Eric

Title: Eric
Author: Terry Pratchett
Series: Discworld
Genre: Fantasy/ Comedy Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Kindle

From Goodreads: Discworld's only demonology hacker, Eric, is about to make life very difficult for the rest of Ankh-Morpork's denizens. This would-be Faust is very bad--at his work, that is. Eric wants to fulfill three wishes: to live forever, to be master of the universe, and to have a hot babe. Instead of conjuring a demon, Eric brings forth a wizard whose incompetence is matched only by Eric's.
 
What I thought: Pratchett is my fall back guy. Don't know what to read? Go for a Pratchett! Pretty good fall back position I feel!
So Eric summons a demon...except the demon is not quite what he expected. In fact what he gets is the failed wizard Rincewind. So off they set to see if they can fulfil Eric's wishes - which they do...kind of. More laugh out loud funny.

Challenges: Ebook Challenge,

Jitterbug Perfume

Title: Jitterbug Perfume

Author: Tom Robbins

Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Book - Personal Copy

From Goodreads: Jitterbug Perfume is an epic.
Which is to say, it begins in the forests of ancient Bohemia and doesn’t conclude until nine o’clock tonight (Paris time).
It is a saga, as well. A saga must have a hero, and the hero of this one is a janitor with a missing bottle.
The bottle is blue, very, very old, and embossed with the image of a goat-horned god.
If the liquid in the bottle actually is the secret essence of the universe, as some folks seem to think, it had better be discovered soon because it is leaking and there is only a drop or two left

What I thought:  The only way I can think to describe this book is a romp through the ages! It starts with three perfumers in three very different situations and then flashes back to a King who is about to lose his kingdom all because of a gray hair! Robbins leads you on an intriguing, at times erotic, at times funny, frequently confusing journey as the secret to long life is looked for and almost grasped. 
It took me awhile to get into this, and it truth this was most probably my 2nd or 3rd go at it. It is well worth persevering with though and is a book that I can see myself picking up again sometime in the future.

Challenges: What's in a Name

A Suitable Boy

Title: A Suitable Boy

Author: Vikram Seth

Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Personal copy

From Goodreads: Vikram Seth's novel is at its core a love story, the tale of Lata - and her mother's attempts to find her a suitable husband, through love or through exacting maternal appraisal. Set in post-Independence India and involving the lives of four large families and those who orbit them, it is also a vast panoramic exploration of a whole continent at a crucial hour as a sixth of the world's population faces its first great General Election and the chance to map its own destiny. 'A SUITABLE BOY may prove to be the most fecund as well as the most prodigious work of the latter half of this century - perhaps even the book to restore the serious reading public's faith in the contemporary novel ... You should make time for it. It will keep you company for the rest of your life' Daniel Johnson, The Times

What I thought: So this is our book group book for July. Given it is close to 1500 pages long, and the type is small, we set it at the beginning of the year so everyone had plenty of time. By the time I started to read it, I worked out I needed to read around 50 – 60 pages a day! Thankfully by the time I started it I was on holidays!

The book is stunning. The lives of the characters interweave in ways that are not always clear, but suddenly come into focus when it's needed. It a cast of many, but I found it surprisingly easy to keep track of – something I usually struggle with when they are so many characters. Seth’s characters are so clearly their own people, with their own personality traits and struggles in life. I must admit the family trees at the beginning also helped keep track.

There were many clever things in this book. Seth has also published poetry and he uses rhyming couplets in this story to great effect. There is the Chatterji's, a family whose younger members often rattle of couplets to describe or make fun of a situation.

What is Krishnan in the end?

Just a mushroom, just a friend.

Always eating dosa-iddly,

Drinking beer and going piddly!

The book has 19 chapters, with each chapter having a rhyming couplet which describe events in that chapter. While it couldn't replace the book, it was very useful for reminding me of what had happened previously, especially after a break from the book.

While it’s not difficult to read, it is dense. Interactions between people are described in detail, with many nuances to keep in mind, along with previous events and meetings. I found this meant that after awhile, I had to put it down, even if it was only for a short amount of time. While reading A Suitable Boy, I read three other books, but found it easy to pick up the thread again when I went back to it.

Set at a time when India was a new democracy, A Suitable Boy provides a rich insight into a country starting new, finding it’s feet and struggling with issues. In truth, it has not only made me want to read more on the history of India and the role of the British Empire within it’s history, but to also visit the country.

If I had one criticism of the book, its that it is not available on Kindle! And lets face it, it’s size makes it a perfect candidate! A times I had to put it down not through strain of the brain, but strain of the wrist! This is a fact the author acknowledges in a poem titled A Word of Thanks at the beginning, in which he thanks those who have helped him in writing the book and finishes with this:

And, gentle reader, you as well,

The Fountainhead of all remittance.

Buy me before good sense insists

You'll strain your purse and sprain your wrists.

A Suitable Boy is not a book you can approach lightly. You need to have time and commitment to see it through, but I promise you, the effort is well worth it.

Guards! Guards!

Title: Guards! Guards!

Author: Terry Pratchett

Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Kindle

FromGoodreads: Here there be dragons...and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork wish one huge firebreather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of "draco nobilis" ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a "noble" dragon, after all...).

What I thought: One should not mess with dragons, it leads to no good! Guards! Guards! Is the first of Pratchett’s books to introduce The Night Watch, including Vimes, Carrot and Nobby. And once again it’s a wonderful light heart read, perfect for the break I needed from A SuitableBoy. As always Pratchett lightens my soul, cleanses my reading palette and gives a bloody good belly laugh. Perfect!

Challenges: eBook Challenge,

The Light Between Oceans

Title: The Light Between Oceans
Author: M.L Stedman
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Kindle

FromGoodreads: In 1918, after four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia to take a job as the lighthouse keeper on remote Janus Rock. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes only four times a year and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Three years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel is tending the grave of her newly lost infant when she hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up on shore carrying a dead man and a living baby. Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the dead man and the infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim the child as their own and name her Lucy, but a rift begins to grow between them. When Lucy is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world…and one of them is desperate to find her lost baby.

What I thought: Wow! What a wonderful book! Whether it was because I read it after a truly awful book or something else, I truly enjoyed this book. In fact, I found myself slowing down to read it because I didn’t want it over too quickly. The writing was gorgeous, flowing and so easy to lose yourself in. I could feel the salt spray, see the storm clouds, taste the sea air – totally stunning.
And I felt for all of Stedman’s characters, the woman desperate for a child of her own, the man torn between doing what he knows is right and keeping the woman he loves happy, the woman who wonders what happened to her baby, the grandparents who see the child as a way to mend past hurts and the innocent child who will lose, no matter what happens. Stedman treats all of them with the greatest respect, making sure that all of their stories are told with care and compassion. In fact, for the first time in a long time, I found myself not just with a tear running down my cheek at the end, but sobbing, needing tissues crying. This is a book I know I will revisit, reread and lose myself in again and again. I will be highly surprised if it doesn’t win awards of some kind.

Challenges: eBook Challenge, Aussie author Challenge

Fifty Shades of Grey

Title: 50 Shades of Grey

Author: E.L James

Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Kindle

FromGoodreads: When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time.
The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her - but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey's singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.
Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?
What I thought: So there was just too much hype about this book to not read it, especially when I was hearing so many mixed reports about it – another one of those love it or hate it type books – and I will admit the “sexy content” had me interested. So what did I think – not good, not good at all.

I have several issues with the book – the first being simply how badly it was written. I can see the bare bones of an ok book in this, but it needed a damn good editor willing to insist on some major changes. In fact much of the book reads like a first draft to me. Characters, especially Ana’s friends Kate and they guy who has a crush on her (can't remember his name!) are incredibly two dimensional where they could have added so much to the story line. Their concern for Ana and her confusion, bouts of tears and sadness seem incredibly superficial and not in line with the type of friendship Ana claims to have with them.

As for Ana....I am truly at a loss as to how she goes from sweet innocent, never done a thing virgin to a full on multiple orgasming creature. I know there is a high level of fantasy in this book, but seriously, at least try to maintain some sense of reality. Her repeated catch phrases of things like Oh my...My inner godess...my subconscious...Lord knows I can’t blame Christian Grey for wanting to slap her, I sure as hell wanted to! And while I have no problem with her willingness to try new things, I do have an issue with her doing things she is obviously uncomfortable with.

It should come as no surprise that I’m not enamoured of Christian either. Another two dimensional character with a fetish. Yes, yes, it’s lovely that he has a contract drawn up and is willing to negotiate it, but the handsome, ridiculously wealthy, self made man who has a dangerous side – please, can you get any more clichéd!

Apart from the bad writing and the flat characters, I have a huge issue with yet another portrayal of an unrealistic relationship where the girl is seemingly unable to think for herself and allows her life to become controlled by a man. I just think it is such the wrong message to be sending to women of any age, but especially young women. I know how this ends, and how it could be perceived as Ana growing a backbone and standing up for herself, but from what I understand from conversations with others who have read all three of the books, it doesn’t stay that way. I may be wrong, but I’m not going to read the other two to find out. In the end this is one of those books where I am going to end up disagreeing with many people about it. It's trash, through and through. It's popularity is completely due to the controversial nature of the story line. Anyone looking for a recommendation from me would be told to stay right away and not to waste their time.

 

Challenges: eBook Challenge

The Alloy Of Law

Title: The Alloy of Law
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Book - library

From Goodreads: Three hundred years after the events of the Mistborn trilogy, Scadrial is now on the verge of modernity, with railroads to supplement the canals, electric lighting in the streets and the homes of the wealthy, and the first steel-framed skyscrapers racing for the clouds.
Kelsier, Vin, Elend, Sazed, Spook, and the rest are now part of history—or religion. Yet even as science and technology are reaching new heights, the old magics of Allomancy and Feruchemy continue to play a role in this reborn world. Out in the frontier lands known as the Roughs, they are crucial tools for the brave men and women attempting to establish order and justice.
One such is Waxillium Ladrian, a rare Twinborn, who can Push on metals with his Allomancy and use Feruchemy to become lighter or heavier at will. After twenty years in the Roughs, Wax has been forced by family tragedy to return to the metropolis of Elendel. Now he must reluctantly put away his guns and assume the duties and dignity incumbent upon the head of a noble house. Or so he thinks, until he learns the hard way that the mansions and elegant tree-lined streets of the city can be even more dangerous than the dusty plains of the Roughs.

What I thought: So this is the second last book in my library challenge that was due to end on June 24. You will have to wait for my next review of the last book to find out if I made my deadline!
I loved Sanderson's Mistborn Trilogy. He was by far and away the most original fantasy writer I have read in a long time. It always worries me though when a trilogy author comes out with a fourth book - I mean, if they can't count, what hope do they have! So you can imagine I approached this with trepidation. I was greatly relieved to read in the introduction, this paragraph:

I wanted to move away from the idea of fantasy worlds as static places where millennia would pass and technology would never change. The plan then was for a second epic trilogy set in an urban era and a third trilogy set in a futuristic era - with Allomancy, Feruchemy and Hemalurgy being the common threads that tied them together.
This book isn't part of that second trilogy...

Instead, The Alloy of Law is like an off shoot - something I was very pleased to read and while it's no Hero of Ages, it was OK. Still set in the Mistborn world, Alloy of law is far in the future from the original trilogy. There is no huge quest, in fact it was like a western with Mistborn powers! It did end in a way that suggests there be others in this vein and with these characters and that is OK. I will read them if they come, but it's those 2nd and 3rd trilogies that has me really intrigued!

Challenges: Library Challenge,

The Potato Factory

Title: The Potato Factory
Author: Bryce Courtenay
Series: The Australian Trilogy
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Audio book - Kindle

From Courtenay's Website: Ikey Solomon is in the business of thieving and he's very good at it. Ikey's partner in crime is his mistress, the forthright Mary Abacus, until misfortune befalls them.

They are parted & each must make the harsh journey from thriving nineteenth century London to the convict settlement of Van Diemen's Land. In the backstreets & dives of Hobart Town, Mary learns the art of brewing & builds The Potato Factory, where she plans a new future. But her ambitions are threatened by Ikey's wife, Hannah, her old enemy.

The two women raise their separate families, one legitimate & the other bastard. As each woman sets out to destroy the other, the families are brought to the edge of disaster.

 
What I thought: Finally finished it! I have vague recollections of trying to read this many years ago when it first came out and really struggling with it. As I listened, I tried to remember what my issue was and I think it's this...Bryce Courtenay is very wordy! He seems to take the attitude of why say in 10 words what you can say in 50. He also goes off on little historical jaunts which while may be interesting, do tend to distract from the main story.
I must say though, the person who narrated it, Humphrey Bower, breathed life into this audio book. It's a long listen (almost 24 hours) which means it's essential to have someone who can keep you interested and engaged and not have you drifting off into other thoughts. In the end, I enjoyed the Potato Factory and have downloaded the second in the series, Tommo and Hawk. Here's hoping it doesn't take me quite as long to get through that!

Challenges: Library Challenge, Aussie Author Challenge,

Storm Peak

Title: Storm Peak
Author: John A Flanagan
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Book - library

From Goodreads: Jesse Parker, ex-Denver police detective, has returned to his hometown of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to spend the winter working the ski patrol and taking it easy. But he is reluctantly dragged back into a world of violence and murder when a serial killer begins a killing spree in the sleepy ski town. The town's popular sheriff, Lee Torrens, asks Jesse to help her out with the investigation as the killer continues to stalk the town, leaving little clue as to his motive. Are the murders random acts of a psychopath, or a cold, calculated escalation of terror? As the two friends work together, the embers of an old union reignite, but the growing notoriety of the Silver Bullet Killer brings complications that will shake the foundations of the small town. No-one is safe.
 
What I thought: I borrowed this from the library when I was looking on the catalogue for other John Flanagan books in the Ranger's Apprentice series. Anyone who has read this blog for more than 5 minutes will know how much I love the Ranger's Apprentice series so I thought I would check out one of his adult books.
Storm Peak was OK. It kept me reading, but didn't set anything on fire. For me it was a pretty stock standard mystery book. There was nothing in it that I wasn't expecting, the characters were nothing new. What the book did have over many mysteries I have read was good writing. Nothing jarred, stood out like a sore thumb. Flanagan obviously knows his stuff in term of skiing and used that to keep the scenarios in the book believable (mostly!) Would I read another of his adult books? Not in  a hurry, but I wouldn't turn one down either.

Challenges: Library Challenge, Aussie Author Challenge, What's in a Name Challenge

The Breaker

Title: The Breaker
Author: Minette Walters
Genre: Crime Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Book - library

From Goodreads: When she revisited, always with astonishment, what had happened to her, it was the deliberate breaking of her fingers that remained indelibly printed on her memory . . ."

Twelve hours after a woman's broken body is washed up on a deserted shore, her traumatized three-year-old daughter is discovered twenty miles away wandering the streets of Poole.
But why was Kate killed and her daughter, a witness, allowed to live? And why weren't they together? More curiously, why had Kate willingly boarded a boat when she had a terror of drowning at sea?
Police suspicion centres on both a young actor, whose sailing boat is moored just yards from where the toddler is found, and the murdered woman's husband. Was he really in Liverpool the night she died? And why does their daughter scream in terror every time he tries to pick her up?

What I thought: Another book to cross off my library challenge and my quest to read all of Minette Walters' books! My goodness, but I am being productive.
I'm not sure what I can say about this that I haven't said about Minette Walters before. Great writing, great story, original so you don't feel like you are reading the same book again. If I have a critism of Minette Walters it is that her books have a lot of characters and I often have trouble keeping them straight. Not sure why, but I managed to keep control of them a lot easier than I normally do with this one. Either way, thoroughly enjoy it!
 
Challenges: Library Challenge

When We Were Orphans

Title: When We Were Orphans
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Book - library

From Goodreads: Christopher Banks, the protagonist of Kazuo Ishiguro's fifth novel, When We Were Orphans, has dedicated his life to detective work but behind his successes lies one unsolved mystery: the disappearance of his parents when he was a small boy living in the International Settlement in Shanghai. Moving between England and China in the inter-war period, the book, encompassing the turbulence and political anxieties of the time and the crumbling certainties of a Britain deeply involved in the opium trade in the East, centres on Banks's idealistic need to make sense of the world through the small victories of detection and his need to understand finally what happened to his mother and father.

What I thought: I've been a little hesitant about reading any more Ishiguro since I was complete unable to get anywhere with The Unconsoled. This however was very different. I do find it hard to review Ishiguro's books because I feel so much of what I read goes above my head, but what I do love is the rich world he creates. Everything in this book seems exaggerated, brighter or duller than it would be real life, the characters larger than life and their experiences more significant. Whether I truly "get" these books becomes irrelevant as I am able to lose myself in beautiful language and a rich atmosphere.


Challenges: Library Challenge

Cloudstreet

Title: Cloudstreet
Author: Tim Winton
Genre: Austrlian fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Audio book - Library
From Goodreads:  Struggling to rebuild their lives after being touched by disaster, the Pickle family, who've inherited a big house called Cloudstreet in a suburb of Perth, take in the God-fearing Lambs as tenants. The Lambs have suffered their own catastrophes, and determined to survive, they open up a grocery on the ground floor. From 1944 to 1964, the shared experiences of the two overpopulated clans -- running the gamut from drunkenness, adultery, and death to resurrection, marriage, and birth -- bond them to each other and to the bustling, haunted house in ways no one could have anticipated.

What I thought: Being rather naughty, I am writing this review at work! (shhh, it’s quiet and I don’t think anyone I work with reads this blog!) The big advantage of doing this is that if I have left the audio book in the car (which I did!) I can grab a copy off the shelves to refer to while I write my review!
Having done so, I have discovered a bunch of comments on the back of the book that say so well what I feel about this book.

If you have not read Cloudstreet, your life is diminished. – Mem Fox

Cloudstreet shows an exquisite feel for the language, the smell, the very pulse of Australia. – Andrew Denton

I fell in love with that book and have been the most extraordinary Tim Winton fan ever since. - Judith Lucy

Reading it felt like coming home. It feels like looking through the plane window when you’re flying back in to the country. It really does. - Marieke Hardy

Every single word of these comments rings true for any Winton book as far as I am concerned. If you want to read an Australian author who captures Australia at its most pure, this is your man, and Cloudstreet is the book. And listening to it read aloud is about as perfect as it can get. Winton is pure manna for the mind and the soul. In the words of another famous Australian – do yourself a favour, go read a Tim Winton book.

Challenges: Aussie Author Challenge

Spartacus: The Gladiator

Title: Spartacus: The Gladiator
Author: Ben Kane
Genre: Historical fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Book from the publisher

From Goodreads: The first of two epic novels which tell the story of one of the most charismatic heroes history has ever known -- Spartacus, the gladiator slave who took on and nearly defeated the might of Rome, during the years 73-71 BC.

In historical terms we know very little about Spartacus the man -- partly because most contemporary Roman historians were keen to obliterate his memory and prevent him from attaining mythic status. This of course is grist to the novelist's mill. Ben Kane's brilliant novel begins in the Thracian village to which Spartacus has returned, after escaping from life as an auxiliary in the Roman army. But here he quickly falls foul of his overlord, the Thracian king, who has set his heart on Dionysian priestess, Ariadne -- later to become wife of Spartacus. Betrayed again to the Romans by his jealous king, Spartacus -- and with him Ariadne -- are taken in captivity to the school of gladiators at Capua. It is here -- against the unbelievable brutality of gladiatorial life -- that Spartacus and Crixus the Gaul plan the audacious overthrow of their Roman masters, escaping to Vesuvius, where they recruit and train a huge slave army -- an army which will keep the might of Rome at bay for two years and create one of the most extraordinary legends in history. Spartacus: The Gladiator takes the story up to the moment when the slave army has inflicted its first great defeat on Rome.

What I thought: I was very excited to be asked to review Spartacus: The Gladiator by Ben Kane. First, it’s the first time I’ve been asked to review a book. Second, it’s a period of history I don’t know a lot about and most probably wouldn’t choose to read about and I love being pushed out of my reading comfort zone. And I am glad I was pushed!
It did take me awhile to get into the flow of the book – but that was mainly to do with the fact that I had trouble finding time to read uninterrupted. Spartacus has a fast pace to it, which for me means I need to be able to spend a large chunk of time reading or I lose the flow. Once I managed a couple of solid sessions, I really stared to enjoy it. In this, the first of two books, Kane takes us from Spartacus’ return to Thrace, through him being sold into slavery, his escape and the building of an army which defeated many a Roman assault against them. As I said before, it’s not a period of history I know a lot about, so I cannot speak to the historical accuracy of the book, but the author’s note at the end takes pains to explain what in the book is known fact and what has had to be filled in.
Kane keeps the story moving along at a quick pace, lending a feeling of desperation to the situation. He draws a clear picture of the difference between the upper echelons of Roman society and the hardship of the slaves owned by them. He does not shy away from what would have been the reality of war in that time – rape, pillage and the sacking of towns are common. The description of battles is graphic and wouldn’t be recommended for those with a weak stomach! What it does do is highlight the brutal nature of the time and the battles that were fought. I myself love historical novels that do their best to portray the truth of the time they are set in.
My only problem with the book was Spartacus’ wife, Ariadne. A priestess of Dionysius, I found her to be a bit two dimensional, her character stilted and not quite real. As the only significant female character I was disappointed to not be able to connect with her. On the whole though I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the sequel.

The Universe Within

Awhile ago now, one of my husband's online friends asked if anyone would be willing to proof read a book he'd written and was planning to self publish in ebook format. I happily said yes and was sent a copy. Now Adrian has taken the step of publishing the book and I'm thrilled to review it!

Title: The Universe Within
Author: Adrian Ridgley
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Kindle - supplied by the author

From Amazon: Charles (Chaz) Perez Del Rio is a philosopher, a rockclimber and a geneticist, not necessarily in that order. During a climbing holiday at Mt Arapiles a notion germinates deep within him that he just can’t shake. There is something terribly wrong with the world and the humanity that continues to shape it. So starts a physical and mental journey that Chaz mistakenly believes is of his making. It leads to his discovery of the meaning of it all: all past, all present, all future - everything. He holds the key to mankind’s utopia, a utopia that the universe will share, the future that was always meant to be. But there is a catch - is mankind worthy of the knowing? The alternative is annihilation.
What I thought: First off, little bit of boasting here. My husband designed that cover! The photo is actually of the author, Adrian Ridgley on a climb called Kachoong, a climb that Rockclimbing.com claims is:

The route. The best, most famous, most dreamed about, and most fallen off route in all of Australia.

 The Universe Within starts in two parts. The first focuses on The Collective - a collection of entities whose rhythm is being disturbed, not for the first time. But this time, the ripples are noticeable and The Collective needs to work out what to do. The second part focuses on Ridgley's passion - rock climbing. As the novel progresses, these two worlds come together, presenting some really interesting ideas and thoughts.

The rock climbing parts of the book are awesome! Ridgley's love of the sport is clear. His descriptions of not only how the climb is done, but the thought processes involved are engrossing. I finished the book wanting to rock climb. He describes climbs that actually exist, that he has really done, but does warn at the end of the book that these descriptions are NOT to be taken as beta! (See, I picked up some rock climbing lingo...if you're a rock climber, you know what beta means, if not, read the book to find out!) His descriptions have you holding your breath as Chaz reaches for that next hold, or he finds the magical link between the rock and the climber. Fantastic stuff.

The Collective parts, like The Collective itself, are not as tight. I think part of this is the fact The Collective is an abstract idea to start with. It's role and purpose are hard to grasp, as Ridgley reveals bit by bit the link between them and Chaz. In the beginning of the book, I struggled with The Collective parts. However, I was proof reading it as well as trying to get my head around the concepts. Without the proof reading, I would have been able to focus more on the idea of The Collective. The further into the book, the more interesting and easier I found The Collective to read. As links were made I became intrigued by the idea Ridgley was drawing out.

The Universe Within is not perfect, but it is well worth the read. It shows an author with promise and will make you wonder about whether knowing the answers to all of the world's ills would be such a good thing after all.

The Universe Within can be purchased for Kindle from Amazon. At only $2.99, it's a bargain!

Challenges: ebook Challenge; Aussie Author Challenge

Lone Wolf

Title: Lone Wolf
Author: Jodi Picoult
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Book - Library

From Goodreads: Edward Warren, twenty-four, has been living in Thailand for five years, a prodigal son who left his family after an irreparable fight with his father, Luke. But he gets a frantic phone call: His dad lies comatose, gravely injured in the same accident that has also injured his younger sister Cara.
With her father’s chances for recovery dwindling, Cara wants to wait for a miracle. But Edward wants to terminate life support and donate his father’s organs. Is he motivated by altruism, or revenge? And to what lengths will his sister go to stop him from making an irrevocable decision?
Lone Wolf explores the notion of family, and the love, protection and strength it’s meant to offer. But what if the hope that should sustain it, is the very thing that pulls it apart?

What I thought: Jodi Picoult is one of those authors I can't seem to stop reading, even though in recent years I have not been highly impressed with her books. (Look out for tomorrow's post about some issues I have with her mother characters) I have got to the point where I no longer buy her books, but I still borrow them from the library and when I heard there was a new one out, I put it on my request list immediately. What she is good for is making you think about unusual situations and a read that is quick and moves along at a good pace. Now that I approach them this way, I'm not as disappointed as I have been in recent years.
The premise of Lone Wolf is two children - one an adult, the other very close - who need to decide the fate of their father after a car accident leaves him comatosed. Both have different reasons to feel guilt, both have different views on what should happen. Add into this feelings of abandonment, a new family for their mother and secrets that have been held for too long and you have a story that keeps you guessing about everyone's motives. The story is told from multiple view points, including Luke's - the man comatosed. His chapters explain his connection to the wolves and his life researching them. I thought a lot of his interactions with wolves seemed far fetched, but then I looked into one her main sources of information Shaun Ellis, a man who has made his life study wolves and living with them.
In the end, I enjoyed the book, but I now approach Picoult books with lower expectations than I use to. Now I view them as good, easy reads that raise issues a lot of other books in this category don't. I would recommend it if you are a Picoult fan - it won't disappoint.

Sonoma Rose

Title: Sonama Rose
Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Genre: Fiction
Series: Elm Creek Quilts
Audience: Adult
Format: Book - Library

From Goodreads: As the nation grapples with the strictures of Prohibition, Rosa Diaz Barclay lives on a Southern California rye farm with her volatile husband, John, who has lately found another source of income far outside the Federal purview.
Mother to eight children, Rosa mourns the loss of four who succumbed to the mysterious wasting disease currently afflicting young Ana and Miguel. Two daughters born of another father are in perfect health. When an act of violence shatters Rosa’s resolve to maintain her increasingly dangerous existence, she flees with the children and her precious heirloom quilts to the mesa where she last saw her beloved mother alive.


What I thought: This is the 19th book in the Elm Creek Quilts series. I must admit I love these books. Easy reads and good stories. I have also mentioned before that one of the other reasons I love these books is that even 19 books in, I've yet to feel like I have re-read the same book. The Goodreads description actually leaves a lot out as Rosa flees her home and goes in search of a cure for her sick children.  With her is Lars, her first love, who is determined to protect Rosa this time. Together they end up in the winery region, trying to start again. While this was a lovely story and there is a link to the Elm Creek Quilters, it's a tenuous one. There is also very little quilting in the book. Apart from the two quilts Rosa takes with her when she flees and a brief mention of quilts she intends to make for her children, there is no quilting in this book. My feeling is Chiaverini wanted to write a story based around prohibition, but wasn't comfortable enough, or allowed to by her publishers, to put it out without the Elm Creek Quilters banner. It doesn't affect the story, but readers who are drawn to the quilting aspect of these books will be left disappointed.

Wyrd Sisters

Title: Wyrd Sisters
Author: Terry Pratchett
Series: Discworld
Genre: Fantasy/ Comedy Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Kindle

From Goodreads: Meet Granny Weatherwax, the most highly regarded non-leader a coven of non-social witches could ever have. Generally, these loners don't get involved in anything, mush less royal intrigue. but then there are those times they can't help it. As Granny Weatherwax is about to discover, though, it's a lot harder to stir up trouble in the castle than some theatrical types would have you think. Even when you've got a few unexpected spells up your sleeve.

What I thought: Whenever I need a read that will guarantee I will laugh out loud, I turn to Pratchett. The man is pure genius! In Wyrd Sisters we get to meet three witches from the Ramtops. Granny Weatherwax, a woman who gets out of the way for no one or nothing (witches don't get out of the way, things get out of the way of them!), Nanny Ogg a witch who is the matriarch of a large clan (so many she's not even sure who they all are) and Magrat the youngest of the three who is trying (fairly unsuccessfully) modernise the coven. Throw in a murdered king, a hidden prince and a travelling theatre troupe and you've got a rollicking read.
It doesn't take long to realise Pratchett has drawn much inspiration (fodder?) from Shakespeare and half the fun of this book is recognising which plays are being sent up. I know this  isn't the last book that stars the witches and I can't wait for more!

Challenges: Ebook Challenge

The Mayor of Casterbridge

Title: The Mayor of Casterbridge
Author: Thomas Hardy
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Kindle

From Goodreads: In a fit of drunken anger, Michael Henchard sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas at a country fair. Over the course of the following years, he manages to establish himself as a respected and prosperous pillar of the community of Casterbridge, but behind his success there always lurk the shameful secret of his past and a personality prone to self-destructive pride and temper. Subtitled ‘A Story of a Man of Character’, Hardy’s powerful and sympathetic study of the heroic but deeply flawed Henchard is also an intensely dramatic work, tragically played out against the vivid backdrop of a close-knit Dorsetshire town.
   
What I thought: This is our March book group read and I approached it with trepidation. I don't have a good history with the classics. I struggle with them, often forcing myself to get through them. I'm so excited to say that for once, I didn't struggle! I actually enjoyed this, so much so I am likely to pick up more Hardy. I don't know what it was, but I just found the language easier than I normally do - maybe I'm finally growing up!
One thing that didn't seem to change for me is my dislike of the characters! I don't know what it is about characters in classics, but I generally don't like them! Henchard in this is a case in point. He continually bemoaned his bad behaviour and the effect it had on the outcomes of things around him, but he didn't change! Farfrae was completely insensitive, unable to see how his actions could impact negatively on someone else and as always, I find the women to simpering and spineless. Maybe I need to start reading these books without 21st century values...


Challenges: Ebook challenge,

The Secret History

Title: The Secret History
Author: Donna Tartt
Genre: Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Book - library

From Goodreads: Richard Papen arrived at Hampden College in New England and was quickly seduced by an elite group of five students, all Greek scholars, all worldly, self-assured, and, at first glance, all highly unapproachable. As Richard is drawn into their inner circle, he learns a terrifying secret that binds them to one another...a secret about an incident in the woods in the dead of night where an ancient rite was brought to brutal life...and led to a gruesome death. And that was just the beginning
   
What I thought: Last year I read a book called Reading By Moonlight: How Books Saved a Life by Brenda Walker about how the author used books to help her through cancer treatment. One of the books she mentioned that caught my attention was Donna Tartt's The Secret History. I can't remember exactly what she said about it, but it was enough for me to get the library to order it for me...and I'm glad I did.
Let me first say, it's a dense book. At over 500 pages long and small type, you have to read it. Set, I would say, in the late 60's, early 70's, there is a feeling of the Greek scholars being set apart from the rest of their class mates who are portrayed as seeing collage as one long party. Where Richard and his friends study the classics,  drink whiskey, eat out and pop prescription medication, their class mates party, drink beer, eat in the college dining hall and smoke dope. A very deliberate attempt by the author I feel to separate the Greek scholars - not so much as set them above, but set them apart. The events that happen are both fantastical and believable. The fall out devastating and inevitable. By the end of the book however, I did not like a single one of the characters. Flaws are one thing, but truly by the end I had trouble coming up with one redeeming feature between them let alone each!
Although it required concentration to read, The Secret History kept you engaged and wanting to continue. I often found I had to stop, not because I wanted to, but because I needed to absorb what had happened so far.
I would highly recommend The Secret History. I have another of hers sitting on a shelf upstairs (The Little Friend I think) which I am now sure to read. Just don't pick up The Secret History thinking you are in for  a light read!

Sourcery

Title: Sourcery
Author: Terry Pratchett
Series: Discworld
Genre: Fantasy/ Comedy Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Kindle

From Goodreads: There was an eighth son of an eighth son.  He was, quite naturally, a wizard.  And there it should have ended.  However (for reasons we'd better not go into), he had seven sons.  And then he had an eighth son...a wizard squared...a source of magic...a Sourcerer.
What I thought:  I love the wizards of the Disc World. A bunch of doddering men who's main focus is not being killed off by wizards below them! But when sourcery  comes to the disc, all hell breaks lose. Once again it's up to Rincewind and the luggage to save the world - a position Rincewind despairs to find himself in again. This is once again a classic Pratchett read. It further explores the realm of the Disc World. Pratchett's ability to play with words finds you laughing out loud frequently. Some of my favourite gems follow.



The subject of wizards and sex is a complicated one, but as has already been indicated it does, in essence, boil down to this: when it comes to wine, women and song, wizards are allowed to get drunk and croon as much as they like.


"I'm not going to ride on a magic carpet!" he hissed. "I'm afraid of grounds." "You mean heights," said Conina. "And stop being silly." "I know what I mean! It's the grounds that kill you!"


Challenges: Ebook Challenge