far Apart - Lynn Austin

The Sisters Brothers - Patrick DeWitt

Safe House - Chris Ewen
Plague - Lisa C Hinsley

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 - Sue Townsend

The World's Greatest Idea - John Farndon - currently reading

Megacatastrophes! - David Darling & Dirk Schulze-Makuch

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce

World War Z - Max Brooks

Born Liars: Why We Can't Live Without Deceit - Ian Leslie

[poppyshake]

Hope you enjoy The Sisters Brothers bobbs .. I loved it but it divides opinion a bit.

[bobblybear]

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce

 

Harold Fry gets a letter one day from a long lost friend named Queenie. She informs him she is dying of cancer and he decides to post her a reply, but once he arrives at the post box he decides to keep walking. He makes the decision to
walk to her in Berwick on Tweed, from his home in Kingsbridge, South Devon, believing that this will somehow save her life.

 

It’s perhaps a bit of a silly reason for connecting with the book but he started his journey not too far from I live, and he described in detail some local places which I am familiar with, so I found the early parts of his journey very enjoyable.

 

However, there was something about the story that was lacking. When you think of the effort Harold put through to achieve his journey, it seemed like the pay-off should have been much greater, or the conclusion should have been more powerful. Maybe some people will think it was strong enough, but for me it wasn't. Something about it seemed lukewarm all the way through, like it was a bit restrained, and I just felt like the character's weren't really transformed like they should have been.

 

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it, because I did. I just felt I should have enjoyed it more.

 

3/6

[bobblybear]

Finished Summer by Edith Wharton this morning. It was a pretty short read, but it still took me a couple of days.

 

I really need to get up to date with reviews before I forget the details of what I have read. I'm a bit behind, but I'm feeling too lazy to put semi-cohesive thoughts down.   I blame the heat!

 

Updated reading plan:

 

Hyperion - Dan Simmons

While We're Far Apart - Lynn Austin
The Sisters Brothers - Patrick DeWitt

Safe House - Chris Ewen
Plague - Lisa C Hinsley

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 - Sue Townsend

The World's Greatest Idea - John Farndon - currently reading
Megacatastrophes! - David Darling & Dirk Schulze-Makuch

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce

World War Z - Max Brooks

Born Liars: Why We Can't Live Without Deceit - Ian Leslie

 

I think my next fiction will be Plague, followed by The Sisters Brothers.

[chesilbeach]

I'm really behind with my reviews too, bobblybear.  I put together the list and got the blurbs ready to write this morning, but I think I need it to be a bit cooler before I attempt dragging my thoughts and recollections out of my head!

[Devi]

Plague looks like a good read! I have added it to my wishlist.

[bobblybear]

It looks like a good read, but unfortunately it's not.   It's silly and the characters and their actions are not very believable.

[bobblybear]

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 - Sue Townsend

 

I doubt this one requires an introduction but here is a brief one anyway. Teenager, Adrian Mole keeps a diary over the period of about two years, following the dramas of his adolescent life – his parents failing marriage, his crush on Pandora, and his view of the current events from his self-appointed position as an ‘intellectual’.

 

Like many other people, I first read this when I was in my early teens or maybe I was a pre-teen. I recall hearing all about it at school and it was one of those books you ‘had to read’. I don’t know if I was too young, or too naïve, but I just didn’t get the book at the time. In fact, re-reading it now, I would say that every single subtlety went over my head. No wonder I didn't like it, because it's all about the subtleties.

 

I love the innocence of Adrian Mole in his observations (for example, about his mother and their neighbour). I particularly liked the books he was choosing to read depending on what was going on in his life at the time, and his complete misinterpretation of them. At one point he decided he wanted to be a vet so he read Animal Farm.

 

Even though it’s set in the 1980’s, I don’t think it’s particularly dated and it’s a very fond look back at the events of the early 1980’s.

 

All in all, a really fun read and I'll be carrying on with the rest of the series.

 

4/6