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Sunday 12 April 2020

Fallen

Fallen
by Lauren Kate
Published 1 July 2010 by Corgi

I am aware I am very late to this particular YA party. Fallen was published in 2010 and is the first in a series of four books. There was huge hype about it when it came out with Lucinda and Daniel having enough fans to topple the Edward and Bella Twilight 'ship. It was this hype however that kept me from reading Fallen and, true to its title, it had fallen from my memory and been packed away into a TBR box.

This year I decided not to go on a book buying ban (I mean...could you imagine!) but instead actually read the books I own rather than read borrowed ones (I work in a public library). It was because of this that I uncovered Fallen and gave it a go.

I am sorry to say I have not 'Fallen' in  love with the story. Or with Lucinda and Daniel. Or with any part of it other than the cover art (gorgeous). It is an easy read but I found it sooooo slow and therefore tedious. The action that did occur fell flat until about the last 100 pages during which **SPOILERS INCOMING** my favourite character died and it was all just a bit...meh.

The premise is that Lucinda and Daniel are meant to be. Over and over again. The problem is Daniel is a fallen angel which means they can't be together and when they do get together, Lucinda dies - usually when they kiss. This time is different. Lucinda killed a guy when she kissed him which got her sent to this creepy reform school which is actually a front for the angels. When she and Daniel do lock lips, she's still breathing. Cue celebrations and research but of course, not everyone is happy that Daniel and Luce are together again.

As I said, it is the first of four books and I would have passed it on to a charity shop but as I looked at the front again, discovered it had been personally dedicated and signed by Lauren herself. Awwww! I haven't met Lauren so I am guessing my cool colleagues at School's Library Service did an event with her and brought me a book back. I shall therefore be keeping the book and may even try Torment - the next in the series (after I've emptied another couple of these TBR boxes).

Carnal Acts

Carnal Acts
by Sam Alexander
Published 15 June 2014 by Arcadia Books

This novel is described as crime noir. Dark and at its most terrifying. While I found this a dark read - as most are - I did not find it terrifying. This may please or disappoint you depending on the crime genre you prefer.

Set in the Northern English borders (hurrah) DI Joni Pax and DCI Hector 'Heck' Rutherford are investigating a murder at an Albanian-run brothel. Their suspect is on the run and bodies soon start piling up as Joni and Heck try to solve the crimes and take the Albanian mafia down.

Expect strong language, sexual scenes and violence.

I was a little nervous in starting this book as I expected it to be too gritty, however I was very quickly hooked on the tense plot and whip-smart twists. I felt really invested in Joni and Heck - both through their backstories and with their actions in cracking this case. As a duo, they work well. I see a fatherly respect building between them. The setting was pleasantly unusual - not East London or inner city Manchester but the rural town of Corham with cameos of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and Roman Northumberland.

I would have absolutely picked up another Sam Alexander novel to read (which is apparently the pseudonym of a highly respected crime writer) were there any more published but at least feel I can now say I am a fan of Police procedural crime fiction.

Friday 27 March 2020

Blood for Blood

Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin


Published 13 July 2017 by Orion

First up, this is the sequel to Wolf by Wolf. If  you have not read Wolf by Wolf, click away now as there will be spoilers!

OK, now that's out of the way, here we go...

I loved, loved, loved Wolf by Wolf. I had just finished reading  it when I went for a job interview (for my current post) and was asked to talk about a book I had recently enjoyed. I remember spelling out Ryan's surname for the interviewer as she wrote the details down so I must have sold it to her. In truth, the YA book sells itself. It is a rich imagining of the world if Adolf Hitler had been successful. 

It has been a few years now since I read Wolf, but managed to get hold of a copy of Blood for Blood and the characters and plot immediately came back to me - always a sign of good writing.

It begins with failure. Yael's failure - but not through her doing. She is hunted across the world, first followed, then joined by Luka and Felix. Yael fights her way to Germania to see if the resistance survived, to see if she needs to add more wolves to her pack and to see if she can try again. On her way she meets new allies and ghosts from her past. One thing is for certain, the German occupation is threatened as long as Volchitsa breathes. 

I did enjoy reading this book, however not as much as Wolf. Yael is a great character - a survivor, and it was great to read another side of her as she interacts with Luka and Miriam.
Unfortunately, I found it a slow read, possibly because Wolf is packed with action, however the end was rounded off satisfactorily (if unfairly!).

This is the third of Ryan's books I have read and proudly consider myself a fan. Looking forward to more 



Tuesday 24 March 2020

It Started with a Tweet

It Started with a Tweet by Anna Bell
Published 28 December 2017 by Bonnier Zaffre

With a title like that, how could I not pick this up to read? Twitter is by far my favourite social media platform.

Twitter is also the go-to of marketeer Daisy Hobson who spends her days posting updates, photos and tweets both for herself and her employer but, when one fateful night she drunkenly tweets from the wrong account, Daisy finds herself not only without a job and a home but also publicly humiliated as her drunk-tweet goes viral.

Sister Rosie comes to the rescue in the form of a digital detox in Cumbria. Reluctant Daisy is not impressed - especially when she sees the run-down farm (without 3G) that they will be staying in.

Trapped in a crumbling cottage without Wi-Fi, Daisy discovers that with a bit of #DIY and some #TLC its not just the farm that can receive a makeover.

This is a lighthearted easy read - full of fun. Alongside the sisterly bonding are marriage woes and a unexpected love triangle. Life in the Fell community has never been so entertaining.

Just One Year

Just One Year by Gayle Forman


Published 7 November 2013 by Definitions

This is the sequel to Just One Day and will make much more sense if you read that book first - its wonderful!

It follows Willem as he wakes up in hospital in Paris with the nagging feeling he should be somewhere, with someone...

By the time he remembers, Lulu is gone and so are Willem's hopes of explaining - he doesn't even know Lulu's real name.

Over the course of a year we follow Willem as he tries to forget and then find Lulu. We get to meet his family and friends and get a glimpse of his nomadic lifestyle that led him to be performing Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon the day Lulu's tour group were visiting.

I read this YA novel in one sitting. I was impatient to see Allyson (Lulu) and Willem reunite but that's the kind of soppy romantic I am. Willem's story however is still enjoyable and really fleshes out the spontaneous Dutchman we met in Just One Day. I especially enjoyed reading about his time in India and relationship with his mother. 

I'm very glad to have finally found out what happened after. I read Just One Day a long time ago and yet Forman's characters came straight back to me. 

If you love your YA romance and travelling, give this duology a try!

Sunday 26 January 2020

And the Mountains Echoed


And the Mountains Echoed
By Khaled Hosseini
Published by Bloomsbury 8 May 2014

This was a Book Club choice and I approached it with trepidation for two reasons. Firstly, I had heard such good things about Hosseini's writing and yet not read his work so I was concerned I would be disappointed as can often be the case surrounding hype, and secondly, that I had not yet read fiction set in Afghanistan and thought I may struggle with the pronunciation of names / locations and understanding the culture of the Afghan people. 

Neither concern was founded. This was a wonderful read. It began with the retelling of an Afghan myth - a father abandoning his child to save the rest of the family. This myth becomes reality for 10 year old Abdullah and his younger sister Pari when, in 1952, Pari is given by her father to a rich, childless couple living in Kabul. 

I could not put this book down. The characters! The plot! Heartbreaking, fascinating, emotional and tender it left me feeling whole, and wholly in love with the novel. The Book Club members loved it too - those who had read Hosseini before have encouraged me to read his other works; The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns and Sea Prayer and more than one revealed they would like to read more myths and folktales from Afghanistan. My copy now sits on my bookcase, patiently awaiting the other three books. 

I'll finish similarly to how I started, but this time with two recommendations. Don't be put off by the unknown or let your confidence get the better of you. Pick up a book and try it. Also, join a Book Club. They are everywhere now - online, at your local Library, in Coffee Shops and Bars. Share your love of reading and dare to be brave in reading something new to you. 

Femme Fatale


Femme Fatale
By Guy de Maupassant (Translated by Sian Miles)
No. 15 Penguin Little Black Classics published 26 February 2015

Yes, it's another Little Black Classic and now I will tell you why I had a small binge on these books...I was visiting a relative in hospital. It was a two-bus journey and my mind needed to be occupied but not by too much for long. The Little Black Classics saved me from staring out of the bus window and imagining the worst (my relative recovered 😊).

This LBC took me to 19th century Paris. Ooh la la! Penguin describe de Maupassant as "...the father of the modern short story" and after the enjoyment I found in the Kate Chopin LBC I was very much looking forward to these four shorts.

Cockcrow is an amusing little tale of a man's shortcomings.

Femme Fatale describes an afternoon's boating and an evening encounter with lesbian couples, much to Senator's son Paul Baron's disgust. He has forbade his companion Madeleine from associating with them and his homophobia and jealousy ends in tragedy.

Hautot & Son begins at a partridge shoot where Hautot senior is mortally wounded. his deathbed confession to his son reveals he has a girl in Rouen he has visited every Thursday for six years and asked if his son would look after her. Shocked but resolved, the son visits and does what he can for the woman, and his half-brother he discovers there.

Laid to Rest is a tale told by life-of-the-party Joseph de Bardon about a chance encounter he makes in Montmartre Cemetery. Now, this may sound a little odd but the description of the cemetery is wonderful. I visited Pere Lachaise Cemetery a few years ago whilst on holiday in Paris and Parisian cemeteries are well worth a walk around for the care and creativity as much as the occupants. If I get to return to Paris, Montmartre's is on my to-visit list! Anyway, back to Joseph who happens to meet a very distressed widow at the grave of her husband. A short liaison ensues until one day he happens upon her in that very cemetery being supported in her grief by another man altogether.

The stories were entertaining, fun and very, very French! They gave me much needed light relief and I am looking forward to reading more of de Maupassant's work. 


Stancliffe's Hotel


Stancliffe's Hotel
By Charlotte Bronte

No. 126 Penguin Little Black Classics published 3 March 2016

I have read Jane Eyre. It was many years ago mind and a book I should probably re-read at some point. I knew Charlotte Bronte had also written Shirley, Villette and The Professor but I was not aware she had created, along with her brother Branwell, the world of Angria ruled by the Duke of Zamorna. 

Stancliffe's Hotel is a short work set in Angria, just after the Lord of Northangerland has led a failed rebellion against the Duke. Charlotte writes of the daily lives of the Angria populous and of the comings and goings at the hotel.

I am sorry to say I didn't get on well with this work. It may have been my mood at reading it but I found it tedious. The most amusing part was when Townshend and Sir William try and fail to fool the 'Rose of Zamorna' into receiving them at her home. I will be passing my copy onto a charity shop and hope it finds a good home with another reader.

A Pair of Silk Stockings

A Pair of Silk Stockings

by Kate Chopin

No. 66 Penguin Little Black Classics published 26 February 2015

This was an impulse purchase I made in Foyles Grand Central and for the princely sum of 80p I came away with this 56 page bind up of five of Chopin's short stories. 
Kate Chopin is a new author for me. She was born in 1850, St. Louis USA and died in the same city 54 years later. Her work was first published in magazines including Vogue and Penguin describe her as one of America's most daring writers. 

In Desiree's Baby, Chopin tackles race in a most shocking and brutal way. 

Miss McEnders makes a moral stand against illegitimacy yet finds herself the one shamed. 

The Story of an Hour is a short tale on the freedom death can provide.

Neg Creol tells us of Chicot who cares for, as best he can, a cantankerous elderly lady in New Orleans.

A Pair of Silk Stockings is the final story and my favourite. Mrs. Sommers finds herself in possession of $15 - and the predicament of how to spend it for the benefit of her family. She was kept awake with thoughts of shoes and shirtwaists, patching and darning but, on the very day of her enterprise, a faintness came over her and she ended up taking a seat at a counter, her hand coming into contact with the softest material she had ever held. Silk stockings...and reduced to only $1.98! It is the start of the most frivolous day Mrs. Sommers ever had and I was delighted for her.

These stories are wonderfully crafted with each word perfectly selected. This Little Black Classic has opened my eyes to the beauty of the short story so for that and for the introduction to Kate Chopin, thank you Penguin.