End of month review and giveaway result

Yes, ok, I know I'm a couple of days late but it has been one of those weeks. Still, it's almost over now! Here in the UK we are enjoying record breaking weather, with the mercury going higher here than in a lot of sunshine holiday destinations. It's a nice change after a rotten summer.

September has been busy here at Booked Up, what with author interviews, guest posts and 4 giveaways courtesy of Scott Nicholson. His month of promotion, Be Nicholson's Agent, is now over and I'm sure he'll be glad for a rest. The winner of the final giveaway is...

Nicki G. Your book will be on it's way to you soon! Congratulations.

I read some great books in September, and for me the highlights were:

- contemporary fiction The Water Men by Adelaide MacKenzie Fuss (which I left as part of the Guardian's Book Swap - hope it found a good new home)

- An Epitaph for Coyote by Bryan R Dennis

- Horror short The Tunnelers by Geoff Gander

- Man Booker shortlisted book Snowdrops by A D Miller

September was also an interesting month with the launch of Amazon's new range of Kindles, include the Kindle Fire tablet. None of the offerings have got me so excited I've dived in and pre-ordered one, I think instead I'll wait to hear what others have got to say about them.

I'd best wrap this up, I received a replacement kindle on Friday and I've very very slowly been putting all my books onto the new one and sorting out my collections but there's still more work to do. Wish me luck!

Book Review: The Water Men by Adelaide MacKenzie Fuss

A life in California, surfing in the Pacific, to me sounds perfect. Devon, England is hardly the West Coast. My view of the lifestyle has probably been distorted by too many American TV shows so this book sounded like a bit of an antidote.

Shawn McGuire was living the American dream, but it has now faded and he's wide awake. He has retired at the age of 36, a multi-millionaire, and returned to his home town of Newport Beach. His plan is to surf and to find some sort of spiritual nourishment. His mum hasn't seen him for years and is a prickly lady to deal with. His neighbours are mostly in a similar position, millionaires with time on their hands and not much in the way of a plan. He realises his mum is one of the things drawing him back, the unsolved disappearance of a former schoolmate is another.

This story charts about a year in Shawn's life, although until near the end the timescale isn't clear which gave me the same sort of drifting, unanchored feeling I imagine Shawn would have after a life in the hectic business world. He find some sort of purpose in his life when he rescues abandoned dog Oliver, who leads him to the woman he marries. Theirs isn't a conventional marriage though and Shawn focuses more time on rescuing alcoholic neighbour Russ and former surgeon Jimmy. He also finds a way to try and do some good for the community. While doing all of this things start to come together for him.

With the description talking about Shawn searching for missing pieces of his soul I did wonder whether this might be a little too philosophical and highbrow to be a really enjoyable read. I turned out to be totally wrong. Shawn is a nice guy who has made good and is now searching for meaning beyond his value in $$$s. As a character I really warmed to him and the good things he was doing in his search for a better life. The author's descriptions of the Pacific and the surf lifestyle, while blunt about the potential dangers, has made me determined to make it as far as the West coast one day. It sounds amazing.

This is a wonderful piece of contemporary fiction that I have been thinking about since I finished it yesterday. I think it is one of those books that will stay with me for longer than most as I continue to think about what is really important in life and what brings a person meaning. This may make it sound like a heavy read but it really wasn't, and although it's a reasonable length it was the work of a day to read it. Love it!

Format: Paperback, review copy
My Rating: 5*