Bibliomaniac's Book Shelf - My Week in Books! 3rd Sept 2017
Bibliomaniac's Book Shelf
My Week in Books
3rd Sept 2017
I have decided to stick with this weekly round up feature for a little while so I hope you've been enjoying it! I always love reading everyone else's weekly wrap up so I hope you'll look forward to catching up with me at the weekends to find out how my bookish week has been!
IF YOU ONLY HAVE TIME FOR ONE BOOK THIS WEEK THEN MAKE IT THIS ONE:
MARIA IN THE MOON by Louise Beech
Currently for sale as an ebook and in paperback on the 30th September.
I'm on the Blog Tour for this book on the 9th September so not too long to wait until I can share my review but I just can't resist sharing some book love now! I thoroughly enjoyed this beautifully written novel by Louise Beech that explores families, grief, memories and truth. Here's the blurb and look out for the blog tour which is running with Orenda at the moment!
Thirty-two-year-old Catherine Hope has a great memory. But she can't remember everything. She can't remember her ninth year. She can't remember when her insomnia started. And she can't remember why everyone stopped calling her Catherine-Maria.
With a promiscuous past, and licking her wounds after a painful breakup, Catherine wonders why she resists anything approaching real love. But when she loses her home to the devastating deluge of 2007 and volunteers at Flood Crisis, a devastating memory emerges... and changes everything.
Dark, poignant and deeply moving, Maria in the Moon is an examination of the nature of memory and truth, and the defences we build to protect ourselves, when we can no longer hide...
You can buy the ebook via Amazon by clicking here
OTHER BOOKS I HAVE READ THIS WEEK.......
THE WRONG BOY by WILLY RUSSELL
I have a slight soft spot for Willy Russell - who doesn't? I've watched and re-watched Shirley Valentine and Educating Rita numerous times and in a previous life I taught Blood Brothers and loved seeing it performed in Central London. So when a friend quoted this book in conversation and then said she was always recommending it, I just had to go out, buy it and read it!
This is not a quick read - it's just over 500 pages and the text is dense. The protagonist, Raymond Marks, has a lot to say for himself and we are quickly enveloped in his life, his routine, his family and his observations and thoughts. Raymond is writing letters to Morrissey, on his journey to Grimsby via the service stations and motorway cafes as he hitches his way towards a labouring job. He's "dead depressed and down" and hopes that Morrissey will be an appropriate listener or confidante for his thoughts. And there are a lot of thoughts! And a lot of details. So be prepared to really lose yourself in the world of Raymond Marks for a while, although the journey is well worth it. And like any great character, once Raymond starts talking, it's hard to turn yourself away from him and the pages almost turn themselves.
It's impossible not to like Raymond. As the blurb says, he is a normal boy from a normal town but there just seem to have been too many situations where Raymond finds himself misrepresented, his behaviour or words misinterpreted and he faces judgement, prejudice and then becomes set on a course of unfortunate events which lead to his world becoming a place of confusion and unhappiness. Despite Raymond's depression and social problems, as always, Russell's voice is full of humour, laughter and comfort. It's heartwarming rather than heartbreaking and there is plenty to make you smile. I particularly enjoyed the relationship with Gran and her fabulous witticisms which I might steal- and perhaps Raymond's fantastic misreading of psychotherapist as Psycho- the - rapist.
There is also a lot about the 1990s in this novel as it is firmly rooted in this era- the first letter to Morrissey in sent in June 1991. I did enjoy joining Raymond and his mother sitting down to Blockbusters every evening and all the other plentiful cultural and social references. Perhaps a bit dated for some, but for me hugely evocative of a specific time and place and really helped to ground the characters in their setting and account for behaviours, attitudes and sociological approaches.
A bit different, but I'm glad I read it. Russell's style is distinctive and he writes a good story with memorable characters. Raymond's voice is engaging and his perceptions will make you laugh and cry at the same time. I think I join my friend in recommending it and I enjoyed discovering a novel by an author that I haven't read for a long time but whom I admire greatly.
The Wrong Boy is published by Black Swan.
A THOUSAND ROOMS by HELEN JONES
The author had sent me this book a while ago and I hadn't had time to properly schedule it in, so while on holiday I decided to take it with me and finally find some time to read it.
In A Thousand Rooms the main character, Katie, aged 32, finds herself watching her own death one morning and is then trapped, wandering around in the truest sense of a lost soul, trying to find her way to wherever it is she is supposed to be.
"You don't wake up expecting to die."
Especially not in your brand new shoes that are now ruined! Katie's narrative voice is informal, colloquial and reads as if you are in a long conversation with a good friend. There is plenty of humour, frustration, disbelief and "freaking out" as she realises the finality of her situation and the strangeness of what is happening to her. As if watching your own death isn't confusing enough, Katie then finds she can kind of teleport herself around to places and memories just by thinking of them and then has to bear the uncomfortableness and weirdness of watching everyone find out about her death.
Through this the reader learns more about Katie and the life she has now left behind. There is a lightness and chatty style to Jones' writing but that does not mean it is without sadness, poignancy or a serious exploration of grief. It is always an intriguing premise for a main character to be able to watch people's reaction to their own death and wonder about the meaning of what they had and what they achieved; it is an idea that has of course been done before, but Jones' version still feels original.
The bulk of the novel recounts Katie's journey to find her way to 'heaven', or some kind of resting place, and I found this journey much less conventional than in things I've read or seen before. There is an element of fantasy (obviously) but in the style of the novel as well as the theme. There is some very good writing and the prose is imaginative. There is some romance and this novel was had a few unexpected moments and events as Katie continued on her journey which made the story feel fresh, quirky and engaging. Jones has a creative mind.
No spoilers (I hope) but the ending is heartwarming and despite the topic and the necessity to reflect on death, grief and tragedy, Jones keeps an upbeat atmosphere through the novel because of Katie's honest, real and often sarcastic turn of phrase. She is a likeable character and I was happy to go along with her on a search for what she might discover in her life after a sudden death.
A Thousand Rooms is published independently and available both as a ebook and a paperback.
GENUINE FRAUD by E LOCKHART
I loved We Were Liars by E Lockhart so was thrilled to receive an advance copy of this via NetGalley.
Meet Jule West Williams. She wants to be the centre of her story. She is a force to be reckoned with; highly intelligent, full of drive, and with the calculation and premeditation that matches even the most impressive heroes of espionage. It is also about her friend, Imogen and their complicated, intense relationship. Imogen who has now disappeared, thought to be dead.
It might sound like a bit of a cop out, but I actually don't want to say too much about this book. I don't want to spoil the ride for anyone who chooses to meet Jule and follow her journey as she invents herself again and again, repeatedly adapting to the ever changing situations she finds herself in. Like a chameleon, she reinvents her appearance, personality, accent and character until it is hard to remember just what is the truth - what is genuine and what is fraud?
Lockhart's writing is readable, engaging and page turning. This is a relatively short book so it is quite a quick read which for me was good because there are a lot of events and characters of which to keep track. The timeline slips forward and back over a relatively short period of time and the reader has to put the jigsaw together to figure out what has happened to Imogen and Jule, watching in admiration - or horror - as Jule plots her next move or assumes her next identity. There are lots of twist and turns and plenty to keep any crime fiction fan interested. I enjoyed the details about how she trained herself, how she prepared herself and how she morphed herself as well as how callous she could be and the lengths she went to to be the centre of her story.
There are very obvious comparisons and similarities with The Talented Mr Ripley and Genuine Fraud is as sinister, unsettling and clever. It is clearly inspired by Ripley but then to a certain extent many novels echo the influences of others. Lockhart modernises the story as well as switching the gender of the protagonist; it may bring the story to a new readership and I didn't find it so repetitive that I couldn't enjoy it in its own right.
Although it is clever, well written and with a compelling protagonist, for me it didn't quite measure up to We Were Liars which was such an incredible read. Having said that, there is no doubt in my mind that Lockhart is very talented and her ability to construct such a complicated storyline is impressive and cannot be faulted. I will always read anything she publishes.
Genuine Fraud is published by Hot Key Books on 5th September 2017.
OTHER BOOKISH NEWS THIS WEEK...
INTERVIEWS & GUEST POSTS
I was thrilled to have the chance to interview Chris Whitaker this week all about his new novel All The Wicked Girls which published on 24th August with Bonnier Zaffre. You can read my interview here. A huge thanks to Chris for taking so much time to answer the questions in such detail- I really enjoyed reading through his responses! Chris also came to Harpenden Books for the afternoon this weekend and it was lovely to meet him again!
BLOG TOURS
This week I was on the Blog Tour for Liz Mistry's book Untainted Blood and you can read my review by clicking on the link below:
BIBLIOMANIAC'S AUTHOR EVENTS
TICKETS NOW ON SALE!
Click on the link below to read all about the authors coming along on the 20th September and to book tickets to the event! Don't miss out - it's going to be awesome!!
That's all from me! Hope you have had a great week and found plenty to read as well! Let me know what you have been reading by leaving a comment below!
Same time next week?!
For more recommendations and reviews follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 or via my blog bibliomaniacuk.blogspot.co.uk or website bibliomaniacuk.co.uk
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