The Graduate - Charles Webb 1963 *

Having not seen the film for a very long time, I thought I would try reading the book of this 'pivotal story defining the sixties.'
A quarter of a way in and I wasn't too impressed by anything the book had to say, and it became an absolute chore to have to finish it (despite it only being small).
All in all, I can't tell what this author is trying to get at. Does he think he is capturing the sixties? Does he know he is probably one of the worst authors I have ever read? Does he even know how to formulate a sentence?
For such a well known book, I was desperately surprised and let down at how poorly it was written, both grammatically and regarding the prose. What struck me was how immature it came across, as though the author had never written anything before and was just playing around with sentences and ideas in a torrent mess.
The story is pretty ridiculous anyway, and I still don't really understand how the film was a 'defining moment' in movie history.
If my advice is needed, I would say to steer clear from both the book and the film (although if I really had to choose I would say that the film was a tad better).

Started 4th November
Finished 12th November

Old Flames - Jack Ketchum 2008 ****

For as long as I have been an adult I have been trying to find the equivalent horror novel in the style of a Point Horror book. Those books were the root of my reading as a teenager and I always felt that if I could find an author whole could transport me back to that kind of world I would be on a winning streak.
Luckily, Jack Ketchum may just well be that author as I discovered in the first book of his I have read. I devoured it overnight, and am looking forward to the next one of his I have bought.
The book centres on obsession, greed and lust, and is told dramatically, sexually and explicitly. It's very well written and incredibly easy to read about a woman who cannot let go after a brief affair with a married man comes to an end.
Can't wait for the next one. Have also ordered a couple of Richard Laymon's to keep me going for a while...

Started 1st November
Finished 2nd November

Nocturnes - Kazuo Ishiguro 2009 *****

The first book I have read by this astounding author. It won't be the last. Ishiguro has such a stunning and beautiful way of piecing words together. Here he presents us with 5 utterly different stories all linked together by particular events in the lives of the people. We are transported from Italy to the Malvern Hills, then to Hollywood and London. All the characters are sculptured like fine art, and the stories have a musical lilt to them, as though swaying you from one to the next.
I think this author is utterly unique, and I will be reading more of his work.

Started 28th October
Finished 1st November

The Complete Jack the Ripper - Donald Rumbelow 1975 *****

Rather sadistically, I am very interested in Jack the Ripper and the reign of terror cast over the East End of London in the late 19th Century. It seems to me that if anything could be called 'a perfect murder' then this whole ghastly business could.
Rumbelow has created a wonderfully intricate and fascinating book detailing all the murders in their goriest and gruesome sense. He describes the eyewitness accounts (of which there are only few) and the reaction to the crimes as witnessed by the police and Whitechapel community.
He also delves into the history of the area, the former lives of the victims, and the subsequent downfall of the Scotland Yard force when they shamelessly destroy vital evidence that would've helped the investigation immensely.
Most of all, the author reveals which of the victims he firmly believes is NOT a Ripper victim, and the reasons why.
An excellent book, well thought out, exceedingly well documented and painstakingly researched.
A must read.

Started 20th October
Finished 25th October

Piccadilly Jim - PG Wodehouse 1917 ****

 

Remarkably clever Wodehouse where a young man sets up a scam (only because a gorgeous woman has caught his eye of course!) in which he pretends to be himself, leading to rather complicated story!

Years ago, James Crocker writes a scathing review of some love poetry submitted to his newspaper by a beautiful redhead named Ann. By chance, he bumps into her again on his way to visit his aunt and uncle overseas, but cannot reveal his true identity to her once she begins to slate his character. Instead, he names himself Bayliss after his butler back home.

At the same time Ann who coincidentally is working for his aunt and uncle, is devising a plan where the aunt's spoilt grandson Ogden is to be kidnapped and sent off to a health farm to shape up. Meeting this charming man seems to her an ideal opportunity to carry out her plan, and she enlists James (rather amusingly) to pretend to be James Crocker in order to get rid of the boy.

Confused? Yes, you will be, but do persevere, because as usual, Wodehouse makes it all worthwhile in the end (and also extremely funny!).

 

Started 5th October

Finished 13th October

Death of a Gossip - M.C. Beaton 1985 ****1/2

Every time I have been in the library, I always end up passing the M.C. Beaton books. I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to reading books in the wrong order and could never find the first one in the series. But this weekend, after suffering from a long and tiring tooth extraction I took myself along to the small library in my Dad's village to cheer myself up. And I found this! The first book in the series. And devoured it hungrily. It had everything I wanted, murder, crime, wholesome and well round characters, and was very easy to read. Definitely what you want to read when you are feeling under the weather. Hamish Macbeth is the modern day version of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot put together, with a ferocious crop of red hair and a dry wit. We meet him for the first time in the fictional village of Lochdubh in Scotland, investigating the murder of a ghastly woman named Lady Jane, who crashes a friendly fishing club and quickly becomes the most unpopular person they have ever met. I am off to find the next book. Praise for M.C. Beaton, you have gained another fan.

Started 26th July

Finished 29th July

The Mystery of the Blue Train - 1928 ** 1/2

A very slow Agatha Christie. I was tempted to give up on it a number of times because the plot was going all over the place and it was a very weak effort.

Poirot is set to investigate the mysterious death of a beautiful wealthy woman named Ruth, who is found dead in her compartment on the Blue Train, minus her expensive jewels. Is it her soon to be ex husband who is responsible, or an assortment of other shady characters, all out for what they can get? I personally like Agatha Christie's novels the best when they are centred around a good old-fashioned murder at a country house/luxurious mansion. 

Not one of her best.

Started 6th July

Finished 14th July 

The Temptress - Paul Spicer 2010 ***

Interesting account of the mysterious death of Lord Erroll in Kenya's decadent "Happy Valley" in the 1940s. The book is really more centred around Alice De Janze, a beautiful American heiress who marries a Count and becomes entangled in a number of affairs but does go into some detail about the death of Lord Erroll and how he relates to Alice. The book chronicles Alice's early life, her depression, and then later on, her passionate and obsessive relationship with a man she ends up trying to murder. 

It's well written and informative, although I did every find it hard remembering all the different people and their relationships towards each other.

A Winter Garden Mystery - Carola Dunn 1995 ***

What started off as an exciting read turned into a boring and long, drawn out affair. Carola Dunn does a good job of drawing up the initial characters and staking out the plot, but then it slowly goes downhill and we wander off in a daze. Daisy Dalrymple is our heroine, a quirky journalist on a photographic assignment who finds herself drawn into a murder plot at Occles Hall, after a body is discovered in the grounds. I think Daisy is a brilliant heroine. She's young, fresh, intelligent and can give Poirot or Miss Marple a run for their money. This is the third book in the Daisy Dalrymple series (I was amazed to see that there were 20!) so I might not give up quite yet and try the first one.

Started 25th June

Finished 7th July

I've Got Your Number - Sophie Kinsella - 2012 *****

I love Sophie Kinsella. She's such an easy, relatable author and I was enthralled by this novel.
Poppy loses her engagement ring soon before she is due to marry her partner Magnus. Her phone is then stolen and by chance she finds a replacement in a bin. The trouble is, this phone is still very much in use and Poppy finds out that it belongs to a businessman named Sam's ex PA. She doesn't see why she should give it up, besides, she needs a phone in case anyone tracks down her ring, and Sam desperately needs the phone back to access his emails and contacts. The only thing they can do is meet and try to come to some sort of arrangement. (I don't know why this initially reminded me so much of 'Pillow Talk' with Doris Day, but it did.)
As you can imagine, all sorts of things happen, but the ending was (of course) exactly what I wanted.

Started 8th June
Finished 20th June

Don't you Love Your Daddy? - Sally East & Toni Maguire 2010 ***

Another depressing misery memoir, this time backed up by Toni Maguire who is well known as a misery memoir writer. Sally East portrays a hideous story of sexual abuse at the hands of her own father who takes total control of her once her beloved mother dies of cancer when Sally is at a young age. She has no one there to help her, protect her, or save her, and this is her account of what happened. Well written and easy to follow, the one downside appeared to me to be the brushing over of her later life. For someone who goes into such detail over the sexual assaults she doesn't pay much attention to showing us her positive new life at the end of the book. It's glossed over on the last pages.

Started 7th June
Finished 8th June

Death in the Clouds - 1935 *** 1/2

Unlike the majority of the reviewers of this book I actually found it a bit slow during the middle. The pace at the beginning was wonderful, and the ending was superb but the middle was too fluid. Poirot is right in the centre of the action, taking a plane back from Paris with a group of other people. During the journey, one of the people is murdered on the plane in her seat (a wealthy old woman no less) but the problem is no one has actually seen the culprit, or the murder taking place.
Poirot's grey matter is working overtime to solve this case, as usual never knowing who to trust.

Started 31st May
Finished 7th June

Amsterdam - Ian McEwan 1998 **

One of the worst and most depressing books I have read in a long time. 'Amsterdam' means nothing, accomplishes nothing, and finishes like the author forgot to round it all off. It was sloppily written and completely uninteresting. Boring would be an understatement. The novel supposedly centres on the relationships between certain people when they gather at the funeral of an old friend, but within the first ten pages or so, we have left this story, and gone off into bizarre and dull segments surrounding each character and their awful lives. The book becomes nothing to do with the central character, and more just a random collection of 'snapshots' about some horrible people with no resolution whatsoever. Dreadful book.

Started 26th May
Finished 27th May

Wilt - Tom Sharpe 1976 ***

'Wilt' was a strange book. Some parts were very funny, but then others had me straight-faced.

Wilt is a bit of a pathetic human being. He's Head of 'Liberal Studies' at the local Tech, and finds his life a bit of a mess. His colossal wife Eva whines constantly at him leading him to fantasize about different ways of killing her, and when he finds himself in an awkward situation involving a giant inflatable doll at his neighbour's party, things get really sticky. When he decides in a drunken stupor to get rid of the doll down a man-hole, the police get the wrong idea and start to think it is his wife. Enter hilarity.

I like the plot for this, but as with other Tom Sharpe books, it trails off a bit towards the end. It obviously was a fairly popular book at the time of release as it spawned a number of other sequels so I might give the next novel a try. 

Started 23rd May

Finished 25th May

Porterhouse Blue - Tom Sharpe 1974 **** 1/2

As someone who works in one of the older Cambridge Colleges I can relate to this book in so many ways. It's witty, smart, and above all completely hits the nail on the head with regards to what goes on inside the Colleges. Porterhouse is obviously a 'subtle' nod towards Peterhouse, describing it almost to a tee with a satirical snigger. I just found this book very clever, and there were several parts (including a chapter about escaping contraceptives up a chimney) that had tears of laughter rolling down my face. Hilarious. Will be lending this to friends and recommending it to even more.

Started 21st May
Finished 22nd May

About a Boy - Nick Hornby 1998 **1/2

I think I might have to stop reading Nick Hornby now. Sure he's easy to read but I find his novels so depressing and full of despair that it takes a while to recover afterwards. I've seen the movie of this book so of course I already have pre-set notions of the characters but I must say overall I was disappointed with the general tone of the book. Hornby's characters are so unlikable that you struggle to find any sympathy for them or their personal situations. On this occasion it's safe to say that the film is much funnier.

The Murder at the Vicarage - Agatha Christie 1930 ***

Reading Agatha Christie seems to have become a bit of an obsession. But then again, her writing is so wonderful and unique that you really can read book after book of hers and be amazed at how she comes up with some of her stories. 'Murder at the Vicarage' is a curious book. It has the most red herrings that I have ever come across in an Agatha Christie novel as of now.
A man is murdered in his study whilst writing a letter to an anonymous person. Only a few hours ago, the local vicar was entertaining a group of people and said he thought that anyone who murdered the victim would be 'doing the world at large a service.' And now someone had! Soon after, a number of people confess, but it is up to Miss Marple to solve the case and find the real culprit, and as always, she is more on the ball than any of the other characters.
I prefer Poirot to Miss Marple, but this was still a good read. One more to tick of my list.

Started 9th May
Finished 17th May

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald 1925 ***

For a start, the cover of this classic is meant to be one of the most iconic images in the world. Not sure why, but there it is. Regarding the story - I was expecting a fast-living and exciting glimpse into the flapper era written by someone who was actually there and while it was a good story, it was really nothing like I had expected. The characters didn't seem to flow as well as they should've, the general descriptions weren't as detailed as I had hoped, and I couldn't help feeling rather distanced from Gatsby, Daisy and Tom. It wasn't that they were unpleasant characters, it was more that they didn't seem to have any gripping or outstanding traits or qualities that landed them into these situations. Gatsby himself was a peculiar person, and Daisy was what I would call 'dippy.' I read a review of the 1970s movie adaptation of the book, where the person said that they couldn't understand what the fascination with Daisy was, and why so many men seemed to be squabbling over her. I agree completely. She wasn't a particularly strong character (when you think of someone like Elizabeth Bennett she doesn't really compare) and didn't really have much in the way of 'oomph'.
There was a bit of a shock towards the end of the book, but not enough that it would convince me this was any sort of masterpiece. Glad to have read it though, as am hoping to see 'Gatsby' at the cinema sometime soon.

Started 14th May
Finished 16th May

Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella 2009 ****1/2

After an embarrassing year of not having picked up a book I delved into this on a friend's recommendation and am delighted to report that my reading mojo is back with force. Sophie Kinsella is always fun, and always one of those reassuring authors that you know is going to make you laugh, regardless of what else is going on in your life. 'Twenties Girl' really nailed it for me, partly because it was hilarious and heartfelt, but also because one of it's main characters was from the flapper age which is my favourite decade. An award-winning combination in my opinion. Lara attends her great aunt Sadie's funeral, and almost immediately begins to think she is going mad, for Sadie has started appearing to Lara and Lara alone, in her former 1920s flapper body, as a rather disgruntled ghost. She has one last wish before she can 'move on', and that is to find her favourite dragonfly necklace which she became separated from during her life. It is up to Lara to track it down, without making a fool of herself, and that is easier said than done when you are the only one able to see your new companion.
Very funny, and very gentle. I love these sorts of books, almost like comfort food, you can pick them out at times of need and they will instantly rejuvenate you.

Started 20th April
Finished 5th May