Work for Idle Hands: Books in August

Monday August 31, 2009

My peaceful August boating holiday gave me plenty of time to catch up with my reading as well as listening to the spoken word.

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
I think it's fair to say that I could not wait to get my hands on this book and enjoyed every minute of reading it. Our hero maintains some of what seems the Connelly tradition of being unable to retain any kind of settled relationships (and I mean that loosely - not with a capital "R") but maybe that's actually how life is, as well as adding drama to the book. He (hero) has been through a lot since we last met him and is having to reshape his life as the books starts out - and we leave him at the end of the book with a stated direction of reshaping his life yet again - but through choice this time.
His interaction with Bosch is quite interesting. I find it hard to see the character we know and love portrayed as he is in this book - but it's just because it is through anothers eyes. And Bosch has some relevant baggage that he's hefting around.....
This book is excellent in my opinion but .... although I hate to say it out loud.... not as good as the Lincoln Lawyer. I don't think it was simply due to my high expectation - I just think Lincoln Lawyer plot was so excellent that it's hard to match it - and I am not at all disappointed that Connelly did not quite do so.

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
Helen recommended that I read this book - she felt it was just the sort of thing I would enjoy - and she was right. It was very refreshing and funny. For some reason I conjured the idea of Ray Winston as Odysseus - not necessarily given her physical description of him (in case he finds my comparison offensive!).
I have enjoyed a number of other Atwood novels - they are a joy to read in the sense of the written word - and they break your heart. I recommend Blind Assassin, Alias Grace, and her short stories.
Rob lent me Alias Grace, (which I like a lot), and I gave him Surfacing, which he found perplexing... I have yet to read it.

Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris [Read by Diana Bishop]
This was the novel I listened to while we were chugging along in our boat - and while I was knitting. It was brilliant and exceeded my expectation. I have seen the film version of Chocolat, and I have also read Blackberry Wine - which was perfect for me as the hero reminisced about his childhood in the same period as my own - and the book was set in two separate time periods with two stories running side by side, with a good dollop of romance thrown into the present day.
Five Quarters of the Orange was of exactly the same form, but with an elderly heroine looking back to a much earlier period - and still managing an, albeit mature, romance in the present day. She described the struggle during her adolescence in her relationship with her Mother and siblings - and I found it all very resonant despite not having been brought up in poverty on a small holding in occupied France during WW2. Added to this there was almost a murder mystery element - so I was charmed and enthralled.
The book was helped a lot by being simply beautifully read - totally convincing voice for the mature heroine, sounding both slightly wistful about the past and yet firmly settled in the present, and the inevitable phrases in French were excellently rendered - neither pretentious nor over-emphasised. Just perfectly judged.

Posted by Christina at 12:45 PM. Category: Books of the Month