6 reads this month, not as many, but I did survive OFSTED and have a lot on.
Hope you find something you might like amongst this lot!
A comfortable kindness- Miriam Toews
I found this book in the library and I chose it because it has an Alexander McCall Smithesque title. Alexander McCall Smith it certainly ISN'T!!!! The book was nothing like I would expect. Nomi is a teenager in an American town which is owned by a sect called the Mennonites. They are supposedly Christian but they are extremely fundamentalist and have gone off on some very odd slant. Nomi's family seem to have left the town one by one except for her Father. The book seems to be some teenage rite of passage as Nomi rebels and becomes increasingly odd. She has a strong narrative voice and the book was compelling but I found although it WAS heading towards a sort of ending or point, it seemed to ramble on and meander in some sort of confusing manner. It was interesting but also rather strange! Not sure I really LIKED it but it was certainly different.
Doctor Who and the Auton invasion
This book is a novelization of the very first Jon Pertwee Doctor Who adventure, Spearhead from Space. Dr Who is best when it plays on those normal items or moments we see in real life and makes them real. The first time the wax-works and shop dummies came alive must have terrified the children of the time! This was the story where the Doctor first got a job with UNIT (The United Nations Intelligence Task Force) and began an exile on Earth, imposed by the Time Lords. I knew the adventure already as I'd seen it on video but it was interesting to read the thoughts of characters and all those nuances that you might not see or hear of in an actual episode.
Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters
In the last of the 5 Doctor Who books I have left, this was another 3rd Doctor Adventure. The Silurians is long regarded by Classic Who fans as one of the finest stories. The premise is that the Silurians were the ruling reptile race on Earth before humans. In an interesting prologue invented purely for this novelisation, we see the Silurians going into Hibernation/suspended Animation deep underground as their advanced technology saw that a meteor or something was going to impact on Earth and change the climate and kill out all life. They intended to reanimate once the danger levels decreased. But instead, life ISN'T destroyed and the changes are the catalyst for mammal life to become intelligent. The systems do not reawaken the Silurians.
Where the TV serial begins, some work on some caves has begun and it seems the Silurians want their Earth back. The book/TV serial is interesting because there is a misunderstanding between the two races as to who own the Earth. There is a real sense of how can the two coexist and one questions really who the baddies are or if indeed there are any?
The World According to Anna- Jostein Gaarder
Hope you find something you might like amongst this lot!
A comfortable kindness- Miriam Toews
I found this book in the library and I chose it because it has an Alexander McCall Smithesque title. Alexander McCall Smith it certainly ISN'T!!!! The book was nothing like I would expect. Nomi is a teenager in an American town which is owned by a sect called the Mennonites. They are supposedly Christian but they are extremely fundamentalist and have gone off on some very odd slant. Nomi's family seem to have left the town one by one except for her Father. The book seems to be some teenage rite of passage as Nomi rebels and becomes increasingly odd. She has a strong narrative voice and the book was compelling but I found although it WAS heading towards a sort of ending or point, it seemed to ramble on and meander in some sort of confusing manner. It was interesting but also rather strange! Not sure I really LIKED it but it was certainly different.
Doctor Who and the Auton invasion
This book is a novelization of the very first Jon Pertwee Doctor Who adventure, Spearhead from Space. Dr Who is best when it plays on those normal items or moments we see in real life and makes them real. The first time the wax-works and shop dummies came alive must have terrified the children of the time! This was the story where the Doctor first got a job with UNIT (The United Nations Intelligence Task Force) and began an exile on Earth, imposed by the Time Lords. I knew the adventure already as I'd seen it on video but it was interesting to read the thoughts of characters and all those nuances that you might not see or hear of in an actual episode.
Doctor Who and the Cave Monsters
In the last of the 5 Doctor Who books I have left, this was another 3rd Doctor Adventure. The Silurians is long regarded by Classic Who fans as one of the finest stories. The premise is that the Silurians were the ruling reptile race on Earth before humans. In an interesting prologue invented purely for this novelisation, we see the Silurians going into Hibernation/suspended Animation deep underground as their advanced technology saw that a meteor or something was going to impact on Earth and change the climate and kill out all life. They intended to reanimate once the danger levels decreased. But instead, life ISN'T destroyed and the changes are the catalyst for mammal life to become intelligent. The systems do not reawaken the Silurians.
Where the TV serial begins, some work on some caves has begun and it seems the Silurians want their Earth back. The book/TV serial is interesting because there is a misunderstanding between the two races as to who own the Earth. There is a real sense of how can the two coexist and one questions really who the baddies are or if indeed there are any?
The World According to Anna- Jostein Gaarder
I chose this because I've enjoyed several other Jostein Gaarder books immensely. They are generally very thought-provoking, beautiful description, a new perspective on the wordl, compelling, excellent characterisation and potentially some other-worldly element.
In this book, Anna is on the cusp of her 16th birthday and is taken to a Doctor because she has dreams in which she is in other places and times and other people. At this time, she dreams she is Nova, possibly her own Grand Daughter in a barren world where global warming and animal extinction have reached a critical point. It is a cautionary tale in ensuring we do not pillage the earth to the detriment of our future generations. I like the message of it, everyone making a tiny difference or trying to make a big difference in order to effect change, but I found the narrative irritatingly disjoined between Nova's time and Anna's time. I also felt it lacked explanation WHY the events occur and I felt like the book finished far too abruptly. It felt a bit too preachy too, even though I strongly concur with the message of the book to do something NOW about irrevocably changing our world through not trying to to take care. I'm glad I read the book, but in this case, I think it would be better read by a younger audience as it lacked the development I'm used to in Gaarder's writing.
Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier
Wow, this was exciting!!! Such excellent description created a truly dark and disturbing back drop. Mary is an intrepid, brave and loyal hero, stuck at the mercy of her wicked Uncle Joss at the Sinister Jamaica Inn on the Launceston Road in Cornwall. Smuggling and other such nefarious activities are ride and it is up to Mary to find a way to escape and free her much beleaguered and downtrodden Aunty. Mary's suspicions of who she can trust and who might help her are intriguing and as I have a suspicious mind, I realised who she must definitely not trust correctly immediately. It was certainly a compelling page-turner. Joss is rather a caricature of the evil tyrant, but that doesn't make him any less scary. I certainly want to read more Du Maurier after this. I feel her handling of the landscape, characters and storyline was accomplished and the suspense and tension was excellent. Thanks for making me finally read something by this author!
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
I absolutely adore fiction written using the narrative technique of letters between characters and I think that 84 Charing Cross road was the first of this kind I ever read. There is so much opportunity to imagine the world and moments and occurences that are unwritten between the missives. This book is utterly gorgeous seeing Frank Doel and Helene Hanff start off so formally and relax into an easy familiarity. Hanff has a great sense of humour in her writing- eccentric and witty. I became a part of the affection which all at Marks & Co hold Helen in, through her generosity in sending the employees at Marks and Co and subsidiary characters food during the rationing. The book is one which attaches you emotionally quite early on and I spent this second reading of the book (it's been at least a decade since I last read it)
I was willing Helene to go to England to meet Frank and co. The ending (no spoilers) made me react emotionally. I knew it was coming but still, that didn't change anything! This is a brilliant book which you can read in an hour or so- brilliant!