Book Review: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

This is one of those books I feel like I ought to have read by now. I haven't seen the film either. So when I saw it as a Quick Pick at the library (my final book for the Borrowed Book Challenge) the familiar title jumped out at me.

Stevens is a butler who has devoted himself to a life in service, following in the footsteps of his father. He seeks to be an example of a great butler and his view of the world is so narrow he appears to have missed what to the reader is obvious. He undertakes a trip partly to resolve a staff shortage (by luring the former housekeeper back.) During the trip he not only shares the present but also recounts tales of his service over the years. 

This is told in the first person, and I particularly enjoyed it here as I began to read between the lines. I found myself reading between the lines and much of the story lies in what goes unsaid. You have to wonder exactly how far awry the  butler is in his assessment of Miss Kenton the housekeeper and his Lordship. Along with the minutiae of domestic life is historical detail, and I found the passing information on the tensions within Europe in the interwar period interesting as it's one I haven't read much about previously. There is some humour to be found along in the tale that balances with a feeling of sadness at missed opportunities.


I really enjoyed this modern classic, it is beautifully understated, and I have no doubt I'll look up more works by the author in future.


Format: Paperback, borrowed from the the library
My Rating: 4*

Review of the week (or rather fortnight)

So here we are, Christmas Eve Eve, and I think apart from a couple more presents to wrap we're ready for the big event. Turkey is bought, as are the sprouts (yeuck), plans are afoot for the Family Crib service at the Parish church followed by the pub tomorrow, and come Sunday it'll be time to watch the kids' eyes light up. The slight fly in the ointment is that my Grandad is in hospital and unlikely to be home for Christmas as he needs an op. He should be fine once it's done though, so we'll make a happy day of it. I hope everyone else is looking forward to a lovely Christmas. 


I was so busy last Friday (office Christmas do) that I didn't manage my review of the week so today I've got two weeks worth! Since my last Friday recap I have read and reviewed:


Red Right Return by John H. Cunningham
While I'm Still Myself by Jeremy Mark Lane
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Creepers by Bryan Dunn, and
The Animals of Grandfather Mountain by L.L Mitchell


Another library visit today saw me pick up Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's one of those books I feel like I am missing out on, so that will be my 12th book towards the Borrowed Book Challenge (13th if you count the novella I had too) completing that challenge.


Happily Monkey loves visiting the library and she has 4 new books to make us read over and over. I'm beginning to think I should start a children's book blog!


I will take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays if you prefer) and a very Happy, healthy, peaceful 2012 to everyone.

Book Review: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Having not read any classics, or modern classics, for a while when I noticed this book on the shelf at the library I decided to take a look. I vaguely remember seeing part of the film once and though controversial I thought it might be interesting. Boy was I wrong!

This book was first published in the 1950s and is set in the 30s and 40s and tackles a subject that is still pretty taboo. Humbert Humbert is a paedophile, who lusts after what he terms "nymphets" When he finds himself unexpectedly staying with a widow he is delighted to discover her 12 year old daughter is just his type. This is putting it fairly bluntly, whereas Nabokov - or rather Humbert as the narrator - likes to dance around the subject matter using all manner of pretty language to try and make his proclivity appear acceptable. Over time he grooms Dolores, or Lolita as he calls her, and when an accident leaves her an orphan he sees the opportunity to spend the rest of his life with the love of his life. 

Lolita is something of a spoilt child, and I quite liked some of her lines but I also pitied her, especially later in the book. It's a shame the vast majority of the book is all about Humbert.

The quotes on the cover included "wildly funny" and "laugh aloud black humour" Now I'm not a delicate flower and the subject matter didn't automatically put my back up but I certainly didn't find much humour in it. While there is a little  comedy in the way Humbert sees and portrays himself the only line that actually made me laugh was " ...since I had disregarded all laws of humanity, I might as well disregard the rules of traffic." Some of the prose is beautiful but largely Humbert is overblown and frankly I wish I had read this on my kindle, to make looking up the obscure language he adopted easier. My schoolgirl French was up to some of the smatterings of French that he throws in, but mostly it left me lost. In fact a lot of the book is made up of insinuations and I'm still not entirely sure exactly what happened at some points. Perhaps I'm simply not intelligent enough to appreciate this book.


I found this a real slog and I was so happy to finish it. 


Format: Paperback, from the library
My Rating: 1*

Book Review: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho's is a name I haven't missed, but somehow up until now I have never put my mitts on one of his books. I think it might have been an omen that in the day before I went to the library I saw two pieces about him and his work, walked into the library, randomly picked a shelf to browse and there his books were. If you haven't already read this book it might become clear why this omen tickled me having finished it.

A young Spanish shepherd has chosen a life that has allowed him to travel, rather than be cloistered within the walls of a seminary. He has a recurrent dream that he will find treasure in the Egyptian pyramids, one that he would not have acted on but for a meeting with a man who somehow knows a lot about the shepherd. He convinces him that he should follow his dreams, and that if he looks out for the omens he will be guided to success. The shepherd goes ahead and sells his flock and heads to Africa. While travelling to Egypt he meets various messengers including the alchemist who can turn lead into gold. The alchemist becomes his mentor and he learns about the Soul of the World. By the end of the book the shepherd has learnt valuable lessons, and has found his treasure in an unlikely place.

I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed by this book, possibly I was expecting too much thanks to the author's reputation. I didn't really connect with the shepherd, who is referred to as Boy throughout, or any of the other characters who cross his path. I did enjoy watching him working through all the things he learned and applying them to his life though. The tale is written in simple language and short sentences and was an easy read, although all the discussions on the Soul of the World and how everything is one thing, and the references to religion gave the book some substance. However overall my feeling was that this book was probably well suited to a much younger reader than me, with a gentle spiritual and philosophical bent.

It definitely gave me something to muse on while I was reading, and it was a quick and enjoyable read, but I wouldn't highly recommend it.

Format: Paperback, borrowed from the library

My Rating: 3*

2012 Challenges

I guess as November starts slipping by it is time to start thinking about 2012, and an email via Goodreads has pushed me into action.

Sarah at Workaday Reads is hosting a 2012 e-book challenge which I have decided to take part in. There are 7 levels and each month there will be a round up of books read that month. To encourage participants there will even be a grand giveaway for everyone who achieves their goal level or higher. I'm sold so I'm going to aim for level 6 - server - reading 100 e-books. I think 150 will be a bit too much of an effort!

So far this year I have read 141 books (most of them e-books) but now Monkey is getting older the amount of time I get for reading is getting less and less. I set myself a target of 110 books on Goodreads, in any format, at the start of the year and adjusted it upwards to 150 when it became obvious I would pass the original figure a few months back.

On the subject of challenges I have to get 3 more borrowed books in this year to meet my Borrowed Book Challenge. Guess I better get down the library in the morning!

Anyone else planning on any good challenges for 2012? I quite fancy a themed one, but not sure what!

Book Review: The Accidental Father by Greg Williams

Browsing the library shelves and seeing this described as a book for fans of Noick Hornby and Tony Parsons I thought I would take a look. Alex's life is pretty darn perfect, a good job, nice house, gorgeous wife. But the grass is always greener. He's bored of work and dreams of setting up a coffee shop. He finally gets the momentum he needs to make a change when two things happen. First he discovers his wife is having an affair, then he discovers he has a teenage daughter. Her mother has died and he has been named Caitlin's guardian. While trying to figure out what to do about his marriage Alex has to get to know his daughter, learn a few parenting skills and get his new venture up and running.

Told in the first person from Alex's viewpoint the story is humourous but serious, and quite touching. I imagine for a lot of childless men in their 30s it would be a nightmare scenario and his tentative relationship with his 13 year old is so rocky that it made me smile when he appeared to make tiny breakthroughs. I mostly felt for him, but did find myself palm to face at some of his less impressive decisions. I thought Caitlin was a well-drawn character, but a little feistier than girls of her age I know. Wife Amanda was definitely not my sort of person, possibly another reason I was rooting for him to put his life back together without her.

The plot is simple to follow, maybe a little formulaic on the marriage front, and it's not a difficult read, but I was disappointed to figure out the twist very early on. Having seen the end coming it lessened the impact. However the emotional tone pulled at my heartstrings.  If you are looking for an easy read in the lad lit vein then you might enjoy this book, but as a warning for those who aren't keen on bad language - Alex is fairly liberal with expletives.

Format: Paperback, borrowed from the library

Book Review: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Browsing the shelves of the library recently, looking for some new books to count towards the Borrowed Book challenge, I spotted this book and remember a friend raving about it back when we were doing English Literature at school. It's one of those modern classics that I thought it was about time I read.

The book is set in the 1950s and tells the story of a day in the life of the title character, who has been sentenced to ten years in a Siberian labour camp, or gulag. When the book was first published in the 1960s the author self-censored parts in order to ensure publication, but this version includes more details that would have been unwelcome to the ruling class at the time.

I found the narrative style quite unusual, as it presents the thoughts and opinions of Ivan as if in the first person, yet it often makes observations about him as if the narrator is some omniscient being. Unlike other Russian literature I have read in the past this was not a difficult read, although there were a few terms I wasn't familiar with. I devoured the hundred and  fifty or so pages in a matter of hours. I thought the interaction between the various characters was fascinating, and found myself both reviled by yet in sympathy with those in the camp who had learned to play the system in order to survive.

While it presents a bleak picture of life in a labour camp and provided fantastic descriptions that almost made me shiver along with Ivan and his fellow internees I put the book down feeling remarkably positive. This was undoubtedly because despite all the hardships he faces, that would be unbearable to me, everything it relative and for Ivan the day could have been far worse.

I picked up this book knowing a little about the gulags, as I imagine many people would, and it served to confirm and expand upon what I already knew but put a human face to the suffering so many faced. Rather than appearing trivial all the small details of his daily existence really enhanced the book. For anyone with an interest in modern history I would suggest this is a very good read.

Format: Paperback, borrowed from the library
My Rating: 4*

Book Review: Solar by Ian McEwan

A while back I started trawling a list of Booker prize winners to try and find some critically acclaimed books that I might actually enjoy (having so often been disappointed in the past) McEwan's Amsterdam caught my eye, but when I was in the library recently trying to decide what to take out they only had Solar in, so home it came with me.

Solar is book about science and human relationships, scattered with humour. Michael Beard is a Nobel prize winning scientist who has used the award to secure lucrative figurehead roles with numerous institutions and has managed to avoid doing any serious work ever since. Instead he's been busy acquiring and repelling five wives. The story starts in 2000 where he is dealing with his 5th wife's affair with a builder, and working on a wind turbine project, despite being unconvinced about the science behind climate change theories. His views change over time and through a twist of fate he finds himself with a set of notes detailing a way of harnessing the sun to provide unlimited cheap and clean energy.

At the start of the book I found myself pitying the ageing, balding cuckolded professor but as the story developed my attitude towards him changed regularly. Although he didn't turn out to be very likable he is a great character. There are plenty of other supporting characters but none written in anywhere near the same depth.

The plot contains lots of twists and turns and I was thoroughly entertained throughout, although it did take a little while for the story to really get going. I found some of the parts about climate change really interesting, but in places it was a bit heavy on the science for me. I was pleased that the tone of the book wasn't heavily weighted to either side of the argument about global warming though. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger, leaving it open to the reader to wonder what direction Beard's life is likely to lurch in next.

Reading this book I was by turns astounded by what Beard was up to, and amused by some of the situations he got himself into. This was a really good book, if it wasn't for the scientific bits that were completely over my head probably would have been worth 5*, and I'll definitely be reading more of McEwan's work in the future.

Format: Hardcover, from the library
My Rating: 4*

Book Review: Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith

This book is the first I have read of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Typically I managed to pick up the 7th book in the series, but this was a Borrowed Book Challenge book and our library is only small and just had 2 books from the series. (This is the same library that has the second book in The Hunger Games series but not the first - go figure) I had been recommended the series by a couple of colleagues who were amazed I had never read any of them before.

Mma Ramotswe is the principal of the No.1 Ladies' Detective agency, operating out of her husband's garage premises. Mma Makutsi is her assistant and a big fan of what Mma Ramotswe considers unsuitable shoes. In this book the ladies deal with a number of cases including identifying a blackmailer and a fraudulent Doctor. They also ponder the role of women and feminism and drink a lot of tea. The chapters almost read like a series of independent stories, with none of the mysteries visited in great depth but with plenty of charming anecdotes.

The term "cozy mystery" is a relatively new one to me but I have seen it applied to this series and having read the book I now think I understand that term. It is an undemanding read, which raised a few smiles and the odd chuckle. It depicts aspects of Botswana beautifully and I enjoyed reading about the country and various characters and the problems they are facing. My favourite thing about the book is the concept of a "traditionally built" woman, it sounds so much better than big boned!

I'm not sure cozy mysteries are going on my list of preferred genres, but I did like this book and can definitely see the appeal. In fact I can think of a couple of family members who would really like the series.

Format: Hard cover, from the library
My Rating: 3*

Good to be back!

Phew, it's good to have Blogger back, what was going on there then? Typically it goes down when I have 2 reviews to write and I'm looking forward to FF & the Blog Hop! Hey ho, just let's hope it's fully fixed now. I lost one post that was only partly saved in Drafts but hoiked it over from Goodreads and all is well again.

No word from Parajunkee or Jennifer yet so I'll add the memes later.
EDIT: It's later, so here's the blog hop:

Over at crazy-for-books.com the question is  

Are you going to Book Expo America (BEA) and/or the Book Blogger Convention (BBC) this year?

I'm assuming both are based in the States, I'm not aware of similar in the UK, so no I'm not going to either. To be quite honest while they sound interesting and a great way to meet people my holiday time is limited and I'd rather be somewhere sunny, diving.

And at parajunkee.com  - The Blogger Apocalypse made me a little emotional. What is the most emotional scene in a book that you have read lately?

I don't often cry reading books, so the only example I can think of is a scene towards the end of a book called Richard Wilde by Mary Fitzgerald. I loved the book, and I did have a bit of a blub!

I had a nice little trip to the library earlier and found myself dithering over which books to borrow and how many. I've got a few review copies that need attention first, so no point going overboard. In the end I plumped for Solar by Ian McEwan and Blue Shoes and Happiness from the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. I haven't read any of the others and I know now that this is the 7th book, but it's only a little library and they only had 2 of them so it was a random pick. These will be the next books towards ShelleyRae's Borrowed Book Challenge over at Book'd Out (there's a link to the challenge on my sidebar for anyone who wants to find out more)

I'm off now to sort out those reviews, have a great weekend everyone!

Follow Friday, The Book Blogger Hop and a busy Friday!

I'm now well into the habit of joining in Follow Friday, hosted by parajunkee.com and the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by crazy-for-books.com, so as it's Friday again (where do the days go?) here we are -

 This week's question is:

What is your favorite romance hero-type? Stereotype wise. Do you like the strong silent type or the brute macho man?

Personally I like the strong silent type, smart but with a few muscles thrown in, is that just greedy of me?

As I write this the Book Blogger Hop for this week isn't yet available, I'll update later. Edit: Here we go!

This week it's more an activity than a question:

"Tell us about one of your posts from this week and give us a link so we can read it (review or otherwise)!"
I've had a blog first this week, my first Question and Answer session with author Helen Smith, as mentioned below. I really enjoy her writing so please take a look..


And in other news, I've made a start on Shellyrae's Borrowed Book Challenge Friday morning our local library holds a story and song group for the under 5s so took my little one along and picked up The Accident by Ismail Kadare while I was there. That'll be my next book once I've finished reading Impeding Justice by Mel Comley.

Finally, I'm excited to be able to do my first (and hopefully not last) author Q&A with Helen Smith. I'll be posting that a bit later today, and I hope people enjoy it and find it interesting.

Borrowed Book Challenge 2011

In a strange coincidence after blogging about the campaign to save libraries this morning I came across the book'd out blog and Shelleyrae's 2011 Borrowed Book Challenge. I'm going to try and borrow and read 12 books, my goal is to a Borrower Be. I love my kindle too much to read loads of tree books! I haven't got a full list yet, but my first one will hopefully be Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (once it comes back next week) It's a great idea and will motivate me to keep to my new resolution to visit the library more.

Read so far:

1) The Accident by Ismail Kadare, Feb '11

2) Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes, Feb '11

3) Silent Scream by Karen Rose, Mar '11

3+) Leaf Storm by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mar '11 (I'm not counting it as it's only a short story)

4) The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, Mar '11

5) The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, Apr '11

6) Blue Shoes & Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith, May '11

7) Solar by Ian McEwan, May '11

8) One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Jul '11

9) The Accidental Father by Greg Williams, Jul '11

10) The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Dec '11

11) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Dec '11


12) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, Dec '11