Gosh, I'm a long way behind with these. To the extent that the next book up is last month's book club book, and the next discussion happened last night...
The help, by Kathryn Stockett. New York: Berkley, 2009.
This was quite astonishingly good. The comparison with To Kill a Mockingbird on the cover raised my hackles (any comparison to my favourite novel, in the world, ever, tends to do that); but really, putting that aside, you could see why the analogy was made. I know I'm very late to the party with this one, and everyone in the world has probably read it; but for anyone who hasn't.... The main voices belong to Aibileen and Minny, two black maids, and Miss Skeeter, a white woman just out of college in 1962, with the urge to become a journalist and no real idea of what she wants to write about. After one of her contemporaries starts a crusade to segregate bathrooms in people's private houses so they no longer have to use the same loo as their maids, Skeeter decides that real-life accounts of the lives of maids would be an interesting subject for literature. In this, she entirely fails to understand the danger involved in the enterprise; for her, any suggestion that she sympathises with the civil rights movement leads to social ostracism; for the maids, the danger is much more real and present - Aibileen lives two streets away from Medgar Evers and his family, and Evers' murder features in the story.
I started off with this one with a small measure of dread - Aibileen's account is written in a dialect, which often spells death to my urge to read a book; but it's written well enough that you get caught in very early on and it's just a signal of who's speaking. Aibileen is the real voice of the novel - compassionate, fierce and courageous. None of the characters are caricatures, not even the really rather dreadful Hilly who dominates the Women's League, or Mother, who when she believes she is dying keeps a notebook of Fashion Faux Pas to pass on to Skeeter for Future Reference. There has been some controversy over a white woman writing in a black woman's voice; and maybe my point of view on this shows my ignorance; but what happens if nobody can speak in a voice other than their own? What would a world without Othello, or Fahrenheit 451, or Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, be like? A much longer review than usual, but I laughed out loud and cried tears over this book, sometimes simultaneously; and it'll teach me that just because something's incredibly popular, that doesn't mean I won't enjoy it!
Theodore Boone, kid lawyer by John Grisham. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2010.
The fact that one copy of this book in the library was in the thriller section and the other in Young Adults is probably just about right. Theodore Boone is thirteen, and spends more time in the local courthouse than most lawyers. His parents are lawyers (and liberals; one of Theo's evenings each week is spent at the local soup kitchen). Most of their friends are lawyers. (Even the family dog is called Judge.) Theo wants to be a lawyer one day, and is already dispensing free legal advice to his classmates. The case of the moment is a spectacular murder, very unusual for the Boones' small town, and Theo finds himself with vital information he doesn't know how to handle, but which proves the accused's guilt much better than the prosecution case can. This is a lovely, engaging book; I think it's Grisham's first foray into YA fiction but I hope not the last. I read it in an afternoon while knitting the stocking-stitch body of a sweater and it's a delightful read.
The American future: a history, by Simon Schama [audiobook]. Read by Peter Marinker. Whitley Bay: Chivers, 2008.
I gather this is a book-of-the-series sort of thing - but as I never saw the series, it stands up very well as an audiobook. Marinker's reading is excellent, as he switches between US and British English pretty seamlessly. The framing device is the 2008 Presidential election campaign, and particularly the Democratic caucuses where there is a genuine choice between a female candidate and a black candidate for the first time. As ever in American history, the future is found to have its roots in colonialism and civil war; and some of the individual stories are fascinating. I think the one I found most interesting was that of the Meigs family, who were around in the colonial era and at the founding of West Point, and who fought in the Civil War, both World Wars, Korea and Vietnam. There's an interview with the current Montgomery C. Meigs (IV? I'd lost track), who's a professor of military history; for a relatively new country, that's a heck of a dynasty. I found this moving, funny and profoundly interesting. I imagine all I'll retain is some flypaper details, as ever, but I'm sure some facts have gone in somewhere!
The retribution, by Val McDermid [audiobook]. Read by Saul Reichlin. Rearsby, Leics: WF Howes, 2011.
This was a characteristically creepy Tony Hill/Carol Jordan book; Jacko Vance, a serial killer Hill and Jordan managed to arrest in their first case together, has escaped from prison and is determined to exact revenge. Vance is an ex-Olympic athlete who turned radio presenter after he lost an arm; and it's a testament to McDermid's skill that you don't just stop reading after that description... Vance is seriously scary and will stop at nothing; and given that we know McDermid doesn't let the fact that a character is well-liked and fairly vital to the plot stop her offing said character if the plot demands it, one or two of the features of this particular book shouldn't surprise or shock; but they do. Reichlin's another narrator I watch out for - his reading of Steig Larsson's Millennium trilogy added a lot to my enjoyment of them, and he does another excellent job here.
Free fire, by C J Box. Kindle edition.
Joe Pickett again! This time, he's called in to a very strange series of events at Yellowstone National Park, after a letter was sent to the state governor alleging unspecified crimes were taking place. In the same area, a lawyer has been acquitted of three murders on the technicality that a local jury couldn't be empanelled due to there being no local residents in the park. Joe is far from home (although the home he currently has is far from satisfactory) and his family, and the eerie goings on don't help much, either. For some reason, I didn't enjoy this as much as I did previous books; maybe it's the far-from-home thing...
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Scarily correct
A colleague, fellow team member and knitting friend spent part of her birthday at the David Shrigley exhibition at the Hayward yesterday, and brought this back for me. It's a badge I can attach to my work lanyard. It has amused the friends and colleagues I've shown it to so far; and it's so entirely accurate.
Thankyou, Anya.
Sunday, March 04, 2012
2012 books, #11-15
Catching up with some more of these. For some reason, it's really difficult to remember to review books read on the Kindle!
Angle of investigation: three Harry Bosch stories, by Michael Connelly. Kindle edition. 2011.
Another set of promotional stories for The Drop put out for 99p by Connelly, and definitely worth the money! Stories from different points in Bosch's career. The first story features repeat robberies in a pawnshop; Bosch and Jerry Edgar find the robber dead, apparently electrocuted, in mysterious circumstances. In the second story, a father is distraught at the death of his disabled son, left in an overheated car in his work parking lot - Bosch's partner Ignacio is convinced there's more to it than the man says. The final, title, story takes place over a long period - Bosch, working open-unsolved cases, comes across the case of the first dead body he saw on the job, that of a woman drowned in a bath with her dog. Coming back to it with both the experience and modern forensics, he uncovers the almost unthinkable.
In plain sight, by C. J. Box. Kindle edition.
Another Joe Pickett story. Ranch owner Opal Scarlett disappears - the only people who miss her are her sons Arlen, Hank and Wyatt, who settle their problems by trying to beat each other to death with shovels. Joe's daughter Sheridan is friends with Julie, Opal's grand-daughter, and becomes involved accidentally in the feud. Meanwhile, a relative of Joe's former foster daughter April is out to track Joe down. Joe's family, job and life are threatened, and his relationship with Randy Pope, the head of the Wyoming Fish and Game service, seems to be going downhill still further. Another excellently plotted story which also maintains a lot of the existing relationships and characters.
The hard way, by Lee Child [audiobook]. Read by Jeff Harding. Whitley Bay: Soundings, 2006.
While there's often some humour in the Jack Reacher books, Lee Child excels himself here by transforming the latter half of the action in this book to the UK, and specifically to rural Norfolk. There's a lot of knowingness here from ex-pat British author Child; scenes where six-and-a-half foot Reacher tries to blend into the landscape in a country pub, or has to drive a Mini Cooper around Hyde Park Corner, are extremely funny while the pressure on the plot is fully maintained. Excellent novel, and very well read by Jeff Harding, himself an ex-pat American living in the UK for the last couple of decades.
Gamble: a Dick Francis novel, by Felix Francis. London: Michael Joseph, 2011.
The existence of this book is pleasing enough - the previous 4 collaborations between Felix and Dick Francis were right back to the standard of the early Francis novels, and this one is also extremely fine. It covers well-trodden paths, although this time round the protagonist is an ex-jockey who has gone into a firm of independent financial advisors; but honestly, just saying it's a really good Dick Francis novel is probably enough for aficionados.
Lazybones, by Mark Billingham [audiobook]. Read by Steve Perrin. Rearsby, Leics.: Clipper, 2004.
Someone is killing convicted rapists on their release from prison; and one of the difficulties for the police is actually caring about the victims. Tom Thorne struggles with this as much as his officers do, until he finds a genuine victim in the case. This really does go for the hairpin bends at the end of the book and the ending is definitely pretty surprising!
Angle of investigation: three Harry Bosch stories, by Michael Connelly. Kindle edition. 2011.
Another set of promotional stories for The Drop put out for 99p by Connelly, and definitely worth the money! Stories from different points in Bosch's career. The first story features repeat robberies in a pawnshop; Bosch and Jerry Edgar find the robber dead, apparently electrocuted, in mysterious circumstances. In the second story, a father is distraught at the death of his disabled son, left in an overheated car in his work parking lot - Bosch's partner Ignacio is convinced there's more to it than the man says. The final, title, story takes place over a long period - Bosch, working open-unsolved cases, comes across the case of the first dead body he saw on the job, that of a woman drowned in a bath with her dog. Coming back to it with both the experience and modern forensics, he uncovers the almost unthinkable.
In plain sight, by C. J. Box. Kindle edition.
Another Joe Pickett story. Ranch owner Opal Scarlett disappears - the only people who miss her are her sons Arlen, Hank and Wyatt, who settle their problems by trying to beat each other to death with shovels. Joe's daughter Sheridan is friends with Julie, Opal's grand-daughter, and becomes involved accidentally in the feud. Meanwhile, a relative of Joe's former foster daughter April is out to track Joe down. Joe's family, job and life are threatened, and his relationship with Randy Pope, the head of the Wyoming Fish and Game service, seems to be going downhill still further. Another excellently plotted story which also maintains a lot of the existing relationships and characters.
The hard way, by Lee Child [audiobook]. Read by Jeff Harding. Whitley Bay: Soundings, 2006.
While there's often some humour in the Jack Reacher books, Lee Child excels himself here by transforming the latter half of the action in this book to the UK, and specifically to rural Norfolk. There's a lot of knowingness here from ex-pat British author Child; scenes where six-and-a-half foot Reacher tries to blend into the landscape in a country pub, or has to drive a Mini Cooper around Hyde Park Corner, are extremely funny while the pressure on the plot is fully maintained. Excellent novel, and very well read by Jeff Harding, himself an ex-pat American living in the UK for the last couple of decades.
Gamble: a Dick Francis novel, by Felix Francis. London: Michael Joseph, 2011.
The existence of this book is pleasing enough - the previous 4 collaborations between Felix and Dick Francis were right back to the standard of the early Francis novels, and this one is also extremely fine. It covers well-trodden paths, although this time round the protagonist is an ex-jockey who has gone into a firm of independent financial advisors; but honestly, just saying it's a really good Dick Francis novel is probably enough for aficionados.
Lazybones, by Mark Billingham [audiobook]. Read by Steve Perrin. Rearsby, Leics.: Clipper, 2004.
Someone is killing convicted rapists on their release from prison; and one of the difficulties for the police is actually caring about the victims. Tom Thorne struggles with this as much as his officers do, until he finds a genuine victim in the case. This really does go for the hairpin bends at the end of the book and the ending is definitely pretty surprising!
Friday, March 02, 2012
Looming back into view
Hello! This, unbelievably, is the first non-book-review post of the year.
Mostly, this has been due to the usual time-of-year-kicking-me-in-the-head thing; I've also ended up doing some work at home and some earlier mornings/longer days at work; and transport has been a bit terrible too.
I think the low point this year came on the week beginning February 6, when I spent 25 hours just getting to work and back (normally my week is extreme by some people's reckoning at around 17.5 hours just travelling) and then, as the kicker on the Saturday, failing completely to get to Kew Gardens for a wander about and Cake Crawl with some lovely knitters. Standing on a station for 45 mins in -13C (Ely; frozen points) has given me a greater appreciation of Arctic/Antarctic explorers; in terms of confirming my belief in their total insanity.
So, anyway; I've been maundering away feeling knackered thinking "nobody's going to be interested in my boring life; I've done nothing..." And that might be true; but this evening I, and the rest of the carriage, spent 45 minutes being treated to a woman directing her husband around Iceland. Enthusiastically; and extraordinarily loudly. Which would have been really interesting if she were talking about the country, rather than the frozen food shop. Unfortunately, it turns out Mum couldn't get to Iceland so she was going to send Dad round on a string. "Well, yes, chili chicken bits, but ARE THEY BREADED, TONY? ARE THEY BREADED?"
This set me a somewhat lower bar.
So; I got a loom for Christmas! A 24" Ashford rigid heddle loom, to be specific. It's a lovely beast. I loved it first because it involved the application of wax, a lot of self-assembly, and a wonderfully-constructed set of parts packed by someone from a company which feels confident enough in its workers and training that it gives each packer a business card with "Proudly packed by" on it. I've assembled an Ashford wheel, done bits for an Ashford carder, and now the loom - everything works wonderfully.
While I was waiting for the wax to dry on December 28, I opened my Christmas presents from friends (hadn't had time before I set off to my parents') and had two lovely skeins of sari silk from my friend Chai in Toronto; looking at the colours and the sheen, I wondered about weaving it...
So, this is what I got for my first project;
Warp was a purple bamboo yarn I'd bought to make a hat without realising that actually bamboo + hat probably means cold head. The weft was partly the sari silk and partly remnants of some lovely charcoal grey Jaeger Extra Fine Merino in charcoal. Here's the thing on the table. It's shorter than I was hoping, but taught me a valuable lesson about how much yarn you waste in the weaving process. And it still looks nice on the table...
With Chai (and her February birthday) still in mind, I decided to make a houndstooth check scarf from slightly thicker yarn in two different textures, and that worked out pretty well, too - this is the detail view on the loom
and this is what it looked like after washing
Warping with a yarn with so much angora was probably silly; it took ages; but I did love the final fabric...
And to come full circle; I warped up again the day I couldn't get to Kew. I'm sure Tina is responsible for the amount of red in this project, but it also reflects the amount of red/orange sock leftovers I had kicking about.
I'm still weaving this one, and enjoying it, although finding it more difficult to get the edges straight with the finer yarn...
Mostly, this has been due to the usual time-of-year-kicking-me-in-the-head thing; I've also ended up doing some work at home and some earlier mornings/longer days at work; and transport has been a bit terrible too.
I think the low point this year came on the week beginning February 6, when I spent 25 hours just getting to work and back (normally my week is extreme by some people's reckoning at around 17.5 hours just travelling) and then, as the kicker on the Saturday, failing completely to get to Kew Gardens for a wander about and Cake Crawl with some lovely knitters. Standing on a station for 45 mins in -13C (Ely; frozen points) has given me a greater appreciation of Arctic/Antarctic explorers; in terms of confirming my belief in their total insanity.
So, anyway; I've been maundering away feeling knackered thinking "nobody's going to be interested in my boring life; I've done nothing..." And that might be true; but this evening I, and the rest of the carriage, spent 45 minutes being treated to a woman directing her husband around Iceland. Enthusiastically; and extraordinarily loudly. Which would have been really interesting if she were talking about the country, rather than the frozen food shop. Unfortunately, it turns out Mum couldn't get to Iceland so she was going to send Dad round on a string. "Well, yes, chili chicken bits, but ARE THEY BREADED, TONY? ARE THEY BREADED?"
This set me a somewhat lower bar.
So; I got a loom for Christmas! A 24" Ashford rigid heddle loom, to be specific. It's a lovely beast. I loved it first because it involved the application of wax, a lot of self-assembly, and a wonderfully-constructed set of parts packed by someone from a company which feels confident enough in its workers and training that it gives each packer a business card with "Proudly packed by" on it. I've assembled an Ashford wheel, done bits for an Ashford carder, and now the loom - everything works wonderfully.
While I was waiting for the wax to dry on December 28, I opened my Christmas presents from friends (hadn't had time before I set off to my parents') and had two lovely skeins of sari silk from my friend Chai in Toronto; looking at the colours and the sheen, I wondered about weaving it...
So, this is what I got for my first project;
Warp was a purple bamboo yarn I'd bought to make a hat without realising that actually bamboo + hat probably means cold head. The weft was partly the sari silk and partly remnants of some lovely charcoal grey Jaeger Extra Fine Merino in charcoal. Here's the thing on the table. It's shorter than I was hoping, but taught me a valuable lesson about how much yarn you waste in the weaving process. And it still looks nice on the table...
With Chai (and her February birthday) still in mind, I decided to make a houndstooth check scarf from slightly thicker yarn in two different textures, and that worked out pretty well, too - this is the detail view on the loom
and this is what it looked like after washing
Warping with a yarn with so much angora was probably silly; it took ages; but I did love the final fabric...
And to come full circle; I warped up again the day I couldn't get to Kew. I'm sure Tina is responsible for the amount of red in this project, but it also reflects the amount of red/orange sock leftovers I had kicking about.
I'm still weaving this one, and enjoying it, although finding it more difficult to get the edges straight with the finer yarn...
Monday, February 13, 2012
2012 books, #6-10
Snuff, by Terry Pratchett. London: Doubleday, 2011.
Terry Pratchett is a man with a lot to be angry about, these days, and in this book he finds his perfect vehicle in Sam Vimes. Vimes has been forced to go on holiday to his (actually his wife's) country estate; and as the bookcover blurb says "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiay will barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse." As ever with the Vimes books, this is darker in quality than some of the others. There's a lot of justice and injustice in this book, and a lot of righteous anger; the title does refer to tobacco in part, but also to what happens when one group of people declare another group of people not to be people at all, but commodities to be exploited. This is a Pratchett tour de force and every now and then you're just stunned by the quality of the argument. Although he's an atheist, he's never afraid to corral religious language when no other will do; at the end of one long ramble by his trainee copper, "the voice of Vimes, and this time sounding rather far away, said, 'Do you know what that little speech you made was called, Mister Feeney?' 'Don't know sir, it's just what I think.' 'It was called redemption, Mister Feeney. Hold on to it.' " My only reservation with this one is the transformation of Willikins from the perfect gentleman's gentleman to something far more elemental and dangerous; but it does work. And of course, it's also hilarious; there's the 12-year-old's humour, but also something much more knowing and subversive of literary genres too, and he blends all the strands in wonderfully.
Just my type: a book about fonts, by Simon Garfield. London: Profile, 2011.
This was a Christmas present - thanks, Sue! I'd heard one of the episodes when this was book of the week on Radio 4 and I was working from home, but had promptly forgotten all the details of the book. If I'd realised it was the guy responsible for the equally fascinating Mauve, about the history of the chemical dye, I'd have remembered it better! This is a fascinating roller-coaster ride through the intricacies of font history and design; and I've spent the last week or so looking at packaging and signposting with new eyes. From Gutenberg to the guy who designed the Rolling Stone masthead and the man responsible for Comic Sans, Garfield explores the history and aesthetics of font design while never losing a sense of humour. And at the end, his 8 Worst Fonts of All Time are hilarious.
The coldest blood, by Jim Kelly [audiobook]. Read by Ray Sawyer. Oxford, Isis, 2007.
Two men die in the Fens around Ely - both frozen to death in different ways. Philip Dryden, a former Fleet Street journalist demoted to chief reporter for the Ely Crow, realises there's a link both between the two men and with his own childhood. He investigates with his unlikely sidekick Humph, and finds himself digging into his own past. The plot is fascinating and twists and turns nicely, and the geography is spot on; I wasn't sure about Jim Kelly from the previous book of his I read, but will definitely give him another go now.
Hostile witness, by Rebecca Forster. Kindle edition.
Terry Pratchett is a man with a lot to be angry about, these days, and in this book he finds his perfect vehicle in Sam Vimes. Vimes has been forced to go on holiday to his (actually his wife's) country estate; and as the bookcover blurb says "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiay will barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse." As ever with the Vimes books, this is darker in quality than some of the others. There's a lot of justice and injustice in this book, and a lot of righteous anger; the title does refer to tobacco in part, but also to what happens when one group of people declare another group of people not to be people at all, but commodities to be exploited. This is a Pratchett tour de force and every now and then you're just stunned by the quality of the argument. Although he's an atheist, he's never afraid to corral religious language when no other will do; at the end of one long ramble by his trainee copper, "the voice of Vimes, and this time sounding rather far away, said, 'Do you know what that little speech you made was called, Mister Feeney?' 'Don't know sir, it's just what I think.' 'It was called redemption, Mister Feeney. Hold on to it.' " My only reservation with this one is the transformation of Willikins from the perfect gentleman's gentleman to something far more elemental and dangerous; but it does work. And of course, it's also hilarious; there's the 12-year-old's humour, but also something much more knowing and subversive of literary genres too, and he blends all the strands in wonderfully.
Just my type: a book about fonts, by Simon Garfield. London: Profile, 2011.
This was a Christmas present - thanks, Sue! I'd heard one of the episodes when this was book of the week on Radio 4 and I was working from home, but had promptly forgotten all the details of the book. If I'd realised it was the guy responsible for the equally fascinating Mauve, about the history of the chemical dye, I'd have remembered it better! This is a fascinating roller-coaster ride through the intricacies of font history and design; and I've spent the last week or so looking at packaging and signposting with new eyes. From Gutenberg to the guy who designed the Rolling Stone masthead and the man responsible for Comic Sans, Garfield explores the history and aesthetics of font design while never losing a sense of humour. And at the end, his 8 Worst Fonts of All Time are hilarious.
The coldest blood, by Jim Kelly [audiobook]. Read by Ray Sawyer. Oxford, Isis, 2007.
Two men die in the Fens around Ely - both frozen to death in different ways. Philip Dryden, a former Fleet Street journalist demoted to chief reporter for the Ely Crow, realises there's a link both between the two men and with his own childhood. He investigates with his unlikely sidekick Humph, and finds himself digging into his own past. The plot is fascinating and twists and turns nicely, and the geography is spot on; I wasn't sure about Jim Kelly from the previous book of his I read, but will definitely give him another go now.
Hostile witness, by Rebecca Forster. Kindle edition.
Sixteen-year-old Hannah Sheraton is remanded for the murder of her step-grandfather, a retired judge. Hannah's mother Lynda hires an old college roommate, Josie Baylor-Bates, to represent Hannah who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder. Hannah is not a likeable character - spoilt, unaware of the magnitude of her situation and occasionally violent - but as Josie investigates further to find the tangled disfunctional family's secrets, she becomes aware that each time she excavates a layer, the picture becomes completely different. Excellently plotted with a number of surprises.
Broadmoor revealed: Victorian crime and the lunatic asylum, by Mark Stevens. Kindle edition. 2011.
Mark Stevens is the archivist at the Berkshire records office which holds the records of the Broadmoor Hospital for the Clinically Insane, and has extracted some of the more interesting stories from the archives to give both a profile of the general population of the hospital in the Victorian era, and the stories of some of the more high-profile inmates (Richard Dadd, Edward Oxford, William Chester Minor) and some less-known but typical in some way. He also explores the Victorian attitude to crime and to mental illness, and does it all tremendously entertainingly.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
2012 books, #1-5
So much for my new year plans to blog more! However, here are some books. I hope to have some knitting to show later!
False charity, by Veronica Heley [audiobook]. Read by Patience Tomlinson. Whitley Bay: Soundings, 2007.
Bea Abbott returns from New Zealand newly widowed and has to decide what to do with The Abbott Agency, a business dealing with domestic crises. Her son, an MP, thinks she should sell the house to him and move to the seaside, but Bea isn't keen. While she's been away, her son has hired a secretary, Maggie, who turns out to be great at housekeeping but a dead loss in the office; Maggie in turn has brought in Oliver, an 18-year-old computer whizz who's estranged from his family. In addition, Bea's late husband has also enlisted her ex-husband, Piers, to look after her. When Coral, an old friend and long-term client, reports losses due to fraud from a party-organising company working for tsunami charities, the unlikely household investigates. Very entertainingly written and well-plotted.
The house at Sea's End, by Elly Griffiths. London: Quercus, 2011.
Ruth Galloway's baby, Kate, has now been born, and Ruth is returning to work after maternity leave. The first case she is called out on is the discovery of six bodies in a grave on the sea-coast, in an area affected by severe coastal erosion. The bodies are tied together in pairs and seem to have been executed sometime in the middle of the 20th century. What should be an archaeological puzzle suddenly becomes an active police investigation when a contemporary body washes ashore - someone is killing the witnesses to the event and those investigating. As well as an excellent plot, the relationship between Ruth, Nelson and their baby is also intriguing, and Griffiths also explores the guilt a single, working mother feels around childcare and trying to juggle two full-time jobs.
Play to kill, by P J Tracy. London: Penguin, 2010.
Another extremely good Gino and Magozzi thriller which discusses wider issues. This time, what starts off as the mildly bizarre murder of a transvestite in a wedding dress leads to a more serious problem - someone is killing people and posting the videos to YouTube. Are the murders linked, or is there some sort of group forming which is performing these killings? As with anything (knitting, for instance), there's strength in numbers out on the Web, and people encourage each other along, in this case to carry out more and more extreme killings. As ever, the Monkeewrench geeks are also involved. The characterisation and tight plotting is great, and the relationships between the various characters are lovely. A slightly odd ending to this one - I'll be intrigued as to what happens next.
Pirate king, by Laurie R King. London: Allison and Busby, 2011.
The latest of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The plot setup for this one is really bizarre - Russell is despatched to investigate a film company which is making a film about people making a film of The pirates of Penzance. To add further complication to the story, once the crew reaches Portugal they recruit pirates to play actors playing English gentlemen disguised as pirates. The absurdity of the situation isn't lost on Russell and King really does run amusingly with it, possibly at the expense of a comprehensible plot and some of Russell's usual common sense. There isn't as much interaction between Holmes and Russell as usual - Holmes only appears at least halfway through the book - but it's an enjoyable read.
Moon over Soho, by Ben Aaronovitch [audiobook]. Read by Kobna Holbrook-Smith. Oxford: Isis, 2011.
Sequel to Rivers of London; I'd been warned it wasn't as good as the first book, and it couldn't really be, because the entire setup was surprising the first time round and the author is sort of riffing on the atmosphere he's created. Which is appropriate, as someone seems to be killing jazzmen in Soho clubs. The sense of humour and absurdity in the style is carried on into this second novel, and the plot barrels along nicely. The geographic accuracy carries on, too, which is always fun - you can really follow them around the streets... One of the best elements, though, is that actions and damage are shown to have real consequences. So many times in novels, our heroes are shot, beaten up, tortured, etc., etc., and bounce back to appear in the next book with only the odd twinge to remind them. One of the main characters in the previous novel still isn't back at work, or anywhere near it, at the end of this novel, and there's a very moving final scene in this book.
False charity, by Veronica Heley [audiobook]. Read by Patience Tomlinson. Whitley Bay: Soundings, 2007.
Bea Abbott returns from New Zealand newly widowed and has to decide what to do with The Abbott Agency, a business dealing with domestic crises. Her son, an MP, thinks she should sell the house to him and move to the seaside, but Bea isn't keen. While she's been away, her son has hired a secretary, Maggie, who turns out to be great at housekeeping but a dead loss in the office; Maggie in turn has brought in Oliver, an 18-year-old computer whizz who's estranged from his family. In addition, Bea's late husband has also enlisted her ex-husband, Piers, to look after her. When Coral, an old friend and long-term client, reports losses due to fraud from a party-organising company working for tsunami charities, the unlikely household investigates. Very entertainingly written and well-plotted.
The house at Sea's End, by Elly Griffiths. London: Quercus, 2011.
Ruth Galloway's baby, Kate, has now been born, and Ruth is returning to work after maternity leave. The first case she is called out on is the discovery of six bodies in a grave on the sea-coast, in an area affected by severe coastal erosion. The bodies are tied together in pairs and seem to have been executed sometime in the middle of the 20th century. What should be an archaeological puzzle suddenly becomes an active police investigation when a contemporary body washes ashore - someone is killing the witnesses to the event and those investigating. As well as an excellent plot, the relationship between Ruth, Nelson and their baby is also intriguing, and Griffiths also explores the guilt a single, working mother feels around childcare and trying to juggle two full-time jobs.
Play to kill, by P J Tracy. London: Penguin, 2010.
Another extremely good Gino and Magozzi thriller which discusses wider issues. This time, what starts off as the mildly bizarre murder of a transvestite in a wedding dress leads to a more serious problem - someone is killing people and posting the videos to YouTube. Are the murders linked, or is there some sort of group forming which is performing these killings? As with anything (knitting, for instance), there's strength in numbers out on the Web, and people encourage each other along, in this case to carry out more and more extreme killings. As ever, the Monkeewrench geeks are also involved. The characterisation and tight plotting is great, and the relationships between the various characters are lovely. A slightly odd ending to this one - I'll be intrigued as to what happens next.
Pirate king, by Laurie R King. London: Allison and Busby, 2011.
The latest of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The plot setup for this one is really bizarre - Russell is despatched to investigate a film company which is making a film about people making a film of The pirates of Penzance. To add further complication to the story, once the crew reaches Portugal they recruit pirates to play actors playing English gentlemen disguised as pirates. The absurdity of the situation isn't lost on Russell and King really does run amusingly with it, possibly at the expense of a comprehensible plot and some of Russell's usual common sense. There isn't as much interaction between Holmes and Russell as usual - Holmes only appears at least halfway through the book - but it's an enjoyable read.
Moon over Soho, by Ben Aaronovitch [audiobook]. Read by Kobna Holbrook-Smith. Oxford: Isis, 2011.
Sequel to Rivers of London; I'd been warned it wasn't as good as the first book, and it couldn't really be, because the entire setup was surprising the first time round and the author is sort of riffing on the atmosphere he's created. Which is appropriate, as someone seems to be killing jazzmen in Soho clubs. The sense of humour and absurdity in the style is carried on into this second novel, and the plot barrels along nicely. The geographic accuracy carries on, too, which is always fun - you can really follow them around the streets... One of the best elements, though, is that actions and damage are shown to have real consequences. So many times in novels, our heroes are shot, beaten up, tortured, etc., etc., and bounce back to appear in the next book with only the odd twinge to remind them. One of the main characters in the previous novel still isn't back at work, or anywhere near it, at the end of this novel, and there's a very moving final scene in this book.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
2011 books, #126-130
Blood ties, by Lori G Armstrong. Kindle edition.
Julie Collins is a sheriff's secretary with a huge chip on her shoulder and the unsolved murder of her half-Native American half-brother hanging around her neck. Then a girl's body is found in a river, and an investigation is launched. Shortly afterwards, Julie's best high-school friend Kevin, a private investigator Julie helps out on occasion, tells her that the dead girl's family had hired him to find her. The plot twists and turns nicely and stays pretty gripping from start to finish. Julie is a bit irritating, and her choice in men is absolutely terrible, but her relationship with Kevin is interesting and makes the book more likeable than it would otherwise be. One criticism - did it have to be set in a county called Bear Butte when no other humour is derived from this??
A cold day for murder, by Dana Stabenow. Kindle edition.
Former detective Kate Shugak is a hermit of sorts, after the end of an investigation left her with a ruined voice and a huge scar on her throat - she has retired from Anchorage to her homestead a long way outside Niniltna, Alaska. However, a game warden has gone missing, and the investigator sent out from Anchorage has vanished too; the investigator was a friend and former colleague of Kate's and she reluctantly agrees to pursue the case. The cast of characters here is interesting, and the Alaskan scenery is fascinating (and very, very, very cold...) I'm hoping there are more of these.
A land of ash, by David Dalglish et al. Kindle edition.
Five authors imagine a catastrophic volcanic eruption in the Yellowstone National Park, with an eastward drift of an enormous ash cloud. A dozen or so short stories tell stories of the event, the deaths, the immediate aftermath and the struggle for survival as the ash hardens and begins to destroy buildings. There are one or two stories which make very little sense, but most of them are fascinating in the John Wyndham tradition, and show the best and worst of humanity in the face of an apocalyptic event.
The water room, by Christopher Fowler [audiobook]. Read by Tim Goodman. Rearsby, Leics.: W F Howes, 2004.
A Bryant and May mystery, and oddly the one I listened to after Rivers of London - there are many of the same elements here, with a supernatural component to the underground historical rivers of London, and a number of deaths in inexplicable circumstances. The Peculiar Crimes Squad with octogenarian detectives John May and Arthur Bryant investigate. The plot is maybe a little over-complicated in places but the relationships between Bryant and May and the other characters are beautifully written.
Flash and bones, by Kathy Reichs. London: Heinemann, 2011.
Tempe Brennan investigates a body found embedded in asphalt in a metal drum in a landfill site near a NASCAR race-track. This leads in turn to the cold missing-persons case of a young couple who were seen leaving a nearby site almost 20 years before. One of the investigators of that case is working as head of security for NASCAR, having been discredited as a policeman. It's a good Tempe case, spoiled only by some really unconvincing scenes between Tempe, her ex-husband Pete and Pete's airhead fiancée Summer, and the lack of Andrew Ryan; but if you like the plot bits of Reichs's story but get fed up with the female members of her family, this is a good one.
Julie Collins is a sheriff's secretary with a huge chip on her shoulder and the unsolved murder of her half-Native American half-brother hanging around her neck. Then a girl's body is found in a river, and an investigation is launched. Shortly afterwards, Julie's best high-school friend Kevin, a private investigator Julie helps out on occasion, tells her that the dead girl's family had hired him to find her. The plot twists and turns nicely and stays pretty gripping from start to finish. Julie is a bit irritating, and her choice in men is absolutely terrible, but her relationship with Kevin is interesting and makes the book more likeable than it would otherwise be. One criticism - did it have to be set in a county called Bear Butte when no other humour is derived from this??
A cold day for murder, by Dana Stabenow. Kindle edition.
Former detective Kate Shugak is a hermit of sorts, after the end of an investigation left her with a ruined voice and a huge scar on her throat - she has retired from Anchorage to her homestead a long way outside Niniltna, Alaska. However, a game warden has gone missing, and the investigator sent out from Anchorage has vanished too; the investigator was a friend and former colleague of Kate's and she reluctantly agrees to pursue the case. The cast of characters here is interesting, and the Alaskan scenery is fascinating (and very, very, very cold...) I'm hoping there are more of these.
A land of ash, by David Dalglish et al. Kindle edition.
Five authors imagine a catastrophic volcanic eruption in the Yellowstone National Park, with an eastward drift of an enormous ash cloud. A dozen or so short stories tell stories of the event, the deaths, the immediate aftermath and the struggle for survival as the ash hardens and begins to destroy buildings. There are one or two stories which make very little sense, but most of them are fascinating in the John Wyndham tradition, and show the best and worst of humanity in the face of an apocalyptic event.
The water room, by Christopher Fowler [audiobook]. Read by Tim Goodman. Rearsby, Leics.: W F Howes, 2004.
A Bryant and May mystery, and oddly the one I listened to after Rivers of London - there are many of the same elements here, with a supernatural component to the underground historical rivers of London, and a number of deaths in inexplicable circumstances. The Peculiar Crimes Squad with octogenarian detectives John May and Arthur Bryant investigate. The plot is maybe a little over-complicated in places but the relationships between Bryant and May and the other characters are beautifully written.
Flash and bones, by Kathy Reichs. London: Heinemann, 2011.
Tempe Brennan investigates a body found embedded in asphalt in a metal drum in a landfill site near a NASCAR race-track. This leads in turn to the cold missing-persons case of a young couple who were seen leaving a nearby site almost 20 years before. One of the investigators of that case is working as head of security for NASCAR, having been discredited as a policeman. It's a good Tempe case, spoiled only by some really unconvincing scenes between Tempe, her ex-husband Pete and Pete's airhead fiancée Summer, and the lack of Andrew Ryan; but if you like the plot bits of Reichs's story but get fed up with the female members of her family, this is a good one.
2011 books, #121-125
Snowdrops, by A D Miller. Kindle edition.
A Kniterati book club book. A confessional novel written by a Briton called Nick to his fiancée shortly before their wedding, with an account of his time in Russia in the middle years of the last decade. It's a hallucinatory story, full of oil, booze, drugs and beautiful sisters, who may or may not actually be cousins. There's a feeling of impending doom throughout the novel, and a sense of a general moral slide... Pretty compelling stuff, and really draws you in.
Tilting at windmills: how I learned to stop worrying and enjoy sport, by Andy Miller. London: Viking, 2002.
(Not the same A Miller as the first book, as far as I know!) Andy Miller hates sport. All of it. Well, very nearly all of it - he has a love of minigolf, known to most of us as crazy golf. Using minigolf as a starting point, he explores the reasons people enjoy sport, from supporting QPR to the Boat Race, tennis at Wimbledon and the British Open golf. He talks to PE teachers, leading members of the sporting authorities and proponents of sport-as-entertainment such as publicists from the World Wrestling Federation. Meanwhile, he plays in minigolf tournaments including the European finals in Riga, where the Baltic Times dubs him "the Eddie the Eagle of miniature golf". It's a slightly puzzling book, in that there is one sport Miller wants to excel in, but it's also fascinating for those of us who were just a bit useless at sport in school, but keen on following sport from our armchairs - there's an interesting window into the psychology of real competitors such as Steve Redgrave.
Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovich [audiobook]. Read by Kobna Holbrook-Smith. Oxford: Isis, 2010.
Peter Grant is a trainee detective in the Metropolitan Police who tries to take a witness statement from someone who is dead; this brings him to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. Becoming a DC and trainee wizard simultaneously means that Peter's world becomes somewhat more complicated. There is something very horrible going on in London, and Grant and Nightingale need to follow this to the end, or die in the attempt. Thanks to Jackie for the recommendation for this - told with considerable wit and inventiveness and a huge amount of humour. I also loved the reader, who can do everything from Nigerian grandmothers to upper-class twit with facility...
Locked in, by Kerry Wilkinson. Kindle edition.
This was an interesting story - middle-aged people are being found strangled in their own, locked, homes, with no sign of who may have been able to get in and kill them. There's no obvious collection, and new DS Jessica Daniel is also being hounded by a news reporter who seems to be acquiring information before the police. The plot is really tight - the main problem seems to be Daniel herself who is just incredibly grumpy for seemingly very little reason, and also prone to jump in without thinking. It's a little difficult to admire a novel entirely when you think the main character is a little bit of a pillock.
Suicide run: three Harry Bosch stories, by Michael Connolly. Kindle edition.
Effectively a publicity trailer for the new Harry Bosch book The drop (on order from the library), these three short stories are excellent and from different periods of Bosch's history. If you have a Kindle, definitely an interesting addition to the Bosch canon, and well worth the 99p cover price.
A Kniterati book club book. A confessional novel written by a Briton called Nick to his fiancée shortly before their wedding, with an account of his time in Russia in the middle years of the last decade. It's a hallucinatory story, full of oil, booze, drugs and beautiful sisters, who may or may not actually be cousins. There's a feeling of impending doom throughout the novel, and a sense of a general moral slide... Pretty compelling stuff, and really draws you in.
Tilting at windmills: how I learned to stop worrying and enjoy sport, by Andy Miller. London: Viking, 2002.
(Not the same A Miller as the first book, as far as I know!) Andy Miller hates sport. All of it. Well, very nearly all of it - he has a love of minigolf, known to most of us as crazy golf. Using minigolf as a starting point, he explores the reasons people enjoy sport, from supporting QPR to the Boat Race, tennis at Wimbledon and the British Open golf. He talks to PE teachers, leading members of the sporting authorities and proponents of sport-as-entertainment such as publicists from the World Wrestling Federation. Meanwhile, he plays in minigolf tournaments including the European finals in Riga, where the Baltic Times dubs him "the Eddie the Eagle of miniature golf". It's a slightly puzzling book, in that there is one sport Miller wants to excel in, but it's also fascinating for those of us who were just a bit useless at sport in school, but keen on following sport from our armchairs - there's an interesting window into the psychology of real competitors such as Steve Redgrave.
Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovich [audiobook]. Read by Kobna Holbrook-Smith. Oxford: Isis, 2010.
Peter Grant is a trainee detective in the Metropolitan Police who tries to take a witness statement from someone who is dead; this brings him to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England. Becoming a DC and trainee wizard simultaneously means that Peter's world becomes somewhat more complicated. There is something very horrible going on in London, and Grant and Nightingale need to follow this to the end, or die in the attempt. Thanks to Jackie for the recommendation for this - told with considerable wit and inventiveness and a huge amount of humour. I also loved the reader, who can do everything from Nigerian grandmothers to upper-class twit with facility...
Locked in, by Kerry Wilkinson. Kindle edition.
This was an interesting story - middle-aged people are being found strangled in their own, locked, homes, with no sign of who may have been able to get in and kill them. There's no obvious collection, and new DS Jessica Daniel is also being hounded by a news reporter who seems to be acquiring information before the police. The plot is really tight - the main problem seems to be Daniel herself who is just incredibly grumpy for seemingly very little reason, and also prone to jump in without thinking. It's a little difficult to admire a novel entirely when you think the main character is a little bit of a pillock.
Suicide run: three Harry Bosch stories, by Michael Connolly. Kindle edition.
Effectively a publicity trailer for the new Harry Bosch book The drop (on order from the library), these three short stories are excellent and from different periods of Bosch's history. If you have a Kindle, definitely an interesting addition to the Bosch canon, and well worth the 99p cover price.
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