Books of 2012

October

The Night Eternal - Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan
The final book in a vampire trilogy which started off strong, but by the third book wasn't quite as good. Interesting idea of where the vamps had come from, and they certainly weren't your usual run of the mill 'bite the necks' demons, but I didn't love the series overall.

Can We Still Be Friends? - Alexandra Shulman
Another book club book - not the sort we would normally read to be fair. It is pretty much chick lit - the author is/was the editor of UK Vogue. This book was pretty rubbish, and I didn't particularly enjoy it. Didn't like the characters, they were pretty under-developed and I could see every plot line coming like a train. Not a recommended book at all!

September

A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness
This book came to me twice, so I figured I must be meant to read it. First of all my friend Sue was reading it a few months ago when I met up with her, then Julia lent it to me out of the blue. Its a big fat vampire/witch/demon story - and is described as being Twilight for adults. Which is fairly accurate as the key character is pretty spineless. I spent a lot of the book being annoyed at her, but liked the supporting characters, and did want to find out what happened. Certainly won't be buying the sequels, but will look them out in the library to read! 


August

The Tiger's Wife - Tea Obreht
The latest book club book - we seem to be on a bit of a tiger theme at the moment! I didn't actually go to this discussion which was a shame as I was curious to see what the others thought of it. It felt like a book I should have loved, but didn't. Just didn't quite work for me - even though it won the Orange Prize for Fiction last year. It tells the story of a woman's relationship with her grandfather, and his relationship with 'the deathless man', and is set in what is probably the former Yugoslavia. Think this one might be going to the charity shop...

Island Beneath the Sea - Isabel Allende
I used to be a big fan of Isabel Allende, but the last few of hers I've read I haven't loved as much as her earlier work. This one tells the story of Tete, born into slavery in the 1700s and her story. Historically quite fascinating - and disturbing as well, but I felt a bit underwhelmed by it. There is a relationship between her daughter and another character that I really didn't like, and didn't seem real - maybe it would have happened that way, but just seemed a bit odd to me, and I think contributed to me not really loving this...

July

Alicia's Gift - Jessica Duchen
This was the latest book club book - tells the story of a child pianist who is a prodigy - or a possible prodigy and how that impacts on the everyone around her - and including her. My book club organiser arranged for the author to come and speak to us as she lives in London which was fascinating. I enjoyed the book - I think she has written more since this one as it came out a few years ago. I was irritated by some of the characters (particularly the father), which made me not enjoy it as much as I might have done, but it was still very readable. And now I've got a signed copy, definitely a keeper!


The King of the Castle - Susan Hill
This book was a gift from my friend James (who also gave me 'The Great Gatsby'). We have a shared interest in sci-fi and horror-ish tv, and I think because of that he thought I would enjoy this book. Its an old book - would have been around when I was growing up, but I really didn't enjoy it. Essentially the story of a nasty boy, who doesn't take kindly to the arrival of the son of his father's new housekeeper. It was horrible. Just a black black story - un-relenting and awful. Didn't like any of the characters, and just hated reading it. Finished it, but knew I wouldn't like it, and I didn't. ICK.


June

The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins (part 2)
Well this may be a bit controversial as I know there are a few fans out there, but I was distinctly unimpressed with this trilogy. As I said below, I loved the first book, second one I was a bit 'meh' and by the end of the third one I was over them. It is hard to say why without giving away plot spoilers, but if I was to compare the Harry Potter books - at least Harry and his friends develop as characters, and when some of the lesser characters die throughout the series you actually feel something for them. There is a death in the final book which I think is meant to move you - it certainly is a key bit of the plot, and I just wasn't involved at all. I think they'll make great films but give me the HP books anyday.

The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
OK - this is a bit of a cheat as I'm still on the final book. However while I'm updating I thought I'd start... Loved the first book - as I thought when I saw the film, the book did give more backstory than the film could, and on the whole I thought the film was an excellent adaptation of it. The second book (Catching Fire) I wasn't quite as sure about. Still really enjoyed it, but there was a twist in it (the Quarter Quell) that I thought 'Really?'. Was wondering at that point if the author was a bit of a one trick pony, but it did come good. And now I've started the third one... I am devouring them - they are very hard to put down. Have to say I've spent the first 100 pages or so being really annoyed at Katniss Evergreen thought so I hope she improves!


The Life of Pi - Yann Martel
This was a bookclub read. Not one that I would ever have read myself I don't think. I don't know why - possibly because the synopsis didn't appeal to me. And its a Booker winner, and often I don't like them - too worthy for me. This one however I did like! Its up there with Wolf Hall and A Fine Balance in terms of Booker winners that I've liked. I just really enjoyed the storytelling of it - definitely one I will re-read, and I think that it is a book that you would read more into everytime you read it. Interesting discussion at the Book Club about it - all of us enjoyed it, which I think is possibly the first time that there has been such universal agreement about a book. For such a surreal story I spent a lot of the time absolutely believing that you could keep a Bengal tiger alive on a liferaft...


Dreamquake - Elizabeth Knox
A meetup with my friend David for his birthday at the end of May meant that I could ask him to bring along the sequel to Dreamhunter :-). I liked this, but didn't love it. I think I just didn't warm to the character Laura, and as I may have mentioned I'm not great with books when I don't like the main protagonist! So I'm pleased I've read them, but they wouldn't be keepers for me I don't think if I actually owned them...

May

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
A gift from a friend of mine as we'd been talking about it, I re-read this. I read it years ago, but couldn't really remember much about it. It has made me want to see the Robert Redford film version again. I have no interest in the new upcoming adaptation, but the original definitely! Did enjoy it - despite it being a short book, it was one of those that did take a lot of reading, because of the way it was written - beautiful prose. 

Dreamhunter - Elizabeth Knox
A NZ book I'd wanted to read for absolutely ages, and the last time I was around at my friend David's I borrowed it from him. I liked it - not as much as I thought I would, but I'm looking forward to reading the second one. I think I wanted them both to be Dreamhunters, so it will be interesting to see the role that Rose plays in the second book. I liked how I could recognise bits of NZ in the book - the same but different!

A Visit from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
This one was a recommendation from my friend Jackie (and is now the next book for Book Club as well as no one else suggested anything!). I really enjoyed it - right up until the end, when it seemed to all of a sudden be delivering a message which hadn't been there throughout the book. However I think it would be interesting to re-read it again, as it is quite possible I missed it! But a great tale of interlocking characters and how they come in and out of each other's lives, make connections and go through experiences. Very good (despite my slight unhappiness at the ending) - a Pulitzer winner and I can see why. Definitely recommend it!


April

Every Dead Thing - John Connelly
I had wanted to read some more by John Connelly for ages - I loved 'The Book of Lost Things' and knew that he was better known for the more grown up 'Charlie Parker' books. It was a tough read at times - I was expecting more of a supernatural bent to it, but it was pretty much a straightforward detective novel with a pretty grim storyline. I did enjoy it though - will probably try a couple more - see if they improve. Might be library books though rather than buyers.  


The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff
This is/was one of Maya's books which I inherited after she left the UK. I'd been meaning to read it for ages (I'd bought it for her for her birthday) so finally got stuck in. I really enjoyed it - fascinating story. Dual time story about plural wives - real life characters in the historical piece, but fictional modern time. So interesting to get an insight into that life - really quite interesting. Enjoyed this one! If it was mine it would definitely be a keeper :-). Of course I'm keeping it anyhow as its not mine!

March

The Sisters Brothers - Patrick DeWitt
I really enjoyed this book. I picked it up initially because of the title - I thought it might have been something about sisters and brothers (also a topic I'm interested in!) but it definitely wasn't. The story of two brothers who are assassins in the 'Wild West' and the journey they go on to complete their next assignment. The Guardian reviewer didn't enjoy it - the comments are funny in this as someone takes her to task over it. I didn't agree with her comments either - I didn't find Eli flat, but I would agree that it isn't 'hilarious' either. My only criticism would be some of the language and phrases used are a bit modern - and I'm not sure back then a gunslinger would have known to stop eating stodgy food to lose weight! A good read tho.


February

The Robber Bride - Margaret Atwood
This was February's book for the book club. I had read it years ago, but bought a second-hand copy to read again as I couldn't really remember it. I'm a big fan of Margaret Atwood, but really don't like this book. Didn't like it the first time and didn't like it the second time. Passing straight on to the charity shops... I just didn't like or relate to any of the women characters in it, and didn't understand their motivations about their men either. Well I did, but I just felt angry with them about them, rather than anything else. Loss of good reading time re-reading this if you ask me!


How to be a woman - Caitlin Moran
I started this after finishing Precious Bane and then put it down halfway through to read my next book for the book club, but have now finished it. At times I loved it - thought she was spot on with her observations, while at other times I was a bit 'Hmm not so sure about this'. But it was an interesting read, and I did enjoy it. It is a keeper anyhow - not going to the charity shops, so that says something as I'm pretty ruthless now. I'm pretty sure I'll re-read it. And now the book club has decided to do it for the book after next so it will be interesting to hear what they think. The only other person I know who has read it stopped half way through...

January 

Precious Bane - Mary Webb
A different type of read for me - I've joined a book club in Surbiton and this was the first read of the year. Very good too! Written back in the 1920s and set around Shropshire - telling the story of a woman with a harelip (her 'precious bane') and her brother who has great ambitions (which turn out to be his 'precious bane'). The countryside descriptions are really quite stunning - and it is a great story - bit of tragedy and love as well.

When God Was A Rabbit - Sarah Winman
Slightly more highbrow than my first read of 2012. I LOVED this book - really enjoyed it. I think because the main character was born in 1968 and she has an elder brother and a best friend from school. It just seemed to resonate me with me - although I hasten to say that my life has been very different than Elly's! But I felt like I was reading something that timewise mapped directly to my age, so when key events happened, I knew I was remembering it at the same age as Elly. It had a nice twist too - I saw bits of it coming, but even the expected 'bit' ended up being not quite what I thought. Very good!

Gossip Girl: Psycho killer - Cecily von Ziegesar

Being a bit of a fan of the TV series, this was bought for me as a pressie from Julia when she saw it in New York - not a particularly serious pressie I hasten to add! Bizarrely it is written by the woman who writes the GG books, but this is essentially a rip off of the story, where Blair and Serena go around and kill everyone, and the characters are similar but slightly different to how they are in the TV show. Can't say it was a particularly good read, but I soldiered on to the end - "You know you love me xoxo"

Not a particularly 'erudite' start to this year's reading adventures, but in the spirit of full disclosure I'll include it...

And the books...

December 2011


The Good, The Bad and the Multi-plex - Mark Kermode
As a complete change to vampires, I went to the good Dr's second book. I'm a huge fan of Mark Kermode/Simon Mayo's film podcast from 5Live (and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't listen to it!) and when Tracey was over in London in September we went to see Mark K do a reading from his book. I think Tracey was quite a convert to him :-). This book was as good as his first one (It's Only A Movie) - and is somewhat akin to reading his 'rants' from the radio. And in a nice bit of continuity, there are a few references to Kim Newman in it - he's a horror movie expert and a friend of Mark K's :-).  My only criticism of it would be that it had very long chapters with no natural breaks in them - not conducive to book reading on a train!


Anno Dracula - Kim Newman
Well this was a different sort of book to 'A Farewell to Arms'... The starting premise is that Dracula doesn't die in Bram Stoker's book but goes on to marry Queen Victoria. At the same time, Jack the Ripper is slaughtering new vampires in Whitechapel... I wasn't sure about it at the start - I could decide if I just thought it was derivative or not, but I ended up enjoying it. There were several character names that I recognised (eg Jekyll/Hyde, Mycroft etc) and I thought they were introduced very cleverly. At the end I was suprised to discover that this was published originally in 1992 and had just been reprinted. Obviously cashing in on the current vampire craze (he's written further books in the series as well), and I think in the future will no doubt pen one which references Twiglight, Buffy and True Blood - well he seemed to suggest that in the afterword. I'm not sure if I'll read the others - I can't quite decide how much I liked it - they could be good, or they could just be very samey. Well I certainly wouldn't buy them - maybe take them out from a library tho!


November 2011


A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway

No I'm not doing a trawl through the classics... it just reads like that at the moment! I read this as Stresa (where I went with Tracey on holiday) features in it and we walked past the hotel the protagonist stays in every time we went to town so I thought it would be good to read it. Can't say I enjoyed it very much - very 'I did this. Then I did this. Then I went here.' style. I was talking to a (male) friend about it yesterday who loved it which sparked a bit of a discussion about female views vs male views, as he really can't get Jane Austen. So I know its a classic and all that, but I was a bit 'meh' about it all. There were some sections where the Italians were talking about the war which were great, but on the whole I was fairly underwhelmed... Not what you're meant to say about a classic I know!


To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

For some reason I had never read this - I really don't understand why. But I bought it recently in Waterstone's final "3 for 2" offer - more out of desperation (needed a third book) and I thought it would be good to get a classic. I absolutely loved it - of course that is why it is a classic... but I did think it was brilliant. Although not a 'big' book it seemed to take a lot of reading. There was so much detail in the story telling and the characterisation, that I felt like I'd been reading it for ages, but was still barely into it. All of the characters were so well drawn - and the story felt very true as well.  Assuming I'm not the last person to have read it - if you haven't I would really recommend that you do. Next up will be watching the film adaptation of it - amazingly it doesn't seem to have been remade since the 1962 version.


October 2011

Transition - Iain BanksIt took me a while to read this one as Tracey's visit coincided with the starting of it. I don't think I read another one in between. This was another birthday book - from this year, and from Lindsey. First time I've read Iain Banks for years and I LOVED it. A definite keeper, and a definite re-read as well. Not one of his sci-fi ones, but so clever, and despite taking a long time to read it I could still follow the story easily enough. Very clever twisty turny plot involving many different worlds, travellers between worlds, megalomania, right vs wrong. Really really enjoyed it - a great book to be given as it isn't one I would have picked up and read myself.

August 2011

Towards Another Summer - Janet FrameI think this is another birthday book as well - not from this year though - possibly from Fone? I have to admit I've not read much (possibly any) Janet Frame before. I liked this but found it quite tough going - for a couple of reasons. The book, although small, is quite heavy, with a stiff card cover and thick pages - obviously a lot of money went into its production. So despite being carried to and fro work in my bag it didn't look battered at all by the end, and in fact still looks quite untouched! It was written in 1963 but was not allowed to be published while JF was still alive - it is an autobiographical novel about a NZ writer living in London, how she is struggling to fit in, and tells the tale of her going up North for a weekend. Some of her descriptions of growing up in NZ really resonated with me - even though it was set long before I was born, there were aspects of it that I felt could have been describing my childhood. Captures NZ so well - a brilliant passage describing children singing the national anthem had me laughing out loud :-). A hard read, but definitely worth it, and definitely a keeper.

The Cookbook Collector - Allegra Goodman
This is one of my birthday books - a gift from Jackie. I enjoyed this - the story of two sisters and their journey to find love. It is set in the time of the dotcom boom, just before 9/11. The characters are well developed and she has a nice way of introducing a character, and you then get an alternative view of them further on in the book. A subplot about Hasidic jews is also cleverly done and I didn't see the twist coming with that one at all. This felt a bit like intelligent 'chick lit' but it is one I'll re-read, and would recommend it. Great holiday reading!

The Prince of Mist - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Another one borrowed from Kevin. This is by the author of 'The Shadow of the Wind' which has one of the best opening lines ever I think - “I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time.” However I'm not writing about that book... This was written a few years ago, and is aimed at the Young Adult market (one for my sister Leigh then!). Its good - not great, but good. A nice supernatural story (which I always like), but it just felt a bit undeveloped for me - maybe thats because its a translation. Its a nice,quick easy read however, so is worth a look.

July 2011The Night Book - Charlotte Grimshaw

I'm not quite sure who I got this one from - possibly Tracey? Anyhow - a book by a NZ author, looking at relationships between the characters and what links them. Questions the nature of love - between a father and his adopted daughter, the marriage of the next Prime Minister and the secrets within it, all the while mocking the National Party bigwigs. I really enjoyed it - didn't know what to expect as I hadn't read any of her stuff before. Evoked NZ very clearly for me, and the story had me hooked. Slightly ambiguous ending which I wasn't sure about, but on the whole it was really very good.



Cold Skin - Albert Sanchez PinolThis is one that Kevin lent me. Didn't enjoy it very much - the story was good, but I just didn't like the characters. Which for me is quite an important piece of whether I enjoy a book or not. But it was quite short, and very different from Wolf Hall so I persevered. It tells the story of two men on an uninhabited island at the edge of the Antarctic Circle. Or is it...?? Review from The Observer here. Next up will be one of my birthday books I think.

June 2011

Wolf Hall - Hilary MantelAbsolutely LOVED this book - so far it is definitely the best book of the year for me. So cleverly written - so funny and so interesting. Although I do have to admit thinking I was reading about Oliver Cromwell for a bit of it... :-). Definitely my recommendation of the year (to date)

May 2011

Trespass - Rose TremainNormally I like Rose Tremain's books, but this one just didn't work for me. Couldn't relate to the characters at all, and didn't like the story particularly either. I may have been slightly influenced by a friend telling me before I read it that she didn't like it, but this just didn't gel with me at all. One for the charity shops I think...

April 2011

The Passage - Justin Cronin
This is weird - I thought I'd updated this list since March... anyhow - so at some point in April I finished 'The Passage'. A well read book this one - came to me via Philippa, then went to Maya and then back to me. Big fat vampire read - I really enjoyed it. An easy read, but a good one. A book of two halves, but I'm looking forward to reading his next one. Bizarrely, it is only just being released here in the UK so there are lots of billboards advertising it at the mo - I got excited as I thought they were advertising the sequel...

March 2011

The Hand That First Held Mine - Maggie O'FarrellI've read all of MoF's books - she's one of my repeat authors. I really enjoyed this one - she has a way of writing great characters, and her stories really pull you in. This was both sad and uplifting at the same time - definitely recommend it (and her!).

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ - Philip PullmanVery good retelling of the story... Really quite thought provoking - good old PP puts the Christian story under the spotlight again. And who is 'The Stranger'???

The Season of the Witch - Natasha MostertBorrowed this off Kevin. For those who like supernatural type books it is worth a read. Gripping, good characters, good plot etc, but a nice light read at the same time.

Jan - Feb 2011

The Year of the Flood - Margaret AtwoodThis is actually Mhairi's copy - which I will return one day! Really enjoyed this - sort of a prequel/sequel to Oryx & Crake. Well worth a read.

The Lacuna - Barbara KingsolverStruggled with this one. Some of hers I like, but it took me ages to 'like' the character and I'm not good with books when I don't like anyone in it.

Fatherland - Robert HarrisXmas pressie from Maya. Sort of a detective novel, but set in a world where Germany won the second world war. That made it much more interesting, and it was done very cleverly.

Books what I have read...

How exciting! Another new feature on my blog... I'm sure all my readers will be thrilled...

So books I have read... Decided to keep a list for this year, so have started it off below. Will be interesting (well to me anyhow) to see what and how many I read, and what I think of them at the end of the year. This is partly inspired by a friend from work who does a fantastic blog on her book reading (and anything book related really). This won't reach the standards of hers, but what the heck - this blog is all about me after all!

Finishing the trilogy

On New Year's Day I hauled my slightly sorry carcass to the cinema to see the final film in the Lisbeth Salander trilogy.

I had seen the first two at the cinema so really wanted to make sure I caught the last one as well. I thought 'Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest' was very good. Finished it nicely and didn't mess with the storyline too much. I did feel a sense of completion!

On a related note, Maya bought be a spoof book for Xmas - called 'The Dragon with the Girl Tattoo'... Lisbeth becomes 'Lizbreath Salamander' - it actually looks quite funny!

Two great books

I've just finished two very good books - can thoroughly recommend The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I loved it - but it made me cry. I've been thinking a lot about Mum recently and this book just hit me. But it was worth it - just glad I finished it at home rather than on public transport!

Then I read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell. I've read all of her books and I thought this one was almost as good as her first. Quite shocking in many ways, but still very enjoyable.

So get reading!!

Of reading

Last week I started reading 'Two Little Boys' by Duncan Sarkies which Adrian sent me last year as part of my birthday present. Sorry Age - couldn't read it. Really didn't like it at all... Let me know if you want me to post it back to you, otherwise I'll pass it on to a charity shop over here when I next do a clear out of stuff. Maybe its cos I'm a girl, but I just couldn't get into it, and didn't like any of the characters. And I just struggled with a book that has as its central piece that a person was killed by a hit and run. I couldn't help but keep thinking about the guy who was dead. Guess it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Following that, I've started reading 'The Quiet Girl' by Peter Hoeg which was one of the books Maya gave me at Xmas. I have absolutely NO idea what is going on, but I'm loving it. I've not read any of his others (his most well known one here in the UK is 'Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow') but this one has just been written so beautifully. Its not often I feel moved to say that about a book! I'm reading it very slowly, as it is so confusing I find one or two chapters at a time is enough, and I then need to digest what I've read.

I'll update when I've finished it as well... Might be a while tho!

The Gathering

I just finished this book by Anne Enright - the winner of the Booker Prize last year. I heard her interviewed on the radio in one of the podcasts I listen to and thought she sounded really interesting, and the book sounded good as well.

I struggled with it almost all the way through. I just couldn't get into it, and spent a lot of the time wondering why Booker winners are always so bleak and grim. Perhaps a lot of the stuff about the large family was a bit too close to the bone...

But somewhat bizarrely in the last couple of chapters I seemed to 'get' it, and I started to enjoy it. Prior to those chapters I had it marked as a charity shop book (I don't keep ones I don't enjoy anymore), but have now changed my mind. It stays on my bookshelf, and I'll definitely be re-reading it - in fact I suspect I'll get more out of it on the second go.

Strangely tempted...

To go to this - sadly I don't have any little kids I can use as an excuse! Its one of my favourite books from my childhood, and I even have a copy on my shelf here in London.

And its the same age as me - how cool is that :-)

Love Is A Mix Tape

I've just finished reading the above book, by Rob Sheffield.

Absolutely brilliant.

Very very sad, but also just captures the whole power of music as well. And at times I felt like he was describing my life - which I'm sure many readers would think as well! I won't go through the storyline - you can read that on the Amazon link, but it really made me think about things - I seem to really be thinking about music in my life since Mum, and this book really reinforced that.

I remember sat in the front of the radio in the sunporch in Taupo, creating mix tapes from the radio. Listening to the Top 20 and taping the songs as they came on - always managing to get a bit of the announcer in as well!

Then going to university and music being one of the key connectors as I became friends with Raewyn. I always felt a bit of a fraud - she seemed so much cooler and into better music than me but I went along with it, figuring that I could bluff my way along. And 20 years later we're still friends :-). And so many of my other friends as well - even now I'm making new friends through a shared love of music and gig going...

And there is the whole magic of making mix tapes for people. I still have tapes that friends made me (Raewyn, Jonathan....) and we would have huge mixing sessions at Marlborough Street if there was going to be a party - although we would re-use old tapes there was always new music that needed to be added. And while creating a CD is the same principle I don't quite think it is quite the same...

And when Kevin and I first got together, it was music that was the common bond, we both made tapes for each other (him many more than me it has to be said...), and even now I still pick up so much new music from him. (And he lent me the book...)

Anyhow - I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this - but it was such a great book, and spoke to me in so many ways that I just wanted to try and put some of that down. I absolutely recommend it - but with tissues. I cried, I laughed and I've gone back to music that I haven't listened to for ages because of it.

I guess in some ways it has made me appreciate even more the love of music that Mum and my family have given me. I just can't imagine not having music to love and hate.

As always - any music recommendations always welcome!

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows...

finally came out on Saturday! Well technically it was on sale at one minute past midnight, but I'm not quite that much of a geek...

Frustratingly I had to help Julia move in to her new flat first, so couldn't dive into it until about 4pm, but had it all finished by 2pm today :-).

Loved it - cried a few times, but thought it was great. I think it finished things really well - and while some things didn't happen that I wanted to, but on the whole it was worth giving up my weekend to it!

On The Run

So I've started to read On The Run by Sean Damer and Ian Frazer - the story of Anzac escape and evasion in Crete.

I'm only a couple of chapters in, but it is fantastic. I guess it is more interesting because of Dad, and because I've been to Crete, but it is a really good book. I recommend everyone to read it.

Some of the stuff is mind boggling - reading about guys who walked up the Samaria Gorge, and did it when they were in a terrible physical condition, and the whole march over to Sfakia to be evacuated. Incredible. My favourite story (which I'd read before) is about the Kiwi soldier who was picked up by other escapees who were in a boat - he was paddling naked on a plank of wood... You can only imagine what would have happened to him had he not been picked up!

More books!

I've added some more books to my LibraryThing as well - at long last. I'm very proud to say that one of the books I added I appear to be the only person who has catalogued it! And somewhat unsuprisingly, my last Harry Potter book has been catalogued by over 16,000 people...

Still got my graphic novels to do yet :-)

Tragic Life Stories

I have to admit I've noticed the plethora of these books coming out over the last couple of years - you know, the triumph over extreme tragedy/hardship/abused childhood etc. But in WH Smiths today (bit like Whitcoull's - in fact they owned Whitcoull's for a while) I was shocked to see they now have that as a category for their books. So in addition to Crime, Romance, Horror etc you now have 'Tragic Life Stories'.

I find that a very sad and very scary inditement of the world we live in.

Book musings

Wandered out at lunch-time and bought Casting Off - the 4th book in the Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard. I've been reading them for about a month or so now and am finally on the 3rd book. I've really enjoyed them - a very 'solid' sort of read, with so much detail about English life during the war, but really great characterisation as well. It was filmed in the UK a few years ago - I've wanted to read them ever since watching the series on tele.

As I was admiring my new book it made me think about how exciting it is to have a new book, which looks pristine, just drawing you into it - I love new books! But then I also love my books to look well read - something very comfortable and familiar about a well-read book :-).

I bought this one from Crockatt and Powell - a fab independent bookshop close to work. And I've just realised they also have a blog which you can check out here. I do try and buy from them, as there are so few independent bookshops left, but when you can get 3 for 2 from the big chains it does make it much harder. But I so admire what they are doing that everytime I go in I recommit to shopping there, but then forget when I go into a big Waterstones or Borders... but I am trying!