Simon
A story about unconventional love, music, drugs and cooking. I really liked the way the story makes you love a character one minute and dislike them the next. Pretty much everyone in this book is broken in some way, and searching for some kind of peace and contentment. I didn't like the ending. Usually I might complain when when a book neatly ties everything up, sometimes not knowing is better, but in this case I was so emotionally involved I wanted to know if Johnathan got sick, what happened to Clare & Rebecca and did they get the dishwasher fixed????
Probably doesn't give same punch as it did when it was first published, but definitely worth your time.
A story about unconventional love, music, drugs and cooking. I really liked the way the story makes you love a character one minute and dislike them the next. Pretty much everyone in this book is broken in some way, and searching for some kind of peace and contentment. I didn't like the ending. Usually I might complain when when a book neatly ties everything up, sometimes not knowing is better, but in this case I was so emotionally involved I wanted to know if Johnathan got sick, what happened to Clare & Rebecca and did they get the dishwasher fixed????
Probably doesn't give same punch as it did when it was first published, but definitely worth your time.
Added to listOwnedwith 11 books.
A disillusioned teen, a terminal cancer patient, a pregnant woman on the run from an abusive husband and a telepathic alien octopus called Sandy who has fled to earth after his home world (one of Saturn’s moons) was invaded by a bunch of terrifying crows.
Chased across Scotland by a shadowy organisation and a psycho husband, they end up in Ullapool where they find the rest of Sandy’s octopi friends hiding under Loch Broom. What does it all mean? I have no idea.
This was right up my street, full of wonderment, life affirming moments and of course completely and utterly bonkers. Definitely exciting enough to make me run for book 2.
A disillusioned teen, a terminal cancer patient, a pregnant woman on the run from an abusive husband and a telepathic alien octopus called Sandy who has fled to earth after his home world (one of Saturn’s moons) was invaded by a bunch of terrifying crows.
Chased across Scotland by a shadowy organisation and a psycho husband, they end up in Ullapool where they find the rest of Sandy’s octopi friends hiding under Loch Broom. What does it all mean? I have no idea.
This was right up my street, full of wonderment, life affirming moments and of course completely and utterly bonkers. Definitely exciting enough to make me run for book 2.
Students, Henry, Francis, Bunny, Richard, and the aptly named Charles & Camilla. Six of the most unlikable, snobbish, entitled bunch of ****S ever to grace the page. An accidental murder during a trance fuelled rampage sends the group into a downward spiral of lies and paranoia, and when one of the group threatens to go rogue, there is only one course of action the rest of the group can take to keep their secret safe.
So, this was very good. It did drag on in a couple of places (the funeral part was especially squidgy), and I wasn’t sure I needed to know how some of the minor characters’ lives turned out when I got the epilogue at the end. The 2nd part is finitely more readable than the first and I did take a perverse pleasure seeing the lives of these entitled *******S fall apart. This probably means I am also a ***t.
My niece thinks that this is the greatest book ever written. I think it’s just about as good as The Little Friend and I gave that 4 stars so 4 it is.
Students, Henry, Francis, Bunny, Richard, and the aptly named Charles & Camilla. Six of the most unlikable, snobbish, entitled bunch of ****S ever to grace the page. An accidental murder during a trance fuelled rampage sends the group into a downward spiral of lies and paranoia, and when one of the group threatens to go rogue, there is only one course of action the rest of the group can take to keep their secret safe.
So, this was very good. It did drag on in a couple of places (the funeral part was especially squidgy), and I wasn’t sure I needed to know how some of the minor characters’ lives turned out when I got the epilogue at the end. The 2nd part is finitely more readable than the first and I did take a perverse pleasure seeing the lives of these entitled *******S fall apart. This probably means I am also a ***t.
My niece thinks that this is the greatest book ever written. I think it’s just about as good as The Little Friend and I gave that 4 stars so 4 it is.
Neither loved it or hated it. Very well written, but just a bit mid-range depressed pigeon staring at a semi deflated dirty paddling pool. Probably didn't help that my house has been invaded by a hyperactive builder called Andy who's entire medical history and love of heavy metal music is now engrained in my brain for all eternity. Although I will say, he does lay good felt.
Neither loved it or hated it. Very well written, but just a bit mid-range depressed pigeon staring at a semi deflated dirty paddling pool. Probably didn't help that my house has been invaded by a hyperactive builder called Andy who's entire medical history and love of heavy metal music is now engrained in my brain for all eternity. Although I will say, he does lay good felt.
Added to listOwnedwith 9 books.
There's a few of Stephen King's earlier books that I've never read so I'm going back and filling in some of the gaps. This was released in 1979 and is probably more eye-openingly unsettling now that it was back then.
Johnny can see the a persons future just by touching them, and when he shakes the hand of an up coming politician he sees a horrifying glance into the future. The big dilemma here is what do, and will what you do make a difference.
Probably up there with his best books, even at 460 pages (mass market edition) it felt like a quick read. I didn't give it 5 and that purely down to the fact that I already knew the story and outcome before hand.
There's a few of Stephen King's earlier books that I've never read so I'm going back and filling in some of the gaps. This was released in 1979 and is probably more eye-openingly unsettling now that it was back then.
Johnny can see the a persons future just by touching them, and when he shakes the hand of an up coming politician he sees a horrifying glance into the future. The big dilemma here is what do, and will what you do make a difference.
Probably up there with his best books, even at 460 pages (mass market edition) it felt like a quick read. I didn't give it 5 and that purely down to the fact that I already knew the story and outcome before hand.
Was that women’s cancer cured by prayer? Is that young man with asthma a killer or a victim? Was The Hound of the Baskervilles originally going to be set in border between England and Wales? Will an Arthur Conan Doyle appreciation society be able to contact the spirit of the author and find out? Is that women working in the struggling hotel really a teenage killer now grown up? Will Gomer be able to get his tractor through the snow? Who or what is killing the sheep? And for the love of God will you just marry Lol and get it over with!!!!
These are the kerfuffle's that Merrily Watkins (local vicar and chain smoking exorcist) must solve to bring peace and tranquillity back to the county of Herefordshire. This was pretty good, dragged in the middle a little and the ending was a little bit Scooby Doo, but I just love the characters so much any failings just seem to flutter away.
Was that women’s cancer cured by prayer? Is that young man with asthma a killer or a victim? Was The Hound of the Baskervilles originally going to be set in border between England and Wales? Will an Arthur Conan Doyle appreciation society be able to contact the spirit of the author and find out? Is that women working in the struggling hotel really a teenage killer now grown up? Will Gomer be able to get his tractor through the snow? Who or what is killing the sheep? And for the love of God will you just marry Lol and get it over with!!!!
These are the kerfuffle's that Merrily Watkins (local vicar and chain smoking exorcist) must solve to bring peace and tranquillity back to the county of Herefordshire. This was pretty good, dragged in the middle a little and the ending was a little bit Scooby Doo, but I just love the characters so much any failings just seem to flutter away.
"Age might bring wisdom, but it also brought indigestion and elasticated pants.”
So, C.J.Tudor’s 6th novel is set in the small Alaskan town of Deadhart (pop. 673 alive). They share an uneasy peace with a colony of vampires who live in a disused, rundown mining settlement not far away. When a teenage boy is found murdered with vampire bite marks on his neck, it’s up detective and vampire expert Barbara to find out the facts and decide if a cull of the colony is needed.
OK so lots going on here, lots of characters, lots of small-town thinking, pretty much everyone has something to gain or lose by a cull being authorised, lots of secrets, plenty of surprises.. The whole setting and sense of place is really great. Some of the back stories are excellent, two that really stand out are the girl in the basement and the bone house, both utterly grim.
I suppose making the vampires everyday things, ala True Blood, takes some of the horror and threat away from the story, the vampires here have reason and even if they have desires for blood they don't generally act on them. Most the horror comes from the moments of cruelty some of the characters are subjected to and some of it is horrific.
Overall, this was great fun. All over the place with the rating. Probably if I was being mean it would I would give it a 3 but I went up to 4 just for the sheer enjoyment I had when reading. Not her best but her bar is very high. Might have been a 5 had it been set in Mansfield.
"Age might bring wisdom, but it also brought indigestion and elasticated pants.”
So, C.J.Tudor’s 6th novel is set in the small Alaskan town of Deadhart (pop. 673 alive). They share an uneasy peace with a colony of vampires who live in a disused, rundown mining settlement not far away. When a teenage boy is found murdered with vampire bite marks on his neck, it’s up detective and vampire expert Barbara to find out the facts and decide if a cull of the colony is needed.
OK so lots going on here, lots of characters, lots of small-town thinking, pretty much everyone has something to gain or lose by a cull being authorised, lots of secrets, plenty of surprises.. The whole setting and sense of place is really great. Some of the back stories are excellent, two that really stand out are the girl in the basement and the bone house, both utterly grim.
I suppose making the vampires everyday things, ala True Blood, takes some of the horror and threat away from the story, the vampires here have reason and even if they have desires for blood they don't generally act on them. Most the horror comes from the moments of cruelty some of the characters are subjected to and some of it is horrific.
Overall, this was great fun. All over the place with the rating. Probably if I was being mean it would I would give it a 3 but I went up to 4 just for the sheer enjoyment I had when reading. Not her best but her bar is very high. Might have been a 5 had it been set in Mansfield.
"People can do terrible things when they feel safe and powerful"
The two books I read before this one were full of hate and prejudice, so this was this perfect antidote to that. I guess three words to describe this book would be.
REALLY REALLY LOVELY
Everything is lovely, the crew are lovely (ok there’s a miserable one who works with algae but in the end even he’s quite lovely). the people they meet and the planets they visit are all really quite lovely. When the ship gets raided, the raiders do it in a lovely agreeable way. Even the ships computer is lovely and is actually called Lovelace (shortened to lovey).
Ok, so why I didn’t give this 5 stars. First off, I did love these great fables about morality and tolerance that are told by the characters, and I don’t think I've come across a sci-fi book, or any book for that matter, that is so easy to read. However, when I got towards the end, the cuddliness did start to wear a bit thin and that’s only because it makes the sci-fi elements feel a little superficial.
Overall, really enjoyed it, really really lovely. It's like being wrapped a huge blanket, and I’m ordering the next one right now, and I really hope its really really lovely like this one was.
"People can do terrible things when they feel safe and powerful"
The two books I read before this one were full of hate and prejudice, so this was this perfect antidote to that. I guess three words to describe this book would be.
REALLY REALLY LOVELY
Everything is lovely, the crew are lovely (ok there’s a miserable one who works with algae but in the end even he’s quite lovely). the people they meet and the planets they visit are all really quite lovely. When the ship gets raided, the raiders do it in a lovely agreeable way. Even the ships computer is lovely and is actually called Lovelace (shortened to lovey).
Ok, so why I didn’t give this 5 stars. First off, I did love these great fables about morality and tolerance that are told by the characters, and I don’t think I've come across a sci-fi book, or any book for that matter, that is so easy to read. However, when I got towards the end, the cuddliness did start to wear a bit thin and that’s only because it makes the sci-fi elements feel a little superficial.
Overall, really enjoyed it, really really lovely. It's like being wrapped a huge blanket, and I’m ordering the next one right now, and I really hope its really really lovely like this one was.