Am a bit busier than usual, what with being in the middle of moving house and being five months pregnant, hence the lack of updates – sorry!
Anyway, onto books. As ever, one of my goals is to read more this year. I also want to read more of the books that I already own, rather than constantly buy four or five whenever I get the urge, only to read a mere one or two of them before the next purchase. One of the ways I’m tackling this is by always having a book on the go. Sounds simple, but often I finish one, then spend days choosing another. Now I pick another one straightaway (from the titles already on my shelf) and just ensure it’s to hand for the next time I get that reading urge. It seems to be helping a bit.
These aren’t reviews, just a few thoughts I had about each book:
Southern Vampire Mysteries books 1-9, by Charlaine Harris (aka the True Blood books)
They are a quick, fun read and I think it helped (in terms of being familiar with the world/characters) that I watch the television series. Of course the books have many fans that have never seen the TV show (at least I presume so), but I quite liked catching up on the Eric and Sookie I already knew.
My Booky Wook by Russell Brand
If you know anything about Russell Brand, you can probably imagine what this book’s like. He writes very much in the same tone in which he speaks. He’s witty, irreverant and completely bonkers. It won’t be a revelation to many that he was a massive druggie when he was younger. Nice that he managed to turned it all around – though a pity the book was written before the Andrew Sachs controversy.
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
A few girls at work love this and I’d only read negative feedback online, so decided it was best to read it and come to my own conclusions before commenting on it. And…
It started off quite well – I felt like it had the potential to be an enjoyable YA read. But I soon found myself getting really annoyed at beautiful sparkling Edward and his stalkery ways, and Bella giving up friends and family and personality for him. Bah. By the end I just wanted to punch Edward in the face. I don’t think I was the right audience and am very unlikely to ever delve into the sequels. I can see why it’s popular – but it’s definitely not for me.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Loved this book. It’s haunting, moving, and it’s amazing how many ways there are to describe desolate wasteland. I guessed what was going to happen at the end very early on, but it still moved me to great big wracking sobs. Wonderful. I was left with many questions about the world the book’s set in, but I never really expected them to be answered in the text itself.
Flashforward by Robert J Sawyer
I gave up on the TV series after the first couple of episodes, in which I saw an intriguing premise quickly become rather dull. But the premise led me to dig out the book the show is based on – written back in 1999. It’s set in Europe at CERN and examined from the POV of scientists rather than the FBI. The flashforward is 30 years in the future, rather than a matter of months away. One small plot point that resonated with me is the writer who discovered he was still unsuccessful in 30 years (something that couldn’t really be achieved with a shorter flash). Would I keep writing if I knew it was never going to come to anything? Would I try to change my future? I think I’d keep at it, only in a less focused way. The book gets quite hard SF towards the end – it’s been a while since I’ve read anything like this. Enjoyed it.
The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
Had this on my shelves for ages before I finally got around to picking it up. It’s one of a series of crime books set in Sicily, featuring Detective Inspector Salvo Montalbano. It’s a comic, brisk read and I really liked it. Um. I’m too tired to be more insightful, but if I see any more of these around in the local bookshops I’ll probably pick them up.