The Hollow – Agatha Christie

 

I am currently reading The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith but as that is taking me a little while I figured I would back track to another novel I have read recently. Do you remember me doing the Prudence and the Crow piece a while back, well this was the novel included.

I’ll admit I have never even considered reading an Agatha Christie as she is not someone who particularly enthralls me but I figured as it was included I would have to give it a go. I did pick crime novels after all! As per many short novels this was a struggle, I don’t know why but I always struggle on novels that are only a couple of hundred pages long, this is 190 pages, I think it’s because the author has to squeeze minute details into as little words as possible. I prefer the longer more drawn out process where you have time to digest the storyline.

Hilariously Poirot doesn’t seem to be a huge part of this novel, he is a neighbour of the Angkatell’s who held one of their ‘wild’ summer parties and low and behold a guest ends up dead. John Christow is the great respected doctor but when he’s found face down in the pool surrounded by his own blood his wife is the main suspect. I personally fancied his lover as the murderer but each to their own.

I won’t spoil the ending for anyone who may want to read this but I have to say the murder mystery aspect wasn’t all that exciting.

Little Beach Street Bakery – Jenny Colgan

 

Following on by the slight disappointment of Sophie Kinsella’s ‘Wedding Night’ I had another of my favourite ‘chic lit’ authors in my hands. I was dubious, if Kinsella’s was so simple and predictable would this then follow suit?

The answer is no, not because its not simple or predictable but because the simplicity of such a sweet story was enjoyable.

Polly Waterford has her life turned upside down when she is made bankrupt, during her search for a new flat she finds a dilapidated house in Polbearne and her life starts to rebuild slowly but surely.

Polly bakes bread, really good bread and it is from there that she starts to build herself relationships with most of the Polbearne inhabitants except one, her landlord Gillian Manse. A name that might sound like another familiar author? 😉

Manse is a hardcore Polbearne woman but behind her is a soft lady that has had her life ruined by loss, she is not necessarily fighting for the little village to stay the same but fighting because she herself cannot leave until Polly gives her a lifeline.

Polly’s love life is focused on a fair bit in this book, there are affairs, dramas and most of all the knight in shining armour at the end.

I really enjoyed this novel so I hope you will too, oh and watch out for Neil.

The Missing One – Lucy Atkins

WOW.

This is a must read.

I haven’t said that one in a while. Lucy Atkins has provided a twisty novel with a gripping journey, try to predict the ending and you will no doubt get it wrong – my mum and I both did!

The novel focuses on the disjointed family life of Kali McKenzie (Halstrom) and the secrets slowly revealed by the death of her mother. Having had a tempestuous relationship with her mother throughout her life Kali craves further knowledge to get closure on her mother’s unknown and distant personality.

Prior to her mother’s death Kali finds texts on her husbands phone that leads her to believe he has been cheating on her – but all is not what it seems – with her world turned upside down she makes the impulsive decision to take herself and her little boy Finn halfway around the world in search of answers.

Kali soon finds out that what she believed is in fact true – she knew very little about her mother. Whilst we, the reader, know slightly more with the intertextuality provided by her mothers diary extracts  it is intriguing to learn further about her mothers Orca studies and why she abandoned them.

Whilst in Vancouver Kali meets her mothers long lost friend Susannah and suddenly her whole family history unravels in front of her. Not knowing Susannah is incredibly sick Kali pushes her for more and more information before she snaps and does the unthinkable – but I won’t divulge what happens, you will just have to read it yourself!

 

Pages: 569

To Buy: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Missing-One-Lucy-Atkins/dp/184866320X/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398198173&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=the+missing+onee £2 what a bargain!!

Author: http://www.lucyatkins.com/

The Shock of the Fall – Nathan Filer

WEIRD.

That was how I described this novel the entire way through reading it. Peculiar.

I felt similarly about this book as I did when I read Heart of Darkness, i’ve read the entire story but I am still unsure of what I have read.

The novel is the journey of schizophrenic protagonist Matt Homes (he isn’t named for quite some time!) whom introduces us to his brother first and foremost saying that whilst we will like little Simon Homes he will be dead in a few pages.

Filer focuses on the journey Matt goes through after losing his brother, a death he blames himself for, whilst it has an interesting element in terms of looking at a schizophrenic’s life it is a bizarre read. Sure a schizophrenic’s head is going to be all over the place and thus the novel follows this structure but I have to say I struggled to follow this story – thus I struggled to read it.

Saying that it won last years Costa Coffee Book Award so it cannot be all bad! Just my opinion it seems.

On to the next novel!!

The Storyteller – Jodi Picoult

When I was younger the library was everything to me. A place to grab the latest must read, to chat in the warmth with friends and as a boredom buster in the summer. Without the local library I would have been lost.

Libraries now do not get enough support, far from it, most are being threatened with closure and I have to admit I’m not as dedicated as I should be. It’s so easy now to go on Amazon and buy the latest addition by your favourite author by a couple of pounds. I’m an awful offender for this, university meant I had to own my own copies of novels and since then I have fallen into the trap of buying rather than borrowing. There’s two reasons for this – I can pick what I want – and I hate Kindle’s. I have to have a book.

Anyway, around 2 weeks ago my mum decided to make an impromptu visit to the library (just across from our house – lucky huh?) and asked if I wanted to come. Mum and I have quite similar taste in novels which is beneficial on the occasions I do buy them, at least they get read more than once!

One of the novels we picked up was Jodi Picoult’s ‘The Storyteller’. In the past I have both loved and been left frustrated with Picoult’s narratives. They can be incredibly detailed and with an air of the unknown whilst others can be a predictable as they come.

This has been part of the reason I’d taken a break from Picoult’s novels but wow what a bang to come back on.

The story follows Sage, a non religious Jewish baker who stumbles across a gentleman in her community that knows more about her families past than she does.

Sage is a particularly complex character in that she hides from the public predominantly due to an accident leaving her with facial scarring. Sage has no parents, a tentative relationship with her siblings and a married boyfriend. Yet when Josef arrives on the scene her life is turned upside down.

Josef is a pillar of the community, he has done everything possible to be helpful yet when him and Sage become friends and Josef asks Sage to help him die he causes a conflict of interests. Josef is hiding his darkest secret – he once once a member of the SS and therefore responsible for numerous deaths of Jews.

Whilst Sage battles with her conscience and opens a case against Josef her grandmother (Minka) is being dragged back through her past in Auschwitz. Interlinked with Sage and Minka’s narrative is Minka’s story written both before and during Auschwitz. It is both creepy and endearing and a crucial element of the journey the characters go on.

With one final twist – a somewhat predictable one I believe – the novel end on a sad note with the read asking the question, Are monsters really monsters? Each villain in this text has seemed in a sense compassionate and still humane. Go figure.

I think my love for history also peaked my interest in this, all throughout school history was a big factor – two of my favourite teachers were in this subject. The novel is set in the modern day reflecting on the Second World War and thus the concentration camps, a major part of my A Levels.

All in all I’d urge you to go to your nearest library and take a copy out or failing that buy it! This is one of my favourite books of recent months.

The Tennis Party – Madeleine Wickham (AKA Sophie Kinsella)

Sophie Kinsella is probably one of the most well known female writers in recent ‘chic lit’ history for her ‘Tales of a Shopaholic’ series.

However, Kinsella is a pseudonym for writer Madeleine Wickham. Wickham has produced a few books since becoming ‘known’ in the literary world prior to her choice of pseudonym.

I was quite a fan of Kinsella in the past yet her books written under the name ‘Wickham’ leave much to be desired. I bought a pack of three books on my first pay day and have only just finished the third as I have been distracted by better things!

The Tennis Party was possibly the most exciting of the three read which is why I have chosen to focus on this one – that and I have just finished it.

It focuses on a variable group of friends that are both wealthy and poor but the point stands that they all come from the same place which is near to rock bottom.

Patrick, Caroline and Georgina are the hosts of this delightful party and whilst they are not quite satisfied with their lot in life by the end of the novel it is clear that the love and adoration of the couple remains whilst striving for a good life for their only daughter. Patrick is a salesman in all his glory, although he now sells life policies he cannot knock off the sense of the salesman during his party and threatens to annihilate all friendships. Caroline is a fantastic character in a somewhat slow book, her sarcasm and bitterness did make me smile I have to admit.

Annie, Stephen, Nicola and Toby (Toby isn’t much of a character) were the loveable yet poor couple. The ones who stood to lose everything from Patrick’s underhanded salesmen tactics. The also have the added sympathy element as their daughter has had a stroke.

Charles and Cressida are the couple are on the way to nothing. Charles who appears to have married Cressida for her money is a vile creature that proceeds to cheat on her with the women he divorced. Cressida whilst being financially stupid becomes quite a warm character close to the end.

All in all it wasn’t awful but nor was it the best book i’ve ever read – i’m afraid this one is destined for the charity shop.

True Blood – The Sookie Stackhouse collection – Charlaine Harris

It’s been a while since a really good book series came out – although I have to confess as per usual I am late to the party. But the True Blood series is really something else.

I’ve been watching the tv series for a while (renowned for being SO different to the novels) and whilst i’d considered the books multiple times I had never quite got there, cue my birthday.

You can buy the first 10 of the series from The Book People for next to nothing and I couldn’t put them down – a HUGE benefit to being so behind on the latest must read, Harris released the last novel in October.

As you may have already guessed I read my way through the 13 book series as quickly as it takes Miss Stackhouse to get attacked!!

So instead of focusing on each book individually I am going to focus more on the characters and a few thoughts across the series.

Sookie Stackhouse
Have you ever encountered a woman so lucky and unlucky in a heart beat? She beds two vampires, a weretiger and a shifter yet she is getting attacked nearly every 100 pages it seems. She has the promise of protection from no end of supernatural beings as well as her friends, yet this does not stop her being abducted around 20 pages from the end of the last novel. I have to say I don’t particularly sympathise with her and I wonder whether she is meant to be a ‘moral’ from Harris about being an individual and not being ruled by a man.

Eric Northman
Here’s the kicker with watching the TV show first.. you get to imagine the very handsome Alexander Skarsgard instead of Harris’ long haired Viking – terrible I know. Eric, even in his most bitter and manipulative mood was and is my favourite character across both narratives. It thoroughly irritates me that the supposed happily ever after could not have been crafted to feature the devious vampire.

Sam Merlotte
Yawn… He’s a shifter and I just find him boring. This story ends with the age old tale of the heroine falling for the man always by her side. Is this a supernatural Disneyesque classic?

Bill Compton
Here’s where the program is irritating – Sookie still seems to hold on to Bill. In the book they are simply friends in the end. Yes Bill is nearly as horrendous as Eric yet the help he later provides appears to rectify all wrongdoings. Bill is just a good character – nothing overly amazing but nothing terrible either.

Pam Ravenscroft
Pam’s character had me smiling a lot, I love the strong sense of sarcasm you get with her every action yet Sookie encourages the human element of her. I am glad Harris’ left her as sheriff and I would like to see a series or novel on its own regarding Pam’s new position.

The Humans
There are so many Bon Temps characters introduced that it is hard to remember all of them. Jason is the typical Jock who then settles down whilst Tara is the not quite balanced best friend. Although she’s technically a witch I think Amelia was my favourite, I would have liked her to have closure with her father though.

I could go on forever but overall I liked the balance of characters throughout and I adored the tension of the relationship Sookie and Eric kept. However, saying that I think that is where the last book is severely let down. I personally expected Sookie to end up with Eric after fighting for him so hard, whether that was as a human or as a vampire herself.

In terms of the last book narrative there was too much action shoved to the end (for anyone who’s also read 50 Shades of Grey this is a fairly similar example). I felt the kidnapping of Sookie whilst closing the book, didn’t need to be immediately followed by a wedding and a happy ever after. It felt liked i’d blinked and missed it.

Finally if you like the TV show then read the books, they are almost nothing alike and treating them as such will lead you to a great book series and a fantastic TV show.

I hope you enjoy and i’d love to know what you think?

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Jumped Out Of The Window And Disappeared – Jonas Jonasson

This novel is hugely farcical and seems to laugh at Governments across the world. The protagonist Allan has met some of the worlds scariest leaders but recalls the stories like they’re simply his family calling for tea.

This to begin with teamed with the hilarious accidentally on purpose murders make the book very different from most.

However, it’s hard to explain but it seemed to go downhill from there. The stories seemed overbearing. Too much to follow properly.

What started off as a different yet brilliant novel started to get almost tedious to read towards the end sadly.

Yet as this was passed on by a loved lecturer I’ll remember it for that!

A Lesser Evil – Lesley Pearse

Another one from my new favourite author Lesley Pearse.

It still amazes me that I can pick up any of her novels and they are completely unrelated to the last. They don’t even seem like they’re written by the same person.

‘A Lesser Evil’ focuses on a young married couple who move to a dysfunctional and criminal inflicted street in London. Whilst there Fifi accidentally stumbles across dangerous territory in regards to her neighbours the infamous Muckles.

The book is a harrowing story of how crime can affect the youngest of people as the Muckles young daughter Angela is found dead with no sign of the murderer.

Is it as simple as the vile parents finally abusing their daughter to death?

You’ll have to read it and see. A twisted love story that finds its happy ending eventually.

Charles Dickens: A Life – Claire Tomalin

It’s been a month since I read a book.

A month to read one book.

That’s both horrendous and ridiculous for me even when busy.

Unfortunately I think this one could be destined for the charity shop. I’ll admit that i’m not much of a biography/autobiography reader but this was like wading through mud.

Tomalin has done a fantastic job of getting every, little, tiny detail into this narrative. Which is fine if you like that sort of writing, this is of course my own opinion, but I personally think it’s horrendously hard to read.

Of course you get to learn that Dickens is not the upstanding citizen and amazing man that his heritage would lead you to believe, but then again everyone has flaws. His era sounds painful, in every which way. It’s also abundantly clear that contraception didn’t exist in any shape or form.

This ‘great’ man couldn’t help himself, he tried to help others, those lower than him, but then left his wife for another, much younger, woman.

Another element of the story I don’t like is Tomalin’s penchant for dissecting his books, i’ve only read a few so she’s gone some way to spoiling the narrative. Slightly irritating.

All in all I didn’t enjoy it but I have a weird determination that once I start a book I have to finish it. So consider it finished, never to be read again.

I for one can’t wait to start my next Lesley Pearce novel tomorrow… back to those I know and trust.