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Sundae · 08-04-2010, 06:33 AM

According to my online library card I've checked out 195 books since May last year.
I'm going to go back and try to pick out at least some, as I feel I let you down badly by being such an infrequent reviewer.
Not all of course.
Some I barely remember and some I simply didn't care about enough to comment on.

These will not include biographies/ autobiographies as I think they depend on an interest in the subject (Alan Carr, anyone? Julian Clary? Both exceptional books).
Or books I've been lent - some of which have been superb.

Marco and the Blade of Night - Thom Madley
A tween book - quite good as I remember. I still read these because they almost always have a rollicking good narrative. It's set in Glastonbury and certainly made me want to visit there.

Aenir/ The Fall/ Castle - Garth Nix
I have little memory of these. I think I was going through a bad patch and wanted the comfort of fantasy aimed at children. Diana Wynne Jones almost always delivers, Philip Pullman less reliably but packs a pucnh when he does, Margaret Mahy's books often haunt me even if I've not been charmed at the time... Garth Nix - not so much. As always a good narrative, but the endless writing of series is wearing, Stories never seem fully completed.

The Dead Fathers' Club - Matt Haig
Very good! Based on Hamlet, but I got that from the cover. Knowing that, I was able to pick up the sly references throughout the text. I suppose it is a coming-of-age story as much as a Shakespeare homage, in that the protagonist is only 11. A lovely combination of fate and reality which comes to a believable conclusion.

Lucy's Monster - R L Royle
Do not read. Dreadful book. Riddled with plot holes big enough to trash Jinx's Jeep. And not even properly proofread - some real zingers of mistakes. I actually complained to the librarian when I took it back, suggesting they removed it from the shelves. And I didn't finish it. And that is so not like me.

Blood is the New Black - Valerie Stivers
Worth reading for vampire fans simply for the frothy treatment of vampires meet fashion. Set at a magazine HQ - Tasty - it's The Devil Wears Prade meets any recent lightweight vamp fic. Nicely written at least.

Procession of the Dead - Darren Shan
A really good read. Dark, fantastic, confusing in places (confusion later resolves) a cross between a gangster novel and something along the lines of Ian Banks' The Bridge. It's not real life, although it's gritty. It's not fantasy but it isn't set anywhere recognisable. Something like Murakami. It's the first of a trilogy and I'm now writing down the author's name as I'm determined to read the rest of them!

Creepers - David Morrell
Okay. Pretty much a pedestrian suspense/ spook novel about people who go exploring in abandoned buildings getting more than they bargained for. More could have been done with it.

The Family of Max Desir - Robert Ferro
Wonderful, moving novel about a gay man's relationship with his family and how it changes over time and due to outside events. At times heartwarming and brutal.

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters - Gordon Dahlquist
Something went wrong about the time I had this book out of the library. I read 2/3 of it, enjoyed it enormously, got a library fine for it but didn't finish it. I think the 'rents might have been away and I was on a drunk. It's now another I have on my list to get out again. It's a densely plotted novel, set in what would appear to be Victorian Europe - perhaps even London - with a twist. It's proper fantasy, with its own rules and regulations, but tethered to the feeling of a particular time and place. Rather wonderful as I remember, dark and atmospheric and complex.

Tis enough for now. I hope to come back to this (I'm up to August 2009), my library session has just timed out.

08-04-2010, 06:33 AM	#1832
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	According to my online library card I've checked out 195 books since May last year. I'm going to go back and try to pick out at least some, as I feel I let you down badly by being such an infrequent reviewer. Not all of course. Some I barely remember and some I simply didn't care about enough to comment on. These will not include biographies/ autobiographies as I think they depend on an interest in the subject (Alan Carr, anyone? Julian Clary? Both exceptional books). Or books I've been lent - some of which have been superb. Marco and the Blade of Night - Thom Madley A tween book - quite good as I remember. I still read these because they almost always have a rollicking good narrative. It's set in Glastonbury and certainly made me want to visit there. Aenir/ The Fall/ Castle - Garth Nix I have little memory of these. I think I was going through a bad patch and wanted the comfort of fantasy aimed at children. Diana Wynne Jones almost always delivers, Philip Pullman less reliably but packs a pucnh when he does, Margaret Mahy's books often haunt me even if I've not been charmed at the time... Garth Nix - not so much. As always a good narrative, but the endless writing of series is wearing, Stories never seem fully completed. The Dead Fathers' Club - Matt Haig Very good! Based on Hamlet, but I got that from the cover. Knowing that, I was able to pick up the sly references throughout the text. I suppose it is a coming-of-age story as much as a Shakespeare homage, in that the protagonist is only 11. A lovely combination of fate and reality which comes to a believable conclusion. Lucy's Monster - R L Royle Do not read. Dreadful book. Riddled with plot holes big enough to trash Jinx's Jeep. And not even properly proofread - some real zingers of mistakes. I actually complained to the librarian when I took it back, suggesting they removed it from the shelves. And I didn't finish it. And that is so not like me. Blood is the New Black - Valerie Stivers Worth reading for vampire fans simply for the frothy treatment of vampires meet fashion. Set at a magazine HQ - Tasty - it's The Devil Wears Prade meets any recent lightweight vamp fic. Nicely written at least. Procession of the Dead - Darren Shan A really good read. Dark, fantastic, confusing in places (confusion later resolves) a cross between a gangster novel and something along the lines of Ian Banks' The Bridge. It's not real life, although it's gritty. It's not fantasy but it isn't set anywhere recognisable. Something like Murakami. It's the first of a trilogy and I'm now writing down the author's name as I'm determined to read the rest of them! Creepers - David Morrell Okay. Pretty much a pedestrian suspense/ spook novel about people who go exploring in abandoned buildings getting more than they bargained for. More could have been done with it. The Family of Max Desir - Robert Ferro Wonderful, moving novel about a gay man's relationship with his family and how it changes over time and due to outside events. At times heartwarming and brutal. The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters - Gordon Dahlquist Something went wrong about the time I had this book out of the library. I read 2/3 of it, enjoyed it enormously, got a library fine for it but didn't finish it. I think the 'rents might have been away and I was on a drunk. It's now another I have on my list to get out again. It's a densely plotted novel, set in what would appear to be Victorian Europe - perhaps even London - with a twist. It's proper fantasy, with its own rules and regulations, but tethered to the feeling of a particular time and place. Rather wonderful as I remember, dark and atmospheric and complex. Tis enough for now. I hope to come back to this (I'm up to August 2009), my library session has just timed out.