Bride of the Book God

Sunday Salon – 12 April

April 12, 2015 in Sunday Salon | 6 comments

Reading still a bit slow this week though, having briefly set it aside because I really wanted to finish it but wasn’t quite in the right frame of mind, I galloped through the second half of Frances Hardinge’s Cuckoo Song which was very enjoyable in a dark and creepy sort of way 🙂

But this week, because I was only at work for two days and the rest of the time I was on a break, I have mainly been binge-watching TV on my iPad which has been very relaxing.

Challenges:

I still haven’t started my reading for Once Upon a Time IX but have at least selected the book I’m going to start with, so that’s progress of sorts, and I’m considering whether the Hardinge could be included in this challenge (given it’s about a changeling) as well as the horror reading challenge. I probably won’t decide until I actually sit down to write my review.

In progress:

I have pulled Child 44 from my TBR pile so that I can read it in advance of the film being released in the next few weeks, but good grief it’s grim and depressing and I’m only working through it very slowly indeed.

New Books

I’ve bought four or five books this week though it’s worth pointing out that two of them were pre-orders. I also managed to walk into a physical book shop and after some browsing walk out without buying anything. I had to lie down in a dark room afterwards to cope with the shock 😀

All back to normal this week, so hopefully more reading time.

DNF: Jane Eyre

April 8, 2015 in DNF | Tags: Classics | 7 comments

So, in order to take part in the Cornflower Book Group for April 2015 I committed myself to reading Jane Eyre, an undoubted classic by Charlotte Bronte which I had never read before. I had about 10 weeks to read it, and I dragged my feet dreadfully, partly for good reasons and partly because, as I admitted to myself earlier this weekend, I just didn’t want to.

So, it is officially abandoned after only 4 chapters.

I was very happy to make that decision but I started to wonder why this was, and I have come up with what appears to be a slightly uncomfortable truth – women’s writing from the 19th century *whispers* just doesn’t appeal.

Now I don’t mean all women – I’ve read and enjoyed the two other Bronte sisters, and I’ve read Charlotte Perkins Gilman and if we throw in children’s books then Louisa May Alcott and Susan Coolidge spring to mind as great favourites. And I don’t think it’s an aversion to pre-20th century works – I’ve read Dickens & Collins, Tolstoy & Trollope, amongst others. It’s just….

Well I’m not sure what it just is, but I have a confession to make; more than one actually:

I just wanted to slap Jane Eyre, and I have tried and failed to get very far with Villette or Shirley (sorry Charlotte, but you’re a bit of a prig)
I have tried really hard with Jane Austen, but the only one of her novels I came close to liking was Northanger Abbey, and I’ve only ever managed to finish Emma and Mansfield Park, and both were a bit of a struggle. I just don’t like Austen and I get puzzled by the adoration she receives
I abandoned both Ruth and Cranford very early on so that’s it for Mrs Gaskell
I have tried to read Middlemarch twice and failed both times, ditto The Mill on the Floss (sorry George Eliot); Middlemarch is the one I’m most disappointed with myself for not finishing

I’m not sure it evens things out, but I have never got on with Thomas Hardy either.

So, I’m going to admit that when it comes to the classics I have a bit of a blind spot, and I’ll just have to learn to live with the shame 🙂

Bryant & May – The Burning Man

April 6, 2015 in Reviews | Tags: Crime, London | Leave a comment

What’s The Burning Man all about?

Still under the auspices of the City of London Police, Bryant & May and the remainder of the Peculiar Crimes Unit are pulled into the investigation of the death of a homeless man during anti-capitalist protests in the city. The man was killed when a bank (in whose doorway he was sleeping rough) is firebombed. But of course there is much, much more to it than that, as an apparent random act is followed by other deaths by fire that indicate that someone is using the rioting as a cover for a protest of his own.

Why did I want to read it?

As I’ve said ad nauseam on this blog, I love these books and look forward to each one, snaffling it as soon as it’s published. Added frisson this time as I got my copy signed (see more of that below), and it might be the last we see of the PCU in this form. Which will be sad if true.

What did I think of it?

Another great story, as always full of plausible events with a strong sense of place and a delight in the characters, building on years of development but never (I think) shutting out the new or casual reader (though of course you always get more out of a series when you read them in order IMHO). And once again Christopher Fowler brings London to life with details of its history and legends underpinning the plot. For a start I am going to have to go and find Crutched Friars next time I’m near the Tower. And it was great to have a relatively rare foray outside of London, to visit the bonfires of Lewes on Guy Fawkes Night. The Book God is a Sussex man and I’ve had the opportunity to see a number of these amazing bonfires being constructed, though never been there on the big night itself, so interesting to see them incorporated into the story in such a significant way.

But back to the story; I was slightly anxious reading this as it seemed that the series was coming to an end, and although the thing that I feared did not come to pass there are significant changes for a number of members (actually probably all of them now I come to think of it) of the PCU. I understand there’s going to be a collection of short stories later in the year but this may very well be the last novel, which makes me sad.

As I mentioned I was lucky enough to get to Forbidden Planet on publication day to finally meet Christopher and get my book signed. He was as lovely and charming as I had expected and it was a real treat to meet him after more than 20 years of reading his books (I first read Darkest Day on holiday in Istanbul in 1993), and I hope to be reading them for many more years to come.

Sunday Salon – 5 April

April 5, 2015 in Sunday Salon | 2 comments

Reading slumped a bit this week and I haven’t read anything much at all over this Easter weekend, which is a shame. But I did finish reading the new Christopher Fowler novel (Bryant & May and The Burning Man) and thoroughly enjoyed it (though I haven’t written my post on it just yet).

Challenges:

I completed the TBR Double Dog challenge; my wrap-up post is here if you’re interested in how I did. I also completed the King’s March challenge and was pleased with the three novels and two short stories I read in the month. I really like these shorter, more focused challenges and may look out for some more.

I still haven’t started my reading for Once Upon a Time IX but have at least selected the book I’m going to start with, so that’s progress of sorts.

Oh, and I did write up the first quarterly update on my progress with the 2015 Horror Reading Challenge which you can find here. I was slightly astonished at the number of horror titles I’ve read since the beginning of January, I must really be in the mood for the darkness 🙂

In progress

I am still reading the Hardinge novel which I’m now about halfway through. But I have decided to abandon both Jane Eyre and The Voyage Out; I just don’t have time to spend on books I’m not enjoying. I know I’ll come back to Woolf in the future, as I keep on talking about a major re-read of her works, but I may write a DNF post on the Bronte to talk about why I’ve given it up.

New Books

So the self-imposed book-buying embargo finished on 31 March and I did indeed go on a bit of a spree, downloading a number of eBooks. It was very enjoyable and nice to carry out a major refresh of my TBR stack but I’m not going o make a habit of it 😀 (says she, fingers crossed!)

The TBR Double Dog Dare 2015 – wrap up

March 31, 2015 in Challenges | 3 comments

So I signed up for the TBR Double Dog Dare hosted by James at James Reads Books back in November, with the intention that between 1 January and 1 April 2015 I only read books that I already owned and wanted to read.

So how did I do?

Books read = 17, of which 11 were eBooks and one was a re-read
Books read which met the rules of the dare = 14
What about the other 3? All were read for bookish events, honest

Quite pleased with that 🙂

The self-imposed book buying embargo comes to an end at midnight tonight. A number of books did come into the house but all but three were books that I had pre-ordered before 31 December, and the other three were related to book events – you have to buy the book if you want the author to sign it people! So I am declaring that a success, and even if I don’t take a buying holiday again for a while I will be asking myself some hard questions before I buy.

The thing I’ve noticed most about this dare is that it has made me think about how I choose what I’m going to read. I am very easily distracted by bright and shiny new things but there were some good books that I’d had for a while. Perhaps my habits will change, who knows.

Now, where are those credit cards…..

2015 Horror Reading Challenge – first quarterly update

March 30, 2015 in Challenges | Tags: Horror, Lovecraft, Stephen King | 6 comments

What did I say I was going to do?

As I said in my sign up post, I am aiming to be a Brave Reader, which means reading 6-10 books during the course of the year.

How am I doing?

Really well actually! I have read and reviewed the following (assisted by signing up for the King’s March challenge so this is a bit heavy on Mr K’s work):

Short stories (individual and collections)

The Wide Carnivorous Sky by John Langan – which includes Mother of Stone, one of my favourite satires of the year (and possibly ever)
North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Balingrud – which I didn’t enjoy quite so much
a couple of short stories by Stephen King & Joe Hill

Novels

The Death House by Sarah Pinborough – some might not call this horror but I thought it dealt with some very dark issues and it had huge impact on me
Revival by Stephen King – King meets Lovecraft
Carrie by Stephen King – where it all began, an important re-read for me
Cell by Stephen King – King meets (sort-of) zombies

Series

I have been reading the Laundry Files novels by Charles Stross for several years and have now (almost) caught up. Many people consider these sci-fi but all the Lovecraftian stuff puts them firmly in horror for me.

So not bad at all. I really didn’t expect to do so well so early but that King challenge came along at the right time 🙂

Sunday Salon – March round-up

March 29, 2015 in Sunday Salon | 2 comments

I can see light at the end of the tunnel in relation to work and a couple of long weekends are on the horizon so although I’m still not reading huge amounts I’m pleased that I’m ahead of my target for the year.

Challenges:

My tally for the TBR Double Dog stands at fourteen books (although I have actually read seventeen in total). I’m not sure this is going to change with only two days left in the month but you never know 🙂

I squeezed in another Stephen King novel (Cell) for the King’s March challenge. I seem to be one of the few people who actually quite likes this (though it is not his best, it was just what I needed).

I haven’t really started my reading for Once Upon a Time IX but will definitely get into it this week, and I am continuing to re-read The Voyage Out, though I’m only a couple of chapters on so far. I delayed the start to line up with others who were opening the book on the anniversary itself (which was 26 March, fact fans!)

I keep on forgetting that I’m also taking part in the 2015 Horror Reading Challenge. I’ll be posting the first quarterly update on my progress soon.

In progress

I got my hands on the new Christopher Fowler novel (Bryant & May and The Burning Man) and started it immediately – couldn’t even wait until I got the book signed, which I did at Forbidden Planet on Shaftesbury Avenue. This is a series I have been following religiously and this newest entry is a corker. I am also continuing to read Kipling and Hardinge (as you can see from my sidebar).

The Jane Eyre Update

I have still only read three chapters but intend to make progress this week. I’m not going to let this linger like Jonathan Strange – if I don’t make headway over Easter I am going to set it aside.

Events

I was lucky enough to attend a Bloomsbury Institute event with Priya Parmar, and I wrote about it here. If you are at all interested in the Bloomsbury Group you should read this excellent novel, I thought it was lovely and enjoyed my chat with the author (and have a lovely signed copy now).

New Books

The only new book was the Fowler mentioned above but I am glad the embargo is nearing its end. I was a little unwell on Saturday and it took a real effort not to go on a bit of a spending spree. But I have a shopping list and come midnight on Tuesday there may be some download action going on!

Priya Parmar event at the Bloomsbury Institute (Tuesday 24 March)

March 26, 2015 in Stuff | Tags: Bloomsbury | 2 comments

I was very pleased to be able to attend this event at Bloomsbury Publishing earlier this week where the biographer Frances Spalding carried out a joint interview with Priya Parmar, author of Vanessa and Her Sister (which I reviewed here) and Amanda Coe, writer of Life in Squares, the upcoming BBC series about the Bloomsbury Group.

It was a really pleasant evening, and I found out some interesting stuff:

Priya took 7 years to research and write the novel, immersing herself in the mountain of correspondence
she didn’t originally intend the novel to be in the form of a diary
her view was is that it definitely can’t have been easy to be Virginia Woolf’s sister (knowing laughter from the audience)
Amanda’s TV series will also have Vanessa Bell as the central character
it will cover the period 1905 to 1948, compared to Priya’s novel which covers 1905 to 1912
why Vanessa Bell – the most visual and last verbal of the group, but very much the “silent lynchpin”, and there is a lot in the literature about her, but very little by her apart from her letters, which are silent on some of the really important things such as The Great Betrayal

There was also a very interesting discussion about views of the Bloomsbury Set, seen as a cliquey group with many having the impression that there is a lot of material about them which may be true of the written word but there is in fact very little in drama. Both had been warned about potential backlash from people who loathe Bloomsbury and all that it appears to stand for but also the very knowledgeable “fans” who will have their own view of how it should all be done. But both Amanda and Priya agreed that they were just fascinating people who knew that they were interesting which made it all worthwhile.

I was able to have a quick chat with Priya and got my book signed which was great.

Cell

March 26, 2015 in Reviews | Tags: Horror, Stephen King, Zombies & Ghouls | 9 comments

What’s it all about?

The event became known as The Pulse. The virus was carried by every cellular phone operating in the world. Within hours, those receiving calls would become insane – or die.

Indeed, that is the basic premise of Cell. But let’s not beat about the bush – this is basically a zombie novel 🙂

Why did I want to read it?

Well, have been taking part in the King’s March challenge and had done quite well (two short stories, one new novel and one re-read) and hadn’t really thought to pick up any others even though there was a chunk of the month still to go. But when looking for something else I came across this 2006 novel which I had completely forgotten about, and as I was looking for something light (if insane phone-call triggered zombies can be called light) to read, here we are.

What did I think of it?

While far from being his best novel I thought Cell was a cool idea that was pretty well executed. Like a lot of King’s novels it stands or falls on what you think of the main protagonist and Clay Riddell, the comic book artist whose world is turned upside down in seconds, is a likeable character driven to do some very brave things through a desire to get back to the family from whom he has been separated. So as well as being about zombies it is also a classic quest – Clay is joined by a small band of people with whom he has been thrown together by circumstances outside of his control and they head out of burning Boston so he can try to find his son.

The development of the zombies is very interesting and unusual (to me at least) and without giving anything away they become much more than the standard mindless brain-eating hordes that you might have expected. I like the fact that we never know what caused The Pulse, and I also like the way the novel ends. But it’s the characters that make this successful – human and flawed and trying their best in a terrible situation but not always getting it right.

I liked it.

Vanessa And Her Sister

March 23, 2015 in Reviews | Tags: Bloomsbury | 3 comments

What’s it all about?

To quote the book jacket:

London 1905. The city is alight with change and the Stephen siblings are at the forefront. Vanessa, Virginia, Toby and Adrian are leaving behind their childhood home and taking a house in the leafy heart of avant-garde Bloomsbury.

So yes, as you might have guessed, Vanessa And Her Sister is all about the early years of what became the culturally influential Bloomsbury Group, with the focus very much on the two sisters. It covers the years from 1905 until 1912, and through Vanessa’s diaries charts the almost constantly changing relationships between this group of friends, ending shortly after Virginia’s marriage to Leonard Woolf.

Why did I want to read it?

I became a Bloomsbury obsessive in my early twenties having fallen in love with Virginia firstly through Mrs Dalloway which I studied when I took English Lit in my first year at University and then through her magnificent diaries which I have read at least twice. But in truth I find them all totally fascinating and although the heat of my interest may have died down now I still collect books about them, and this was a must read given the reviews.

What did I think of it?

I thought this was just wonderful. Vanessa is brought to life by Priya Parmar in an almost physical way through these fictionalised diaries (unlike her sister Vanessa never kept a diary (as far as we know) in real life); by that I mean that she is a tangible presence in the book, you feel that you are reading the genuine thoughts of a real person. And I really liked her.

One of the strengths of the novel is that it shows the emotional toll that the apparently consensual free and easy relationships had on individuals, the pain and the sorrow and the long-term damage. But the key relationship is between Vanessa and Virginia and we see the way that Vanessa’s marriage comes between them and how Virginia’s brilliance as a writer, which has not yet come to fruition, is underpinned by a brittle fragility and a desperation to be loved that drives her to do things that cause irreparable damage to the people she cares about. As the novel progresses this becomes more and more clear but we also see how Vanessa copes with it all and how she begins to achieve the happiness we know she finds in real life.

This feels like you are reading the diaries of the real Vanessa, and that is a huge achievement.

BTW I have said here before that I am a huge fan of the author’s note and there is a fascinating one at the end of this book which talks a little about how you write a novel about a group of people who are so well-known. And I am lucky enough to be attending a Bloomsbury Institute event with Priya Parmar later where I hope to hear much more about the writing of this superb book.

Bride of the Book God

Sunday Salon – 12 April

DNF: Jane Eyre

Bryant & May – The Burning Man

Sunday Salon – 5 April

The TBR Double Dog Dare 2015 – wrap up

2015 Horror Reading Challenge – first quarterly update

Sunday Salon – March round-up

Priya Parmar event at the Bloomsbury Institute (Tuesday 24 March)

Cell

Vanessa And Her Sister

Bride of the Book God

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