January Reviews

Sea of Poppies
Amitav Ghosh
4/5
John Murray 16/4/2009 Paperback
Christmas Haul
One of a trilogy, which does make it a little different. I will not be reading any of the other books in this series BUT as you can see from the ranking, that doesn't suggest I didn't enjoy Sea of Poppies. The main take away is the characters. They are all brilliant and nuanced and I thought they interacted really well. The characters developed and changed as we went along. It was important that there were a number of story lines to tie together.
Another reason I absolutely loved the book is because it centres around opium. Opium was my specialist subject at Uni and I try to extend the interest now. From the cultivation and effects to the start of the opium wars, it's all in there.
The only reason it doesn't get full marks is the ending. It doesn't hold up as a stand alone book enough for me. I've decided not to carry on the series because I've warned off the other books that aren't so good as the first one, and it then leaves me with a slightly jarring ending. But it's definitely worth a read if you're interested in India or opium, or a jolly good read!




Umbrella
Will Self
/
Bloomsbury 16/8/12 Paperback
Christmas Haul
Gutted that I had to give up. I want to return to this Will Self book once I have time to get lost in it. I have been too busy to appreciate it though. I heard Will Self read an excerpt from Umbrella at a reading once and so I know that you have to read it in the same way that you approach Ulysses, dramatically, full throttle, letting the language flow over you and catching at characters as they jump around in time.
I WILL read it. I haven't given it a score yet because I think that would be unfair.
For anyone thinking of picking up Umbrella, I must suggest that you consider saving it for curling up in a corner in a pub for hours rather than a commuters book. You can't be absorbing the delicate details of the writing while someone else's actual umbrella presses wetly against your work trousers.

The Actual Man Booker WINNER 2015

Marlon James, has won the 2015 Man Booker prize with his novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings. Congratulations to his achievement.

The judges accept that some people might struggle to read the book because it's hard work and hard going. But it is a testament to the power of this prize that if you type 'Brief' into google right now, it auto fills with the rest of the book title.

It's an exciting time of year for me because there are so many prizes to follow, and my favourite is always Man Booker because I love original fiction.

I won't be picking up this year's winner. It's not my kind of book, and I think that Man Booker is becoming something different from what it was when I first got excited about it four years ago. What I would consider winning fiction, is no longer what the judges look for. BUT they came to a unanimous decision in two hours, so Marlon James has pulled off something incredible.

Congratulations again, and to all of the shortlist that didn't make it as well!

The ACTUAL Man Booker Shortlist 2015

On Tuesday morning my refreshing thumb was on fire on Twitter waiting for the Man Booker announcement for the shortlist 2015 and at 11am I was rewarded with the list. Here it is.


I am disappointed that just one of my favourites from the long list has made it to the shortlist. I'm currently half way though The Chimes and am surprised that it has not been selected. There was a lot of comments in the media about how the odds were against Anna Smaill's first novel which is a shame because I am enjoying it very much.


A Little Life has, as predicted, made it to the shortlist. Sometimes harrowing, sometimes romantic and utterly gripping are a few of the ways it has been described. Personally I am not a fan of massively harrowing stories and will be avoiding it even if it wins. It is also the largest book in the list which always makes me suspicious...You didn't read it; admit it, it was long and wordy and you want to burn the damn thing. I'm sure that isn't true but I am always suspicious of longer books on prize lists.


Satin Island by Tom McCarthy looks to be some kind of American psycho style story set against a corporate background and punctuated by the media that affects the main protagonist U. It sounds a little heavy to get through, and could be quite hard to follow and reviews confirm that it is "confusing". Not really something I'd consider a criteria for 'literary fiction'.



A Brief History Of Seven Killings
Following the story of an attempted assassination of Bob Marley, Jamaican writer Marlon James's third novel is reportedly written in a considerable amount of patois which some readers find difficult. The taste of the judges this year appears to be very conflicting with my own as so far we're half way through the list and I'm not excited about any of the subject matters so far.


The Fishermen
Okay here we go, some real fiction, some real originality makes it onto the list. The story follows four brothers who discover a prophesy which drives a wedge between each of them. The guardian has called it a promising debut novel and I am pleased to see a first novel on the list because I think that's important for the Man Booker Prize to be promoting new authors.

The Year of the Runaways
This one sounds a lot like The Island or What Was Promised about migrants in Sheffield. It's definitely got the topical element on its side but its not particularly grabbing for me. The guardian calls it a beautiful and brilliant novel and most reviewers give it 5 stars. A more promising second half of the list.


A Spool of Blue Thread
It so nearly made it onto my predicted shortlist! with a ton of prize nominations and best seller aclaim, Anne Tyler has got some serious character writing behind her which people LOVE to read. A Spool of Blue Thread tops my wishlist at the moment.

Overall I'm not loving the list but it's 50/50 love/hate so fingers crossed for them all. I hope I wasnt too critical, I am really looking forward to the winner being announced.

How To Read A Book Lover's Christmas List 2014

A helping hand for friends and family who are thinking about what to get their book loving friends for Christmas. (This includes me by the way, I will be sending this link to my family...)

Most of my Christmas lists look like this:

- A Book.
- That series of books I like.
- That new book by that author.
- A collection of classic books.
- If you're still stuck for ideas, perhaps a nice book.

I can see that this could be confusing and difficult to interpret for other people, but here is the interpreted Christmas list for a book lover in 2014.

- A Book.

This year the book at the top of my list is The Minaturist by Jessie Burton. It has been a lined with The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, so it would be a great gift for any reader who tackled THT at school.

- That series of books I like.

A little tougher, if you cant remember anything that they have read. Also can come in a little pricy to buy a whole series. If you don't want to turn detective every time you see their bookshelves, I'd go for something simple. One of the things on my list is a cover for my Kindle a trendy designer one that reflects my personality. That way they can enjoy their favourite books and still love your gift every day. 

-That new book by that author. 

Approach with caution. For a real book lover, chances are they already have every new release for the past 6 months. check out the pre-orders section of amazon and pre-order for January. That way they get the gift twice! In the mean time, combine their love of books with their inevitable love of hot beverages and get this mug: 

- A collection of classic books

Something I have learnt this year is that even if you have read them all a thousand times, nothing beats having a new suped-up edition of your favourite classic. 

If you're determined not to buy a book try one of these gadgets for book lovers. 

September Reads

Once again, not a very impressive list this month. Just the one to report. I'm not sure why my reading has fallen recently. Maybe I am just not very enthusiastic about some of the books on my TBR list. I haven't been excited about reading something in a while. Sometimes it helps to know that I will review it later, but mostly I am just apathetic to a lot of the books on my shelf.

I have not been reading so much on my commute. I have been very happy to listen to podcasts and try to grab some more sleep than to strain my eyes reading so early in the morning.

But enough with the excuses, there is only one book to review so here it is.

After Me Comes The Flood
Sarah Perry
Serpents Tail 26/6/14 Paperback
7/10
Book Haul (Profile)

After a long drought John decides to close up shop in London and visit his brother in Norfolk. The heat in this book is brilliant, the minds of the characters are literally crackling in it. After some car trouble, he ends up stumbling on a strange house full of an odd collection of people.

He remains in the house as a guest, a somewhat intruder into their lives. They are isolated in the house and while the world waits for the storm to break John spends the summer unraveling the histories of his strange companions.

This is a story of torturous heat in more ways than one. The tension must break. In the weather and in all of their lives, John is not a catalyst but as he becomes further and further tangled in their story, he records it all down. This story telling technique is very old fashioned, but Perry has used it to incredible strength in her debut novel.

The book struggled to get off the ground at first and frustratingly the feeling of impending events does not abate until well into the second half. I think for many readers they would not get very far, but I hope most people will persist past the 50 page rule because Sarah Perry makes big promises of action in this novel - and she delivers.

One Lovely Blog

http://somerville66.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/one-lovely-blog.html

I recently got tagged in a One Lovely Blog award by Somerville66 (Liz Lloyd.) you can click on her name to see her post on One Lovely Blogs! Thanks Liz! xxx

Here are the rules for the One Lovely Blog Award:
Thank the person that nominated you and link back to that blog.  
Share seven things about yourself – see below. 
Nominate 15 bloggers you admire – also listed below. 
Contact your bloggers to let them know you've tagged them for the ONE LOVELY BLOG AWARD If I've nominated your blog, please don't feel under any obligation to join in.  I am just pleased to recommend your blog here.

Here are seven things about ME:

I grew up in Istanbul, Turkey. Until I was 11 when I came to the UK to take my exams. My mum still lives in Turkey with my step-dad while my dad, my sister and I all live here. I speak very bad, broken Turkish, and I forget it while I'm in England but I try to learn it when I'm home for holidays.

I am a publishing Intern in London and have been working in publishing gaining experience for 12 months! 

I had a pretty eclectic schooling let's go backwards: I went to Hurstpierpoint college, a boarding school in sussex, for four years, one year at Oundle school in Peterborough, 2 years at Reigate St Mary's Prep school, a year at MIA - an American academy in Istanbul which one day was mysteriously closed by the police for having no permits and IICS an international school in Istanbul. CRAZY.

I love to dance. I can tango, but my favorite is modern jive, or Ceroc dancing, which is loads of fun. I like it because they play pop music with a beat and so it is always really good fun. I also love to go to the Rivoli ballroom, they have a Jive night there once a month with live music and dancing.

I love to cook, I follow recipes most of the time but I can judge things to my own taste as well. I really like to feed other people and see them say how lovely it is. I'm my worst critic and am always trying to get better. I'd have to thank my other half for being one reason why my cooking has improved over the last few years. He always needs feeding when he comes over, so I have become more experimental and more daring and had a lot more reason to practice. He is also on a paelo diet so I have to really get creative to make something delicious we both like.

One of my favourite and most cathartic things to do is to reorganise my bookshelves. I always feel a huge sense of accomplishment when they are newly ordered and have had the dust shaken off them. I don't have a lot of space so I also have trinkets and nicknaks filling the shelf too. Maybe I'll do that today...

I can't get enough of period dramas. Any thing from Lark Rise to Candleford to the Illusionist. I was raised on a TV diet of Pride and Prejudice and Tess of the Durbervilles. Now that I am older I love to read those stories too but when it comes to movies, I cannot resist a spot of old time fashion.

Here are my recommendations! Go look at them. Immediately.

Chic It Yourself
Up The Hill And Round The Bend
A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Catherine Bennett
Dark Readers
Damn Interesting
Bookables
Books, Biscuits, and tea
little paper pages
The Hungry Reader
So Many books So Little Time
the thrifty garden/home
eat like a girl
Writers and Artists Blog

May Reads

What did I read in May? I thought that every month I'd do a sum up of that month's reading list and a short review of each book. I'm a bit late with May because I have had so many exciting blog posts to write!

American Psycho. 

Bret Easton Ellis

Picador 03/12/10 Paper Back

8/10

When Ed Wilson at Johnson & Alcock  found out that I had read very little American fiction he threatened to fire me if I didn't read American Psycho as soon as possible. As you can imagine I quickly downloaded the audiobook, borrowed the text from a friend, and watched the movie. 

I absolutely loved this spine tingling book. The audiobook kept me engrossed but my download was an abridged version so I was glad to read the full text. I would actually recommend this to read as an audiobook because some of the chapters are very dense, I found that particularly the chapters on music were hard going for me. I understand the intention behind it, but just in terms of reading pleasure those chapters went way down. The audiobook and movie made these sections a lot more bearable. 

It was pointed out to me that maybe all that dense material was just in an effort to build up the shock factor of horror. I agree, I think it definitely helps.  The main thing to take away from American Psycho is the social commentary on 80’s yuppie New York.  This book disagrees with the idea that people might be able to normalise a serial killer.  On the one hand he has some very strong feelings about Social activism and anti-Semitism; there is outwardly, “something sweet” about him. And on the other, we are introduced to the horrific and dead pan descriptions of his psychopathic blood lusts.

I'm still talking about it and am very glad to have been baptized with fire in American Fiction. Next, Great Gatsby, before my best friend finds out I haven't read it. 

The Bone Season. 

Samantha Shannon

Bloomsbury 20/08/2014 Hard Back

7/10

I love my copy of The Bone Season, just as a book it is a work of art. The Bloomsbury production team made some lovely choices, deep rich blues, and embossing, blazing reds of the end papers and gorgeous cover design as well. I've always loved the feel of big hardback books like this one.

I struggled with the story at first, it felt a little clumsy at times, tiny things which made me think that it had been rushed to press. I would have hoped that for a book that has had so much hype built around the whole series that it would be more delicately crafted. That rushed feeling was repeated to me by a few other readers.

It only took a few chapters to hook me into the story though.  I haven’t read an original Fantasy novel like this one for a long time.  I loved the setting, the reimagined cities of Oxford and London was almost like reading utopian steampunk.  While it is largely set in Oxford it is firmly grounded at Seven Dials in London, which is about 100 yards from my office. It still gives me a little thrill when I wander around to imagine clairvoyants picking at my aura.

I am really looking forward to reading the second book in the series, the cliff hanger-ish ending is maddening, driving me into the arms of The Mime Order Book two. I am hoping that the structural and line edits will have a little more attention paid to them in this second book, without the pressure to get the first book out. If not I don’t think I could stick around for all SEVEN of the planned titles. BUT there is a fantastic storyline, maybe I’ll forget the clumsy edits . . .

Gone Girl. 

Gillian Flynn

Phoenix 3/01/2013 Paper Back

I liked Gone Girl, I thought it was a galloping read and I enjoyed the writing style. It is unfortunate that I read Before We Met first so had already read something similar.

My comparison review of Gone Girl and Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse is available here.