What I Read: January

I'm really enjoying reading at the moment, it helps me unwind and forget about everything else. I have the bad habit of skim reading - I get through books very quickly but don't always remember them! I thought if I tried to document them here I might have a better chance.

'The Ruin', Dervla McTiernan

When Aisling Conroy's boyfriend Jack is found drowned in a river the immediate assumption is suicide. However, his long lost sister, who he hasn't seen since they were rescued from their derelict childhood home after their alcoholic mother died, surfaces and refutes the police verdict. Detective Cormac Reilly, recently transferred to Galway from Dublin investigates the case, revisiting his own past when he rescued two children from deprivation twenty years ago....

I liked the book, it was a super easy read, but it was a bit formulaic - it wasn't exactly a page turner and if I'd been a bit sharper I'd probably have figured out the ending. Not sure if I'll read other books in this series.

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson was a bit of a random pick, I think I found it on my Book Bubs daily digest one day and thought 'I know nothing about North Korea let's give that a go'. I've just learned it won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 - really not surprised! It follows the life of Pak Jun Do who is cast into life in North Korea as an orphan, despite the fact that his father is alive. As Master of the orphanage Jun Do's father raises him with orphaned boys and he identifies with them, a motif which shapes much of the story. The first part of the book follows Jun Do's life, from harsh military training to kidnapping Japanese nationals and then learning English to become an intelligence officer at sea. In the second part of the book through a series of events he is seen pretending to be one of the top officials in the coutnry, interrogated by the North Korean secret police about the disappearance of his 'wife' Sun Moon. It's a really beautiful tale in my opinion, but I found it hard to determine fact from fiction and I think I need to do some reading into North Korea to learn some more.

So there was a definite theme to this month's reading. My other book this month was also about North Korea. Star of the North by D. B. John follows Jenna Williams, an American academic specialising in North Korea, as she tries to uncover what happened to her twin sister who disappeared from a South Korean island without a trace when she was 18. We follow her discovery that her sister, Soo min, was kidnapped by the North Koreans using a submarine, and her journey to the country itself as she joins the CIA to learn of Soo min's fate. Intertwined with Jenna's search is the story of an elderly North Korean lady who uses the contents of an illegal balloon to barter her way into being a market trader, and a high-ranking military official who learns he may have traitorous genes. I really enjoyed the novel, it wasn't written as beautifully as the Orphan Master's Son but it was a page turner. And again it made me want to learn more about North Korea...





I don't know what I'll be reading next month to be honest - I have a lot of random books downloaded through Bookbub so will gradually make my way through those I think.

Happy reading!

The Year in Books - January 2017

This post should really be called 'The month I finally finished Wolf Hall'. Because I finally did!!! This has been the longest it has taken me to finish a book in a long time. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed reading it. I just haven't had much time to read, and it's not the easiest book to just pick up and put down. This book is so famous I'm sure it needs no introduction, following the rise of Thomas Cromwell who became Henry VIII's right hand man during the English reformation. Whilst as a good history student I know the basic history of the Tudors (and always found it fascinating) I learnt so much from this book and really enjoyed reading the back story of the son of a blacksmith who became arguably the most powerful man in England. The dilemma now is do I launch into the sequel 'Bring up the Bodies' whilst it's all fresh in my head or do I have a break and read some other books...

After the Wolf Hall marathon I did manage to make my way through 'The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy' by Rachel Joyce. I really enjoyed 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry' and it was a beautiful companion novel - offering a deeper insight into the woman Harold walks across England to see one last time, Queenie Hennessy. I'd highly recommend both books :)

For February I'm not sure what I will read, there are a fair few books on my kindle to get through. My book group will be reading 'The Household Spirit' by Tod Wodicka - here - so at the very least I hope to read that!

As always, joining in with Laura at Circle of Pine Trees.

The Year in Books 2016: February

Laura at Circle of Pines has taken 'A Year in Books' to the realm of twitter now, but being a non-tweeter I thought I'd carry it on here. To be honest I don't think I'd remember what I'd read if I didn't document it - this month I could swear I read three books, but I can only remember two of them! So despite the lack of link up, and thanks solely to the fact that there is an extra day these month, here is what I read in February.

1. 'Starter for Ten' by David Nicholls.

Starter for Ten follows the awkward, slightly geeky 19 year old Brian Jackson as he heads off to the bright lights of University and embarks on his quest to feature on University Challenge, motivated in part by his memories of watching the show with his father, who died when Brian was at school. Featuring slightly cliche characters, from the stunning, privately educated Alice, with whom Brian falls hopelessly in love, to the angry communist Rebecca, arrogant obsessive Patrick, leader of the quiz team and many others in between. The book brought back all sorts of memories of those first terms away from home, trying to find a niche in the complex world of university, and I did warm to Brian - but the ending was slightly obvious. I have to say I absolutely loved 'One Day' and this just didn't compare for me. Worth a read though I'd say.

2. Sophie Hannah was a new author for me - she is speaking at a conference I am helping to organise on Saturday and I thought I'd better at least read something! I have to say, I really enjoyed this book - as a thriller it was different to my usual reading material. The novel centres on Connie Bowskill, who finds herself embarking on a virtual tour of a house beyond her budget in the early hours of the morning. When she sees a murdered woman in the middle of the lounge she calls her husband, but the image has vanished and all to be seen is a spotless house. Increasingly consumed with doubt and mistrust of her husband Kit Connie tries to convince those around her of what she saw. I'd recommend this as a good mindless read - and I do want to read some more of Sophie Hannah's work, I'm looking forward to seeing her speak on Saturday.

What have you been reading? I'm trying to come up with different books to read - I may well attempt a Charles Dickens next month!

The Year in Books: October

Hooray for time to read! This month I've really relished being able to curl up with a non-study related book and lose myself in another world. I tried to choose some books that were maybe not so typical for me, to expand my horizons a bit.

1. The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden, Jonas Jonasson

I loved 'The Hundred Year-Old Man who Jumped out of the Window and Disappeared'. I really did. And I loved this book too, which follows the life of the South African girl Nombeko from the slums of Soweto. Nombeko is extremely bright and has an innate talent for mental arithmetic. After being run over by a drunk and incompetent chief South African nuclear engineer Nombeko is ordered to work for him by a corrupt court in the time of Apartheid. She becomes indispensable to the man as she quickly grasps the fundamental nuclear physics that he cannot. A series of (unfortunate) events sees Nombeko escape from the compound where the engineer works, accompanied by a nuclear bomb that technically doesn't exist, and pursued by two Israeli intelligence agents (you'll have to read it to find out why!). She travels to Sweden, where her adventures continue, climaxing in the plucky Nombeko finding herself with the King and Prime Minister of Sweden and a nuclear bomb in a potato truck. She does save the King but I won't say how. I was really gripped by this book, and learnt a lot about South African nuclear armament and Swedish history along the way.

2. The House of Silk - Anthony Horowitz

I haven't read many original Sherlock Holmes books, but I really enjoyed Horowitz's take on it. He writes convincingly as Watson and takes the reader back to the Victorian underworld as Holmes, accompanied Watson, try to uncover the mysterious House of Silk, against the background of a multitude of 'typical' tropes, the rich client, a gruesome murder, links to the underworld of Victorian London as well as criminal gangs of Boston. What is revealed has an extraordinary relevance for today's society and recurring news stories, which I won't comment on. This was a really easy and enjoyable read, and whilst I found the ending a bit cliche I do realise that I count as a 'modern' reader. The plot certainly departs from the limits of Victorian sensibilities and stands in contrast to what Conan Doyle wrote about. Overall I'd recommend as a good entertaining way.

3. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

I read this book before, but I'm not sure I appreciated it properly. I absolutely loved it this time around, beautiful writing, a rich cast of vivid characters and a really gripping plot. The narrator is a young woman who married the rich widower Maxim De Winter after meeting him in Monte Carlo where she is working as the companion of an elderly American woman. She returns with him to Manderley, his infamous estate on the coast but is completely overshadowed by her own sense of inferiority to his first wife, Rebecca, a paragon of elegance, grace and beauty who ruled Manderley with a tight grip, organising renowned social gatherings and playing the part of the perfect hostess. In her obsession with her predecessor the narrator loses her own identity - we do not even learn her name - and as the plot progresses some dramatic twists and turns challenge all that we know, that the narrator constructs in her imagination, about Rebecca. I couldn't put this book down!

What have you been reading? Do you have any recommendations?

Joining in with Laura at The Circle of Pines.

The Year in Books - July

This month I haven't managed to read as much as I'd have liked, but I managed to read two very interesting novels about the Second World War.

Now I've tended to avoid novels about this war because it always reminds me about the thesis I'm writing. Interrupting supposed leisure time with thoughts of work in other words ;) I always go on about my thesis but I'm not sure I've ever properly explained. Essentially I am researching the representation of the German military during the Second World War within post-war novels and films. I am comparing those produced in East Germany with those produced in West Germany in the 1950s, and I'm looking at it from a gender studies perspective - how these texts renegotiate masculinities, femininities, gender roles and relations in the shadow of the Nazi years, defeat and occupation. I've found it absolutely fascinating and loved it (mostly) :)

But anyway I digress. 

This month I read 'Two Brothers' by Ben Elton and 'Interrogating Ellie' by Julian Gray. Both of these books are based on the authors' family members' experiences of the war, in Germany and Austria respectively, which I found really interesting. This was more immediately obvious in 'Interrogating Ellie' which was written in a more factual style, and Gray makes it clear from the start. Elton reveals all in a section at the end of his novel.

Two Brothers is about the fate of two twins. Otto and Paulus Stengl live in Berlin with their Jewish parents, Frieda and Wolfgang. Frieda is a doctor and Wolfgang a Jazz musician. The novel starts with the birth of the boys, which is the same day as the foundation of the Nazi Party in Munich. When one of the twins Frieda is carrying is stillborn she adopts an orphaned newborn baby without hesitation in the hospital. The boys grow up side by side, not knowing they are not blood related, and it is only with the increasing persecution of the Jews and the introduction of the Nuremberg racial laws that their parents reveal the truth. The novel follows the experiences of the twins from birth, alongside the beautiful millionaire heiress Dagmar Fischer, who they are both in love with, and Silke Krause, their maid's daughter. We see the exciting Weimar Berlin replaced with the restrictive and terrifying National Socialist rule, and the impact on this family, transformed from Berlin citizens like any others to persecuted outcasts. I don't want to give anything away, but I loved it. It's very well researched and I liked all of the characters (except Dagmar, if you read it you'll understand). The novel received very mixed reviews, but I found it a real page turner - I couldn't put it down!

Interrogating Ellie is about a British woman who married an Austrian and experienced the war living in Austria. Written by Ellie's son, the novel is quite frankly fascinating. You follow Ellie's movements following the breakdown of her marriage and her subsequent experiences of wartime Austria, including the occupation of Vienna by Russian soldiers in 1945. This website explains a bit more about the novel, and gives some background information. I really enjoyed the novel, I don't know much about wartime Austria, for instance I had no idea it was the Russians who occupied Vienna. It's an easy read and provides a fascinating insight into the Anschluss of Austria and Germany in 1938 and the experiences of ordinary people during the subsequent wartime years. 

As always I'm linking up with Laura at Circle of Pines, head over there to see what everyone else has been reading :)

The Year In Books - June

I've had a little bit more time to read recently, which has been truly wonderful, so after writing off the month of May I've decided to rejoin The Year In Books in June.

Most of my reading has been done on the train on my way to my temping job, a nice relaxing start to the day. I made it through three books this month, all very different, and I enjoyed them all.

First up is 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' by John Fowles. This is one of those books I've been meaning to read for a long long time (I haven't seen the film). I absolutely loved it! It follows the experiences of Charles Smithson, an aristocrat engaged to be married to the daughter of a wealthy industrialist more than ten years his senior. After encountering the tragic figure of Sarah Woodruff, who stands on the Cobb at Lyme Regis looking mournfully out to sea his life takes a series of unexpected turns. I don't want to give much away, but it's a fascinating book, and kept taking me by surprise. My favourite part of it was the narrator, quite unlike any other narrator I've come across, who is an anonymous figure and narrates the lives of these figures of Victorian England from the perspective of today (or when the book was written rather). So for example one character is compared to the Gestapo, there are several references to prominent literary movements and theorists and the description of our prim Victorian forebears is rather tongue in cheek. It's also interesting how the narrator reflects on how he writes the story, constantly underlining it is fiction, yet includes lots of historical sources about the period and facts. A really wonderful book!.

Then I read 'It's Not Me it's You' by Mhairi McFarlane. This is chick lit at its best in my opinion. A thoroughly readable book about Delia Moss, a woman in her thirties who in the same week quits her job, proposes disastrously to her boyfriend and moves to London. The characters are fun, and Delia really is rather likeable, I could definitely relate to her.

Finally for this month is 'On Green Dolphin Street' by Sebastian Faulkes. It's possibly just me but I thought this was nowhere near as good as his other books that I've read. I still enjoyed it, he writes very well, but the plot was somewhat lacking. The novel is set in the Cold War and follows the experiences of the wife of an English diplomat based in Washington, after she meets a New York journalist. All of the period detail was wonderful, but the main storyline didn't convince me that much, I don't want to say too much as it would give the plot away, but would be very interested to hear if anyone else had a different experience?

So for this month I am going to try and read Suite Francaise, which I tried to read this month and couldn't because it reminded me too much of my research! What have you been reading? Any recommendations?

Linking in with Laura at The Circle of Pines for The Year in Books

The Year in Books - April

This month I read Louise Doughty's 'Apple Tree Yard'. Well, read might be a bit too loose a term, a better word is probably 'inhaled' - it's quite a page turner! This book was a slightly different choice for me, I don't read many thrillers, but it has made me want to expand my reading areas as I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The plot centres around Dr Yvonne Carmichael, an eminent geneticist, whose unplanned and sporadic affair with a mysterious stranger ends with her sitting in the docks at the Old Bailey. The novel jumps around in time, revealing different aspects of Yvonne's life gradually, and tantalisingly, leaving you wanting to know more. I quite liked her as a character, and the book posed a lot of 'what ifs', which I always enjoy. There weren't many sudden surprises, as the book revealed everything as it went along which is what made it so gripping I guess. All in all a great read.

Next month I'm going to read 'Suite Francaise' by Irene Nemirovsky - I read it as an undergraduate a long time ago and want to reread it before going to watch the film adaptation which is either coming out soon or already out. 

Linking with Laura at Circle of Pines, pop over to see what everyone else has on their bookshelves! 

The Year in Books - March

Yikes, this is a rather late March post!

I've read two books in the last month, both historical fiction and I enjoyed them both. I've fallen into my usual rut of reading the same type of books - next month I'll revert back to the book challenge and expand my horizons.

The first book I read was 'The Miniaturist' by Jessie Burton. A lot of people have been reading this in blogland, so I had a rough idea what I was getting in to. It's a historical novel set in Amsterdam in the seventeenth century. The plot follows the experiences of eighteen year old Nella Oortman, a girl from a small country village who married a prosperous merchant and moves to the city. The historical detail is so rich, an awful lot of research must have gone into this book and it pays off. Burton has an entertaining and gripping style, I couldn't put the book down! All is not as it seems in Nella's marital home, under the thumb of her new sister-in-law she has to try and adapt to her new life, which is full of mysteries and the unexplained, her new husband is distant and marriage is entirely different to her expectations. I won't reveal much more, but I'd really recommend the book. The characters are very realistic, and I found Nella sympathetic - I rooted for her. The ending was a bit abrupt for my liking, but I loved learning more about the illustrious merchant traders from the C17th.

The other book I read was Philippa Gregory's 'The Constant Princess'. I love Philippa Gregory and knew I would enjoy this book. The novel portrays the early life of Katherine of Aragon, the first wife of the notorious Henry VIII, he famously created the Church of England in order to divorce her. Oh to be a king. Married to his elder brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, who died before ascending to the throne, Katherine was older than Henry and there has been much debate over whether she was a virgin after her marriage to Arthur (she maintained she was, if she wasn't then her marriage to her brother-in-law would have been a sin in the eyes of the Catholic church - this is what Henry used as the basis for his claim to divorce). The book presents an interesting interpretation on this, I won't give anything away. Katherine was a strong woman, which Gregory clearly demonstrates - I learned a lot about her role as Queen and the power she exercised. I think historical fiction, although an interpretation of historical events, plays such an important role in restoring female figures to our consciousness - often overlooked within 'his'tory. I thought the book was a little too long, it could have been shorter, but overall it was engaging and interesting. I found the representation of diplomatic relations in Europe at this time fascinating. Again, I would recommend this book :)


For the next month I am going back to my book challenge I wrote about here. One of the categories is 'thriller' - not a genre I read often, but with perfect timing my mother in law kindly gave me this book at the weekend, she thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommended it, so I am looking forward to it. I will leave it at one book this month - the full draft to supervisors deadline is looming so it's going to get a bit stressful/manic/depressing around these parts ;)

Linking up with Laura at The Circle of Pines, pop on over there to see what everyone else is reading :)

The Year in Books - February

This month I haven't managed to read as much as I would have liked, but I did manage to read the two books I intended to.

My first book was 'Necessary Lies' by Diane Chamberlain. Now I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one. It engages with an incredibly important, and shocking, subject - the state-mandated sterilisation programme implemented in North Carolina which existed between the late 1920s and 1970s. The programme focussed predominantly on people deemed 'feeble minded', and was disproportionately applied to poor and black communities, inside and outside institutions. The main protagonists are Jane Forrester, a young newly married affluent social worker, and Ivy Hart a 15 year old girl tasked with the care of her sister, nephew and grandmother as poor tenants on a tobacco farm. Grace is appointed the Hart's social worker and the novel charts the developing relationship between Ivy and Grace. The more involved Grace becomes in Ivy's life, the darker secrets she discovers. I won't reveal any more here in case you want to read it :)

I found it a very interesting read, on a dark element of American history I knew nothing about. The book also has some interesting story lines regarding gender roles and relations at that time, looking at the relationship with Jane and her husband as well as Ivy's circumstances. However, I felt the characters were rather two dimensional and formulaic at times - Jane's actions bordered on the unbelievable at points - and the ending was a bit too predictable yet unbelievable for me. I thought with such a powerful subject Chamberlain could have done a bit more. But I'd love to know what other people think if they've read it - I've seen lots of excellent reviews for this book and maybe I am being a bit too picky. There were a couple of good twists, and it seems the social history was probably very well researched. Overall I'd give it 3 out of 5 I think.

The second book I read was part of the 'challenge' I'm vaguely following (you can read about it here), and fulfilled the category 'a book your mum loves'. My Mum's all-time favourite book is Jane Eyre by Emily Bronte, so I thought I'd better read that! I've read it once before, but I think I was only 12 or 13, so a long time ago, and having read it again I don't think I appreciated it when I did read it. What a beautiful novel. It's such a wonderful plot, and masterfully written. Whilst I'm a bit of a skim-reader I had to slow down a bit here because there were a fair few complicated sentences that I had to read slowly to digest! But it was worth it, the story of a young orphan girl, cast out by her Uncle's wife to a charitable school, who later becomes a governess to the ward of the striking, dark and intense Mr Rochester is definitely worth a read. It's written in the first person, and I really warmed to the character of 'Jane', the authorial voice is very realistic and entertaining. The tension between her an Mr Rochester is wonderful, it rivals the courtship between Elizabeth and Darcy in my opinion. The book's full of suspense as well, I won't give too much away just in case people haven't read it. I was pleasantly surprised with how engaging it was though, and I couldn't put it down. I'm still glad I wasn't born a Victorian though ;) Definitely 4.75 stars out of 5

So for next month..... I'm going to aim just to read one book as I'm a little bit snowed under (not literally!) I've got several contenders lined up, but seeing as I keep seeing it all over the blogosphere I'm going to read Jessie Burton's 'The Miniaturist'. I might also include a review of a book I'm studying for my thesis just to mix things up ;)

What are you reading? Do tell :) Linking up with Laura's 'The Year in Books' on her blog The Circle of Pines, here.

The Year In Books: January

In line with my new year resolutions I've decided to take part in 'the year in books' organised by Laura on her lovely blog 'circle of pine trees'. I've been reading posts from others participating for a while now, the aim is to read at least a book a month and then blog about it, joining up with the others: a super flexible book club :)

I'm quite a quick reader, but very lazy: I read lots of the same genres and authors so this year I've decided to step out of my comfort zone. I saw this reading challenge posted on 9gag and thought it might be a good prompt to widen my reading: some of the categories are a bit silly but it's all good fun! I think a lot of books fall into more than one category so I may cheat a little... Not every book I read will correspond with this but every now and again I want to use it to guide my choices!

So for January I am going to read 'A book your mum loves'. My Mum's absolute favourite book is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, I've read it once before but a long time ago, and am looking forward to re-reading.

I am also in the middle of reading 'Necessary Lies' by Diane Chamberlain, so will aim to finish that as well.

What are you reading? Have you got any recommendations for me? Check out what others are reading here.

Until next time,

Helen