Halfhead - Stuart B. MacBride

"There's blood everywhere."

Rated 9.2/10 (Awesome!)

There are worse things than the death penalty...

My Thoughts: The first sentence had me hooked and pretty much set the theme up for the whole novel in an instant. A really dark and gritty sci-fi read with plenty of shocking gore and a racing plotline. I couldn't tear my eyes from the pages.

I had the privilege of a quick exchange of Tweets with Mr MacBride as I was reading this on the train to work:



                 Me ‏@Gemininski

Reading Halfhead by @stuartmacbride and wondering why I've never picked this up before. It's ace!

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27 NovStuart MacBride ‏@StuartMacBride

@Gemininski Phew! That was a worry. Some people absolutely loathe it. Glad you're not one of them.

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28 NovMe ‏@Gemininski

@StuartMacBride not at all! Though I do worry in parts that someone is looking over my shoulder at what I'm reading and backing away slowly.

And I did indeed find myself shielding the odd page from commuters who found themselves within reading distance. There are some pretty sickening scenes in there, and one particularly that I had to stop reading for a moment to take a deep breath and continue on. The strong dystopia element satisfied me, and I only wish that the book could have delved a little further into it, and into the whole concept behind the halfhead.

I love to be kept in suspense when reading. I love to be shocked. I love vivid characters that I actually care for and plenty of action... This book covered all bases. I want more!

An epic sci-fi/crime thriller that is something that little bit different. 

Theme: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Setting: 5/5
Style: 4/5

Overall: 9.2/10

The Birthing House - Christopher Ransom

Conrad Harrison found the last
home he would ever know by
driving the wrong way out of Chicago
with a ghost in his car.

Rated 3.6/10 (readable)

The scariest novel since Stephen King's The Shining, The Birthing House grips from the first line to the terrifying final twist.

My Thoughts: A very strange read, but car crash writing that I could not put down. The characters are typical larger than life beings, not well written at all; and it basically comes down to the usual ghostly tale - man is all on his own in a brand new home - man sees strange goings on - man manages to completely ignore them and get on with life inside the haunted house. It's choc full of cliches -> pretty useless dogs, a young helpless girl and lots of sex for the sake of sex.

The subject matter of the hauntings is highly disturbing and confusing, and the main character also begins to get more and more deranged. You can never quite tell if it's the house that's haunted or his psychological state, but you can tell that he is not normal right from the very beginning, and there are a few passages that have you wondering about his sanity from the word go.

There are also some parts of this book that don't tie up, or seem to be a little pointless. Some of the characters are irrational - particularly the main character's wife Jo, who didn't feel real at all; and quite a few scenes come across as disjointed, unfinished or out of place. I'm still not sure as to what the Birthing House was actually meant to be back in the day, but I'm settling on a cult of some kind. There are so many questions left unanswered, (why didn't the dog get pregnant?!?! being one of them) and when I reflected on the book after finishing, I realised that there were so many loose ends that I couldn't remember them all!

All in all however, this is a very addictive read. A book that you just can't help but plough your way through despite all of the errors and insensitivity. Although the bare bones of the book are nothing out of the ordinary, it's the (patchy) padding round the outside that make it readable. If you're looking for something completely bizarre and you have a very open mind - this one might be for you! 

Those of a nervous disposition, new parents and pregnant ladies - keep your hands off!

Theme: 3/5
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Setting: 2/5
Style: 1/5

Overall: 3.6/10

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

"Everyone my age remembers
where they were and what they
were doing when they first heard
about the contest."

Rated 9.6/10 (amazing!!!)

Imagine the world at stake. An epic struggle between good and evil. The greatest quest in history. The fate of humanity resting in your hands. Are you ready?

My Thoughts: I fell into this book from the first chapter. It satisfied every desire that I have when it comes to reading. It had the fabulous (not so perfect) characters. It had the dystopian world filled with suppression and struggle. And it had geekery - lots and lots of 80s themed, futuristic sci-fi geekery. 

In a declining world of poverty, over-crowding and hunger - people are bound to escape into a virtual world. It is easy enough to see this happening. With technology advancing at the speed that it has, Ready Player One's themes could be relevant to us all. 

It is very clear that this book has been meticulously researched. I think that if I played out every 80s game that appears in the book, every movie that Ernest makes reference to, they would all be exactly as they are described on the pages. 

A very clever read that would suit teenagers, sci-fi fans, self-confessed geeks and children of the 80s.  

Theme: 5/5
An original theme that spans across multiple levels. 

Plot: 5/5
Everything is here - action, drama, romance... There are plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Characters: 5/5
Nobody is perfect. And not everybody is as they seem either...

Setting: 5/5
A virtual universe filled with countless numbers of custom made zones, sectors, planets and worlds.

Style: 4/5
Ernest has written in a style that is accessible to a lot of people - but I think that the style would most suit teenagers and young adults as it seems a little young at times.

 Overall: 9.6/10

Red Dragon - Thomas Harris

Will Graham sat Crawford down
at a picnic table between the
house and the ocean and gave
him a glass of iced tea.

Rated 9.2/10 (brilliant)

A second family has been massacred by the terrifying serial killer the press has christened "The Tooth Fairy". Special Agent Jack Crawford turns to the one man who can help restart a failed investigation: Will Graham. Graham is the greatest profiler the FBI ever had, but the physical and mental scars of capturing Hannibal Lecter have caused Graham to go into early retirement. Now, Graham must turn to Lecter for help.

My Thoughts: I was drawn towards this book and was not disappointed. I liked that Will Graham is a protagonist with a dark side, and I love the character Lecter - the complete definition of intelligence, brilliance and pure, disgusting evil.

This book is twisted. It challenges us to get inside the mind of a vicious psychotic killer, and maybe, just maybe, empathise a little with him. It forces us to see where this evil stems from and to understand why he might feel the urge to do what he does. It's clever and evil and shocking all rolled up into 420 pages of brilliantly written, can't put down, crime horror.  It was just like reading my way through a film (ignoring the fact that films of this have been made as I haven't actually seen them yet). 

The only real hang up that I have was about the ending. It was awkward and didn't quite sit well with the build up of the rest of the book.

Theme: 5/5
Twisted serial killers and a race against time...

Plot: 4/5
One point knocked off for the ending, but the rest made for reading I just could not put down.

Characters: 5/5
Hannibal Lecter is one of the most prominent characters on both the big screen and on paper. With a cast of well-rounded, less than perfect characters, and another psychotic killer on the loose - not much more you can ask for!!!

Setting: 5/5

Style: 4/5
I love Harris' knack for dragging us into the minds of people that do things we would never even dream of!

Overall: 9.2/10

The Black Death - John Hatcher

"The thousands of ordinary
parish priests who ministered
to their flocks in fourteenth-
century England have left
scarcely a trace of their lives in
any surviving records."

Rated 6.8/10  (a good read)

In this fresh approach to the history of the Black Death, John Hatcher, a world-renowned scholar of the Middle Ages, recreates everyday life in a mid-fourteenth century rural English village. By focusing on the experiences of ordinary villagers as they lived - and died - during the Black Death (1345 - 50 AD), Hatcher vividly places the reader directly into those tumultuous years and describes in fascinating detail the day-to-day existence of people struggling with the tragic effects of the plague. Dramatic scenes portray how contemporaries must have experienced and thought about the momentous events - and how they tried to make sense of it all.

My Thoughts: I was drawn to this book for the simple reason that I wanted  to broaden my knowledge a little. I mostly read fiction as an escape method, but this book looked like it would both let me escape and also teach me a bit along the way. It managed to succeed at both of these things. 

The Black Death did lose my interest a little in places and wasn't quite as gritty with the detail as I had expected. There was a lot of focus on religion, which I wasn't so keen on, and I would have enjoyed a peasant farmer as the main character of the book, rather than a parish priest. Obviously, religion was the main focus of society in the 1300s, and so the choice of character was fitting, but maybe a bit more narration from different people's daily lives could have been added.

There were times towards the end of the book, when Hatcher was going through lists of names and families by way of Blakey and other similar characters speaking out to a court to resolve heritage and land issues. I think that much of this could have been summarised to keep my mind from straying. There are only so many Williams and Agnes's that I can read about before I lose all care for how much land each one is inheriting, or not as the case may be.

Having said all of this, although I knew what was coming, I still found myself glued to the pages. This is a really clever way of making history a pleasure to read. I won't read it again, but I am glad that I picked it up.

Theme: 5/5
Historical metafiction (or 'historic faction' as my manager likes to call it), is definitely the best way to tumble back a couple of hundred years.

Plot: 5/5
You can't really argue with someone explaining away one of the biggest events in world history.

Characters: 1/5
I wanted the characters to be a lot more in depth. I wanted to know what they wore, what their houses were really like, and how actual day to day living changed due to the plague. And I know that a lot of forenames were repeated in the 1300s, but there were too many Williams and Agnes's and Johns to keep track of.

Setting: 3/5 
A busy little village - not much to say positively or negatively here.

Style: 3/5
Kept me reading and was very interesting, but could have been more in depth and a little less religiously focussed.

Overall: 6.8/10

Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway

"Robert Cohn was once middleweight
boxing champion of Princeton."

Rated 5.2/10  (not bad)

Paris in the twenties: Pernod, parties and expatriate Americans, loose-living on money from home. Jake is wildly in love with Brett Ashley, aristocratic and irresistibly beautiful, but with an abandoned, sensuous nature that she cannot change.

My Thoughts: I appreciate Hemingway's style but I'm not sure that I really understood this book. I thought that Robert Cohn was treated really quite badly; I didn't like Brett one bit; and Mike was a bit of a monster too. It read, to me, like a lot of pretentious Americans without any compassion. Nothing much happened. Nothing much was said. And I didn't see the relationship between Brett and Jake at all. I think maybe I missed something here.

I've read a lot of reviews that suggest something different might come of this novel from a second reading - maybe even a third. I struggled through this and only just made it to the end (and I did find myself skipping a few pages after the fiesta too). I won't be reading it again to find out if they are right.

That said, I did like the atmosphere of the fiesta. I couldn't quite pinpoint as to why, but I found myself drawn into the book at that point; I think possibly Hemingway's stark writing style with no real description left my imagination to fill in the gaps. It was really quite wonderful, but there just wasn't enough of this atmosphere throughout to keep me interested. It took far too long to kick off.

I loved A Moveable Feast, but this one didn't really do it for me.

Theme: 3/5
I liked the idea of the fiesta and everything building up to a climax in Spain.

Plot: 1/5
The relationships and character's feelings were perhaps too subtle for me, and I didn't click on to the romance that was supposedly lacing the book.

Characters: 1/5 
I didn't like them. I didn't connect to any of them.

Setting: 4/5
Some brilliant settings. All the littlest details weren't filled in, which let me colour in the gaps.

Style: 4/5
I still like Hemingway's style and think that he is one of the great classic American authors.

Overall: 5.2/10

Perfume: Patrick Suskind

"In eighteenth-century France
there lived a man who was one
of the most gifted and abominable
personages in an era that knew
no lack of gifted and abominable
personages."

Rated 8.4/10  (brilliant)

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, the protagonist of Patrick Suskind’s début novel is arguably one of the most extraordinary characters in contemporary fiction. This extraordinariness, which lies in his unprecedented and enviable power of smell, is an evident manifestation of the author’s creative genius and is responsible for the immense readability of this novel. 

My Thoughts: Wow! Well, I'd heard that this was a brilliant read by quite a few people and it sounded gruesome and horrific; something that would interest me, so I picked it up. 

In short, this is one of the strangest books I've ever read.

It's actually written really well, and I love that it kept me hooked right to the end simply because the concept was inspiring - the settings were vivid, and the characters were horrible! I loved that Suskind opens us up to the idea of scent and how important and under-rated it is to us. There wasn't as much action in it as I expected to come across, but it was interesting all the same. It captured settings through scent in a way that I've never found myself thinking about before. 

I love the power that Grenouille possesses and I love the way that Suskind writes him. I sympathised with Grenouille despite everything, and yet I couldn't like him in any way. He's a cold character but we know the reasoning behind it and we accept it. He has no endearing qualities for the reader to grasp, and he has no endearing qualities for other characters to grasp either. Brilliant!

We are also on a journey with a murderer, and there are very few authors that can write successfully on that basis. The fact that it is set in the 1700's is a huge bonus, as I love stepping back in time and surrounding myself with a way of life that differs so much to my own. I felt the urge to visit Baldini's store in particular. 

The ending of this book is completely bizarre and was probably the element that threw me off a little bit, and also the fact that it offered less action than I expected. I wanted this to be full on gore and horror - but it wasn't and it did drag in places. However, it was dark and gritty and beautifully written.

Theme: 5/5
I loved the concept of this novel and the originality of it.

Plot: 3/5
I needed more action and felt that the ending wasn't quite fitting.

Characters: 4/5
The characters were brilliantly written - especially Grenouille.

Setting: 5/5
A perfect setting.

Style: 4/5
I loved Suskind's style.

Overall: 8.4/10

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

"In my younger and more
vulnerable years my father
gave me some advice that I've
been turning over in my
mind ever since."

Rated 9.2/10  (brilliant)

After the war, the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire pursues wealth, riches and the lady he lost to another man with stoic determination. When Gatsby finally does reunite with Daisy Buchanan, tragic events are set in motion. Told through the eyes of his detached and omnipresent neighbour and friend, Nick Carraway, Fitzgerald's succinct and powerful prose hints at the destruction and tragedy that awaits.

My thoughts: Fitzgerald absorbed me in this book from the onset with his stunning use of language and description. I found that the settings and characters came to true life inside my head, and as the action subtly whipped up from the pages, I couldn't put it down. It's one of those classic books that looks like it is going to be hard to read; to be all about the language and the style of prose - but The Great Gatsby had a lot more to it than that. It can be enjoyed (or not) on many different levels. As I purely and simply take pleasure from my reading books these days (and don't do the analytical reading of my college years), I am reviewing this based solely on my enjoyment of it - and I'm not going to dive into other aspects of the text. 

It's like a 20s soap opera from start to centre, and then a tragic film towards the conclusion. Very easy to read and very quick. I loved Gatsby as a character along with all of his flaws, and the style in which Fitzgerald writes (through Nick Carraway's eyes) means that we can really get a rounded view of him and the other characters.  The finale of the book is hard-hitting and involving, although I had twigged what was going to happen before it actually did. 

I understand that a lot of people have suggested that the characters are not realistic - that their actions and dialogue are over-bearing - however, I like the exaggeration of Daisy's hysteria, of Gatsby's  romantic obsession and Tom's perceived authority and deception. I like that Nick Carraway seems like a very normal person in comparison to the rest - in a sense, that he can be trusted to narrate the story to us; but is he really telling it as it is, or does he have rose-tinted specs on too? Is he manipulating the way that he describes the whole tale to us? It actually comes across as being very clever to me. 

One thing that did irritate me (every rose has thorns), was the over-use of metaphoric language near the beginning of the book. It overwhelmed me for quite a few pages, and although it was very good, there is such a saying as "too much of a good thing".

I was very much surprised by this book. I didn't expect to find myself absorbed by it. 

Theme: 4/5 

Exaggerated post-war characters that love to spend a bit of money, have a good time and enjoy a bit of scandal. Can't be bad.

Plot: 4/5

My only concern was that I had predicted the ending. It didn't ruin the effect of it for me though.

Characters: 5/5

The characters, for me, where perfect for their roles, particularly Nick as a narrator.

Setting: 5/5

Mansions, motorcars, pools and parties set in the 20's. Perfect.

Style: 5/5

Despite the overload of metaphorical language near the beginning, I loved it.

Overall: 9.2/10

Recommendation: I think that if you haven't already read it, then you should. It's that 'Great American Novel' that causes controversy. To be enjoyed, or not - even if it is simply to form your own opinion of it. 

Echo Burning - Lee Child

"There were three watchers,
two men and a boy."

Rated 5.2/10 (average)

Jack finds himself suffering the intense heat of a Texas summer, and (leaving behind a messy situation) hardly worries about the dangers of who will pick him up when he hitches a ride. But it's a beautiful young rich girl driving a Cadillac who gives Jack a lift.

My Thoughts: I know what to expect when I pick up a Reacher novel - action, girls and plenty of cheese. The previous four books in this series that I read had everything going for them, but 'Echo Burning' didn't really hit the mark with anything in the way that I expected it to.

The first few scenes in the book were great. Plenty of action and it set the story up well - but after this everything went downhill. Reacher believes a complete stranger based entirely on his gut instinct and then most of what she says turns out to be lies. But he still believes her, and still based on his gut instinct. I think that this discredited his character a little bit and I would never have put him down as a man that falls for silly tricks and lies.

This plot seems to be scrambling and clutching at straws. It doesn't read comfortably and it doesn't run smoothly. Some of it seems a little vague, other parts felt as if Lee Child just couldn't dig his characters out without making new things up and throwing more random information into the mix. Jack Reacher doesn't tell his comrade any of the information that he has figured out at all towards the end, and the one single reason for this is to keep us, the reader, guessing. It just doesn't read well at all. She would need to know!

All told, I did keep reading and I did get hooked. I think this was mainly because Jack Reacher is such a stunning character and I can't get enough of him. It is disappointing that Reacher's personna was nearly destroyed in this one and I hope that 'Without Fail' picks it up a bit.

Theme: 2/5
A little bit lacking in this one, mainly because it seemed so forced.

Plot: 2/5
Again, not as fresh and exciting as some of Reacher's previous adventures, but it did keep the pages turning.

Characters: 3/5
Jack Reacher is awesome. But his character was a bit questionable in this one, and most of the other characters weren't memorable, even the antagonists!

Setting: 4/5
The setting did the job, and of course, the rain starts pouring at just the right moment.

Style: 2/5
It just didn't cut it for me this time. Where's the bloody action? Where's the big cheesy action hero banging heads together to get results? Why's he turned so gullible all of a sudden?

Overall: 5.2/10

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to any established fan of Jack Reacher. Definitely don't pick this one up if it's your first meeting with him though!

Click here to grab this at Waterstones.com ... 

Twitchhiker - Paul Smith

"It was quiet and still, the
very dead of night when the
dead themselves might consider
turning in, and I had no business
being awake."

Date Finished: 12th July 2012

There were five rules of Twitchhiker. I can only accept offers of travel and accommodation from people on Twitter. I can't make any travel plans further than three days in advance. I can only spend money on food, drink and anything that might fit in my suitcase. If there is more than one offer, I choose which I take. If there is only one, I have to take it within 48 hours. If I am unable to find a way to move on from a location within 48 hours, the challenge is over and I go home. 

My Thoughts: First impressions of this book were good - it seemed to have the dry wit and humour that the likes of 'Yes Man' entertained me with, and I was really looking forward to getting stuck in. It seems like a fascinating idea, to travel the world with nothing but the good-will of others to help you on your way.

And so you would expect really interesting cultural observations, crazy characters and heart-warming, funny tales. And you get very little of any of this. Paul Smith tells us mainly about him being drunk; waking up with hangover after hangover; complaining about being tired and far from home; crying a lot; and throwing up a lot.

I could forgive the drunkenness if there were some bizarre escapades and hilarious events that happened during these episodes. I could forgive the endless descriptions of hangovers if he didn't tell us that he sat around on his computer for the rest of the day. And of course he's tired and missing home - we don't need to be told this over and over. Too much vomit and too many tears.

The locations he visited during the course of his travelling must have been amazing, and they would have been brilliant to read about. But Paul doesn't really get chance to explore until the very end. This might not have been his fault, but as a reader I want to be captivated by the locations and entertained by amazing sights and the awesome things that happen. Even just a bit of down to Earth reflection on his deeper thoughts would have sufficed.

As for the other people in the book, Paul doesn't really do them much justice. A brief (and usually quite shallow) physical description and an outline of their personalities - and they are each just another sentence on another piece of paper. Don't get me wrong, he might be a lovely fellow when he isn't being moody and tired, but I really don't like Paul as a person in this book.

In short, although this Twitchhiking business might have been an amazing adventure for Paul and the others involved, and the journey did raise a lot of money for charity (good for him!), as an entertaining read it failed. I'm not quite sure whether the critics on the book cover were reading the same book as me to be honest.

Recommendation: I would be quite reluctant to recommend this to anyone really. Perhaps somebody who is an avid reader of travel literature might be good to give this a go. Or anybody fascinated with Twitter and its social implications. It's not a terrible read after all, just not a particularly good one. 

I RATED THIS 4/10

Click here to grab this at Waterstones.com

Ring of Fire - Rick Broadbent

"It is the unusual that makes
sport such and addictive drug"

Date Finished: 20th June 2012

Ring of Fire is an insider’s account of the acclaim, heroism and pressures of being a MotoGP racer. It is a high-octane revelation of the feuds, danger, politics and adrenaline inside MotoGP World Motorcycling Championship.

My Thoughts: I adored this book. It is really well written - Broadbent is a master of weaving the spectrum of events together with all of the drama and focus that the sport deserves. He captures every moment as if there were a camera set up right there. He gives me access to the side of the riders that I don't see on track and it makes me love them more.

Ring of Fire entertained me to no end and I'm so pleased that he has a new book out about the TT. It appeared instantly on my 'to-read' list and I'm really looking forward to it.

A magic little book that I would recommend to any casual or avid motorsport fan.

I RATED IT 10/10

The Hunt - Andrew Fukuda

"There used to be
more of us."

Date Finished: 9th May 2012

Against all odds, 17-year-old Gene has survived in a world where humans have been eaten to near extinction by the general population. The only remaining humans, or hepers as they are known, are housed in domes on the savannah and studied at the nearby Heper Institute. Every decade there is a government sponsored hunt. When Gene is selected to be one of the combatants he must learn the art of the hunt but also elude his fellow competitors whose suspicions about his true nature are growing.

My Thoughts: A lightly entertaining read, a vampire novel with a twist. The set up to this story was intriguing - humans living in danger every day amongst vampires; and now the vampires want to play a game!!!

I found the book to be mostly predictable, and it had so many convenient coincidences laced into it that I was distracted and couldn't completely enjoy it. The book is definitely plot driven as the characters seemed quite flat, and I didn't really feel for any of them.

Having said all of this, as a quick teen read it's not at all bad. With this being plot driven, I found the book to have pretty much non-stop action and so the pages turned quickly. I did have to read this through to the end, and although the conclusion wasn't great I understand that there will be more.

I RATED IT 5/10

The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster

Date Read: March + April 2012

Paul Auster's signature work, The New York Trilogy, consists of three interlocking novels: City of Glass, Ghosts, and The Locked Room—, haunting and mysterious tales that move at the breathless pace of a thriller.

My Thoughts: I couldn't finish this book as it wasn't entertaining me in the slightest. I loved the concept of it and parts of the book were interesting, but I just couldn't concentrate on it long enough to be fully immersed into it. I reluctantly put it down.

RATED 3/10

The Virgin Cure - Ami McKay

Date Finished: 23rd April 2012

The summer Moth turns twelve, her mother puts a halt to her explorations by selling her boots to a local vendor, convinced that Moth was planning to run away. Wanting to make the most of her every asset, she also sells Moth to a wealthy woman as a servant, with no intention of ever seeing her again.

My Thoughts: Read as uncorrected proof. This was a fairly quick easy to read historic novel with a dark and dangerous plotline and some pretty good characters. I enjoyed reading it, it satisfied the (well-hidden) typical girl in me and I loved the little descriptions of stunning dresses, jewellery and luxurious houses. I found it very visually appealing.

The book builds up to a really quite shocking scene towards the end, and because I felt for the characters, it disturbed me a bit. A sign that this book had me hooked!

I RATED IT 8/10

The Killables - Gemma Malley

Date Finished: 2nd April 2012

Everyone accepted that people were different physically. But inside? Inside, they were different too. You just had to know how to tell, what to look for. Evil has been eradicated. The City has been established. And citizens may only enter after having the 'evil' part of their brain removed. They are labelled on the System according to how 'good' they are. If they show signs of the evil emerging, they are labelled a K ...But no one knows quite what that means. Only that they disappear, never to be seen again ...

My Thoughts: One of our fantastic reps from Hodder Publishing gave me this as a reading copy and it looked instantly like something I would love. I got into it straight away and found it really quick and easy to read. The characters (although I couldn't really connect to any of them, especially Evie) were all very different and the brothers Raffy and Lucas were particularly interesting.

The one thing that really stuck out to me as being a little irritating was the fact that everyone's eyes flash with emotions that can't quite be read by anybody else. Also, a few times the with-holding of information gets me in a tizz just as much as it did to Evie (perhaps that's the sign of great suspense).

All in all it's a really good read for young adults that I know will go down well.

I RATED IT 6/10

Wither - Lauren DeStefano

Date Finished: 25th March 2012

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males born with a lifespan of 25 years, and females a lifespan of 20 years--leaving the world in a state of panic. Geneticists seek a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have sky-rocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. When Rhine is sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape.

My Thoughts: I was actually pretty surprised by this book. Admittedly, it's a very fluffy teen read for adolescent girls - but underneath all the tragedy was a bit of charm. The characters were pretty well rounded in the sense that they were all very different to one another, and although it had quite a predictable ending, it was all vaguely charming. Beautiful girls, pretty dresses and fantasy mansions... Everything a 14 year old young lady will find captivating!

Having said that, I found the POV quite distracting sometimes, and a little awkward. The book itself was not challenging to read in the slightest, and lacked a bit of depth that I think it really needed to make it great.

A shallow, easy read that's pretty and fluffy and tragic and charming...

I RATED IT 6/10

Trafficked - Sophie Hayes

Date Finished: 9th March 2012

When Sophie Hayes met Bledi she knew he'd change her life – but she had no idea how much. At first, it was a typical whirlwind romance. But one day Bledi told her that love always comes at a price ...

My Thoughts: I very rarely pick up a 'Painful Lives' book, but there wasn't much choice in the train station and so I ended up running this one through the self-serve check out before jumping on the train.

I couldn't put it down.

The events that she speaks of are horrific, but Sophie glosses over the really gritty detail and as a result, it's a book that more readers can pick up and learn from. A really addictive read that is easy to blitz your way through. Sophie Hayes' story is a tragic one, but it hammers home an immensely important message, and it's one that we can all learn from.

I RATED IT 6/10

Lion of the Sun - Harry Sidebottom

Date Finished: 3rd March 2012

In Mesopotamia, AD 260, Ballista faces yet another enemy, the man the Syrians call The Lion of the Sun, in this third novel in the 'Warrior of Rome' series. Betrayed by his most trusted adviser, Roman Emperor Valerian has been captured by the Sassanid barbarians. The shame of the vanquished beats down mercilessly like the desert sun as the frail old emperor prostrates himself before Sharpur, king of kings. Ballista looks on helplessly but vows under his breath to avenge those who have brought the empire to the brink of destruction with their treachery.

My Thoughts: This is the third book in the Warrior of Rome series - a set of books that I adore. Ballista and his entourage are fantastic characters and I had very high expectations of this upon finishing the first two reads.

I was a little disappointed that Ballista's entourage don't feature in this as much as the last two. It wasn't quite full of the comradary and warmth that is conjured up through the relationships between Ballista and his bodyguard Maximus, his secretary Demetrius and his minder Calgacus.

On top of this, I found the plot line a lot more difficult to follow. It was more focussed on politics and less on action.

Having said this - the ending of Lion of the Sun is fantastic and well worth the struggle to get to it. I didn't really get pulled into the build up but it really was good. I've had customers pick this book up before the first two and then coming back and asking me for Fire in the East. Those who know a lot about Ancient Rome will absolutely adore it and will probably find that it flows a little more easily for them.

One other point to note is that Ballista's wife Julia is a brilliant character and she really does flourish in Lion of the Sun. She is strong, calm and level headed, and can really hold her own. I would love to read a Kate Quinn-esque novel revolving around Julia and the children. It would be ace.

All in all, a good read, but overshadowed by its predecessors.
I RATED THIS 6/10

Pepe - Pepe Reina

Date Finished: 13th February 2012

My Thoughts: Pepe gives us an insight into his career in Spain and Liverpool. He speaks very glowingly of the fans and the club, and gives you a real sense of the pride he takes in keeping for LFC.

I love Pepe, absolutely adore him, and I treasure my signed copy of this book very much.

That's why I'm sorry that I'm going to have to pick a few negatives about this one. Pepe repeats himself quite often, he also rambles on a bit in places when really he could get to the point a lot quicker and more precise.

But, of course, this is an autobiography, and perfect literary techniques are not expected.

Although he does pick out the odd moment that's quite entertaining with regards to his antics off the pitch - I can't help but feel that there must be a lot more to Pepe's life than he reveals here. Fair dos to the guy, he wants to keep his home life under wraps; but it's so under wraps that it's less an autobiography and more an account of Liverpool's successes and failings as a club.

Pepe is brilliant: He will always be an entertainer and he will always make me smile. But this one has been written more with fans of the club in mind and less with fans of himself in mind. Not a bad read, but nothing spectacular.

I RATED IT 6/10

Barry - Steve Parrish & Nick Harris

Date Finished: 1st February 2012

My Thoughts: Barry Sheene - an absolute legend. This book actually made him come across as a bit of a nightmare, but I loved some of the antics he got up to. I still get the feeling that a lot more was left uncovered, but it was well written, fun to read and left me with a real picture of Sheene and his family.

A fitting tribute to a man with a massive character. Brilliantly written.

I RATED THIS 8/10

Marley & Me - John Grogan

Date Finished: 17th January 2012

The heartwarming and unforgettable story of a family in the making and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life.

My Thoughts: Someone recommended this book to me and gave me their copy to read so I felt obliged, specially as I'd already seen the film and figured the book would probably be better. Oh how wrong I was.

John Grogan comes across as arrogant and abrupt in this book and I didn't find him particularly likeable. It seems that he was a pretty bad dog owner too. He found an amount of amusement in strangling Marley on a choker-chain as one example, never had time for the dog as both he and his wife worked all day, left him in a metal cage completely terrified when thunderstorms passed over, bundled him onto an airplane in a crate that was too small for him, went on holiday whilst the dog was in medical care on his last legs... and none of this is anything to rave about. I don't quite understand how anyone could find this kind of behaviour endearing.

By the same token, Marley actually didn't come across very well either and I didn't get a warm feeling for this dog as much as I expected to. I love dogs, but I thought that there would be something amazing about him that would make a brilliant read. Marley just seemed hungry, destructive, scared and boisterous with no particularly admirable or special qualities at all.

In short; a normal dog in a normal house being looked after by normal people. Not the kind of stuff great biographies are made of. Quite disappointing.

I'd recommend leaving the book to gather dust.

I RATED THIS 2/10

If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor

Date Finished: 30th December 2011

Risky in conception, hip and yet soulful, this is a prose poem of a novel -- intense, lyrical, and highly evocative -- with a mystery at its center, which keeps the reader in suspense until the final page. In a tour de force that could be described as Altmanesque, we are invited into the private lives of the residents of a quiet urban street in England over the course of a single day.

My Thoughts: A really deep and involving read that perhaps goes too far with the wistful description and longing atmosphere. I can't really describe it but I shall give it a go: This book laid heavily on me until I had finished the last page. I needed to finish it, which can only be a good thing.

Some of the small characteristics that McGregor paints into the novel are raw and remarkable. 

I RATED IT 7/10

Killer in the Rain - Raymond Chandler

Date Read: December 2011

From the master of American detective novels comes this riveting short story collection. In his early works, Chandler laid the groundwork for his signature character, the legendary Philip Marlowe. The hero of such novels as the Big Sleep, and Farewell, My Lovely takes center stage in the gripping stories in this series.

My Thoughts: I guess this one didn't quite hit the spot for me because it's not quite as suspenseful and thrilling as the crime reads that I am used to. I also have never really picked up a short story before but I expected it to be snappy and twisted. It wasn't.

The book passed some time on the Ormskirk train however, and was interesting enough to keep me going. The language is brilliant, the content, not so much.
I RATED IT 4/10

Flu - Wayne Simmons

Date Finished: 3rd December 2011

There's a nasty flu going round. An epidemic, they call it. The posters say to cover your mouth when you sneeze, and throw away the tissue.

But such simple measures won't help.

Because when you catch this flu, armed police come and lock you in your house to die alone.

When you catch this flu, it kills you in days.

And two hours after it's killed you, your eyelids snap open again...

My Thoughts: I really did like this. It kept me on edge in the way that a good horror film would, and was well written - enough blood and suspense to keep me happy. The pages turned quickly and I was gutted when I misplaced the book for a few days right in the middle of reading!

The story is less about the flu virus (you don't get to find out any of the scientific details surrounding how it started) and more about survival - which was a major plus for me as I love survival tales.

There seemed to be a few things brushed over, and the odd bit that felt misplaced; but nothing that put me off reading at all.

I did have one major hang up with it. The female characters in this novel seemed so cliche. Neither of them initially knew how to work a gun (on the other hand, every male character instinctfully picks up a weapon and is a brilliant shot). They fall flat (and often fall over at the most inappropriate of times) and rely on the men to look out for them or to teach them how to look out for themselves.

I'm not usually one to go off on a rant about people portraying the stereotypical woman, as normally I wouldn't even notice. But this one had me a bit irritated because it was so blindingly obvious, otherwise it would have definitely been very high on my list of favourite apocalyptic thrillers.

All in all a great read! Just ignore the fact that the ladies are a bit of a nightmare situation.

I RATED IT 6/10