Book A Day: 21 - 30

21. Summer read

I read scary books in the summer and when on holiday. I do this so that either someone is always there to protect me or its light for longer so no one can get me as easily. I am a wuss.

22. Out of print

This is really rather sad. When I was doing my economics A level, many moons ago, there was this one book (which I can now never recall the name of) that I constantly looked for in bookshops but was always told it was out of print.

23. Made to read at school

There were so many. My favourite has to be To Kill a Mockingbird, but of course had to read the usual Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth etc etc.

24. Hooked me into reading

I was a slow reader in my youth, so took me a long while to get off the school reading scheme. When I was finally allowed to choose I book of my own I chose Max And The Fire Crystals. I have tried to google the book but I can't find a pic of the cover, even though I remember it vividly!

25. Never finished it

Stig of the Dump....that is all!

26. Should have sold more copies

There are so many I think this of that it is going to be very hard for me to pin point one! SO MANY!!!!

27. Want to be one of the characters

Game of Thrones books or the Robin Hobb books with Fitz Chivalry in of course??/ WHAT THE HELL ELSE???

28. Bought at my favourite indie bookshop

I am going to say Born Weird. I really enjoyed it and I bought it at Big Green Bookshop. My review is there if you fancy it.

29. One I have reread most often

I do not reread books. I may have books from my childhood that have been reread to me or by me but I make a point of not rereading books (unless they were for exams) as there are so many books in the world, why would I want to spend time reading one I've already read and miss out on another??

30. Would save if my house burnt down

This is one I've mentioned previously, it's the collection of Sherlock Holmes stories that was my Grand Fathers.

Holmes Challenge: Adventures 5 - 8

Here we go again...

5. The five orange pips
So, I thought this one was a bit of a let down if I am honest. Bugger all happened when you consider that the KKK are involved and it could have been really really interesting and exciting. My hopes were brought up so high and then dashed away as if they didn't matter. I'm soooooo disappointed!

6. The man with the twisted lip
An amusing and entertaining and somewhat light hearted story. No sinister edges at all and I found it rather light. That was a bit of a surprise....seems that two in a row have been a bit non-plussing now.

7. The adventure of the blue carbuncle
I did not know what a carbuncle was until I read this story, I will admit that now. I'd heard the word but never really felt the need to learn the meaning. A bit of a silly one once again but it was nice to see Holmes given a bit of a heart, it is happening more frequently, and I am enjoying it. It was nice that it was close to Christmas in the story, as I love Christmas, but I suspect that this is as festive as it is all likely to get.

8. The adventure of the speckled band
Of course, one of the most heard of Holmes adventures...at least that is what I believe. I had heard the name but had no idea what the hell it was about. I'd heard the vague gypsy relations but that was it. Nothing at all what I expected but back to the sinister and cunning plots and crimes that have been committed in previously read stories. Holmes again shows heart and shows his vulnerable side and it is making him more human to me and I am appreciating that.

What I have noted is that the derogatory stance and comments towards/about women has faded with these last few tales and I hope that sticks.

On wards!

Book Geek
<:-p

Review: Fool's Assassin

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Price: £ 20 (hardback)

Right then.....

If you haven't read any of the Robin Hobb that has Fitz and the fool in, DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW.

I don't want to spoil anything for you.

You have been warned......

Last chance......

Right then, FITZ IS BACK AND I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO HAPPY!!!!!!

I was a tad let down by the Soldier Son book 1 and didn't plough on with the other two as they didn't grab me at all sadly. I loved the Farseer trilogy, the Liveship Traders trilogy and the Tawny Man trilogy, but Soldier son just didn't get me, so when Harper offered me a review copy of Fitz's return, I jumped on it!

Yep, he's back and we pick up a while after the end of the Tawny Man trilogy. All is well for Fitz, he's still grumpy and mopes a lot and is still unbelievably hot, but he seems settled and happy. However, it all goes a bit pear shaped and of course, that is expected as it is FitzChivalry Farseer we are talking about.

All your favourite characters are back...well the ones that aren't dead. Nettle is a babe, Chade is just...well Chade, Molly is just adorable, I could go on for a while. The catch up/reminders that RH includes are excellent. I usually get annoyed by such things, but as it has been 10 years since the last book with these guys in, the reminders were VERY welcome. And in fact, they added to the story.

The new characters are bloody awesome too...I love Bee! I bloody love her. I am however, not going to say any more about her as I really don't want to spoil any thing.

The book contains a great number of shocks and twists and turns and action and sadness and one specific incident that I did see coming......I think it is kinda obvious though. But it is stonking none the less. 

If you are a Robin Hobb fan, you will no doubt be delighted with this book in general. I'm a huge fan and I am totally over the moon with the book. It does not fail to keep Fitz as Fitz, along with the other characters and the plot is brilliant. I can't believe it has alllllll been left on such a cliff hanger and it is such a long time until the next one. This may actually kill me!!!!

Love this book, Love Hobb!

Happy reading

Book Geek

:-D

Review: Pavement, thoughts of a serial killer

Publisher: Cutting Edge Press

Price: £ 1.53 ebook

We are in the internal monologue of Mr Smith, a man who is VERY disturbed and is embarking on his career as a serial killer.

From the off this book disturbs and upsets. From the horrific and explicit dreams Smith has to the incredibly disturbed thoughts and the weird things he does each day. From the beginning the book made me feel seriously uncomfortable and unsettled and at the end I was wondering if I was completely mental too! It's the whole Catch 22 scenario allllllll over again!

The murders are brutal, but intelligently thought out and part of you starts to think Smith's reasoning is almost ok, due to the length of time you spend in his brain and with his absolutely mental thoughts. 

It's strange as you never reallllllly know what is true about his past and now he came to be who he is and what isn't. It's hard to get down to who he really is and why he is turning to committing multiple murders.

This is a book of a very strange mind that you do want to keep reading as you are glued to it by a horrid sense of morbid fascination. Don't read it if you are faint hearted but read it if you want to experience something completely different and indeed drop yourself in to the mind of a twisted and disturbed serial killer.

Happy Reading

Book Geek
:-s

Book A Day: 14 - 20

14. An old favourite
It has been may favourite since I first read it many moons ago. It was recommended to me by my Mum and the copy I first read has her notes in it from when she did it at University. It is a classic that has seen many incarnations on screen and it never ceases to be brilliant. Yep...The Great Gatsby.

This is the cover of the copy I have with my mum's notes in. I do have another copy with a design that was launched to coincide with the newest film. Also, I love the book so much that my poor departed cat was called The Great Catsby.

15. Favourite fictional father

Now this one is very tough as to be honest, when I was thinking about it, no one father came to mind. I thought of ones I quite like, for example, Ned Stark and Burrich (although technically a father figure). but to be honest, I don't really have a stand out fave. Sorry.

16. Can't believe more people haven't read

Hands down, not thinking required Iain Banks. I know there there is a massive following for his books but whenever I talk about them to my friends and the like noone has ever read any! WHY?????????

17. Future classic

Well, I will present to you a book I read very recently and do believe it will transcend the times! That is.......The Humans. I think it's going to become like The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. People love it and people will continue to love it and it will live for ever. The title up there is linked to my review if you want to find out about it a bit more.

18. Bought on a recommendation 

One book that I always think of when I think of a book I was recommended is Hope: A Tragedy. It was recommended by young Simon from Big Green Bookshop when I first went to visit the fine establishment. It is a book that has stuck with me as well as it was so mental and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Again, the title is linked to my review if you want to know more.

19. Still can't stop thinking about it
Right, the book I can't stop thinking about is Tiger tiger . I don't always think about it for good reasons. It was one of the most upsetting and disturbing things I have ever read. And I can't help but constantly think why my friend lent it to me and said to read it! It really has had a massive impact on me.

20. Favourite cover
Ok so, I don't have one favourite cover, but I do have one favourite cover artist. Does that count?? It's the one and only Darren Craske. I love the fact that he designs the covers for his books and you can see the characters EXACTLY how he imagines them to look. It adds an extra something to his books for me. I bloody love it. Here are some he made earlier:

Review: Give the Devil His Due

Price: 99p ebook

Self Published

We've got a gang of old school friends who stumble upon something ancient and big. Chaos ensues and well...that's that.

This is what a Welsh version of Lock Stock would be like, or Welsh Snatch...or the like. It's a farcical and funny story of a group of blokes who are going to try their luck so they end up with the money and the fun and the joy and the fame.

In the beginning I really couldn't see where this book was going and I found it a tad sexist on occasion, but I persisted and now I'm pretty glad I did.

The characters are caricatures, the story is very tongue in cheek, along with everything else about this book really.

This is a short review, but I only have short things to say I'm afraid.

Defo read it if you fancy some light and laughable reading that still has the ability to keep you turning the pages and wondering what is coming next. Also a decent read if you are Welsh!

Happy Reading

Book Geek

:-)

Book A Day : 7 - 13

So, I'm continuing on my little book a day travels...here we go!

7. Forgot I owned it
The book I CONSTANTLY forget I own is Midnight's Children. I really feel like I should read it, like REALLY feel like I should. However, I don't, to be honest, necessarily want to read it. Maybe I deliberately forget I own it so I don't have to lug the bloody great tome around and actually knuckle down and read the thing.

8. Have more than one copy
Hmmmmm..I had to think about this. But I have a few books that I own more than one copy of, mainly in the form of the ARC copy for review and then the final version when it comes out a little while later. However, my fave one has to be Nearest Thing To Crazy by Lizzie Forbes. I was rather excited to get the ARC from Cutting Edge Press, then when I unexpectedly got the finished thing I was delighted. Then I was even more touched when there was a lovely note from Lizzie inside! :-)

9. Film of TV tie in
Now, this one has confused me slightly. Are we meant to think books that have been written because of a TV show or film, or books that have had a TV show or film made of them??
I'm going to give you examples of both!
For books that have come out of such I give you the Castle novels! Storm Front is the only one I have read, but I have watched a fair few of the TV episodes. Here is a lovely pic of the very sexy Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle for you to be getting on with:

Now, book that became film or TV series. The Lord of The Rings...wins hands down!

10. Reminds me of someone I love

I have the copy of the complete Sherlock Holmes. It used to belong to my grand father. He died when I was three months old so I never actually really met him or knew him. This copy has chocolate thumb prints of his throughout. This is because he used to buy chocolate then come home and read some of it whilst he ate the chocolate. It's the closest I feel to actually knowing him when I look at it and it reminds me of my Mum, as it was her Dad's.

11. Secondhand bookshop gem

I have a first edition hardback copy of Robin Hobb's first ever book, The Assasin's Apprentice...need I say more?

12. I pretend to have read it

At the moment I don't actually have a book that I have pretend to have read. It used to be Anna Karenina, but I MADE myself read it about 5ish years ago. I wish I hadn't wasted my life. It is such a tedious and depressing book to read and it is bloody massive and heavy to lug around in its paper back form.

13. Makes me laugh

I'm sticking with Bridget Jones' Diary. The first part where she realises that a man has wanked up the back of her coat when on the stairs in the tube ALWAYS gets me! I just love it. 

Next instalment next week

BOOM!

Review: Meatspace

Publisher: The Friday Project

I had seen this book floating in the Twitter ether for a while and was rather intrigued, so when it landed in my letter box (well, actually my green recycling bin. The postie puts all things that don't fit through the flap in the recycling and leaves me a note. It's most helpful) I was most overjoyed.

Kitab has hit a low point, no job to make him money, no girlfriend, no real life outside of tut digital world. This is his coming of age story.

I don't know if I was meant to find this story unbearably sad, but I did and for so many reasons. The revelations, the tragedy, the sadness of Kitab 2's life, the fact that life on the web is more important to Kitab than off it, loss and grief. 

I don't want to write too much about why I was so sad at the end and why I felt so sad throughout (as I suspected a certain plot twist was going to occur) as I don't want to spoil this for anyone.

Kitab is a very sweet and lovely character. Hayley is darn awesome and Rach is a bellend. Kitab's Dad is also rather cool and Aziz is just mental.

I think this is a very modern and of the time book and is a fair and careful warning for people about conduct on the net. It is also wonderfully tragic and I love that NS adopts the voices of Kitab and Aziz to create the tale, which makes it even more heart wrenchingly sad.

I hope NS and TFP don't mind that I found it so, so sad, as I'm sure it's meant to be some what of a dark comedy, but it really did just break my heart. I did indeed enjoy it nonetheless as I do like a book that isn't all hearts and flowers and smiles.

Happy Reading

BG

:-)

Book A Day: 1 - 6

So, with this #BookADay thing that's happening on twitter, I thought I'd do a weekly round up so I can say a bit more about the books I've selected for it! 140 characters is rather limiting.

1. Favourite book from childhood

Whenever I am asked about what book I liked as a child the first one that comes to mind is Avocado Baby. TBH, I don't 100% know why, but it always pops there. It's basically about a baby who when he starts eating Avocados becomes some kind of super strong Popeye style baby. I also used to love Pippo.

2. Best bargain

I think, it has to be the World Book Night books. I mean they are free, they help promote reading and they always have crackers to dole out. What isn't to love about a free book and how possibly can a free book not be the best bargain ever??

3. One with a blue cover

When this cropped up, I immediately thought Barracuda as it's the most recent book I've read with a blue cover. The cover is in fact rather cool and very blue indeed...it's about swimming so why wouldn't it be blue. I've linked my review above if you want to find out more about the book.

4. Least favourite book by favourite author

I bloody love Robin Hobb! I've had a massive  girl crush on her since I was first introduced to her books at the young age of 16 by a bloke I used to sit next to in my Music Technology AS Level class. I find her books to be outstanding. The story keeps you gripped, the world she creates is magnificent and the characters blow your mind. I think my deep, deep love of Fitz Chivalry also has something to do with my massive love for RH.

Anyway, I was thrilled when the above came out as it was, a few years ago now, the latest RH book. Whilst, I did enjoy it, it didn't thrill and absorb me like the previous three trilogies and her Megan Lindemholm books. In fact, I was that non-plussed, I haven't sought out any more of her books...I was a bit let down...bums.

5. Doesn't belong to me

I read The Reader and then lent my copy of it to Fickle Mate. She was moving house, probs about 3 years ago, maybe more, and was on a book returning mission. I lend her/people many books so I had a massive pile back. The Reader was one of them, however, it weirdly wasn't the copy I had lent her. My copy didn't have a promo sticker for the film on the front like this one did. I have no idea where this copy came from, but I have it now...I can't help but think that another person let her borrow it as well and they have mine.

6. The one I always give as a gift

To be 100% honest, I very rarely give people books as gifts. Not alllllll that many of my friends read, and they always end up 'borrowing' loads of my books if they do indeed read and are round my house. If I do give a book it's always a different one depending on the person and more often than not a cook book of some kind as quite a few of my friends love a good bit of cooking and baking.

That's this week's instalment!

Enjoy!

Review: Hombre

For Christmas, many moons ago, I was given a set of classic books that had been converted for the screen. They included Double Indemnity, The Pianist, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, etc. I had read them all until I hit Hombre, which I didn't fancy at all. But on the weekend I thought, sod it, let's give it a go! Man....I'm not 100% happy I bothered.

One good thing about this book is that it is short and easy to read. I'd imagine it makes a far better film than book because bloody hell the narrator was a dipshit and the whole thing was VERY slow. 

I liked the race discussions and found them interesting, especially as it was a white dude who was considered Apache, and not someone actually Apache. 

But that is where my enjoyment ended. I detested all the characters, even JR yes. There was nothing to ingratiate me to them and nothing that I could bond or connect over with any of them.

All in all, out of allllll the books that were in the series, this was the absolute worst. I think I'd like to see the film to ascertain if it is indeed any better.

Happy Reading

Book Geek

:-)

P.S. Maybe hardcore western fans may enjoy it more! I will say that!

Review: Delete

Publisher: Strange Chemistry

WARNING: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ SHIFT OR CONTROL YET, DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW!!!!

I MEAN IT

DON'T READ IT

I DON'T WANT TO SPOIL THINGS FOR YOU.....

GO AWAY!!!!

Right then, if you are still reading, it's your own fault...so, you know where we left it with Frankie and the falling??? Well we are about to find out what happens next! WAAAHHHH!

We are thrown completely in to the middle of action and the deep end with this final part. Seriously, it is as if the gap never happened!! That I appreciated greatly as I hate bloody recaps and all that shit! Huzzah! The usual characters are still here, but not as you know them...but I ain't telling you why and it is amazing.

The story is gripping and tense and there is so much messed up stuff it's awesome. Also, I found the incorporation of current issues to be pretty cool. Bravo. I was a tad torn in places as to if the 'all for love' thing annoyed me or not, but I've been a bit torn about the Scott/Aubrey thing and how much I've got down with it all along...maybe I'm just jealous as I have a bit of a crush on them both!

I thoroughly appreciated the moral of the tale...be careful what you wish for...and I struggled all along as to what I believed was real or not. Remember, Scott can remember his previous shifting lives...and the Shifting rules about the reality you shifted from doesn't exist????...well I'm so confused about that now!!! And it's brill!

Oh, and in the middle of a pub on Friday (about 5ish) waiting for Boy Geek, I got to page 217 and got all emotional. I warn you, you will get emotional!!!

Overall, a totally approved ending to what has been a cracking YA trilogy! Read it all, read it all now!!!

Happy Reading

Book Geek
:-)