Three reviews

I just can't seem to keep up with reviews at the moment, and it's not even as though I'm reading that much more than normal. The usual six books in June and I'm on book five for July... so that probably is a bit more than usual for this month but nevertheless... So anyway, I'm going to do three quickies again to see if I can get myself back on track. First up Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys.

I saw this new book, from The Bloomsbury group, blogged about in several places and knew it was something I would enjoy. Basically, the story takes the form of letters written by Henrietta to her childhood friend, Robert, who is serving at the front during World War Two. She describes everyday life on the home front, digging for victory, sewing and knitting for the troops, blackout regulations, food rationing and so on. We meet various people who live in her Devon coastal village (we never learn where it is but my money's on Budleigh Salterton), Lady B who is relishing the war and writes to Hitler to tell him what she thinks of him, Henrietta's best friend, Faith, who worries that with clothing rationing she won't be able to dress fashionbly, The Conductor, who lusts after Faith, Mrs. Savernack who seems to be one scary lady, Henrietta's long suffering doctor husband, Charles, and so on. The whole thing is funny and charming and sometimes very sad when she mentions sons lost to people in the village or her worries about her own children fighting or helping in the war effort in London. A super book, lovingly illustated and just a joy really.

Next: Grey Souls by Philippe Claudel.

This 'sort of' crime book, set during and after World War One, takes place in a French village. We're not told its exact location, only that it's very close to the front. We're also not told who the narrator is, but it's clear that he's a police investigator of some sort. And I say it's a 'sort of' crime book because yes, there is a crime - the murder of a ten year old girl - but the book is not just about that. It's about the people who inhabit the village and nearby town - the prosecutor, the judge, a female teacher who comes among them, neighbours, friends, the narrator's wife etc. and how certain events were connected, how the war changed people, and the consquences of people's actions. It's a complicated little book, very melancholy, even tragic, beautifully written and very, very French. It unfolds very much like a French film, which is no surprise as the author is apparently a film director as well as a writer. A small masterpiece but not one to read if you need cheering up.

This was book 15 for my Support your local library challenge being hosted by J.Kaye.

And lastly: New Moon by Stephanie Meyer.

This is book two in the author's 'Twilight' series. Bella has settled back into life in Forks, WA, after the events of the the first book. It's her birthday and she goes to spend the evening with Edward's family, the Cullens. They're vampires of course and a chance accident when Bella cuts herself leads to chaos when one of the family can't control his bloodlust. The day after, Edward is remote and this continues until he announces that the family are leaving Forks. Bella is traumatised and spends several months in a 'living dead' sort of state. She is eventually pulled out of this by Jacob, a Native American boy, who helps Bella restore a motor cycle. At first Jacob is his usual happy self but then Bella realises the teenager has a problem. There's something going on with teenage boys in the village and things come to a head when, overnight, Jacob is no longer her friend - openly hostile in fact. And that's not her only problem. Victoria, the female member of the vampire coven who tried to kill Bella, is back with a vengeance. With Edward gone and Jacob appearing to want nothing to do with her, who will help protect Bella?

These Twilight books get quite a lot of stick but I've actually really enjoyed the two I've read. New Moon is faster paced I think than Twilight, much more going on, more complications... I liked it better. It's not great literature but then who needs that all of the time? I regard these books in the same light as Harry Potter to be honest. In other words they're page turners... Meyer, like JKR, knows exactly how to tell a good story without frills or fripperies and, to my mind anyway, that's why they're so popular. Enjoyed it.

A bookish day...

The rain bypassed Spain today and is coming down in stair rods in Devon instead:



So I'm having a bookish day here today with a visit to the library and Waterstones inbetween the torrential showers.

The aim at Waterstones was to get a copy of Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer as I'm halfway through New Moon and absolutely loving it. But it was on offer as a three for two so I picked up a couple of other things too:



Palace Council by Stephen L. Carter is for my husband so I don't really know what that is but the other one, Indian Takeaway by Hardeep Singh Kohli, the comedian and TV presenter, is an investigation into his Indian and Scottish roots. I'm a bit of a fan so this sounded rather good.

And then I found that Waterstone's new edition of their most excellent book magazine, Books Quarterly, is out. After the last one came out I had to go and buy The Gruffalo for my grandson because the picture of the book on the front made him think it was his current favourite book! Heheheh. Anyway, here's this quarter's with its pic from Sarah Waters's new book on the front:



And then it was off to the library:



Three books from there - Another book by P.J. Tracy (see review below), the first in the series this time (I think...) A Georgette Heyer crime yarn, Envious Casca, and a short story collection by E.W. Hornung, Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman.

And this is the library pile as it stands at the moment:



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And last but not least a quick book review - Snow Blind by P.J. Tracy.



This one is set in Minnesota, partly in the city of Minneapolis and partly out in the nearby countryside. The bodies of two dead policemen are discovered, disguised as snowmen, in a park where a lot of children are having a snowman building competition. A day later another body is discovered, also disguised as a snowman, on a frozen lake, north of the city. Detectives Magozzi and Rolseth are sent north to liaise with rookie sheriff, Iris Rikker, to try and discover if this is a copy-cat killing or the same killer at work. They quickly discover that the dead man in this case is a probation officer and that his killer is probably a wife beater he was interviewing who is now on the run. The detectives can't see the connection but unusual facts keep coming to light that connect the two cases in what seem like trivial ways *at first*...

Well, the first thing to say here is that this is the 4th. book in this series. This is typical of me. I had no idea - Hubby just passed it on to me from his library pile, telling me that he quite enjoyed it, which is unusual enough in itself! It seems the first three books are not about these two detectives but more about a team of computer geeks who help the police - 'Monkeywrench' or something. They do appear in this 4th. book but not in any major way.

Anyway, like my husband, I actually quite liked the book too. I liked the two detectives, found the plot pacey and interesting, and absolutely adored the snowy Minneapolis and Minnesota setting (blame Mary Tyler Moore!) I had some idea fairly early on of what was going on but it didn't spoil my enjoyment at all. I suppose if I have a complaint it would be that there does seem to be a slight implication in it that most men are wife beaters and that did get a bit wearing by the end of the book. The 'author' is actually two women, a mother and daughter team, which has got to be slightly unusual? Anyway, not a bad read... and I've just picked up the first in the series from the library.

And now it's stopped raining at long last and the sun's out.

Books that have stayed with you meme

I'm pinching this idea from deslily who originally got it from Susan and where it came from before that I have no idea. :-)

So what books have you read over the past decade that stay with you? What are your favorites? If you've always kept a books-read list, is there a theme to what you end up liking the most?

Fiction:

Grass - Sheri S. Tepper
Probably my favourite science fiction book ever, and I only read it for the first time about four years ago. A world completely covered in grass which has been settled by some not very pleasant people. And there is something about 'the hunt' that you immediately realise is all wrong but you're not told what. I've never read a book with a more well defined sense of extreme menace. Brilliant.

The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
A strange mix of religion and science fiction - but it works. A team of scientists and explorers headed by a RC priest go off on an expedition to the planet Rakhat. This one could be summarised by the phrase ' They meant well...' A brilliant 'first contact' kind of warning.

Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb
I've only read the first three books in Hobb's nine strong 'Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man' sequence but even based just on those I still believe she's the one of the best fantasy writers around at the moment. Her world building and story telling abilities are second to none, imo.

The Hollow Kingdom - Clare B. Dunkle
All three books in this trilogy are excellent but I particularly love this first book. I've a thing about elves and goblins anyway but this YA fantasy with a touch of romance where the 'hero' is a very strange looking goblin who kidnaps the heroine in order to marry her, was just perfect. I loved the humour and the underground setting and well... just everything about it really.

The Harper Hall trilogy - Anne McCaffrey
I love all the Pern books but this particular little trilogy is one I read over and over. It's the story of Menolly who is a talented singer and musician, but on Pern girls never get to be harpers. Betrayed by her father, she runs away to a coastal area where she discovers tiny dragons and teaches them to sing. These books are quite simply perfection.

The Island of Adventure - Enid Blyton
It might seem odd to choose an Enid Blyton book for this meme but I believe in being honest and this lovely little book has stayed with me since I read it. Blyton conjures up such a wonderful feeling for the Scottish Isles, where it's set, that I haven't been able to get the atmosphere out of my head.

The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
Vampires, history, East European travel... what more could a person want? Loved it.

Frederica - Georgette Heyer
I could name any one of a dozen Regencies by Heyer but Frederica is the one I reread the most. I love its mix of a romance between the older man, Alverstoke, and the younger Frederica, and the way her younger siblings and a mad dog complicate the issue. Joyous.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
Francie Nolan's story. Born into poverty in turn of the century New York I found her story of survival completely inspirational. Beautifully told.

Saplings - Noel Streatfield
WW2 story of how a well-to-do family fell to pieces as a direct result of the war. I worried endlessly about the children while I was reading it.

The Mist - Stephen King
This longer short story tells how a strange mist envelopes a town and a man and his son get trapped in a supermarket with a group of people. What's outside? And why is it trying to get in? Probably the scariest thing I've ever read - I just don't look at mist in the same way since I read this...


Non-fiction:

Lost Lands, Forgotten Stories
- Alexandra Pratt
The author follows in the footsteps of Mina Hubbard who made a 600 mile journey into the interior of Labrador in 1905 to restore the reputation of her dead husband. Ms Pratt canoes up river with a Native American as a guide and the resultant descriptions of scenery and happenings and discussions on Indian history and the future of the province, with her guide, are just fantastic. I want to go Labrador but realise it's never gonna happen.

Stargazing: Memoirs of a Lighthouse Keeper - Peter Hill
An account of the author's six months spent on lighthouses when he was a student - the people he met, lighthouse routines, cogitations etc. There is just something wonderful about this book.

My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell
Durrell's account of his boyhood on Corfu with his eccentric family. Hard to get the atmosphere of Corfu out of your head once you've read it.

I'm sure there are others I could add to this list - *many* more in fact - but I'll stop here before the list gets completely out of hand. So, is there a theme to the books that stay with me? Erm... I seem to be keen on sci fi and fantasy, but I already knew that. Truthfully, I don't think there is a pattern... I'm an eclectic reader and I think this list is evidence of it.

The Corinthian and Infernal Devices

I seem to be going through a patch where I'm reading but not reviewing much so it's time to do a bit of catching up. I'll do quick summaries of these two and then I won't be so far behind!

First up - The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer.

Sir Richard Wyndham is every inch a Regency dandy - tall, dark and handsome, dressed immaculately, a gambler, permanently bored. His mother and sister visit him one day and more or less order him to marry the woman it has been understood he will marry since childhood; he is now 29. Unfortunately the idea doesn't appeal to Richard in the slightest. He gets very drunk the night before he has to go and ask for the woman's hand and on the way home encounters a boy climbing out of a second storey window. Only when he catches 'him' does Wyndham discover that it isn't a 'him' after all... it's a her... one Penelope Creed, aged 17 and merely dressed as boy. Pen is escaping from her adopted family who want her to marry their son. She's on the way to Somerset, to her ancestoral home, and to the man she thinks she wants to marry; Wyndham, in a drunken haze, decides to acompany her. Amongst their many adventures on stage coaches and in coaching inns they discover a stolen necklace, get mixed up with some very rum company indeed, and witness a murder. Will life ever be the same again for either of them?

I hadn't read The Corinthian in a very long time but a post by Danielle at A Work in Progress reminded me of how much fun it was, so I dug it out and wallowed in an absolutely wonderful Regency romance. I seem to recall being charmed and amused by it all those years ago, but with the benefit of even more advanced years, the predicament Wyndham finds himself in and the dryness of his sense of humour is now even more appealing. It was fun too because I know the area where the story is set... that of Keynsham and it's surrounding villages... as we lived there from 1975 to 1979. And now of course I want to dig out more Heyers and gorge on them - once upon a time it wasn't unknown for me to read 20 or 30 straight off and end up overdosing. So I shall restrain myself and read a few over the summer, along with other things.

Next: Infernal Devices by Philip Reeve, part 3 of his Mortal Engines series.

The first two books of this YA series concentrate on Tom Natworthy and Hester Shaw who met in the traction city of London and got into all kinds of trouble and adventures, before settling somewhere on the Dark Continent of post-apocolytic USA. In the eighteen years since the last book they have had a daughter, Wren, and are so isolated that they have no idea that a war has been waging for years between the moving 'Traction' cities and the Green Storm. Life is so quiet in fact that Wren is almost driven mad. She wants adventures like her parents had, but all she seems to do is row with her mother. One night she follows the ex-Lost Boy, now grown up, Caul, and discovers him conversing with Lost Boy, Gargle, beside his vessel. It's clear Caul doesn't want to do what Gargle requires and when Caul leaves, Wren takes his place and offers to steal something called 'The Tin Book' for him. She does this, mayhem ensues on the beach, and Wren is taken prisoner by the Lost Boy vessel. She ends up on the floating city of Brighton, a slave to Pennyroyal, the rogue who once tried to kill her father. A lot of people seem to want The Tin Book. What is it and why are they prepared to kill to get hold of it? Meanwhile Tom and Hester are once more out in the world, frantically searching for their lost daughter. Can they reach her before the book reaches the hands of Stalker Fang, the Green Storm leader, and 'she' discovers its true purpose?

Wonderful. Put simply, this YA series is amazing. It's fantasy but not your ordinary run-of-the-mill fantasy (and there's nothing wrong with that either). The author's sheer inventiveness and ability to inject pace into an already exciting plot is just fantastic. And a world where cities move about the world preying and devouring smaller towns, well who would have thought of that? I just can't praise the series highly enough to be honest. The first two books were superb - this third one is even better, in my opinion. I can't wait to read the 4th., A Darkling Plain, to see how the author resolves all the issues and ties up loose ends. And now there is a 5th. book, Fever Crumb, a prequel, which explains how the traction cities and stalkers came into being. Philip Reeve is definitely one of my favourite YA adult authors and long may he continue to write.

Fantasy author meme

How odd that I got this result to this meme when I've only just been reading Susan Cooper...

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?...

Susan Cooper (b. 1935)

3 High-Brow, -21 Violent, -9 Experimental and -1 Cynical!

Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Peaceful, Traditional and Romantic! These concepts are defined below.

Though born in England, Susan Cooper currently lives in the United States. She is most well-known for her The Dark Is Rising sequence, which has received substantial critical acclaim, the second book (also called The Dark Is Rising) in the series winning a Newbury Honor and the fourth book (The Grey King) being awarded the Newbury Medal, one of the world's most prestigious awards for children's literature. The series is one of the finest examples of contemporary fantasy: the kind of fantasy where magic happens in an actually existing place. The Dark Is Rising is set in Britain, where two common themes of fantasy are combined; that of a magic world parallel to ours, which later became so popular with the Harry Potter books and that of ordinary British school-children playing a role in the struggle between Good and Evil, which had earlier been explored by C S Lewis.

Cooper manages to use the idiom of traditional children books to tell a tale of epic proportions, as evil beings from Celtic legends appear on Earth to do battle with the Old Ones, a secret society of people with magic powers. She is also able to combine this rather romantic vision with important messages, the compassion of one of the children being vital to the cause of Good at one point in the story. In Cooper's world, what you think and do matters on a grand scale, a message children and adults alike should take to their hearts.

You are also a lot like Ursula K Le Guin.

If you want some action, try China Miéville.

If you'd like a challenge, try your exact opposite, Lian Hearn.

Your score

This is how to interpret your score: Your attitudes have been measured on four different scales, called 1) High-Brow vs. Low-Brow, 2) Violent vs. Peaceful, 3) Experimental vs. Traditional and 4) Cynical vs. Romantic. Imagine that when you were born, you were in a state of innocence, a tabula rasa who would have scored zero on each scale. Since then, a number of circumstances (including genetical, cultural and environmental factors) have pushed you towards either end of these scales. If you're at 45 or -45 you would be almost entirely cynical, low-brow or whatever. The closer to zero you are, the less extreme your attitude. However, you should always be more of either (eg more romantic than cynical). Please note that even though High-Brow, Violent, Experimental and Cynical have positive numbers (1 through 45) and their opposites negative numbers (-1 through -45), this doesn't mean that either quality is better. All attitudes have their positive and negative sides, as explained below.

High-Brow vs. Low-Brow

You received 3 points, making you more High-Brow than Low-Brow. Being high-browed in this context refers to being more fascinated with the sort of art that critics and scholars tend to favour, rather than the best-selling kind. At their best, high-brows are cultured, able to appreciate the finer nuances of literature and not content with simplifications. At their worst they are, well, snobs.

Violent vs. Peaceful

You received -21 points, making you more Peaceful than Violent. This scale is a measurement of a) if you are tolerant to violence in fiction and b) whether you see violence as a means that can be used to achieve a good end. If you aren't, and you don't, then you are peaceful as defined here. At their best, peaceful people are the ones who encourage dialogue and understanding as a means of solving conflicts. At their worst, they are standing passively by as they or third parties are hurt by less scrupulous individuals.

Experimental vs. Traditional

You received -9 points, making you more Traditional than Experimental. Your position on this scale indicates if you're more likely to seek out the new and unexpected or if you are more comfortable with the familiar, especially in regards to culture. Note that traditional as defined here does not equal conservative, in the political sense. At their best, traditional people don't change winning concepts, favouring storytelling over empty poses. At their worst, they are somewhat narrow-minded.

Cynical vs. Romantic

You received -1 points, making you more Romantic than Cynical. Your position on this scale indicates if you are more likely to be wary, suspicious and skeptical to people around you and the world at large, or if you are more likely to believe in grand schemes, happy endings and the basic goodness of humankind. It is by far the most vaguely defined scale, which is why you'll find the sentence "you are also a lot like x" above. If you feel that your position on this scale is wrong, then you are probably more like author x. At their best, romantic people are optimistic, willing to work for a good cause and an inspiration to their peers. At their worst, they are easily fooled and too easily lead.

Take Which fantasy writer are you? at HelloQuizzy

Knightshaye's Court

We had a lovely stroll at our local National Trust property, Knightshaye's Court, on Sunday morning, and I took a few photos. Gardens only, for once we didn't go anywhere near the big house.




We were too early for the walled, kitchen garden unfortunately, so we toodled off elsewhere and never did go back - we plan to within the next week or two.



A small meadow of what I think are ox-eye daisies.



A closer look.



Fallen branches in the woods.



The ferns in the woods were stunning.



Originally this was the stable block but now houses the National Trust's shop and cafeteria etc.



One of the many vistas to be seen from the gardens.



The pond - it was alive with swallows going after all the insects. If you click on the pic you can just see one of them between two clumps of yellow flowers.



Another form of wildlife... our grandson enjoying his new hobby of fence-climbing.



Fungi growing on a tree. Not sure what this type is called but it was layered like shelves. I asked Hubby to lift me up to take a better photo but he didn't seem all that keen...



Another vista which sort of shows where we live... we're to the left of that communications mast on the edge of the woods - somewhere in that block of white houses, probably behind that big tree.

And here endeth your trip to darkest Devon for today.

OuaT III wrap-up

Going through a particularly busy spell at the moment so my reading is really suffering - I've hardly read a word in several days. Back to normal next week so am hoping to make a bit of headway with Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. It's very good and deserves more attention than I'm able to give it just now.

My final read for Carl's Once Upon a Time III challenge was Wings by Terry Pratchett.



This is the third book in the Bromeliad trilogy and tells what happened to the nome, Masklin, and his companions, Gurder and Angalo, while Grimma was fighting her battles in the quarry in book two.

The three nomes travel first to the airport in search of Grandson 39, and, in pursuit of him, board a Concorde flight to Florida. They're hoping he'll help them to get into space somehow and thus onto the spacecraft belonging to their ancestors that they know is out there somewhere. But first they have to negotiate the foreign landscape that is Florida, make peace with the natives, and somehow get to NASA in time for the next shuttle launch. And as if that weren't enough to cope with, they have many questions to ponder - about the nature of the universe and their place in it. Masklin almost looks back with fondness to more simple times when he lived in a hole and only had to try to eat, each day, without being eaten - these days he has more responsibilities and problems than he knows what to do with - and no sign of it ending any time soon.

An excellent end to a delightful trilogy. From start to finish this YA series has been consistant in its quality and Pratchett's peculiarly British sense of humour lights up and enhances all three stories. If you've never read anything by this author and don't know where to start, this would be a very good place; such a gentle introduction to his work would suit nearly everyone I would think. Children, teens, adults - there's something for all in these books. Highly recommended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carl's Once Upon a Time III challenge finished yesterday I believe. I'm quite pleased with how I've done this time, having read nine books:

Larklight - Philip Reeve
Over Sea, Under Stone - Susan Cooper
Daughter of the Blood - Anne Bishop
Here, There Be Dragons - James A. Owen
The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
Morrigan's Cross - Nora Roberts
Truckers - Terry Pratchett
Diggers - Terry Pratchett
Wings - Terry Pratchett

My favourite was Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop but, to tell the truth, practically all of the books were very good. Only the Nora Roberts was a bit average and even that was not truly terrible. All in all, a really enjoyable challenge and thank you to Carl for hosting it again this year.