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| A few of my books |
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| A few more of my books |
I wouldn't begin to dream of writing a review of every book I read - no one would be interested and, to be honest, the rate I get through paperbacks, I absolutely could not be bothered. But every now and then, one particular book stands out. It could be a fictional novel of some kind that has had me utterly spell bound, or a reference book that has really properly done it's job, and it's these ones that I feel deserve the bother of being talked and written about. So that it what you will find here: a slowly growing collection of reviews of the books that have 'done it' for me, plus links to allow you to nip straight though and order them for yourself if my words have sold them to you.
It's all my own personal thoughts mind - you have been warned!
Index
Jump to Fiction
Jump to Reference: Hyper Mobility Syndrome
Fiction
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
(Review Date 1st October 2012)
"In 1886, a mysterious travelling circus becomes an international sensation. Open only at night, constructed entirely in black and white, Le Cirque des Rêves delights all who wander its circular paths and warm themselves at its bonfire."
I'm an avid reader of what's classed these days as 'popular fiction', which means I can be found reading all sorts of everything, much of which is enjoyable, but nothing particular to rave about. The Night Circus is different.
From the very first word I was entranced. Set in Victorian cities all over the world, the distinctive present tense writing style draws you into the weird and wonderful world of the circus and its creators totally and completely, with it never occurring to you even once to question what you are reading or to unsuspend your disbelief.
Like so many other bookworms, for me the mark of a truly good book is that you cannot turn the pages fast enough while never wanting it to end. This is one of those. There are a host of leading characters, all full of life and colour in a uniquely black and white world. As the book ends leaving you begging for more, you feel a loss at saying goodbye to the friends you have made in its pages, the wonderful twist of time at the very end drawing a deeply felt smile as you catch yourself wondering how you go about finding the circus, as it must surely exist out there somewhere in the 'real' world.
There is something in this book for every reading taste; adventure, intrigue, romance, magic, comedy, confusion, mystery, history, glamour, deceit, morality, fantasy and fairytale. If you loved Harry Potter, this book is for you, though nothing like it in any way. If you enjoy stepping back in time and immersing yourself in the worlds of times gone by, read this. If you simply just want to read something that is like nothing else you will ever read, The Night Circus is an absolute must. But don't take my word for it - click on the picture of the book above, read the other endless rave reviews, then download or order it and find out for yourself.... everyone should visit The Night Circus at least once in their lives and know what it is to be truly enchanted.
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs(Review Date 26th January 2013)
I think I might have been a bit slow on the uptake with this one, as it's obviously been quietly making a fuss of itself for a while, but if you've not come across it yet, go find it.
This has to be - in the nicest possible way - one of the oddest books I have ever read. The story itself is not particularly remarkable on its own; a nice bit of 'alternative' genre writing, a little love story written in and around a supernatural twist that intrigues the imagination as it attempts to offer yet another explanation for the oddities that we have all come across in life that don't quite fit into any of our standardised boxes. If the book contained just the story, I wouldn't be bothering to write this review at all, so what has made an agreeable but not desperately special story stand out?
This book, the totally fictional story, is inspired and constructed entirely around genuine vintage photographs the author has found, some of which are of the strangest things you've ever seen. The pictures, all black and white and I'd guess taken any time between the late 1900s up to the 1940s, are of that breed that show quite frankly freakish images of odd looking children, images that slightly make you shudder yet compel you to look harder and longer. The image on the front cover of 'the levitating girl' is a prime example. The girl's face is old before its time, not fitting with her pretty hair and outfit, and she is clearly floating above the ground, the image taken at a time when photographic trickery was far from what it is today and was usually very easy to identify. Yet there are no obvious signs in this picture that it has been manipulated. There are many more like it within the book, and, when woven together with the story Riggs has created around them, they make an otherwise fanciful story seem disturbingly plausible. Likewise, the narrative makes you look at the photographs, the majority of which you know in the back of your mind have to have been faked in some way or another, and start question whether or not they might actually be genuine images of genuinely odd things.
The two strands of this book, the story and the photographs, would be nothing on their own. You'd simply have an interesting story idea and a pile of slightly disturbing curled up photos. But together, they create something that is very very clever and makes compulsive reading, as you will find yourself racing through the text in desperation to get to the next image and the explanation of both it and its inclusion in the story. It will challenge you and confuse you, and, thanks to an open ending, will leave you very much wanting more. That's the mark of a good book in anybody's.... book.
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness(Review Date 16th February 2013)
I bought this book from the cheap paperback section in a supermarket simply because it looked interesting - the title caught my eye, the blurb on the back was intriguing and it sounded as if it would be 'my kind of thing'. Having read it (in just under 5 evenings and it's not a small book) I have to say it was one of the best book punts I have ever undertaken.
If you like stories about witches, vampires and magical things in general, you need to read this book. If you like intriguing and complex romances, you need to read this book. If you like novels based on historical fact and academia, you need to read this book. And if you like a novel that is just so superbly written it's absolutely all you can do to remember to blink while you're reading it, you need to read this book. If just one of those describes your reading tastes, take a chance and give this one a go - I promise you won't be disappointed.
The novel begins within the dreamy spires of Oxford at the Bodleian, where the lead character, visiting from the States, is undertaking research, and if I remember rightly, sets an initial slow burn as the story begins to unfurl. The genius of this novel as that you don't really appreciate what the story is actually about until you are irreversibly hooked. Its magical elements are woven in so softly and so smoothly that, even as the story becomes more and more far fetched, you never once think to question it. The characters are created with such a depth that you are completely in love with all of them as you reach the cliffhanger ending, and you experience a genuine feeling of loss as the last page turns. And if you had the misfortune to read it months before book 2 became available, you quickly find yourself counting the months, weeks, days and minutes until the next bit gets released as I did. I shall therefore have to think very carefully before starting Shadow Of Night, as I'm not sure I can wait 2 years for the next installment.
The author, Deborah Harkness, is first and foremost an Historian, her specialist area being John Dee and his studies of what were termed as 'the dark arts' during Queen Elizabeth I's reign. She calls upon this in depth knowledge as a basis for the astonishing story begun in this novel, weaving it through the fictional side with such skill, the two become indistinguishable from each other. Suspending disbelief doesn't come into it with this book - you'll come away from it looking at the world you live and wonder where all the 'creatures' are, as the everyday, totally recognisable world depicted in the novel - different from the one we think we live in only by the existence of the creatures - is so vivid, so real and so acceptable that the writer must surely have witnessed it all firsthand. If you only read one book about magic in your life, make it this one - you won't regret it.
Netherwood and Ravenscliffe, both by Jane Sanderson(Review date 25th February 2013)
I bought and read Netherwood some time ago, entirely because there was a sticker on the front of it that said "Perfect for fans of Downton Abbey". Taking that recommendation as an instruction, I did as I was bid and wasn't disappointed. Set in turn of the 20th century Yorkshire, the story is centred around Eve Williams, a miner's wife who makes amazing pies, and it follows her through the twists and turns of life, some of them very unexpected. Her story collects and introduces other characters along the way, some of whom get their own stories spun around them as we go, including the titled family up at the 'big house', Netherwood Hall. In the second book, Ravenscliffe, we pick up exactly where Netherwood finished, still following the assorted characters we met before, this time travelling with them as circumstance, situation and the world, changes around them.There is nothing especially remarkable about the stories, other than that they are charming and friendly and immensely welcoming, but what makes these two books stand out for me is that they have both been utterly addictive reading. There are some books that grip you so hard you end up skim reading them in desperation to find out what happens next, there are some that burn slowly and can't be read at bedtime as they need more concentration than you can give at the end of the day, and there are some that are just so expertly written and delightfully enchanting in the simplest of ways, you find yourself reading into the small hours of the morning without even noticing. Both of these books fall into the latter category.
There is not much else I can say about them without giving the stories away, other than to say that in my view, these two books are classics of the future. All bookworms have a few favourite tomes, a couple of dog eared editions that have come out time and again to be enjoyed when nothing else quite fits the bill. Most of us will also have a few favoured ones that were utterly brilliant but that cannot be read without a gap of several years after the last time so that we can't quite remember what happens. And every now and then, you come across one that, on finishing, you could simply go straight back to the start and read all over again... and again, and again. These two, for me, are those. So if you want a gentle read, no thrills, no magic, no murder or suspense, just simple, uncomplicated happy story telling, these are an absolute must... just make sure you read them in order, as, although Ravenscliffe does work perfectly well as a stand alone book, there is much you would miss out on if you haven't first read Netherwood.
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Reference: Hyper Mobility Syndrome
(Review Date 18th November 2012)
I'd not bothered getting any books about HMS (Hyper-mobility Syndrome) before, despite having been diagnosed as having HMS 7 years ago, and coming to understand I was born with it and it is the underlying cause of many childhood problems. I didn't even bother doing any further research when it became very obvious that both my children have inherited the condition. The reason for this is simple. I believed, based on the information I had been given by some very high up Consultants, that I knew all I needed to know, which was basically that HMS is a hereditary, incurable condition that presents itself in a rather random fashion and sufferers just have to learn to manage it by whatever methods seem to work for them.
How wrong I was.
Just pages into this book, written by an HMS sufferer who herself has been through the mill somewhat, I discovered both to my horror and delight that the underlying cause of HMS - faulty collagens caused by an as yet unidentified faulty gene - is also the cause of a multitude of other seemingly unrelated complaints, all of which are commonly suffered by HMS patients and are therefore actually part of the condition, and not separate problems. This for me was a mind blowing discovery.
The writer's use of snippets of case histories from HMS patients of all ages is very effective in illustrating the many and varied ways sufferers experience this complex condition, although some of the quotes used are taken directly from website forums (with the original writer's permission) verbatim and have not been corrected for typing and grammar errors which makes the reading and understanding of some of them very hard. Likewise, there were a number of basic copy editing mistakes which made some main text phrases nonsensical, but not enough to detract from the enlightening and very honest account of the author's struggle over many years with this condition.
I was alerted to the existence of this book by its inclusion in the monthly Osteopath magazine, received by all current members of GOsC (General Osteopathic Council), which is, if I'm honest, what made me decide to buy it, so I was very interested to note that Osteopathy is not mentioned at all in the book as an effective and established treatment for HMS sufferers. In fact, I think the work Osteopathy appeared just once in the book as part of a passing comment. While the author was very careful to stress she was reporting treatment success and failures from her own personal experience, and that her commentary is not meant to be prescriptive in any way, I was surprised to see the very heavy favour given to the use of physiotherapy, a course of action I know many HMS patients - myself included - have found to be very far from helpful.
That said, this book is a must for all HMS patients, and for the immediate families of these patients, as it does a brilliant job of explaining what life is like for those of us who fall foul of being 'over bendy', as well as reminding those of us in pain that there are others out there, many of whom are probably worse off than ourselves. I'd also encourage anyone who knows someone seriously affected by HMS to read this book, as it will give you a remarkable understanding of what it is like living with this condition, and help to increase understanding of what in the majority of patients is an invisible yet crippling condition.
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