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Dec 17, 2007

Last post of 2007

Hopefully - we go on Thursday and the forecast is snow and lots of it, anyway 2012 I'm still reading this because it's the kind of book that doesn't reward skimming. I can understand why it's in the philosophy section but it could also be classified as bio/nature and just plain woo. Daniel Pinchbeck covers a multitude of subjects, ufo's (avoid that bit - woo alert!) his journeys into the amazon rainforest to take psychedelic compounds to open his mind as he puts it. He posits that 2012 won't be the end of the world just a change of mindset less material and more spiritual and no that doesn't mean I'm going to start going to church. He talks about us being slaves to time and that I really do get, while I was reading this chapter three timers were beeping at me from various parts of the house, each demanding my attention. I'm buying this one - not for me - a friend back home will eat this up. Hawke didn't get started so that and The Golden Compass will be my on- plane reading.

See you in 2008!

Dec 11, 2007

An Uncommon Reader, Hawke and the End of the World?

It's rare for me to recommend a book without reading it but having read the author this wasn't a stretch. But now I can remedy that The Uncommon Reader is a hoot. When one of her majesty's corgis runs into Westminster Council's bookmobile it starts a chain reaction that no one could have predicted. Queenie checks out a book and because she's a duty bound kind of girl she reads it and that leads to another and another and another. Headaches abound for Sir Kevin the kiwi and Norman from the kitchens gets promoted to literary advisor - he's gay and ginger - so normally he wouldn't have a prayer. Queenie being a doer she soon turns her hand to writing. Is the Uncommon Writer too far off?

Two other books this week 2012 The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck and Hawke by Ted Bell. I have a love of archaeology I used to spend my summers on my hands and knees with a soft brush discovering bits of roman pottery and once a coin, the subject fascinates me. Anyway I saw this programme on the history channel hosted by that guy with the face and body of an angel and a voice that sends me to sleep - forget ambien! and this was the subject, Myan calendars end of the world etc, etc so I decided to educate myself. Also the first in the Hawke series which judging by the blurb makes James Bond look tame - we'll see.

Dec 10, 2007

Sword Song - Bernard Cornwell

I've read and like the Sharpe series but this is the first of the Saxon Tales series I've read and I enjoyed it. One caveat if you like your heroes to have simple names like Fred it ain't going to happen. Saxon names are challenging but as I'm not reading aloud it's OK, Cornwell also helpfully puts a glossary of names at the front of the book. I used to live in Berrocscire who knew! So on to the story. Uhtred (see what I mean?) is a Lord, a savage warrior and Danish from his named swords to his Thor's hammer amulet, he believes in Odin's Hall not heaven and while technically a good man he's won't think twice about hanging 10 workers to make the others work harder. He is also sworn to Alfred of Wessex, a Christian - (hmm have to read the other books to find out how that happened).
In this book the Vikings aren't just coming, they've taken London. Alfred orders Lord U to turf the Vikings out and then give London to his (Lord U's) cousin as a wedding present. The Vikings want to join forces with Uhtred and make him King of Mercia using the "fates" to dangle the offer in front of him. If he takes up the offer U will break his sworn oath to Alfred. No sooner has he made his decision than a prize far greater than London falls into enemy hands and Alfred tasks U to get it back. Chock-full of battles and strategy Sword Song also has enough family betrayal and palace intrigue to keep the book interesting, it also hints at dark things to come.

Nov 29, 2007

There's something in the air


No it's not snow I'm talking about the entire month of November and that something is words. Those people you've seen in internet cafes or at the library etc may have been churning out a novel in a month and I'm chuffed to say I'm one of them, I finished Tuesday afternoon and now I've got a huge dilemma, I love what came from nanowrimo but equally I love Ghostwriter too. I'd like to congratulate each and every winner of nanowrimo and unless we get ambushed by elsewhere I think we won the word war.

So now back to arcs, I've got a Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe - but this isn't) to start but I want to read The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett and The Pure in Heart by Susan Hill as well both of these are out now in hard back. Also in the course of sourcing an Anniversary pressie for my father in law I've come across another series which looks good. The "Hawke" series by Ted Bell.

Oct 23, 2007

Critique Week and NanoWrimo

Might be off the net for a bit. There's this write a novel in a month contest and I'm thinking of taking the plunge. There's an idea that's been kicking around in my head for the last couple of months and this could be my chance to get it down. 50,000 words by the end of November (starts Nov 1st) So no arcs and put GhostWriter on hold for one month. I've reviewed quite a few books in the last couple of months so I don't feel bad about taking a break. Normal service or what passes for normal in this house:-) will be resumed at the end of November. Wish me luck!

Oct 13, 2007

New Lisa Lutz

I only bagged one arc this week. The Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz. I read the Spellman Files this year it's about this disfunctional family of private eyes seen through the eyes of daughter Izzy and this is the sequel - it comes out in March next year but so far it's as funny as the last one.

I'm trying to keep reading to a minimum this week. Critique time is fast approaching and my supposed 10 pages is actually a measly 2!

Oct 12, 2007

The Ghost by Robert Harris

This is a bit of a conundrum - I liked it but more for what's behind the story than the story itself. Adam Lang (Tony Blair anyone) retired PM writing his memoirs - holed up on Martha's Vineyard in the winter. Like any celeb he has a "ghost" helping him. His first ghost, one Mike McAra dies in mysterious circumstances and another ghost is hired as a replacement. Now here's one of the cool bits - you never know the new ghost - our narrator's name. Harris names everyone else but not him. Also he gives us a small insight into the world of the ghostwriter - interesting to me because my main character earns their living as one.

Of course walking in a dead man's shoes the narrator is apt to repeat the mistakes of McAra but what was his fatal mistake? The one that got him killed. It's all there in the manuscript - the original manuscript The secret that the narrator leaves as his legacy - if you finish the book - you'll know what I mean.

Didn't get to Stiff this week. Life got in the way again.

Oct 10, 2007

Secret History of the War on Cancer

Davis is meticulous about citing her sources - those with no life might like to try and trip her up. To say I read this with my jaw on the floor would be an understatement. Sometimes you have to read books that upset you or in this case make you mad. This book shows how big business - not just the tobacco companies although they are equally complicit - deliberately suppressed information that would either harm sales or productivity. They were further ahead with cancer research in 1936(!!!!!) than we are today. Go figure. Still shaking my head in disgust.....This is a book which I'm surprised got published but you need to read it and you need to understand that USA (or UK for that matter - we didn't introduce regular pap screening until the 80's) way isn't always the best.

Oct 8, 2007

Spook, more arcs but these are for October 07!

Loved Spook. Insightful, fascinating and funny. Six Sacred Stones is brilliant and I'll review it fully when it comes out in January '08 and I will be buying it - in hardback - it's that good!

I'll get to Stiff if I get the time. Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Davis, I've already started it - scary stuff. I heard her interviewed on NPR and then came across the arc in a back room.

Other arc The Ghost by Robert Harris, looks like a ripped-from-the-headlines aka the Blair and Bush smoke and mirrors routine but we'll see. The last Harris I read was Fatherland and that was years ago.

Oct 4, 2007

Review of Seven Deadly Wonders, ARC and Spook

If you like action this is a great book but it has an element of family as well. You’ll cheer the heroes and boo the villians – and you may not like who the villains are. Hey the Brits were the baddies in Ice Station – deal with it, I did.

An international team of commandos, all deadly but charged with raising and protecting a little girl called Lily. It’s a global treasure hunt ten years in the making with high stakes for all of humanity. America, Old Europe and “the nine” race between the seven wonders of the world – including the long lost hanging gardens of Babylon. (If they exist as Matt Reilly envisions them they would be a truly awe-inspiring sight.) They’re all looking for the pieces of the golden capstone that used to sit atop the great pyramid in Egypt. But do Aussie, Jack West Jr and his team of underdogs have a traitor amongst them and will Lily survive the ritual she was born for? This book made me laugh out loud in a couple of places, especially the bit with the London bus! And what is it about fictional heroes named Jack?

More Jack West and co on the way in January – I’m just starting the arc for Six Sacred Stones.

A little palate-cleansing non-fiction. “Spook”, by Mary Roach. Science tackles the afterlife and so far Roach’s fascinating insight and sometimes earthy wit are making me think I should try “Stiff” next.

Sep 28, 2007

Meeting wrap-up

We were down two people, Lyns and Donna get well soon, we missed you. So as well as DeAnn and Eva's my piece got reviewed as well. I said I suck, apparently I don't suck but then we all took this assignment and made it our own. Eva's vampires, DeAnn's "Obscure" fiction, my three in a storm shelter and Lyns' modern fairy tale. It was really good to do something different and also that agony of coming up with a first line - gone! 'cos it's been done for you. I admit I wrestled with doing this but it shook things up a bit and pulled us all out of our comfort zones.

Sep 26, 2007

Last month's assignment

God I really suck at this! We had to pick a good line from one of our favourite books. DeAnn got mine - Jasper Fforde of course - and I got the first line of The Corrections, from her I think. Our brief was to write a 500 to 1000 word story using that first line. Mine's done but I'm not happy with it and it will be interesting to see what the others thought of it. Not expecting good feedback on this.

Seven Deadly Wonders

Holy cow! When they say Matt Reiley does action really really well they are not kidding. This is soooo good and I'm only in the first 20 pages or so. If I didn't have anything else to do today or a writing group meeting to prepare for tonight I would just sit and devour this book. I bought SDW book on spec and I'm glad I did! It's like reading an action movie. Love it!

Sep 25, 2007

Scarpetta's Book of the Dead

Hmm. Took a while to get going - all that CSI stuff at the begining really slowed it down and the jumps in tense can make you pull out of the story a little. But, I'd say she's back. Much better than some of her recent stuff.

Kay and her team, including her computer whizz niece Lucy are trying to stop a killer, one who seems to leave no traces. His latest victim, tennis prodigy Drew Martin, killed in Rome. Along with Drew's baffling murder, and the coprse of an emaciated young boy, Scarpetta has them lining up to run her out of her new home of Charlestown, South Carolina. Funeral Home Directors with agendas. A coroner with secrets pretty close to Kay's home. Marino's reaction to her recent engagement to Wesley is so far over the top that he may regret his actions for the rest of his life and back spinning her deceitful web is Dr Marilyn Self who dropped off the airwaves with a family emergency right after Drew's murder. Self is out to torment Kay by hurting the people she loves, including Lucy and Benton. And then there's another murder.

Will be buying it in softback.

Sep 22, 2007

Carping about Carpe and books for this week

My brief flirtation with Latin has ended. That LNF title turned into a textbook half-way through and I really don't want to have to perform the mental gymnastics it takes to master a dead language. Been there, done that, got the 89% pass mark to prove it.

New Patricia Cornwell, Scarpetta too, coming out in October. I'm really excited about this one, hope it lives up to my expectations. Also Matt Reilly's Seven Deadly Wonders, yes - the Ice Station guy. This was the title that cracked the NYT best-seller list for him. We've got an ARC for his next one Six Sacred Stones but have to read SDW first. (New trend a countdown in every title?)

Sep 18, 2007

Books that aren't out yet

One of the perks of the job is getting ARCs (advanced readers copies) after all we have to have read the book before it comes into the store other how can we recommend it to anyone? I read a lot of Nicci French back home and up until now I hadn't twigged that "she" is actually "they" a husband and wife team - her first name and his last. The new one is called Losing You and it doesn't come out until April next year but I read it over the weekend and it's a gripping ride. I'll review it in full when it really comes out but its the kind of psychological thriller that stays with you long after you've read it especially if you have teenage children - I don't.

Still working my way through Making Money the new Terry Pratchett, still laughing my socks off.

I'm right in the middle of a LNF title called Carpe Diem which when it was published in the UK did for Latin what Eats Shoots and Leaves did for grammar. Now I learned Latin at school - for my sins - and it is scary just how much I absorbed - verbs, declensions (who knew there were more than that 3!) Interesting but we'll see if it takes off over here.

Aug 30, 2007

A sudden rush of ideas to the head

I've got so many ideas at the moment that I just keep churning them out. Which is really cool in one way but easy distraction in another. But I really need to concentrate on my main project. Yesterday was critique day and as usual I got a bunch of feedback and ideas it really is amazing how a fresh pair of eyes can pick out something or better yet fix a problem you've been wrestling with for months. Dialogue is my key strength but I need to balance it with the other elements.

I'm trying to figure out how many people it is ok to use in a chapter without confusing the reader. Also trying to get these changes complete before I go off on vacation. This is why no books this week. Although there is one called Ice Station by Matt Reilly which I've been meaning to read. The editor I talked with recommended it (80 - count them - page action sequence at the start of the book) he said it was a good example of pacing. I'll read it when I get back. Break out the Bikinis and Margaritas:-)

Aug 27, 2007

Life - Thud!

This isn't about books it's about life. If you have one - and I do. It sometimes rears its ugly head in all the wrong places and when it does you put down the books and jump in to help. Well I do.

Aug 21, 2007

How the Irish Saved Civilisation and Smoke and Mirrors

The Cahill book was a fluke - I was about to shelve it when I read the back. I grew up with "the troubles" as they so charmingly called such a dirty situation. IRA was a swear-word, incident equalled bomb and innocent people were fair game. I watched a policeman get blown off his feet by a bomb in London and the building I worked in was one of many "soft targets". None of that endears you to a people. But this book goes a little way to re-dressing the balance. After the fall of Rome the Irish scribes saved a lot of manuscripts from destruction and transcribed them. This is the first of Cahill's Hinges of History series - fascinating.

I bought Smoke and Mirrors sight unseen. I love Neil Gaiman's work - especially the collaboration with Terry Pratchett on Good Omens. It's a collection of his short stories and I highly recommend it.

Aug 18, 2007

Diane Ackerman and Jasper Fforde

V strange bedfellows! Ackerman is a good read but very dense full attention required for that one. She's non-fiction just FYI. Jasper Fforde on the other hand is a hoot - since I tentatively picked up The Eyre Affair I've never looked back. Nursery Crimes which are his new series are just as good as the Thursday Next novels. Roll on "The Maltease Cockatoo" or whatever he's going to call the follow up!

This week I've got a real mixed bag. Smoke and Mirrors, Neil Gaiman, The Dancer Upstairs, Nick Shakespeare - recommended by the same girl who tipped me to The Oxford Murders by Martinez. How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill and The Hound of the Baskervilles by Doyle.

Aug 15, 2007

Writing Today

Got to get my act together today. I need to have five pages ready for critique. This morning I only had three ready and by the time I'd finished fiddling with them it was down to two and a half!! I had to expand a scene and slow it down a little more. I think I managed to do that but I'm still about a page short. Plus I got hung up on French police call signs!

Aug 14, 2007

Secret Asset - Stella Rimmington

Why is it that 390 pages can seem like a hard slog with some books and a walk in the park with others? Secret Asset is a really quick read not that there isn't a good story. Liz Carlyle from "At Risk" returns and this time she's tracking down a mole within MI5. There are enough clues to guess the mole's identity before the end of the book but that isn't the point. Once you know who this person is you can see the damage they can do. Ending weakened the book a little but hopefully Liz will be back.

Aug 12, 2007

Books for this week

I have three on the go this week.
The Fourth Bear - Jasper Fforde - second in the nursery crime series - I want the Dorian Grey warranty on my Subaru! - On second thoughts no I don't! The Pippa Piper thing just cracked me up - I couldn't stop laughing and I couldn't say it out loud either. Cuclear energy - priceless.
Secret Asset - Stella Rmmington - I love "At Risk" so lets see how this one works out.
A Natural History of the Senses- Diane Ackerman - not a thriller but a girl has to have options and we've got an event with her coming up - call it homework.

Aug 10, 2007

Blurb - Mark Frost - List of Seven

When you discover an author you want to read all of his or her older books. Well I do - and because I got given a WW2 thriller to review called "The Second Objective" by Mark Frost, I sourced and bought his first two books. The List of Seven is a cracker. Frost's main character is Arthur Conan Doyle - a struggling young Doctor with a passing interest in the occult. Almost losing his life at a seance Doyle gets tangled up in a plot to - well that would be telling. Along with way he encounters Jack Sparks, the twins Barry and Larry and the feisty Eileen Temple.

Frost grounds the lightening paced action using real people and throws in nods to characters and vices Doyle later writes into the Sherlock Holmes novels. The author has a way of creating characters you care about and then doing the most terrible things to them. There was a follow-up. The Six Messiahs which is set 10 years later and while it's a good read, it's not as gripping as List of Seven.

Aug 9, 2007

Hooked - and you will be!

A year after Annie's death, journalist Nat Idle can't seem to move on. Until he gets a note, telling him to leave the cybercafe he's sitting in. Seconds after he gets outside he's blown off his feet. Who gave him the note? Who blew up the cafe?

Matt Richtel hooks you on the first page of this tech heavy thriller - I couldn't put it down.

Will I be buying it? Definitely!




Update - I met Matt yesterday and he signed my book!

Intro

Hello world. This is kind of no-brainer. I've had a personal blog for nearly 3 years. So when I've read a book that I love - and I read a lot of books - I'm going to review it on this blog. Most importantly at the end of the review I'll say whether I bought the book or just read an advanced copy.

Because I'm also a writer (unpublished) I'll blog about that too. Feel free to send me your comments, book recommendations (I'm a sucker for a good thriller) and if you ever figure out who I am feel free to come to the bookstore and challenge me. I'm signing my posts as mystery girl.

First review will be Hooked by Matt Richtel.