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Sunday September 30, 2012

Books in September

  • Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke BOM-JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell.jpg
    So this book (mighty tome) surprised me before I even opened it. When I went to the library, I had some difficulty finding it, as it had been misfiled under the author "Jonathan Strange". I further found from the staff that it is classified "science fiction" - and yet was recommended by Alison (not known for her affection for SciFi). When I got home, it seemed George was well-familiar with it too.
    I have really enjoyed reading it though it has taken me for ever (apparently - probably due to the fairies if the book is to be believed). Despite previously reading the short story collection, the content was unexpected and very interesting, and I look forward to finding some more stories by the same author.

  • Not in the Flesh Ruth Rendell [read by Nigel Anthony] BOM-NotInTheFlesh.jpg
    It's such a pleasure to find all these newer Wexford novels (that I never got round to reading) as audiobooks in the library. Ruth Rendell may regard these as her bread and butter novels but they are well-written and interesting to read - which is more than can be said for much published detective fiction. That sounds like damning with faint praise doesn't it? So to be clear - she is always excellent - no less so for being a reliably high quality writer.

  • Good as Dead by Mark Billingham [read by the author] BOM-NewgateJig.jpg
    It's good to have the author reading his own words - who better than he knows how the dialogue should be expressed. Sometimes authors do not read well*, but Mark is a performer as well as a writer and thus, excellent.
    This book features a character who has so much back story that I suspected she had appeared before, but I could not remember in which book. In fact she was a key character in Mark's "stand-alone" thriller In the Dark (where Tom Thorne appears really peripherally). In the manner of Michael Connelly, creating your own crime universe populated by a familiar set of characters but not always using the same protagonist works really well. For the reader there is always that familiar background, while allowing the author to explore a different character or viewpoint; it provides a method of weaning readers off just the one popular fictional hero. This also improves the writing** which must get stale as it becomes harder to churn out best-sellers with little new to say. Anyway - it has worked for me; I had immediately passed over In the Dark, but now I am sure to go back and read it.
    * Often poets seem to read their own work rather oddly - there are obvious exceptions like Roger McGough or John Cooper Clarke, but, again, they are performers as much as poets.
    ** I think Connelly's recent Scarecrow was one of the best, and I am very smitten by The Lincoln Lawyer which is now a series of books.

  • The Winter Ground Catriona McPherson [read by Hilary Neville] BOM-BuryHerDeep.jpg
    I was a bit puzzled by the artwork on the various covers of this book - until I read it, and found that of course it really is all about the circus. Again, a great picture of the era, with the circus backdrop that provides a lot of interest yet cleverly avoiding it taking over from the actual plot.
    Having already exhausted my limited ability to add more to what I have already said about this series, (apart from "they really are very good - do read them"), I read some other people's opinions and find not a bad word to be said - they really are....... you know...

Posted by Christina at 8:28 PM. Category: Books of the Month

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