Julia Stewart books

• The Last Pearl Fisher of Scotland 
• The Pigeon Pie Mystery 
• The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise 
• The Matchmaker of Périgord 

I've enjoyed reading all these books by Julia Stewart. Each one is entirely different, in terms of genre,  story and writing style, with barely a grammatical error.

The first one I read (over ten years ago) was The Matchmaker of Périgord, a quirky love story set in a small village in France - and which elicited numerous grins! I've recommended it to several people (many of whom are Francophiles, as I knew that they would appreciate the humour). 

The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise is also quirky and a little sad, with lots of interesting snippets (which I assume to be true?) relating to the Tower of London since Victorian times, as a tourist attraction rather than a place of incarceration and executions! 

A historically based novel centred around life in Hampton Court Palace, The Pigeon Pie Mystery is a cross between a Victorian murder-mystery and The Importance of Being Ernest. Subtly humorous, the 'upper classes' are not all awful...  

Another complete change of genre for The Last Pearl Fisher of Scotland. An intriguing story about the demise of pearl fishing but a satisfying outcome to the pearl fisherman's quest. 

If any of these books appeal to you, I hope you will enjoy your choice(s). Let us know in the comments. 

Debut Novel by Richard Armitage

Actor Richard Armitage has written his first novel, a thriller, titled Geneva. According to the 'blurb' it's not a particularly happy book, with the main character showing signs of early onset Alzheimer's. It is, however, described as "Outstanding" by popular writer Harlan Coben, whose televised books often had major roles for Armitage. And, to be fair, he was good in them, as befitting an award winning star of screen and TV. He seems to portray the complexities of characters, mixing darkness and vulnerability. Personally, my favourite of his roles was the TV series of Robin Hood where his portrayal of Guy of Gisborne moved from unlikeable to hero. He was also in the sit-com, The Vicar of Dibley, which was fun.

Anyway, back to the book. 

It centres around Sarah, a not-so-average woman, the winner of a Nobel award for a medical science breakthrough who has retired to be a mother to her daughter. Her husband is also in the medical profession and her father is in a care facility, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, a form of dementia. Sarah fears that she is exhibiting signs of early-onset Alzheimer's and is persuaded to endorse a new, revolutionary technology from a Swiss pharmaceutical research institute. (Don't worry, the story is aimed at ordinary people who need have no knowledge of the technical details of the plot.)

Geneva is the setting throughout virtually the whole book, which grows more intense with every chapter. Perhaps too intense for some but it's an easy read and the 'baddies' get their come-uppance.

I read the whole book with Richard Armitage cast as Sarah's husband.

David Mitchell: Comedian, Author, Actor.

I've watched two TV series starring David Mitchell as the lead actor. The first was Upstart Crow, a comedy set around the time of Shakespeare, in which there were funny moments but, overall, I wasn't bothered about it. I much prefer his story-telling, rants and banter with Lee Mack on 'WILTY'.

The other series, which was the recently aired Ludwig, is described as a 'Comedy drama, Detective, Mystery' - which I did enjoy. Here is a link to the official trailer from the BBC for Ludwig.

I have a couple of books written by David Mitchell. They're a bit exhausting, in my opinion. The short rants that make me smile on TV don't transfer well into long, rambling book form. But, if you appreciate well crafted rants on general topics of life, you really need to visit David Mitchell's Soapbox. Here's an example:

In conclusion, his quick thinking interaction on WILTY (would I lie to you) are top class, his characters on TV can be good but his books are a bit too much for me.

Stephen King - Fairy Tale - Review

A short review, not a synopsis. There are many reviews of this fantasy novel already on the internet (none of which I've yet read) but here goes with mine, anyway.

The story of a teenage boy from Illinois. An ordinary boy who lost his mother at an early age and all but lost his father at the same time, because the pain of losing his wife led Dad to alcohol dependency and, as a consequence, he lost his job. The boy, Charlie, had to grow up fast. Not a happy beginning to a novel. 

One day, Charlie was walking home from school when he heard a dog frantically barking; he rushed to investigate and his intervention saved an old man's life. He was used to looking after his dad from an early age so he volunteered to look after the neighbour and his dog. After getting to know the old man, Charlie's life took a different turn, from ordinary to surreal.

Most of the book is a fairy tale setting, often 'grim' but with a happy ending.

So what did I think of Fairy Tale? As usual, with a Stephen King novel, the story has significant detail and the characters, although many, are described well. There was a bit in the middle when I wished he'd get on with it but you have to persevere as it may be revealed to be important later in the book.

Tip! You may want to keep a pencil and paper to hand. There were a few pages containing loads of uncommon words, most of which meant nothing to me - and I should have made a note of them to look up afterwards.

There were some grammatical faux-pas for which the proof-reader(s) should be held responsible. These include 'compare to' and a couple of others, which are no doubt mentioned elsewhere in this blog in some grammar rants. Incorrect grammar momentarily disrupts my reading enjoyment but I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority.

Another nice detail at the end of the book was that the author included a section that tidies up loose ends. 

Reacher Series - books 3, 4, 5.

Having reviewed the first book - Killing Floor - and the second book - Die Trying - I thought I should continue with the next three books in the Reacher series by Lee Child. 

Book 3: Tripwire

The book begins with Jack Reacher in Florida Keys but events lead him north to the New York area, where he has an unexpected reunion at the funeral of a friend with whom he worked in book 2. Also, Reacher falls in love.

As usual, Reacher becomes embroiled in dealing with criminals and their gratuitously violent tortures. Other than that, the book is a page turner and the story telling is more fluent plus there's a nice plot twist reveal towards the end of the book. 

Book 4: The Visitor

The murders in this book are less graphically violent, more chilling, indicating a different kind of killer rather than organised crime. Reacher is staying with his girlfriend from the previous book when approached by the FBI to assist with identifying and catching a serial killer which, eventually, he does.

Not sure if I liked the story but, once again, it was compelling reading.

Book 5: Echo Burning

I think that this is the best of the books, so far, in that it deals with the story and leaves out the unnecessary torture and love-making details that I previously found wearing. Reacher's on the road again and this adventure finds him in Texas. 

There are several murders but without the graphic violence from earlier books. The way the author brings together the many elements of the story is excellent. Of the likely suspects, I'd narrowed it down to two until near the end when the person behind these will become obvious.

Conclusion: I always felt that Texas was a place I would never want to live (although I have visited once and I know a couple of 'normal' people who live there). This book brings home how vast the state is and confirms that I would not be comfortable living there.

About the Author.

Lee Child is a Brit, born James Dover Grant in the midlands, almost 70 years ago. He worked in TV from 1977 until 1995 when he was made redundant and began writing. Both he and his younger brother, Andrew, also an author, live in the U.S.A. with their American wives.

I found this interesting (Wikipedia): "In January 2020, Child announced that he would be retiring from writing the Jack Reacher series and handing it to his brother Andrew Grant, who would write further books of the series under the surname Child. He intended to write the next few books together with Grant before passing the series entirely over to him." Andrew Grant writes under the name Andrew Child.

Note:

p.s. Please bear in mind that these are my opinions of how good I feel the books are and are not meant to be a synopsis of the stories. As such, feel free to agree/disagree in the comments.

My Time Again ... And Again?

I have now read these two books by author Ian Cummins.

The first book was My Time Again, a story of a 69-year-old man who went to sleep in his own bed in his own bedroom in his own home, with the expectation of waking up the following morning to celebrate his 70th birthday. But... he wakes up in a different room. 

As he becomes more awake, he feels that the room is familiar. He also feels physically better than he did the previous day. In a few minutes, he discovers that this is, in fact, his 18th birthday and he is back in his room where he lived when he started university - in October 1970.

By the time he reaches the eve of his 70th birthday (again), he has been involved in numerous events, including some with secret services. But what happens then? Will he return, move to another 'parallel' life, die or something else? Read My Time Again to find out.

Spoiler? Just mentioning the sequel, And Again? implies that he didn't die, because he has another adventure - where? Or, a more accurate question might be when? And, of course, why?

Another time travelling adventure for the septuagenarian! Both books are available from Amazon (and free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription).

Book Review: The Hearing Trumpet

Written by Leonora Carrington, a surrealist who is mostly known for her artworks, this has to be the most surreal book I've read. It begins almost normally and becomes increasingly bizarre to... I'm not sure what:  supernatural, fantasy, post-apocalyptic? 

It features a deaf elderly grandmother whose obnoxious grandson persuades his parents to put her in an old folks home. She's not allowed to take her cats into the retirement complex so her friend and neighbour  (who spends much of her time in a fantasy world) takes them in. 

The retirement village is run by not-very-nice people but most of the other residents are friendly, each living in run-down cottages that were reminiscent of fairy tale buildings. 

Life progressively gets more surreal and the ending is a complete surprise. 

According to Wikipedia "92-year-old Marian Leatherby lives in Mexico with her son Galahad, his wife Muriel, and her grandson Robert. Upon being gifted a hearing trumpet by her friend Carmella, Marian discovers that her family is planning to put her in an institution, which indeed happens. At the institution Marian finds herself drawn into surreal and occult intrigue, conspiracy and adventure."

 Related link 

 

Book Review: Reacher - Die Trying

'Die Trying' is the second Reacher book which I have also finished reading in a day. Fast-paced, it's difficult to put down so "well done" to author Lee Child. I preferred the switch to third person, too.

The question is - is it too action-packed? It's certainly exhausting to read about people who are tireless heroes who seem to function with virtually no sleep and almost no food or drink and who have also survived physical damage. In real life, many people can't even crawl to work if they catch a cold but maybe, at least in our heads, we aspire to be heroes. Most of us can't do it ourselves so we read about it because - who wants to read about lives as ordinary as our own?

The story involved 'great minds' including POTUS, the head of the FBI and the head of the US Military yet, sometimes, they overlooked the obvious for a few pages. However, Reacher saves the day. Again. He's dependable, logical, with a strong sense of 'right' and 'wrong'.

Good news - although there were still passionate scenes, they were not clumsy (as they were in the first book) and there was still wanton torture by the 'baddies' but the author was not so fixated on it. More good news - there was an absence of unnecessary gratuitous swearing, the sign of a competent wordsmith.

Next week, it's on to the third Reacher book. I'll keep you posted.

Review of Reacher - Killing Floor.

Book Review: Reacher - Killing Floor

Having watched and enjoyed the first two seasons of Reacher with Alan Ritchson, I began to read the books by Lee Child. The first book, Killing Floor, was written in the first person. It must have been a while since I watched series 1 because I didn't really recognise most of the story in the book - I'll need to re-watch the series again, soon. 

Lee Child writes well. I found the book gripping and finished it within 24 hours. However, a couple of niggles were: the detailed graphic violence from people who were enjoyed torturing their victims and the romance scenes. Regarding the violence - it seems that either the author is obsessed with genitals or he thinks his readers will be. Regarding the romance, the scenes felt like carbon copies of other middle-aged authors, who think that perfection in love-making is something they wish to achieve.

I think I preferred the TV adaptation but it was a good book and well worth reading.

I've just started the second book, Die Trying. I was surprised to find that he had switched to writing in the third person, which felt more comfortable to read.
Review - Die Trying.

Another post about Books

 I'm currently reading a book about Leonora Carrington. 

But this part of the post is about a completely different book by Stephen King.

Having watched The Shining and seen excepts from other horror films based on his books (e.g. Carrie and IT), I decided to avoid Stephen King's prolific output... until recently, when I learned that the author also disliked the film.

During a discussion of The Shining with someone who had seen the film and read the book, he covered some of the differences and recommended that I read the sequel, Doctor Sleep, which he lent to me.

I admit to some trepidation during descriptions of the antagonists but the rest of the book more than made up for those. The author has the ability to create fully rounded characters who, during the course of the story, become people whom you 'know' and can imagine being from a neighbouring village (if you ignore that it's set in America). And, all importantly, the ending is more positive than you think!

Conclusion: I might try another Stephen King novel soon, possibly Fairy Tale - another suggestion from my 'book-lender'.

Leonora Carrington.

Update: I have finished reading the book about Leonora Carrington by Joanna Moorhead. Leonora led an interesting life and I found many aspects of her character to be admirable. Although I tried to like her art, examples of her surrealist style are not for me.

The next book I have lined up to read is Leonora Carrington's The Hearing Trumpet. 

Time for more Book Reviews!

Surprisingly, there are very few book reviews on this blog yet I read so many! These have included some by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Ian Cummins and numerous others but I'll just review a couple of these books in this post. 

1. Terry Pratchett's Discworld Novels.

I'm just a couple of books from having the whole set. I re-read the ones I have in 2023. If you know and love Discworld, there is nothing I can add but, if you want to try a few, here is some useful information.

Death appears in many of the books. Obvious when you think about it, really. He is a weary old bag of bones with a strong sense of duty (well, except for that one time...) and has a grand-daughter Susan, a horse named Binky and a manservant, Albert. His speech is denoted in small capitals, such as I COULD MURDER A CURRY. 

Lord Vetinari is a dictator although that seems a bit harsh, considering how well he runs the main city of Ankh-Morpork by keeping ahead of everone and everything. He is also in many of the books. 

The Wizards of the Unseen University provide the mad-cap element and the Witches from varioius other regions of Discworld are generally practical and helpful within their communities. Rincewind is a failed wizard who travels throughout the Discworld and has many adventures, featuring in several of the books.

The Watch reports to Lord Vetinari, they are responsible for law enforcement and are, for the most part, let by Captain Vimes. There are also guilds who are allowed to control their own (otherwise unlawful) business within parameters set by Lord Vetinari; these includethe assassins guild, thieves guild, etc.. The Watch is featured in many of the Discworld stories, particularly those set in Ankh-Morpork. 

Moist Von Lipwig is featured in three stories. He resurrected the Post Office, ran the bank and was instrumental in the Rail system.

Ankh-Morpork is a truly cosmopolitan city, home to humans, wizards (including one orang-utang), dwarfs, golems, trolls, at least one werewolf and a vampire - you name them, you'll find them there. 

Gods have a following. Between them, they cover everything, including cutlery drawers, but are not usually significant in most of the stories. 

There are many other characters popping up now and then and the themes of stories are parodies of the world we live in but with a quirky, humorous twist.

 

2. Neil Gaiman - Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett) and a book of his short stories.

Perhaps you've watched Good Omens on TV? I had already read the original book and subsequently the script of the first story after the TV show. It was excellent. The sequel (without Pratchett) was not quite as captivating, in my opinion, as he seemed to have difficulty focusing on 'real' people rather than angels and demons. It left a cliff-hanger at the end which screamed, "There must be a Season 3" and, let's face it,we all want to see more of Crowley and Aziraphale.

Gaiman's book of short stories illustrates just how many weird ideas are floating around his head - not all happy thoughts, either. He's a good writer and, to be fair to him, I am not a fan of short stories, but if it's your way of escaping from your real life for a while, by all means give it a go. 

3. Ian Cummins - The Wrong Briefcase, My Time Again, Social Murderer.

Three different novels, three different genres. Take your pick.

The Wrong Briefcase is like a TV drama in that it's about people who you may know through work, the local pub, parents at the school, neighbours, etc.. It focuses on two characters, each with their own story, totally unaware of each other. One is an ambitious man, Mark, whose personal life is changing; the other is James, a family man and our link to his father Harry's business. The story begins with Harry deciding to invest all his cash for his upcoming retirement to secure his and his wife's future - but he leaves the briefcase full of money in a taxi. The next person to use the taxi is Mark who picks up the briefcase, thinking it's his own, forgetting that he didn't have one with him that day. Harry turns to his son, James, to help find the briefcase but soon dies, leaving James to 'tidy up' his affairs. The book follows Mark with his new found wealth and James as their lives change but never cross. Of course, there's a good twist at the end. 

My Time Again is about a man, Graham, who has lived for 70 years when he is transported overnight back to 1970, when he was starting at University in London. His body is now that of an 18 year old but his seventy years of memories are still in his mind. This leads him to make different choices second time around. The author uses real life events to guide the story along, with Graham occasionally trying to change outcomes. But what may happen when his seventieth birthday approaches again plays on his mind, and he is determined to unravel the mystery before it's too late. 

Social Murderer is darker than the previous two books. Whilst murder-mysteries are the most popular of genres, I prefer less death and more feel-good. That said, however, it's a well thought through story of trying to identify the murderer before he continues his killing spree. Eventually, the detective finds out that victims are randomly chosen from their social media profiles - hence 'social murderer' - with the qualifying criteria being that their names that can be arranged in a specific pattern to solve a simple puzzle. The murderer has promised a huge reward for the first person who solves the puzzle. Will he/she be caught before the puzzle is finished and the prize claimed?

So that's it. You can buy Pratchett's and Gaiman's books practically anywhere; Ian Cummins' books are all available on Amazon books and Kindle.

P.S. I posted this book review years ago and can only remember the first and last books mentioned! Sadly, my Kindle is over ten years old and has stopped functioning.

Review - Ready Player One - The Book

First of all, it's hard to believe that this is the author's first novel. Secondly - how will Ernest Cline follow that! Almost ten years later, we're still waiting to find out.

For anyone who is not a 'gamer', I'd recommend reading the book before trying the film. I was given this excellent advice because the book explains references to games in the story-line in a way that the film doesn't, because it's focusing on the action. Special effects are a substitute for imagination, I guess. I was totally absorbed in the book - and I'm one of those weird freaks who has never, ever played a video game and I have no intention of doing so.

The story is futuristic, set a couple of decades hence, but the over-riding theme is inspired by the 1980s. There are many references to that era to keep the interest of people born before then. Not just gamers and not just Americans - the story includes British and Japanese culture from around that decade. Rock and pop music, fantasy-world book authors, such as Terry Pratchett, plus many, many film references, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which made me smile - yes I remember the '80s.

The film, directed by Steven Spielberg, was released in 2018. I've not seen it yet but I have discussed it with a couple of people who have watched the film but not read the book... READ THE BOOK! If there is a downside, it's that the font size used in the book is minuscule. It's all small print that required me to use a combination of reading glasses and bright sunlight or, in the evenings, I tried a daylight torch and a magnifying glass - neither of which were ideal. And I don't have enough hands to use both and hold the book open and turn the pages.

It's a well-written book but the genre isn't for everyone. I loved it and I'm looking forward to watching the film in the near future.

---

p.s. I read Good Omens quite some time ago and recently watched the series on TV. And now I'm going to re-read the book...

Book Reviews, Winter reading

I can't believe the number of novels I've read in the past three or four months! All these books were available as free downloads for Kindle so do you get what you pay for? Recent readings include:

• The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
• The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Man Who Never Was - Hylton Smith
• Tuppeny Hat Detective - Brian Sellars
• The Half-Life of Hannah - Nick Alexander
• The Christmas Bake Off - Abbey Clements
• The Fight Before Christmas - Frankie McGowan
• In a New York Minute - Eleanor Moran
• Death by Honeymoon - Jaden Skye
• Licence to Date (Better Date than Never) - Susan Hatler

(there were a couple more but a bit samey)

The Great Gatsby
I've never seen the films, just clips of affluent Americans from 100 years ago, so I began reading without any preconceptions. The overriding impression of the book is not the story but the writing of it - it's as much of a struggle as Shakespeare! That aside, it was like reading a narration of the adult life of Jay Gatsby but without much satisfaction, because the story-teller had only known the subject for a few weeks and was unable to address the questions that the readers most want to know, e.g. how exactly did he become so wealthy?

The Lost World
It has adventure and humour and, although the book was quite lengthy, it never failed to entertain. Briefly, the story is about an expedition to a small area of South America that has a micro-climate that has supported a few dinosaurs, millions of years after they ceased to exist everywhere else on earth. Good story, worth a read!

The Man Who Never Was
Interesting detective story spanning two time periods, mid-1940s and 1980s. The '80s CID from 'up north' were trying to solve a 40 year old suspicious death but there were some shenanigans from London's secret services - a cover up! The lives of the early characters were well described and became 'real' to the reader so that we want to know what happened to them later on - and that the complex investigation reaches a satisfactory conclusion. Good story, well written.

Tuppeny Hat Detective
Set in post WWII northern England, a young boy is determined to pursue enquiries relating to the death of a neighbour, while the Police and resident G.P. refuse to recognise clues. Well written tale, also with a satisfactory conclusion.

The Half Life of Hannah
A cleverly misleading title; a family drives to Southern France for a summer holiday, to a rural holiday home that they have rented with some relatives and a friend. A long lost brother returns from the dead (Australia) and upsets the family apple cart. OK for a 'light' read.

The Christmas Bake Off
I seem to remember this as a fairly short story, a pre-Christmas 'filler'. A Readers Digest style simple love story that took place in the few days around the village baking competition. Not particularly memorable.

The Fight Before Christmas
An ordinary story about ordinary people going through a family break-up and the pressures of Christmas - but well told and with happy endings all round - though not the ones you might think!

In a New York Minute
A short and sweet story of a work deadline in New York that results in a missed flight back to London on Christmas Eve but leads to a blossoming friendship with the promise of romance, turning despair into happiness within a minute.

Death By Honeymoon
The perfect boyfriend becomes the perfect husband and the happy couple start their honeymoon in a small beach hotel in a tourist-free spot in Barbados. Unfortunately, the husband is killed in a surfing accident. His wife doesn't believe that it was an accident and spends far too much time pathetically protesting this whilst cocooned back at home before the author decides to get her off her backside and back to the Caribbean to pursue the enquiry herself. She solves the murder and this sparks a new career. Despite the delay in the story getting back to the action, it was a good read and I will consider reading more in the series.

Licence To Date
Enjoyable read, a well written 'nice' story about a young woman finding romance following a break-up on the eve of her wedding day. Best of a 'samey' bunch of girlie stories.

BP2/3BPs

Book Reviews, Summer reading

I downloaded a number of books this summer, including some classics. The ones I have read most recently are still in my memory and will be briefly reviewed here:

• Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
• Rushed - Brian Harmon
• Officer Jones - Derek Ciccone
• The Travel Auction - Mark Green

I had the Treasure Island book as a child but couldn't get into it. As an adult, I enjoyed reading it. Possibly some of the hero's feats are dubious but a good story and a happy ending puts this on my recommended book list. (UK)

The humorous telephone banter in Rushed kept me company during my journey with the main character, who was on a mystery quest that came to him in a recurring dream. The story itself was mostly interesting, as were most of the other characters who were introduced in the story-telling. Personally, I thought that the mystery should have been left as such at the end of the book because I felt that the explanation was a let-down. However, the 'hero' is worth getting to know and I would recommend this book as a worthy read - you may even like the ending. (USA)

A well-written novel about a TV news journalist who travels to the world's trouble spots and decides to cover one more job... after which he returns to his home town and the story focuses on Officer Jones, an exemplary cop with a perfect military and police background, apparently. It's a good investigative journalist story with a bit of a love interest. Formulaic, perhaps, but don't let that put you off, it's a good read and the characters in the book are so well described that they become people you feel you know. I wouldn't be surprised to see this as a TV mini-series. (USA)

The Travel Auction by Mark Green is a breath of fresh air. It's boy meets girl with a difference. I felt like a privileged friend to both as they shared their travel experiences and thoughts throughout the book. Amazingly, no - brilliantly - there was no gratuitous sex throughout the book, which some authors feel compelled to use in lieu of confident story-telling (I'm not saying that there's no sex). It has humour, drama and plot set in a travellers' guide to South America. I loved this book and thoroughly recommend it. According to the author's website, the paperback version may be available now/soon - a great stocking filler! (UK)

Reading Sir ACD's Sherlock Holmes

Thanks to a free download from Amazon book store to my kindle, I've been reading through the full Sherlock Holmes stories for a while now and I'll be sorry when I'm finished (which I nearly have, so I've slowed down) because I'll miss the companionship of Holmes and Watson. Sounds odd, I know.

Another odd thing I noticed while reading was that, in my head, Sherlock Holmes' dialogue was delivered in the style and voice of Jonny Lee Miller (from the SkyTV series "Elementary") yet my head-based Watson was played by Martin Freeman.

Of note: Moriarty barely featured in the books, same with Irene Adler, both hyped up from the original stories. I also recognised a few expressions that had been 'borrowed' from the stories, too. Not so many as from Shakespeare's works, of course, but interesting (I never could get to grips with Will's style of writing). Thumbs up for ACD!

Here's a link to the free downloadable version: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1661