Dawn

Wyndham is one of my favourite authors and this little book is quite probably my favourite of his works. I also liked that this edition smelt of old books and, with its brown colour scheme and strange cover illustration, was very much of its time.
It's narrated by the father of 12 year old Matthew, quintessentially English in that Wyndham way, who discovers that the boy's imaginary friend may have something more to it. Not a huge amount happens but the characters are so well drawn, from pony obsessed Polly to the mysterious Chocky.
Humanity gets a telling off as well, which I'm all for!

A thoroughly enjoyable B-movie of a book which made me (and Terry Pratchett according to the cover) snort with laughter. Like Pratchett and Douglas Adams much of the comedy comes from the juxtaposition of the weird and bland. It's a collection of normal yet quite bizarre people caught up in a horror comedy, with bloody gore and bloody good laughs. Logan isn't afraid to push his characters to the extreme and he's not afraid to kill. And there's zombie cows, I absolutely loved it!

Well she did it again, I was stumped again. Oh, I may have had ideas, I thought all of them could have done it at some point (so technically I was right at least once, like a stopped clock)!

Brilliantly written little book that kept me gripped until the end. No wonder it was one of Christie's favourites of her works.

Bookclub read {S&S} and definitely not a book I had ever planned on reading - I was being a snob if I'm honest.

I thoroughly enjoyed escaping into the world Osman created. For all the deaths and crime it's a happy and optimistic place. I'll come back and visit soon, I want to see what adventures the Thursday Murder Club can fit into their final years.

A strange story that melds the gothic horror of the 19th century with the Scottish politics of the 1970s. A mysterious and marvellous tale that will leave you with questions not fully answered.

To talk to much about it would be near impossible so I'll say I can't for it would spoil the plot.

I loved it, Gray's imagination is as huge as ever and the illustrations are divine. My only regret is that I read it on my phone and didn't get to fully appreciate them - I know what I'll be asking for for my birthday!

A really interesting, informative and well written book which I know I will return to in the future. I think some people may have come to it expecting a self-help manual - and while there are things that you could take from it to work on, that's not what it's about. It's an introduction to trauma care for the lay person. A starting point for those who have some interest but it doesn't require too much knowledge.

I'm enjoying this series, Verus is an interesting protagonist and I like that we don't know everything about him yet. He's probably my second favourite urban wizard after the inimitable Harry Dresden. Bring on the next one please librarian!

Ah, more 50's Sci-Fi - but this was different. Written by a renowned Cambridge astrophysicist it's heavy on the science and its fiction is based on facts.
A sentient alien cloud blocks the Sun's light to Earth and a group of scientists attempt to survive in a country house. They manage to make contact with it and exchange information before the cloud has to continue its mission.
There are some beautifully written characters and the debates between the scientists are most entertaining. It's a bit short on “action” and the large-scale death and destruction is mostly a footnote. This makes the final, more personal, deaths quite unexpected. And then it ends. It left me a bit deflated, to be honest, but in a good way.

I really, really wanted to like this more. I was drawn to the premise: Germany and Japan have won WWII and the book takes place in a Japanese-controlled early 1960s America. Unfortunately there just didn't seem to be much of a plot, there were a lot of characters doing lots of meeting other characters but nothing really grabbed me. Perhaps it was that I just didn't care about any of the characters and couldn't empathise.
There were snippets of humour and admirable use of sentence structure to reflect how some Americans' speech and thought processes were influenced by their occupiers. There was also an intriguing book-within-a-book sub-plot regarding an alternative-alternative future where the Allies won but I felt it fizzled out.
Overall it's technically very good, well-written and excellently researched. Unfortunately that just wasn't enough for me. I started keen and engrossed but my initial interest waned. However, I'll definitely re-read it in a few years' time to see if I get more from it.

4.5* rounded up for nostalgic reasons.

As a kid I loved, loved, loved this book and re-reading over 30 years later it does not disappoint.

The story itself is fairly unique: Charlotte falls asleep in her 1950s boarding school only to awaken during WW1 having swapped places with a similar girl from that time. At first they alternate in each other's lives but inevitably a situation leads to Charlotte being trapped in the past.

The writing is excellent, atmospheric and almost poetic at times. There is real drama, some mild horror and movingly sad moments.

From reading other reviews it appears that this version (and the one I read as a child that had a much better cover) is missing a final letter from a character in Charlotte's past life and perhaps another chapter. I'll need to search out that edition and give it a read too.

“When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.”

In a dystopian future, where everyone works for the good of the state, a group of teens take some drugs and wreak havoc - and Burgess creates Ultra-Violence.

I've read this before and I remember that the language alienated me so that I couldn't get into the story. Not this time, I was so engrossed that nearing the end I didn't want to read any further for fear of what was to come!
I found the words flowed like music (apt considering Burgess' dream to fuse the two) lifting the story to a higher level, drawing me in to the strange world and terrifying mind of Alex, your Humble Narrator.
The beauty of the language is juxtaposed with the horrific violence graphically described throughout. Worsened somehow by Alex's lack of emotional attachment to his crimes, they are just something for him to do with his time.
The apparent hopelessness is echoed by the near repetition of the first chapter at the end. But there IS a glimpse of light as Alex decides to turn his back on the lifestyle (unless you are reading the US version which excludes the final chapter).

I've made it sound awful but it's not, it's visceral and real and you are trapped there, inside Alex's head with all the sights and the music - so when it ends you feel like a bucket of water has been poured over you. And you want to go back and do it all again.

In The Doors of Perception Aldous Huxley takes us on his trip as he experiences the world having taken mescaline. Inspired by Blake to open his eyes and really see the world around him. His vivid descriptions are, as to be expected from such an author, excellent and thankfully he does not become introspective. However, the 26 black letters of the alphabet do not feel enough to truly portray Huxley's first exposure to hallucinogens.

Heaven and Hell sees Huxley return to his experiences with mescaline and examine the mystical world he discovered beyond the borders of his sentience. He examines imagery in art and how these seem to reflect the “antipodes” of the mind, an inner world reached on meditation, through drugs or in physical exhaustion or mental illness.
This volume was definitely preferable to the previous, expanding as it it did on inner consciousness and the similarities found across humankind's experiences. I note a review suggesting it would have been improved by illustrations but in black and white many of the works of art he references would lose their allure. Part of the joy is in finding and examining these works ourselves.

A surreal graphic novel that I went into with absolutely no clue what to expect (I just wanted to read it before watching the film with my daughter) and was blown away.

What does it mean to be a hero or a villain? Where does a sidekick end and a supervillain begin? Is friendship more important than winning?

And dragons, monsters, fighting, evil plans, cute cat, science, more fighting, dinosaurs, love ...?

This began as a web comic and grew an audience there. This version has some bonus content: sketches showing the evolution of the characters and Christmas mini-stories.

The artwork is individual, beautiful and horrifying at times. At first I found it simplistic but I wasn't being fair and now the intricacies of the beautifully drawn characters stay with me. The story, also, has depth and complexities that deserves pondering over and probably returning to.

Another graphic novel read on my phone that I'll be seeking out in print as I feel I've not (literally) got the full picture in this format.

A frankly astonishing debut novel written when the author was not even 20 years old. Shelley combined elements of Romanticism with a gloomy, Gothic shadow and somehow created a whole new genre - Science Fiction!

The basic plot is so well known it is not worth noting here. What touched me on this re-read was the inhumanity of man: Frankenstein abandoning his creation without attempting to create an emotional bond, the horror and disgust of those who meet the ‘monster' causing his very soul to darken and deform to reflect his countenance.

Shelley's words are beautiful, full or melancholia and poetry with many a nod to the Bard himself (and probably many others but I am horrifically under-read when it comes to classics, I shall get straight onto Milton - cannot be beaten by a ‘daemon'). The pastoral imagery reflects both Shelley's wide reading and the travelling she had done around the UK and Europe.

Her consistently male narrators perhaps seem a little naive and extremely emotional - weeping and expressing brotherly love is amongs their strong points - but perhaps this reflects more of the period than the constitution of her characters or the age or gender of the author.

An astounding book, still relevant today, heavily influenced by the losses young Ms Wollstonecraft had already experienced. With the power to both horrify and make one cry, this should be required reading for all!


I do wonder what happened to Captain Walton?

I was slightly disappointed as I'd adored The Bees and was entirely engrossed whilst reading it. The Ice, however, never really drew me in and I had to push myself to remain interested enough to finish. The best bits, for me, were the little pre-chapter stories of Arctic travels. The rest of the near-future, eco-mystery, buddy movie, “greed is bad” and “save the planet” was well-written but I just didn't care about Sean at all

Set in a near future now past this almost feels like nostalgia for the late '60s or early '70s. Bob Arctor and his friends spend their time getting wasted and stoned and admiring the groovy girls who aren't wearing bras under their tank tops. However Bob isn't really Bob, he's Fred an undercover narcotics agent. Fred is investigating who is behind Substance D that is slowly destroying the brains of these mellow druggies. Can Bob/Fred stay undercover and find out or will Substance D ruin him too? The book takes a twist towards the end that I'd forgotten and the Author's Note is genuinely heartbreaking. I'm really glad I gave it a re-read.

Another wonderful collection of stories from Niven's experiences in movie-land. Some sweet, some sad, many hilarious and often unbelievable. He is generous with his memories and this was a joy and a privilege to read. I'd love to sit and listen to him regale in person - look up his delightful appearances on Parky for examples.

An absolute joy to read: I snorted, sobbed and barked out loud with laughter. David Niven certainly packed a lot into his life and into this paperback - events run into each other barely separated by a full stop. I felt seasick and breathless as I tried to keep up with him, I rather imagine that he'd have that effect in real life too.
This book only takes us into 1970 but the adventures he charts are numerous and the names drop like rain. From rebellious school days to Hollywood hits via WWII, Niven's capers are all but unbelievable - he quite literally went everywhere and did everything. I can't wait to read ‘Bring on the Empty Horses' for more tales and I'll definitely be rereading this as as well!

On the back of this book alone Gray is worthy of the comparison to King. Some scenes were deliciously disturbing and supernatural whereas the one downright horrifying one was also quite mundane.
As a Scot I enjoyed Gray's references to places and things quite unrelated to the trans-American tale. Only downside was that where her main male characters were well-fleshed out the females, whilst integral to the plot, felt slightly sketchy.
Definitely worth a read and probably several rereads too.

I was not drawn into this novel at all, it seemed to be much more reliant on the photographs (which were not nearly as good or creepy as in the first book) than plot. There were a few flashes of excitement and the ending was pretty good but overall it was pretty poor. 2.5* rounded up because I hope the next will be better.

When Trainspotting came out ah mind it wis huge! Set in ma hametown, Edinburgh, but the dark underbelly the tourists dinnae see. It's no really a novel, mair a collection of sortay crisscrossing short stories meandering taewards an ending. Follaying a collection ay gadges in an aboot Leith as they get oan an aff the skag, get pished an doss aroond.
Disnae sound like much but it's disgusting, heartbreaking, shocking, poignant, revolting and revealing.
Ah luvved it.
Aw they mad cats an aw they twisted tales are aw totally believable. Ah'm pretty sure ah even met ah few - every pub on late 90s Leith Walk hud a bloke who kent Welsh an hud his ain story tae tell.
The language is no exactly Shakespeare, likesay, but it's raw an real. Ah've missed sayin bairn an barry an radge an aw. Ah'm resisting the choicer words, ya ken. Ay, dinnae read this if yer easily offended or hate swearin.
It's magic!

Gave this a go as I've read everything in the Dresden-verse and needed a new wizardry world to get into. Recommended by fellow Butcher fans so I enjoyed the nod to Harry at the start but I was never fully invested in the novel. Enjoyable but fairly forgettable fare with one dimensional supporting characters.
However, first novels can be a bit hit or miss (Storm Front is probably my least favourite File) and seeing as there's about a million of these I'm guessing that his writing matures and improves. I've got myself the 2nd book anyway so I'll give that a go too.

An anthology of tales from the Queen of Crime, some murderous mysteries and occult oddities. I'm less enamoured with the supernatural tales although I thoroughly enjoyed those that tricked both reader and the characters. An enjoyable read that I will undoubtedly return to in the future.

My first introduction to Beckett was Endgame, performing as Hamm in my early 20s. It's still difficult to read it without remembering the hours of rehearsal and the physical tics each word causes.

Endgame is, therefore, probably not my favourite work - that's Happy Days but it is, I think Beckett's best. Our intractable lives, the inevitability of death, run through with a black humour. A perfect one-act play.

Bookclub [UoG] read: 3.5* rounded up to 4.

There were times I enjoyed this and times I nearly put it down for good. Perhaps I don't know enough about Bulgaria, maybe I'm not smart enough.

The concept, as it began, with the Time Shelters as a support for those living with dementia, was inspired and beautiful. I've since learned that versions of these exist around the world, which gives me a bit more faith in humanity.

When the world began to split apart (no spoilers here) my interest waned. I struggled through the last third having enjoyed the beginnings. This put a damper on my overall feeling about the book.

Whether it was a book about the future or the past, it was ultimately a book of stories. A book which worships words and other books. While the concepts were sometimes a struggle, the ease of reading - some chapters were two to a page - made this very hard to put down.