Little Black Marks: March 2014

31 March, 2014

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? Is a meme hosted by Shelia over at Book Journey. A weekly check in to see what you are currently reading and what is coming up. Head over to Shelia's blog to see what others are reading this week

What Am I Reading Now

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen. My attendance at the gym last week was minimal to say the least. I went once and it was a weights day so no reading on the treadmill for me. Hoping for a better week this week.

The Household Guide to Dying - Debra Adelaide. You know you are enjoying an audio book when you look for ways to stay in the car longer. This week is the last week of school and I know the chances of me listening to this over the holidays is minimal. I don't think I will finish it this week, but I wish I could - I'm really enjoying it.

So Much for That - Lionel Shriver I really enjoy Shriver's writing. I don't know if you can say you enjoy her books as they often deal with difficult subjects. This looks at a man and his wife's journey through the American medical system as she battles cancer with insurance that doesn't cover all it should. Engrossing.

What I read last week.

One finish this week, although I've yet to post a review.

The Carnivorous Carnival - Lemony Snickett. The kids and I managed to knock this off this week. We won't start the next one until after the school holidays. (this week is the last week of term 1 - yay!) Hopefully I will get a review up this week.

The Freeing of Jonathon Mark - Nathan Gross
I actually finished this a couple of weeks ago but was able to post my review of it this week as part of a virtual tour for it. Not a bad book, worth checking out.

I gave up on...

Tiger Lily. A quarter of the way through the book and it still hadn't grabbed me so I returned it to the library. Maybe the next person who borrows it will have more luck.

So that was my week. How was yours?

25 March, 2014

Blog Tour Review: The Freeing of Jonathon Mark

Welcome to Little Black Marks' stop on The Freeing of Jonathon Mark virtual book tour.

Publisher: Paperback: Nathan Gross. Ebook: 7write (Dec 8, 2013)
ISBN-13: 979-1093074016
Category: Thriller, Paranoid Fiction
Available in: Print & ebook, 324 pages

Blurb:

Jonathon is a Taker, some type of modern day psych in the growing industry of modern grief. Takers treat people for all that ails them just by listening. In session, a Taker doesn’t speak. A Taker doesn’t move. A Taker doesn’t even blink. They take till their patients have got no more negativity to give.
A chance meeting throws a new patient into Jonathon’s life. A girl whose carefree lightness of being is in complete contrast to the average patient. She makes Jonathon realise he can no longer refuse to deal with how his job makes him sick, nor his own destructive vice.
Murder is his only way out, an action that leads him towards his own death and beyond. It is a path he hopes will lead him to his freedom.

Review: As I said previously, I have recently taken a step back from blog tours as I simply did not need another deadline in my life. However, when I read the blurb for this, I couldn't resist - the whole concept intrigued me.
Let me just say from the outset, I don't like the character of Jonathon Mark. He is unsympathetic, has no compassion, is self centred and lacks empathy. The more I read however, the more I wondered if his job as a Taker made him like this, or was he good at his job because that's what he was like? I'm still not sure.
As the book is told from a first person point of view, you spend a lot of time with Jonathon. For me, this made reading very uncomfortable as I found him such an abhorrent character. At the same time it was kind of like looking at a train wreck, I couldn't tear myself away, and when I did, my thoughts kept drifting back to it until I had to pick the book up again and read a bit more.
For a while I was wondering where the book was heading and then certain events occur which require Jonathon to reassess his role as a Taker and what it actually means and what he hopes to achieve. At that point I suppose I started to develop a bit more sympathy for him, although I still wouldn't say I liked him.
Nathan Gross is an author with potential. At times the writing felt a bit clunky, jolting me out of my reading rhythm. However, I look forward to reading more of his work and seeing him develop a smoother, more seamless style. If he has other ideas as intriguing as this he is in for a stellar career.
The Freeing of Jonathon Mark is not a book for everyone. It's not a light, fluffy read, it will make you question things about our society and the how people best deal with their anger and issues. It's label of paranoid fiction is perfect. It will make you uncomfortable, but sometimes as a reader, you need that. Well worth checking out.

*I received a free copy of The Freeing of Jonathon Mark to review, but all ideas and comments are my own.

About Nathan Gross:
Nathan is passionately obsessed with scratching the itch that is his absolute need to write. Whether it be in the form of novels or short stories, film / video scenarios, scripts or songs: writing keeps the demons at bay.
Nathan draws on and interprets the events that transpire around him, transforming minute observations and a distant, large view of the world into prose. He expresses at once his hopes and despairs, and equally his surprise and complete comprehension of events before, or as they unfold, if not always as everyone else sees them.
If his book ‘The Freeing of Jonathon Mark’ is part of his journey as a writer, then perhaps it traces his experiences chasing the plastic happiness of consumerist dreams. Perhaps it is also a study of how he opted out of these pursuits for a fresh start, in order to forge a new life where he can be free from empty conformity; to discover and further himself in the journey that is his life. New beginnings bring new ideas to draw upon and it goes without saying that we will find these thinkings in his subsequent writings.
His other published works include Ginger the Carrot, the first in a series of picture books for adults entitled Rotten Veggies, and the song and music video Tais Toi for the musician Monsieur Grandin. He is also the director and scenarist for a number of award winning short films. A collection of his works both written and visual are to be discovered at zamsteepa.com.
Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Nathan now resides in the south of France.
His short story ‘Grampy Joe’ won third prize in the Odyssey House Victoria 2012 short story competition. You can read ‘Grampy Joe’ here.
Nathan Gross Website: http://zamsteepa.com/
The Freeing of Jonathan Mark Website: http://thefreeingofjonathonmark.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zamsteepa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nath.gross

The Freeing of Jonathon Mark virtual book tour is hosted by:

You can check out the rest of the tour at these blogs:

March 4 - So Many Precious Books This post has a GIVEAWAY!! Check it out!

March 5 - Deal Sharing Aunt

March 6 - Deal Sharing Aunt Guest post.

March 7 - A Dream With a Dream Another GIVEAWAY!! Check it out!

March 12 - Let's Talk About Books

March 13 - Aspired Writer

March 17 - Princess & the Gummy Bear

March 18 - Manic Mama of 2

March 20 - fuonlyknew GIVEAWAY again!

March 24 - I'm A Voracious Reader

March 25 - Little Black Marks That's me!

March 26 - Giveaways & Glitter

March 27 - LifeWith the Stewarts

March 27 - The News in Books Interview with Nathan Gross

March 28 - The News in Books

March 31 - Room With Books Final stop and final GIVEAWAY!!

24 March, 2014

It's Monday! What are you reading?

What Am I Reading Now

The Carnivorous Carnival - Lemony Snicket. Still going. Started disc 3 of 4 this morning.

Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen. When I'm on the treadmill or bike at the gym I like to read. I can't listen, my mind wanders too much. It has to be on my kindle and it has to be something I have to concentrate on or the time drags. Austen makes me concentrate and it fulfils not only my goal of reading all of Austen, but is one of the books in my 5 from forever challenge this year. Expect to see this one on the what I am reading now list for awhile!

Tiger Lily - Jodi Lynn Anderson. I started this this morning. I borrowed it from the library after reading about it on someone else's Monday post. YA so it shouldn't take me too long.

The Household Guide to Dying - Debra Adelaide. So I was cruising the library digital collection looking for an audio book and came across this. I vaguely remember reading something about it so decided to take a chance - so glad I did, I'm really enjoying it.

What I read last week.

Three finishes this week - click on the links to read my reviews.

The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett. So after I posted last week, I did exactly what I said I was going to do and concentrated on finishing this - excellent book although reviews are very polarising - either loving or hating it. I loved it.

The Radleys - Matt Haig. Another book I picked up after a Monday post. Let's just say I'm glad I got it from the library and didn't buy it.

Lexicon - Max Barry. I've had this on my kindle for awhile. Wondering what took me so long to read. Totally brilliant.

So that's my week. There was no TED Talks Tuesday last week, but hoping to get one up tomorrow. What are you reading this week? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Book Review: Lexicon

From Goodreads: At an exclusive school somewhere outside of Arlington, Virginia, students aren't taught history, geography, or mathematics--at least not in the usual ways. Instead, they are taught to persuade. Here the art of coercion has been raised to a science. Students harness the hidden power of language to manipulate the mind and learn to break down individuals by psychographic markers in order to take control of their thoughts. The very best will graduate as "poets", adept wielders of language who belong to a nameless organization that is as influential as it is secretive.
Whip-smart orphan Emily Ruff is making a living running a three-card Monte game on the streets of San Francisco when she attracts the attention of the organization's recruiters. She is flown across the country for the school's strange and rigorous entrance exams, where, once admitted, she will be taught the fundamentals of persuasion by Bronte, Eliot, and Lowell--who have adopted the names of famous poets to conceal their true identities. For in the organization, nothing is more dangerous than revealing who you are: Poets must never expose their feelings lest they be manipulated. Emily becomes the school's most talented prodigy until she makes a catastrophic mistake: She falls in love.
Meanwhile, a seemingly innocent man named Wil Jamieson is brutally ambushed by two strange men in an airport bathroom. Although he has no recollection of anything they claim he's done, it turns out Wil is the key to a secret war between rival factions of poets and is quickly caught in their increasingly deadly crossfire. Pursued relentlessly by people with powers he can barely comprehend and protected by the very man who first attacked him, Wil discovers that everything he thought he knew about his past was fiction. In order to survive, must journey to the toxically decimated town of Broken Hill, Australia, to discover who he is and why an entire town was blown off the map.
As the two narratives converge, the shocking work of the poets is fully revealed, the body count rises, and the world crashes toward a Tower of Babel event which would leave all language meaningless. Max Barry's most spellbinding and ambitious novel yet, Lexicon is a brilliant thriller that explores language, power, identity, and our capacity to love--whatever the cost.

Thoughts: I purchased this after hearing Max Barry on the radio talking about it. It sounded intriguing - people who can control you simply by knowing the words to speak to compel you. We all know words have power, but words that grant absolute power over someone - interesting.
I loved this from the moment I started reading it. Barry's writing is entertaining and absorbing. The story follows two people - Emily and Wil - and you watch as their stories start to converge, coming together to an explosive climax. Unfortunately it is one of those books where you can't say too much without giving stuff away, but needless to say it took me right to the end to work out who were the good guys and who were the bad guys and even then I wasn't too sure.
The story is not linear - in any sense - which can make it a bit confusing to start with, but I think that's part of the point. A lot of the time the characters are confused, not sure what is happening and trying to make sense without all the information they need. But slowly you and the characters get the information, things fall into place and you start to understand it.
Lexicon is a roller coaster ride of a read - it's fast, furious and fabulous. Highly recommended.

Book Review: The Radleys

From Goodreads: Peter, Helen and their teenage children, Clara and Rowan, live in an English town. They are an everyday family, averagely dysfunctional, averagely content. But as their children have yet to find out, the Radleys have a devastating secret.
From one of Britain's finest young novelists comes a razor-sharp unpicking of adulthood and family life. In this moving, thrilling and extraordinary portrait of one unusual family, The Radleys asks what we grow into when we grow up, and explores what we gain – and lose – when we deny our appetites.

Thoughts: I struggle to write reviews for books like this - I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. I feel nothing about it. While I don't think every book you read should evoke a strong emotional reaction, I figure it should evoke something! I am surprised how quickly I read it, being surprised every time I opened it at how far through the book my bookmark was -if it had been a slower read, I would have given up. Maybe I kept sensing what other reviewers who raved about it loved about it and it made me keep reading, but in the end when I closed the book, I simply shrugged, put it to one side and didn't even think about it. All loose ends are tied up and every one is happy in the end. Nothing memorable though and not one I'd be recommending.

21 March, 2014

Book Review - Pillars of the Earth

From Goodreads:The spellbinding epic set in twelfth-century England, The Pillars of the Earth tells the story of the lives entwined in the building of the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known—and a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother.

Thoughts: Hmmm, that Goodreads description isn't much for a book that runs to almost 1000 pages! The Pillars of the Earth tells the tale of Tom Builder and his family, Prior Philip, a monk who commissions Tom to build a cathedral and Aliena, daughter of a deposed Earl who has promised her father to return her brother to his rightful place. The lives of these people and their family, friends and enemies intertwine, their lives going through highs and lows as King Stephen and Maud fight over the throne.
I loved this. A bit of history, a bit of intrigue, a bit of evil, a bit of good, a bit of romance - everything needed to make a good epic story. It was well written and the characters multi dimensional and believable. As one review I read said
"None of them were 100% good or bad, just like in real life. Some priests were holy, others evil; some were rich people with big hearts, others with small minds and evil intentions; some poor farmers were judgemental, w/narrow-minded attitudes, others opened their doors to strangers." (DeLaina on Goodreads)(In fact her whole review of the book is excellent - highly recommend it!)
I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good epic story - yes it's long, but it's not a difficult read. Follett keeps the action moving along quite nicely and just when you wish he would stop rabbiting on about how to build a cathedral, he does! Personally it's given me a bit of desire to go back and re-read some of Sharon Kay Penman's excellent historical fiction.

17 March, 2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

What Am I Reading Now

The Carnivorous Carnival - Lemony Snicket. Kids got a little bit reinvigorated with this one this week. Travelling quite nicely now.

Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett. We went camping on the weekend so I got through a fair chunk of this. Plan to finish it this week - possibly today if I ignore a bunch of other stuff that needs doing!

What I read last week.

Two finishes this week.

Breath - Tim Winton - I finished this audio book. The narrator was Dan Wyllie - an excellent Australian actor. I found his voice for the main character - a teenage boy, perfect. However his portrayal of an American woman was shocking! I suppose with an audio book you have to take the good with the bad, it's just with this one the good was so good you started to think you were really listening to the character, that they were a real person telling you their story and then you would be jarred out of that by a the really bad female American voice. It was still worth the listen though.

The Royal Ranger - John Flanagan - The final in the excellent young adult fantasy series, Ranger's Apprentice. The good news is Flanagan has already created a spin off from the series called Brotherband that I am looking forward to getting into. If you have a 10-12 year old in your life that likes reading, I highly suggest these books, especially for boys (although I know plenty of girls who love them too!)

Did you check out my TED Talks Tuesday last week? I hope so. Check back tomorrow for another amazing TED Talk - don't know which one yet as there are so many amazing ones to choose from!

So how was your week? Leave me a comment and a link - I'd love to know what you've been up to!

Book Review: The Royal Ranger

From Goodreads: After a senseless tragedy destroys his life, Will is obsessed with punishing those responsible - even if it means leaving the Ranger Corps. His worried friends must find a way to stop him taking such a dark path.
It is Halt who suggests the solution: Will must take an apprentice. The candidate Halt has in mind surprises everyone - and it's a request Will cannot refuse.
Training a rebellious, unwilling apprentice is hard enough. But when a routine mission uncovers a shocking web of crime, Will must decide where his priorities lie - finishing his quest for revenge, or saving innocent lives?

Thoughts: John Flanagan is lucky to be such a talented writer or he may have suffered from pushing a series one book too far. In fact each book in the 12 book series can stand on it's own merits. Each story is different and while there are reoccuring characters, the constant introduction of new characters I think helped keep the series fresh and interesting.
The Royal Ranger is touted as "the final book of the Ranger's Apprentice series" and I hope it is. While room was left at the end to move on a different tangent, I hope this is the last book in which Will is a leading character. I think the biggest risk Flanagan took in this was making Will's apprentice the first female ranger. This could have become very twee and condescending, but Flanagan managed it well. Maybe by choosing to make it comment worthy but not trouble making he avoided wandering into dangerous territory.
This series is a wonderful one and one I recommend at every possible opportunity. Well written, fast paced and entertaining - it's been a great journey.

Book Review: Breath

From Goodreads:Tim Winton is Australia’s best-loved novelist. His new work,Breath, is an extraordinary evocation of an adolescence spent resisting complacency, testing one’s limits against nature, finding like-minded souls, and discovering just how far one breath will take you. It’s a story of extremes—extreme sports and extreme emotions.
On the wild, lonely coast of Western Australia, two thrillseeking and barely adolescent boys fall into the enigmatic thrall of veteran big-wave surfer Sando. Together they form an odd but elite trio. The grown man initiates the boys into a kind of Spartan ethos, a regimen of risk and challenge, where they test themselves in storm swells on remote and shark-infested reefs, pushing each other to the edges of endurance, courage, and sanity. But where is all this heading? Why is their mentor’s past such forbidden territory? And what can explain his American wife’s peculiar behaviour? Venturing beyond all limits—in relationships, in physical challenge, and in sexual behaviour—there is a point where oblivion is the only outcome. Full of Winton’s lyrical genius for conveying physical sensation, Breath is a rich and atmospheric coming-of-age tale from one of world literature’s finest storytellers.

Thoughts: In Breath, Tim Winton tells a breathtaking coming of age story. It's a story of testing yourself against nature, against your own fears, against the expectation of others. It's about living a life less ordinary , taking risks and accepting that sometimes, those risks aren't worth the reward.
Breath for me shows a new maturity for Winton. He's usual fluid writing style is there,. His seemingly simple descriptions deceptively complex. However, his main protagonist for once seems to have overcome the traumas of youth to some degree. The main character, Bruce "Piklet" Pike is tell the reader the story of his adolescence from the wiser, more experienced stand point of middle age. While acknowledging the effect of events on his life, he doesn't seem to be running away from them or blaming them. Instead he accepts their role in making him who is in today and doesn't lurch from disaster to disaster.
Be warned though, Breath does take a rather startling and dark turn at some stage - a turn that unsettles many and may make you uncomfortable. The brilliance of Winton is that you may very well be deep in the darkness before you realise, and you continue to read, hoping he will eventually lead you out again.

11 March, 2014

TED Talks Tuesday - Aimee Mullins

Perhaps the existing model of only looking at what is broken in you and how do we fix it, serves to be more disabling to the individual than the pathology itself.

Welcome to

TED Talks Tuesday is a meme where I showcase a TED talk that has inspired me, made me think or simply made me laugh.

Today's talk comes from Aimee Mullins, a paraolympic athlete and model.

Her talk is on the opportunity of adversity, and I love the way she reframes it.

Implicit in this phrase of "overcoming adversity" is the idea that success, or happiness, is about emerging on the other side of a challenging experience unscathed or unmarked by the experience, as if my successes in life have come about from an ability to sidestep or circumnavigate the presumed pitfalls of a life with prosthetics, or what other people perceive as my disability. But, in fact, we are changed. We are marked, of course, by a challenge, whether physically, emotionally or both. And I'm going to suggest that this is a good thing. Adversity isn't an obstacle that we need to get around in order to resume living our life. It's part of our life.

If you don't have time to watch the whole talk (and I hope you do, because it is an excellent talk), I've put some quotes from it underneath.

"Wow. Aimee, you are such a strong and powerful little girl, I think you're going to break one of those bands. When you do break it, I'm going to give you a hundred bucks."

Now, of course, this was a simple ploy on Dr. P's part to get me to do the exercises I didn't want to do before the prospect of being the richest five-year-old in the second floor ward, but what he effectively did for me was reshape an awful daily occurrence into a new and promising experience for me. And I have to wonder today to what extent his vision and his declaration of me as a strong and powerful little girl shaped my own view of myself as an inherently strong, powerful and athletic person well into the future.

And we do a disservice to our kids when we make them feel that they're not equipped to adapt. There's an important difference and distinction between the objective medical fact of my being an amputee and the subjective societal opinion of whether or not I'm disabled. And, truthfully, the only real and consistent disability I've had to confront is the world ever thinking that I could be described by those definitions.

See, all you really need is one person to show you the epiphany of your own power, and you're off. If you can hand somebody the key to their own power -- the human spirit is so receptive -- if you can do that and open a door for someone at a crucial moment, you are educating them in the best sense.

So, I think that the only true disability is a crushed spirit, a spirit that's been crushed doesn't have hope, it doesn't see beauty, it no longer has our natural, childlike curiosity and our innate ability to imagine. If instead, we can bolster a human spirit to keep hope, to see beauty in themselves and others, to be curious and imaginative, then we are truly using our power well. When a spirit has those qualities, we are able to create new realities and new ways of being.

10 March, 2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

What Am I Reading Now

The Carnivorous Carnival - Lemony Snicket. Slow going with this one. A crazy schedule means I don't have all the kids as frequently as I did last year.

Breath - Tim Winton. So close!!! I find myself driving the long way to and from places just to be able to listen to some more!

Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett. Having started this in hard copy, I'm pleased to report I have a new Kindle and downloaded this immediately! I had to take a break from it to read a book for a book tour, but am really looking forward to getting back to it.

What I read last week.

Only one finish this week and I can't even post a review of it yet! I finished reading my review copy of The Freeing Of Jonathon Mark for a book blog tour. My stop on the tour is March 25 so you will have to wait until then to find out what I thought!

Did you check out my TED Talks Tuesday last week? I hope so. Check back tomorrow for another amazing TED Talk - don't know which one yet as there are so many amazing ones to choose from!

So how was your week? Leave me a comment and a link - I'd love to know what you've been up to!

05 March, 2014

Blog Tour: The Freeing of Jonathon Mark

I've taken a step back from book tours recently. Another dead line in my life was not what I needed, and to tell the truth, many of the books I was asked to tour didn't interest me that much. Then I was asked to join this tour.