Centered around the boomtime of the 80s, this novel explores how a seemingly perfect existence, where a person wants for nothing, and can seem to do nothing wrong, can be brought down around their heads by a freak occurrence. And perhaps the same still applies today, if you play a game of “risk”, be prepared to lose everything!

I thought Tom Wolfe’s descriptions were brilliant.

A rear door opened, and a Greek wearing a white uniform came staggering in carrying a prodigious tray full of coffee and soda containers, boxes of doughnuts, cheese Danishes, onion rolls, crullers, every variety of muck and lard known to the takeout food business, and half the room deserted the computer consoles and descended upon him, rooting about the tray like starving weevils.

This attention to detail with description is present throughout the novel, and makes the reader feel as if they are present. A huge book to read, but well worth it.

At long last I got around to reading this book, I do tend to buy several books at once, and work my way through them.

Because of all the hype around it I expected it to be a difficult book to read, I have found several critically acclaimed books to be like wading through treacle.

This one however, was a great book to read, I really couldn’t “put it down”, in fact I have sat and finished the remaining 100 and odd pages today, I just had to know what happened. I love the circular feel of the book, and the fact that events in Daniel’s life echo those of Julian Carax, but in this case…more a true echo, where it is never exactly the same as the first noise, the echo is always softer, not as harsh.

I loved this book, and if anyone else is wondering whether to read or not, and is put off by the hype, don’t be, it is as good if not better than the advertising and reviews claim.

It is a sort of Beauty and the beast type story, but it is told through the eyes of several of the characters. It is a young adult book, and the “North Child” herself, Rose, is a very strong minded courageous character. I feel if someone told her she couldn’t do something, she’d find a way to do it, just because of her strong determination.

I enjoyed this as a bit of light relief from some of the books I’ve been reading lately. I think everyone should relax with a good adventure story every now and again.

I enjoy her writing, even though it is challenging to the reader. Until I was well into this book, I had completely forgotten that I had read Hotel World. The Accidental, like Hotel World, is all told by internal dialogue of the characters involved. However, it is not as difficult to read as Virginia Woolf’s, To The Lighthouse.

Not an easy read, but an entertaining one, and not being in the best of health right now, it was also a quick read.

To learn more about the novel click here

It revolves around a family of four who are all at critical points in their lives, the stranger, Amber, enters their lives and changes each family members life. The reader is still no wiser at the end of the novel as at the start, exactly who Amber is, where she is going, where she’s been, but she acts as a catalyst.

So I put off reading it for a while. I have almost finished reading it now, and am enjoying it, mind you, I have read and studied some of the people mentioned in the novel, which makes it more accessible. I have also read quite a few books focused on the Great War. So to me the fact the A level students find it tough going is not detracting from Pat Barker’s writing, but the fact that these days pupils rarely pick an adult book until,they start their GCSEs, and then they HAVE to study set authors, which closes their minds. No one likes being obliged to do a thing.

Having studied contemporary writers at university I would say that Pat Barker is a good example of a contemporary author.

For a little bit more about the book click here!

Eve Green by Susan Fletcher. I enjoyed this book immensely, was a little disappointed that the mystery of Rosie’s disappearance is not answered, but found although the abduction gave the story more meaning, it didn’t have to be solved in this case.

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman. I had this on pre-order, and received it as soon as it was released. On the back of the book it says in gold lettering “This is a STORY.” Part of the myths series from Canongate. As with all of Pullman’s novels it makes the reader think about what they are reading. No doubt there will be some people offended by his version, but as is clearly stated on the back cover, it’s a story, and as a story, and part of the myth series should be taken as just that, just another take on a particular myth. I loved it, but I am a big fan of Philip Pullman’s work.

Ritual by Mo Hayder. I’d bought this, and the next at Asda on their 2 for £7 deal. It was the only one that appealed to me in any way to buy with the next book listed. However, the book is very engrossing, and one of the main characters belongs to a branch of the Police force that is often over looked, the main male character DI Jack Caffery seems to be a maverick who gets results. I will look for other books by Mo Hayder having read this one.

The Point of Rescue by Sophie Hannah. This was a definite in the deal I mentioned above. I have previously read Hurting Distance by Sophie Hannah and thoroughly enjoyed it. “Sally is watching the news with her husband when she hears a name she ought not to recognise: Mark Bretherick.” That line has the reader hooked, how does she know him, why shouldn’t she know the name, why does it worry her? You can click on the link to find out more, but believe me, if you like mysteries, and have read other books by the same author, this one is worth reading

Living on a Prayer by Sheila Quigley. I read Bad Moon Rising by the same author, enjoyed it, so picked this one. I do enjoy a good mystery, especially if it has a little menace in it, this has it. DI Lorraine Hunt is dealing with several case that all seem unconnected, but slowly and surely the links become apparent, and the net closes on a particularly nasty person. If this was a film you’d be sat on the edge of your seat. I don’t know if there are any plans to televise or make into film, but I would definitely watch either. Quigley builds the suspense expertly…and I was almost cheering the police on as the novel closed.

One is a biography, but I didn’t realise it was until I opened it. I will read it, but probably only very slowly. The other, just doesn’t grip me at all. I think I will possibly try to read it again in the future. It explores various aspects of “office life”, but it bored me, probably because I have read so many really interesting books lately.

However, I have just finished On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulks, it was a very engrossing read, and I kept finding time to read it rather than do anything else. This is the first Sebastian Faulks book I have read. I like his style of writing, after reading the books I have previously, then this, I have possibly been “spoiled” and could not enjoy the two I have mentioned briefly. I have just started to read a Sophie Hannah book, and can’t put that down, perhaps it’s where I am in myself at the moment that makes some books difficult to read.

I have read 8 books since I last blogged, and am a good two thirds through a 9th one.

I’ll just give a quick comment about each one.

Brother Grimm by Craig Russell is a very tense murder story about a serial killer. It is every bit as good as Blood Eagle, and when I looked on his author site, I noticed he has written quite a few more .

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde is a light-hearted vision of a possible future. Fforde’s vision of democracy being replaced with a Colourotcracy is full of his usual good humour, and the start of a new series of books from Fforde.

And Another Thing by Eion Colfer is the sixth part of Douglas Adams’s HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy. And before you start complaining that it can’t be…if you are a true Douglas Adams fan you will know that Eion Colfer was chosen to write And Another Thing by Douglas Adams’s widow, and he wrote it using the notes left for it by Adams himself. The book is in keeping with the rest of the “trilogy”.

The Secret Life of E. Robert Pendleton by Michael Collins had been sat on the bookshelf for a while, and the cover of my copy is quite bland. It shows part of page 34 of my copy with a lock of hair in a display box on top of it. I don’t know why, but the actual title was why it had been left unread, I really don’t know why, and I’m glad to say I ignored it as I read the book. It has short snappy chapters the keep you reading. I was pleasantly surprised when I read it, and just kicked myself for not reading it sooner.

The Firemaster’s Mistress by Christie Dickason is an exploration of the Gunpowder Plot. It involves spies, traitors, and a love story and family story, a very good read.

A Beginner’s Guide to Acting English by Shappi Khorsandi is a departure for me, as I rarely read biographies, but this has all the wit of ShappiKhorsandi’s stand up. It doesn’t seem like a biography, that’s probably why I enjoyed it so much.

Blood Canticle by Anne Rice is the last of the Vampire Chronicles, unfortunately. I thoroughly enjoyed it just as much as the others.

May contain Traces of Magic by Tom Holt has the same sort of madcap humour as in his other books. As more and more people become reliant on their SatNavs, Holt explores the possibility that that they “may contain traces of magic”. Another typical Tom Holt book that I couldn’t bear to put down.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus’s stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

* * * * * * * * * *

Although one could conceivably say that Riordan has jumped onto the J.K. Rowling bandwagon by writing fantasy aimed at the same age group as the Harry Potter books and though the books are similar in many ways, Riordan does make the books his own. Any books which get kids reading instead of playing video games or getting into trouble on the Internet are okay with me. There are some similarities between Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, but as any good writer knows, there are bound to be similarities between any books of the same genre. While the Harry Potter series focused on the magic of witchcraft and wizardry, the Percy Jackson series introduces magic of mythology. Riordan breathes new life into the classic Greek mythology and creatures, making them more interesting and will therefore make the study of mythology more interesting in school in history classes.