My top books of 2012
Well, I’ve held off writing my ‘best of’ list for as long as I can. I keep thinking I might just read one more book that turns out to be so awesome it would need to go on here but I’ve decided enough already and just pick your top ten. So here they are, in no particular order
- King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. Last year Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence was also on my top 10 list and at that point I couldn’t imagine how he could top that novel. This year King of Thorns was released and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I was even nervous before I started reading (why I was nervous I haven’t the first notion – it’s not like I’m the author!). As it happens my case of the nerves was completely unwarranted. King of Thorns was absolutely amazing. It surpassed my own expectations and raised the bar yet even higher for the third novel (no pressure there then!) Seriously, I couldn’t love this book any more even it I tried.
- Summer Knight by Jim Butcher. The Dresden Files are my new No.1 fantasy series. Harry Dresden is very easy to read about and it’s easy to see why he’s gained such a large and loyal following. The series is a great combination of all sorts of paranormal thrown together with a little magic, a little mystery, a little romance, some scary moments, wit and a good dose of sarcasm and occasional bad language. What’s not to love?
- The Troupe by Robert J Bennett. The Troupe is a brilliant read and one that I will definitely read again. Robert Bennett is one of those unusual authors who seems to defy any sort of genre and who also manages to come up with a different style of book every time he sets pen to paper. On the back of reading this I also read Mr Shivers and The Company Man which are also great reads. I can’t wait for his next book to see where he will take us next.
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I don’t think this book needs any introduction. It’s a masterpiece and this year I’ve read such a lot of Neil Gaiman that I actually think I may be in danger of falling in love with the man! Seriously, I don’t know where he’s been hiding all my life but I’m so glad I’ve finally discovered his books. Lots of fangirl gushing could actually have happened right about now…. but, I’ve decided to exercise restraint.
- The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint. Charles de Lint is another author that I’ve only recently discovered. Blue Girl was a lovely introduction and I already have a few more of his books based in Newford waiting to be read. A lovely story teller.
- The Sisters Brothers by Patrick de Witt. Out of all the books I read last year I can genuinely say that The Sisters Brothers was the biggest surprise for me. Its a western and completely out of my comfort zone. I picked it up and read it on the strength of a recommendation from one of my longest known book buddies. What can I say, this is harsh, funny, dark, brutal and very entertaining to read. The dialogue is top class. All I can say is it was a must read.
- Shadows by Ilsa Bick. Shadows is the second in this trilogy which started with Ashes and will apparently conclude autumn next year with Monsters. I can’t wait for the conclusion. This is a very dark and frankly quite brutal read. It’s not for the squeamish. Set in a post apocalyptic world, telling the story of the survivors battling against terrible odds – not least of all the zombie types that seem to be taking over.
- The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making by Catherynne M Valente. I think that Catherynne Valente could become one of those authors where I sit tapping my foot impatiently waiting for the latest release. Fortunately I have a little catching up before I reach that stage! The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland looks deceptively like a children’s story book but don’t be deterred. Appearances can be misleading and this novel quite effortlessly spans all ages with a lovely blend of fairytale reminiscent of Victorian classics and yet with a more modern bearing. The story telling is charming, quirky, fun and imaginative. Apparently there are to be five novels in this series so still so much to look forward to.
- Wolfsbane by Gillian Philip. This is the third in the Rebel Angel series which burst onto the book scene with Firebrand. This is about the fey. No soft and fluffy fairies these. Rough and tough. Living beyond the mortal world and separated by a veil that seems to be rather more fragile than some of them would wish and that others would desire be removed altogether. The series is full of conflict and blends this strange, beautiful and dark other world with the world in which we live. Not to mention this brings to us the creation of Seth. And, lets face it – a thing of beauty is a joy forever (how right you were John Keats). Okay, Seth is a rather lovely hunk of delicious mind candy and I don’t mind admitting it!
- Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig. Just literally read this days ago and was blown away. I didn’t read the first book and actually hadn’t particularly planned on reading this series but picked this book up quite by accident. I’m glad I did. After a little bit of a shaky start I literally couldn’t put this down. Very entertaining indeed.
I feel I should also mention Scott Lynch’s Red Seas Under Red Skies – which isn’t on the list because even though I did read it this year this wasn’t for the first time. I do love that series though so wanted to give it a special mention. So excited about Republic of Thieves.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Just finished reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens which I was reading as part of a Dickens readalong being hosted by Caroline (Beauty is a Sleeping Cat) and Delia (Postcards from Asia).
This is a reread of the novel for me as I read it many years ago and I always wonder if I will actually like a book the second time round or whether revisiting will somehow mar the memory. No problems here I’m pleased to admit. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the second time round the story was even better.
For those of you unfamiliar with Great Expectations the story is about a boy called Pip. Pip is an orphan, being raised by his sister and her husband Joe. Due to a chance circumstance Pip is thrown into the path of the local eccentric lady of the manor, Miss Haversham where he meets her ward the beautiful and proud Estella. Pip is later to be apprenticed to Joe as a blacksmith until his fortune is changed by an unknown benefactor and he is elevated to the status of a gentleman with ‘great expectations’. I won’t elaborate further on the plot.
The first thing I noticed this time round is the humour in Dicken’s telling of the story. I can genuinely admit that I recalled none of that at all and yet he really does incorporate a lot of fun into his character Pip. Perhaps I missed this originally as I was much younger and probably concentrated mainly on the story (not to mention racing to the end to find out how it all concludes). I think much of the writing style and the subtle nuances were probably wasted on me at that age whereas this time, being already aware of the story, I was able to enjoy Dicken’s style.
I must confess that I had moments where Pip didn’t come across as well as he could – in fact at one point I positively disliked him. But, I think this was part of Dickens intentions. Pip starts out in life quite destitute and his only friend in the world is Joe (who frequently rescues him from a good beating from his sister). And, yet, as soon as he meets Miss Haversham he becomes overwhelmed with shame about his own circumstances. He cringes at the thought of the disdainful Estella ever meeting Joe or seeing his home circumstances. This is in sharp contrast later in the story when Pip becomes friendly with Mr Wemmit who works at the law firm that acts as Guardian to Pip’s income until he becomes of age. Mr Wemmit doesn’t have a lot to speak of in the world. He has a small home and looks after his elderly father who remains known throughout the story as The Aged. And yet Mr Wemmit loves his home and family and experiences none of the feelings that Pip does. It also reaches a bit of a peak when Joe pays a visit to Pip in his new home in London and Pip is practically on pins for the whole visit, acts quite rudely towards Joe, is ashamed for him with his country ways and lack of breeding and is actually relieved when he leaves! I was really naffed off with him at this point I must admit!
That being said I think that Pip does redeem himself – and this seems to be a theme with Dickens that characters become aware of the flaws in their own character and attempt to change themselves for the better.
A couple of things that occurred to me during this read were:
I thought that Dickens was making a point about females in society – if you look at Biddy in this story she is quite obviously as clever, if not more so, as Pip and yet due to circumstances her chances in life are quite different.
The other thing that stood out with this, and I don’t know if this is the same for other novels by Dickens, is that he is a master of misdirection. He leads you into wrong conclusions and dead end alleys without any difficulty whatsoever.
And, finally, I wondered if he was making a point about nature over nurture. Both Pip and Estella were taken into a situation where they were manipulated and raised almost like a tool of revenge. Estella to seek revenge against men on behalf of Miss Haversham and her overwhelming disappointment in life and Pip, placed into a different situation in life by somebody who wanted to make a gentleman out of him to prove a point and then display Pip around time as being the superior of everyone else. Both of them, later in life, realised how they were being used and it was sad to see that neither of them were able to lead perfectly happy or normal lives comparative to some of the other characters in the story.
I really enjoyed this story reading it for the second time. It is a great story and easy to see why it’s been adapted to film on so many occasions and I would like to thank Caroline and Delia for giving me the inspiration to revisit.
Random thoughts on my Kindle…
23 December 2012
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Kindle and ebooks, Random thoughts, Reading experience
So, a few weeks ago I was bought a Kindle. I’ve always resisted the temptation because frankly I’m a total booky type person. However, people have conspired against me, as they will and do, in some sort of grim determination to bring me into the electronic age and having previously been a bit outspoken against e-books I thought it only fair that I revisit my thoughts now that I’m actually using one and can speak from a little experience as oppose to a lot of prejudice.
Before I continue I must state emphatically that I will not be abandoning books! Phew. Had to just get that out there. But, I will also be including a few electronic ones now.
On the plus side
– OMG there are a lot of books out there that are much cheaper on the kindle – this is a definite bonus when you read a lot. Okay, there are some that are more expensive and I do struggle to understand why that is but, in the main, they seem to be cheaper. (on the downside to this I will admit that you can become a little bit entranced in looking through the ebooks to the extent you find you haven’t done any reading at all for quite some time!)
– no need for book marks or bent pages – the Kindle just opens your book up to where you left off, even if you have more than one book on the go, no more losing your page. No more watching as your book slides off the arm of the chair where you (thought you had) carefully placed it, bashes to the floor and loses your place!
– free samples – how many of those have I now got waiting to be read. This is a definite bonus. I know you can’t always tell from the first few chapters if you’re going to like a book or not you can at least get to check out a flavour of the book and also the author’s style – lets face it this isn’t really possible with paperbacks!
– Dictionary – okay, I’m not a total dunce but every now and again you read a book and there’s a word in there that you don’t know. So, do you make a note, rush home and whip your dictionary out. No, you don’t. You read on and hope that the use of the word in the sentence has given you the correct feel for the meaning. No need for that with the Kindle. Okay, having said that, I haven’t used that facility – but, I could if I wanted!!
– plus, you can bookmark things really easily – so no need to make any notes or remember page numbers to come back and look at later – a definite plus. although I do like my little notebook I must admit.
On the down side:
– does a book ever run out of power. I think not! How annoying is that, and, yes thank you, I realise it’s my own fault if I don’t keep the Kindle properly charged but you have to concede the point that this is not a problem you ever suffer with a book! So, when I want to read something on the way to work and open the Kindle and then it just powers down – a little bit disappointing which brings me to the second down side
– because I’m not the best at keeping things charged, and because this means I may wind up in the situation of not having a book to enjoy over lunch, etc, then I now carry a book as back up. Which rather defeats one of the main arguments for a kindle, i.e. lighter to carry in your bag, no more lugging around heavy tomes, because now I’m carrying a book and a Kindle (doh!).
– also, and this may seem lame – but its yet another gadget! And, gadgets appeal to people with light fingers. As much as I love books I don’t imagine anyone stealing one – but this is just something else that might attract unwanted attention. I’m just saying!
– book covers – I think this is one of the biggest downside. You download a book (oh, and that’s another bonus – it’s there straight away) but there’s no cover. I like book covers. I’m sorry but I do. In fact I’m not sorry. I’m not going to apologise for liking covers. It’s a whole industry going on right there and I can’t help wondering what sort of bad effects this will have on all the illustrators, designers, etc.
– plus, just read a Christmas Carol – no illustrations. The book I picked did have illustrations but the book I downloaded didn’t. Okay, I don’t need pictures but that’s not the point.
So, that’s my experience so far. Even Stevens. Like and Don’t like. I’m like Smeagol. I loves it and I hates it precious. So, for now, the jury is out, but I’m keeping an open mind and continuing with my experiment.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
For the month of December I decided to read a couple of Dickens book as part of an event being hosted by Caroline (Beauty is a Sleeping Cat) and Delia (Postcards from Asia). Actually, rather sensibly for me, I only really undertook to read two books – Great Expectations which I will review in a few days and a Christmas Carol which I will today be answering questions on provided by our lovely hosts. If you haven’t read this book then you may want to stop reading as the Q&A below will undoubtedly contain spoilers.
Before I even start I must say that A Christmas Carol was just as lovely to read as it was on the past 5 or 6 occasions that I’ve already read it! On top of this I also watched A Muppet Christmas Carol this month (just to keep in the spirit of things) – I actually had the film playing whilst I was putting up the decorations. I love that film. I realise it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I just can’t help myself. Plus the songs are great. How odd is it that in spite of watching this film countless times and reading the book quite a few it never occurred to me before now that instead of just Jacob Marley, as in the book, we have a double helping of Marley’s in the film played by the two curmudgeonly old guys who always used to heckle from the theatre balconies. Anyway, onto the questions:
Is this the first time you are reading the story?
Nope, at least 5 or six times. Difficult to remember now!
Did you like it?
I’ve always liked this story. It has a timeless appeal. I probably saw the film before the book. I seem to recall seeing the old black and white version of this film with Alistair Sim followed a couple of years later by a cartoon version. Anyway, the films led me to the books which is unusual for me as usually its the other way around.
Which was your favorite scene?
This is really tough. Making a choice. I do like the scene when Marley first appears – probably because of the dialogue between the two ‘more of gravy than of grave’. I love that line (I also love the scene with Bob and Mrs Cratchit are toasting Scrooge’s health). I think probably on reflection I really enjoy the scene where the last spirit has ended his visitation and Scrooge is back in his bedchamber and comes to realise that it’s still Christmas Day. It’s great that scene and also, although I can’t pretend to remember how I originally felt when I first read the book it’s unexpected. One minute you’re with this scary critter standing next to a tombstone and then you’re back in a bedroom and the sense of relief that comes across for Scrooge is just really infectious in that it sort of makes you smile also.
Which was your least favorite scene?
I don’t really have any problems with any of the scenes but I guess the only time I felt a little more detached was on some of the journeys with the Ghost of Christmas Present. Not that I didn’t enjoy them – thinking about visiting the seamen, etc, I totally understand what Dickens was doing with these scenes but they didn’t have the same enjoyment factor for me and I think that’s because they weren’t related to Scrooge or his story. They were random people who were being visited to show that the spirit of Christmas is everywhere.
Which spirit and his stories did you find the most interesting?
I liked the spirit of Christmas Past probably the most (although the sinister stories with the pawn shop were pretty good!) I really enjoyed seeing Scrooge’s past. His time spent at school, his sister, Fezziwig, breaking the contract with his fiancee – all a great insight into his character and the way he eventually changed.
Was there a character you wish you knew more about?
I wish I knew more about Scrooge’s family – particularly why he was left for such a long period at school. How he managed to keep a decent relationship with his sister despite hardly ever seeing her and probably a bit more about his nephew. I cheated a bit there because a whole family got included in this answer!
How did you like the end?
Well, I suppose the ending is very sweet – probably a bit overly so – but I like it. It’s perfect for the time of year and gives you a good feeling.
Did you think it was believable?
Well, as believable as a ghost story can be. I mean, what is believable is the story itself of somebody turning themselves around and changing their behaviour for the better. It’s just a great story of redemption with a bit of the supernatural thrown in. At the end of the day I love a good ghost story – and three ghosts with a message to relate, at Christmas. It’s the perfect recipe.
Do you know anyone like Scrooge?
Yes! Well, probably not quite as bad as Scrooge. We definitely have somebody at work who could peel an orange in his pocket and who, when he opens his wallet, moths fly out. Kidding aside – I suppose it’s more likely to know a few people with maybe one or more of his traits.
Did he deserve to be saved?
Yes, I absolutely believe he did. Okay, he wasn’t soft and cuddly and he wasn’t short of saying or thinking some pretty mean sentiments but he pretty soon came round. Plus, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him for his past which obviously had a massive influence on him. He clearly went down the route of thinking money would make everything good in his world but obviously became so focused on that that he eventually excluded all the good things and therefore had nobody in his life to enjoy things with any more. It’s sad because by the time Scrooge is redeemed he’s basically in his twilight year and has missed so much but it’s also happy because he’s realised the error of his ways and he is in a position to make a difference for others.
Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig
15 December 2012
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Chuck Wendig, Horror, Mockingbird, Urban Fantasy
Just finished reading Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig which was frankly outstanding and I quite literally couldn’t put it down. Now, I wasn’t really planning on reading this series and I have in fact not read the first book Blackbirds. Basically, I ordered this from the library – not realising I was picking up the second in this series. I did of course realise my mistake when I went to pick it up but I thought I’d just give it a few pages and see how things went. I confess that I’d read a few negative reviews for Blackbirds that made me hesitate to pick it up and starting off with Mockingbird I could relate a little to those comments I’d read but within a few chapters I was under the spell.
Mockingbird brings to us Miriam. Miriam, following a trauma in her early adult life, has been gifted with the strange ability to see how and when a person will die. Unfortunately, she has no control over this strange psychic ability and it therefore occurs whenever she has physical contact with another person, so shaking hands or exchanging items or any other of the many ways in which we have regular contact with others. It’s not a particularly endearing ability this – looking at people in their final throes of death – whether it be through disease, accident or any of the other many ways to die such as murder or suicide. At the start of this book Miriam is trying to live a regular existence with Louis, who she apparently met in book No.1. She has a job at a 9 to 5 and even a home of sorts. But, she’s getting itchy feet – or more to the point itchy hands. She’s been controlling her ability and it’s starting to build a tension inside that’s about to erupt. Everything is about to get turned on it’s head in a very dramatic fashion.
Basically put we have a horror story with a difference and there’s certainly a pretty horrid story involved here with rather grisly murders. I’m not going to deny that this book is harsh. Bad language and then some. Murders galore. It’s not a pretty thing. Miriam has led a hard life so far and this hasn’t given her any airs and graces. She’s a bit foul mouthed, she’d as soon insult people as make friends and yet in this story you can definitely see she’s not as tough as she acts. She does have a hard exterior but it’s starting to crack, just a little. But even with all her cussing and such like she can be pretty funny.
I really liked the story line in this and the eventual reveal. I enjoyed all the little appearances with talking blackbirds and visitations from dead people. I also liked the way the story was interspersed with interludes that were like small snippets from Miriam’s past. It seems that we’ve started to explore this ability of Miriam’s a little and we’ve also had an introduction into other elements.
This isn’t to say that I didn’t have any criticisms. At the beginning I struggled a bit to get on with Miriam and I think I know why that is. She does have a bit of a masculine voice although this improved after the first few chapters. Just sometimes it felt like the way she reacted or spoke was more masculine. Not really articulating that very well so will swiftly move on….
I will definitely read future books in this series – I think it has the potential to be really good and I could hardly put this down. I’m not sure that I’ll go back and read Blackbirds – from some of the reviews it seems that Miriam may have been a bit more subdued in this edition – and I think I might prefer this version of Miriam. Looking forward to the next instalment.
And, on a separate note – these book covers are really something else. Just really take a good look at Mockingbirds – it has so many extra little things that at first glance you don’t notice.
