The Alphabet in Books - M

M is for The Miniaturist

The Miniaturist
Jessie Burton
Picador 3/7/14 Hardback
9/10
Christmas Present!

I actually snatched this book from my dad, who was given this book for Christmas. I was so excited I immediately started reading it and finished it in a week.
Broken neatly into 3 parts, each more exciting and intriguing than the next this beautiful book follows Nella Brant in her new Amsterdam home. Full of gold, Guilds and gossip 17th Century Europe comes alive. With the fantastical twist of a watchmaker's daughter whose watchful presence disturbs the peaceful waterways with ripples. Is she casually observing, predicting the future or orchestrating it?
The characters absolutely made this book for me. They were each so vivid that I remember now a month later. I'd highly recommend this book. Nice one Picador, my 17th century hat is off to you.

The Alphabet in Books - L

L is for The Land Where Lemons Grow


The Land Where Lemons Grow
Helena Attlee
Particular books (Penguin) 03/04/14 Hardback
6/10
Stanfords Bookshop (Covent Garden)
This heady mix of travel writing, history, biology and social anthropology was a joy to read. The Citruses of Italy are the main characters of this book, but also the people who look after them. The elderly man who maintained a limonaria or lemon house in the northern mountains every winter by carefully regulating the temperature with fires to drive away the frost. The stubborn and yet still fragile characters of Italian lemons have a tumultuous history in the early days of the mafia.  The importance, the rise and decline, and the reflection of the Italian people through their interaction with the fruit is all wrapped up in this sensuous book. A summer/holiday read preferably somewhere where the possibility of procuring a lemon sorbet is at your fingertips.

The Alphabet in Books - K

K is for King Thrushbeard

Thrilled to hear that you can read the original story of King Thrushbeard by the brothers Grimm. I know the rendition by Rik Mayall in Grimm Tales almost by heart.

A classic grim fairytale about a shallow princess who is taught a lesson about judging people by their appearance.

definitely one to read and if not I'm sure Grimm Tales is on Youtube!

The Alphabet in Books - J

J is for James and the Giant Peach

A classic recommendation from my early years, it is of course the brilliant Roald Dahl. Known for his classic children's books, I certainly read them when I was a child.

The story follows an enchanted magic peach which blows up to the size of a mansion and travels around with a small boy inside it. It's fantastic, literally. Anyone who has not yet read it, do not classify this as a children's book which will be below your level, please pick it up and get ready for the giggles.

I am a reader, and though there are a number of authors who contributed to that fact, Roald Dahl said: "If my books can help children become readers, then I feel I have accomplished something important." You did, Sir. 

The Alphabet in Books - I

I is for I Am Pilgrim

Well, now for something completely different. I can't post a review of I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes, because I haven't actually read it. It is on my TBR shelf and will hopefully be tackled in 2016 after my Christmas haul.

It's on my list to read because it was recommended to me by my dad, who has good taste in books generally, though our tastes are a little different, we both love crime. One thing that daunts me immediately about this book is that it is MASSIVE. It reminds me of Clarissa it is so big, I hope it's a page turner or I am in trouble! Hopefully I can finish it soon and post a proper review.

Has anyone read this tome? What did you make of it?

The Alphabet in Books - H

H is for Heir of Fire 

Heir of Fire
Sarah J Maas
Bloomsbury Childrens 11/09/14 paperback
7/10
Book review for Bloomsbury

I loved reading Heir of Fire, I am a late comer to the Throne of Glass series, I missed Crown of Midnight completely and I haven’t read Assassin’s Blade either.

One thing I would say is that Throne of Glass felt a lot more like a standalone book than Heir of Fire.  Not so much because I missed Crown of Midnight out but – and I’m trying not to leave spoilers – but the ending. I invested considerable hours reading all about a set of characters and their adventures only to be left on a cliff hanger? Sarah J Maas had a similar set up in Throne of Glass where there is a learning curve for Celaena, a considerable chunk of training which culminates in a huge fight followed by a cliff hanger for the future. A good technique for a six book series. I need the next book NOW.  

But let’s really get into it. I want to talk about the ladies . . . one of the reasons I love Heir of Fire is how well it portrays women, and how it is set in a NEARLY gender equal society. There are pages and pages of female characters and what I love about them is that there is absolutely no question about 'traditional feminine traits'.  The women do not hold their tongues and do not hide away from battle or hardship. There is no surprise that the most deadly assassin is female, all you need to know is that she can kill you, and she will kill you. 

There are also glimpses of LGBT story lines, which I would have liked to see more of and I'm sure we will in the rest of the series. 

There is a huge number of female leaders in Heir of Fire, and I am all for that, I love that that is possible, that there is power for the women, but there is one niggling issue: The girls seem to need magic to make them awesome, the only cool female human has a fatal flaw which I can't reveal. One of the things Sarah *Yup First Name Terms* does really well is that characters have shades of grey to their characters. No one is totally evil or totally good, they're all flawed, like real people, which is something that is hard to get right. 

I love the new characters of Mannon and the Blackbeaks, their unique social dynamics was brilliant to read, I just wish I knew what happens!!! Hats off to Sarah because she definitely has me wanting the next book already. 

The Alphabet in Books - G

G is for The Great Gatsby

The Great Gastby
F Scot Fitzgerald
Kindle
8/10
Free classics collection on Kindle

'What Gatsby?' I absolutely loved this book. I came to it rather late, it was one of those amazing books that I never got around to reading. Notoriously, I tend to shy away from American fiction. I wasn't exposed to it as a child, we never had it in the house and so the titles are unfamiliar and here I am at 23, reading it for the first time.
I admit that I had Toby Maguire's voice in my head from the movie, but it didn't take away from how much I enjoyed the book. I'd been to uni with people who had studied and loved it and I also listened to book club podcasts and all kinds of things, I had basic background knowledge I'd absorbed from the zietgeist.
I wanted to forget all that analytical stuff when I was reading it but it was nearly impossible not to notice it.
Over all I thought it was captivatingly written and a short easy read. It made me want to read for a copy of Waugh's Bright Young Things.