Oh what was that like? A couple of people have sent me that as a rec on goodreads.
Not too bad - took a while to get into it but I ended up being fond of the family - gran, son-in-law, 2 grown up daughters of the son in law and one of their children
Annoying bit was the main character trying to get over a boyfriend who was such a t****r that you wanted to give her a good shake!
<snip> 82. The Cut - George Pelecanos 8/10
Orion Books (Hachette UK), 292 pages
<Crime> Another succulent slice of Washington DC pie by Pelecanos. A 'grey area' investigator is hired to recover stolen packages and ends up caught in the crossfires of a number of petty and bigger crime conspiracies.
83. The New Teen Titans 1984-85 - Marv Wolfman 4/10
D C Comics, 399 pages
<Graphic Novel> The New Teen Titans volume two #1-15 and Annual #1. Although printed on better paper, definitely a drop in storytelling quality. Includes the return of Trigon / fall of Raven arc.
84. Tank Girl - Jamie Hewlett & Alan Martin 3/10
Dark Horse Comics, 245 pages
<Graphic Novel> The original Tank Girl series volumes 1-2 (four issues per volume) 85. Tank Girl The Movie - Peter Milligan 3/10
Penguin Books, 66 pages
<Graphic Novel> Milligan's take on Tank Girl's origin and troubles with Water & Power.
86. Insufferable volume one - Mark Waid, Peter Krause etc 7/10
Thrillbent, 531 pages
<Digitial graphic novel> Insufferable #1-34. Waid's latest project sees an online digital-only book centred round an aging hero, Nocturnus, and his e-commerce money making son, Kid Galahad. Quite good.
87. Made In Brighton - Julie Burchill and Daniel Raven 6/10
Virgin Books, 183 pages
<Historical Commentary> … 'From the Grand to the Gutter: Modern Britain as seen beside the sea'. Admittedly I like what Burchill often has to say… this book looks at the changing face of Britain from the viewpoint of Brighton (aka as London On Sea), with an interweaving of personal stories and experiences with greater themes / commentaries on class, sex, politics both local and national, music and the ensuing changes over the last quarter of a century.
88. Home To Harlem - Claude McKay 5/10
Black Classic (X Press), 236 pages
<Modern Classic> Published in 1928, this is the tale of a disgruntled Afro-American soldier going AWOL in France and then London, but who feels drawn to the chaotic urban life of Harlem, to which he eventually returns. Very interesting read, and take on the alienation and frustrations caused by social intimidation and implied inferiority.
89. Evil Under The Sun - Agatha Christie 6/10
Harper (HarperCollins), 320 pages
<Modern Classic> The twenty third Poirot case is a clever tale by Christie innocuously tied to the case title 'Evil Under The Sun'. A group of people in a luxury hotel consumed with the sexual tension generated by the man-magnet and actress Mrs Arlena Marshall… become suspects to a murder where the police seem to find cast iron alibis for everyone... of course Poirot sees it all another way. Good case.
141 - Terry Pratchett - Discworld 18 - Maskerade
142 - Paul Shaffer and David Ritz - We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Showbiz Saga
143 - Terry Pratchett - Discworld 20 - Hogfather
144 - Harold Schechter - Bestial: The Savage Trail of a True American Monster
145 - Cherie Noel - By Any Other Name
146 - Tara Kelly - Amplified
147 - Michael D. Sellers - John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood
148 - Andy Lane - Young Sherlock Holmes 01 - Death Cloud
149 - Andy Lane - Young Sherlock Holmes 02 - Red Leech
150 - David Reichert - Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer
151 - Teegan Loy - Frozen Hearts
152 - Anthology - Emergency Servicing
153 - Caroline B. Cooney - Janie Johnson 01 - The Face On The Milk Carton
154 - Caroline B. Cooney - Janie Johnson 02 - Whatever Happened To Janie?
155 - Caroline B. Cooney - Janie Johnson 03 - The Voice On The Radio
156 - Gemma Halliday - High Heels Mystery 01 - Spying in High Heels
157 - Gemma Halliday - High Heels Mystery 02 - Killer in High Heels
158 - Gemma Halliday - High Heels Mystery 03 - Undercover in High Heels
159 - Gemma Halliday - High Heels Mystery 04 - Alibi in High Heels
160 - Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton - Second Hand
161 - Steve Martin - The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People - Make That Ten: The Tweets of Steve Martin
162 - Terry Pratchett - Discworld 16 - Soul Music
163 - KyAnn Waters - Weekend Boyfriend
164 - Sloan Parker - Take Me Home
165 - Vanessa Diffenbaugh - The Language of Flowers
166 - Julie Hyzy - White House Chef Mysteries 01 - State of the Onion
167 - Julie Hyzy - White House Chef Mysteries 02 - Hail to the Chef
168 - Julie Hyzy - White House Chef Mysteries 03 - Eggsecutive Orders
169 - Julie Hyzy - White House Chef Mysteries 04 - Buffalo West Wing
170 - Jenny Nimmo - Children Of The Red King 02 - The Time Twister
1 - Private Berlin by James Patterson & Mark Sullivan
2 - 12th of Never by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
3 - Hitman: My Real Life in the Wold of Cartoon Wrestling by Bret Hart
4 - Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child by Terrance Dicks
5 - Doctor Who and the Daleks by David Whitaker 6 - Doctor Who: Timewyrm: Genesis by John Peel
19.The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (17th- 22nd March) – I really enjoyed the film so I decided to get the novel and see how it measured up. I really liked it and saw many similarities with The Perks of Being a Wallflower, another novel and film I really enjoyed. There were elements of the novel I preferred over the film, and vice versa, but overall, a good read and a good film.
153 - Caroline B. Cooney - Janie Johnson 01 - The Face On The Milk Carton
154 - Caroline B. Cooney - Janie Johnson 02 - Whatever Happened To Janie?
155 - Caroline B. Cooney - Janie Johnson 03 - The Voice On The Radio
Oh I so loved these when I was about 14! There's a really dodgy made-for-TV movie as well which is brilliantly cheesy.
20. True Things About Me by Deborah Kay Davies (22nd-23rd March) – This was billed as ‘The Bell Jar for the twenty-first century’ by somebody on the front cover, so I bought it. It certainly reads a little like Plath’s novel and it is about a mental female who behaves in an overtly sexual manner. I found it too far-fetched from reality though, and didn’t really enjoy it. Still, I’m ahead of my target now…
14. The Expats by Chris Pavone. An OK read. I think that the story would have benefitted from having been told in a linear way rather than jumping backwards and forwards in time. I wasn't convinced by Kate's character. A good denouement though.
21. Death Comes as the End - Agatha Christie
22. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
23. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
24. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
25. Person - Sam Pink
26. Evil Under the Sun - Agatha Christie
27. The Garden of Evening Mists - Twan Eng Tan
28. The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
29. Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
30. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
68. Crash by Nicole Williams
69. Clash by Nicole Williams
70. Relentless by Cassia Leo
71. Falling Into You by Jasinda Wilder
72. Hard to Love by Kendall Ryan
73. Suicide Note by Theresa Mummert
74. Up in Flames by Nicole Williams
75. Fissure by Nicole Williams
21. Trapped by Michael Northrop (23rd-25th March) – a book about teenagers being trapped at school in the middle of a freak snowstorm (10ft+ drifts). It seemed timely and topical. There were bits I liked and bits which were tedious, and the ending was abrupt beyond belief. It was alright.
<snip> 89. Evil Under The Sun - Agatha Christie 6/10
Harper (HarperCollins), 320 pages
<Modern Classic> The twenty third Poirot case is a clever tale by Christie innocuously tied to the case title 'Evil Under The Sun'. A group of people in a luxury hotel consumed with the sexual tension generated by the man-magnet and actress Mrs Arlena Marshall… become suspects to a murder where the police seem to find cast iron alibis for everyone... of course Poirot sees it all another way. Good case.
90. Dark Tower Books 10-11 - Stephen King, Robin Furth, Peter David, Laurence Campbell, Alex Maleev etc. 7/10
Marvel Entertainment Group, 333 pages <Graphic Novel> Collecting The Way Station #1-5 and The Man In Black #1-5 sees Furth and cos wonderful adaptation of the first Dark Tower book, The Gunslinger.
91. First X-Men - Neal Adams and Christos Gage 6/10
Marvel Entertainment Group, 105 pages <Graphic Novel> First X-Men #1-5, sees Neal Adams return to an X-Book and attempt to provide a prologue to Sentinels, Weapon X, Creed's hate for Logan and more, as Logan leads a campaign to halt the United States first attempt to curb the 'mutant problem' circa 1950s-60s.
92. Fever In The Blood - Val McDermid 7/10
Sphere (Hachette UK), 500 pages <Crime> The sixth 'Wire In The Blood' book… as ever a gripping addictive read… Carol's team has to hunt a serial killer who grooms his child victims on a social network site; they also have a cold case and on top of all that the new chief deems profiler Tony Hill too expensive and a conflict of interests for Carol!
93. The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster 4/10
Faber and Faber, 314 pages <Literary> Original published as three separate books - City Of Glass, Ghosts and The Locked Room are three post modernist variations of detective stories set in an hypnotic New York landscape.
94. The Girl In The Flammable Skirt - Aimee Bender 7/10
Windmill Books (Random House), 184 pages <Short Stories> 16 almost magical realist / surreal very short stories. Bender is a great short story writer in that she gets you into the setting within the first page and keeps you interested 'til the last with her surreal characters and sometimes surreal worlds.
95. Grant Morrison's Animal Man - Grant Morrison, Chris Truog etc 8/10
D C Comics, 651 pages <Graphic Novel> Animal Man #1-26, one of the most well known runs in comic books… another Grant Morrison masterpiece of groundbreaking storytelling.
171 - Michael Dane - Does This Taste Funny? A Half Baked Look At Food And Foodies
172 - Dianne Hartsock - Nathaniel
173 - Heidi Cullinan - Dirty Laundry
174 - Richard Rushfield - American Idol: The Untold Story
175 - Mike Dash - Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions it Aroused
176 - David King - Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris
177 - Warwick Davis - Size Matters Not: The Extraordinary Life & Career of Warwick Davis
178 - Lori A. Levesque - Diary Of A Dating Shit Magnet
179 - Heidi Cullinan - Special Delivery
180 - Darren Worrow - The Perminator
181 - Dominic Stewart - An Italian Job: Two Days In The Life Of An Englishman In Italy
182 - Heidi Cullinan - A Private Gentleman
183 - Gesine Bullock-Prado - Confections of a Closet Master Baker: One Woman's Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker
184 - Danny Bee - Blinded Sight: Murder, Mayhem, Riot and Revolution: Ann Arbor in the 1960's
185 - Harold Schechter - Fatal: The Poisonous Life Of A Female Serial Killer
25. Our Holocaust, by Amir Gutfreund. Slow to start but once it got going this was an incredibly moving account of the holocaust. So much emotion of unspeakable events, but skilfully restrained. Admirable. 5/5
26. Austerity Britain, by David Kynaston. Timely, unfortunately so. 4/5
Comments
Oh what was that like? A couple of people have sent me that as a rec on goodreads.
Not too bad - took a while to get into it but I ended up being fond of the family - gran, son-in-law, 2 grown up daughters of the son in law and one of their children
Annoying bit was the main character trying to get over a boyfriend who was such a t****r that you wanted to give her a good shake!
83. The New Teen Titans 1984-85 - Marv Wolfman 4/10
D C Comics, 399 pages
<Graphic Novel> The New Teen Titans volume two #1-15 and Annual #1. Although printed on better paper, definitely a drop in storytelling quality. Includes the return of Trigon / fall of Raven arc.
84. Tank Girl - Jamie Hewlett & Alan Martin 3/10
Dark Horse Comics, 245 pages
<Graphic Novel> The original Tank Girl series volumes 1-2 (four issues per volume)
85. Tank Girl The Movie - Peter Milligan 3/10
Penguin Books, 66 pages
<Graphic Novel> Milligan's take on Tank Girl's origin and troubles with Water & Power.
86. Insufferable volume one - Mark Waid, Peter Krause etc 7/10
Thrillbent, 531 pages
<Digitial graphic novel> Insufferable #1-34. Waid's latest project sees an online digital-only book centred round an aging hero, Nocturnus, and his e-commerce money making son, Kid Galahad. Quite good.
87. Made In Brighton - Julie Burchill and Daniel Raven 6/10
Virgin Books, 183 pages
<Historical Commentary> … 'From the Grand to the Gutter: Modern Britain as seen beside the sea'. Admittedly I like what Burchill often has to say… this book looks at the changing face of Britain from the viewpoint of Brighton (aka as London On Sea), with an interweaving of personal stories and experiences with greater themes / commentaries on class, sex, politics both local and national, music and the ensuing changes over the last quarter of a century.
88. Home To Harlem - Claude McKay 5/10
Black Classic (X Press), 236 pages
<Modern Classic> Published in 1928, this is the tale of a disgruntled Afro-American soldier going AWOL in France and then London, but who feels drawn to the chaotic urban life of Harlem, to which he eventually returns. Very interesting read, and take on the alienation and frustrations caused by social intimidation and implied inferiority.
89. Evil Under The Sun - Agatha Christie 6/10
Harper (HarperCollins), 320 pages
<Modern Classic> The twenty third Poirot case is a clever tale by Christie innocuously tied to the case title 'Evil Under The Sun'. A group of people in a luxury hotel consumed with the sexual tension generated by the man-magnet and actress Mrs Arlena Marshall… become suspects to a murder where the police seem to find cast iron alibis for everyone... of course Poirot sees it all another way. Good case.
142 - Paul Shaffer and David Ritz - We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Showbiz Saga
143 - Terry Pratchett - Discworld 20 - Hogfather
144 - Harold Schechter - Bestial: The Savage Trail of a True American Monster
145 - Cherie Noel - By Any Other Name
146 - Tara Kelly - Amplified
147 - Michael D. Sellers - John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood
148 - Andy Lane - Young Sherlock Holmes 01 - Death Cloud
149 - Andy Lane - Young Sherlock Holmes 02 - Red Leech
150 - David Reichert - Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer
151 - Teegan Loy - Frozen Hearts
152 - Anthology - Emergency Servicing
153 - Caroline B. Cooney - Janie Johnson 01 - The Face On The Milk Carton
154 - Caroline B. Cooney - Janie Johnson 02 - Whatever Happened To Janie?
155 - Caroline B. Cooney - Janie Johnson 03 - The Voice On The Radio
156 - Gemma Halliday - High Heels Mystery 01 - Spying in High Heels
157 - Gemma Halliday - High Heels Mystery 02 - Killer in High Heels
158 - Gemma Halliday - High Heels Mystery 03 - Undercover in High Heels
159 - Gemma Halliday - High Heels Mystery 04 - Alibi in High Heels
160 - Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton - Second Hand
161 - Steve Martin - The Ten, Make That Nine, Habits of Very Organized People - Make That Ten: The Tweets of Steve Martin
162 - Terry Pratchett - Discworld 16 - Soul Music
163 - KyAnn Waters - Weekend Boyfriend
164 - Sloan Parker - Take Me Home
165 - Vanessa Diffenbaugh - The Language of Flowers
166 - Julie Hyzy - White House Chef Mysteries 01 - State of the Onion
167 - Julie Hyzy - White House Chef Mysteries 02 - Hail to the Chef
168 - Julie Hyzy - White House Chef Mysteries 03 - Eggsecutive Orders
169 - Julie Hyzy - White House Chef Mysteries 04 - Buffalo West Wing
170 - Jenny Nimmo - Children Of The Red King 02 - The Time Twister
2 - 12th of Never by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
3 - Hitman: My Real Life in the Wold of Cartoon Wrestling by Bret Hart
4 - Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child by Terrance Dicks
5 - Doctor Who and the Daleks by David Whitaker
6 - Doctor Who: Timewyrm: Genesis by John Peel
Oh I so loved these when I was about 14! There's a really dodgy made-for-TV movie as well which is brilliantly cheesy.
26. Evil Under the Sun - Agatha Christie
27. The Garden of Evening Mists - Twan Eng Tan
28. The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
29. Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
30. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
69. Clash by Nicole Williams
70. Relentless by Cassia Leo
71. Falling Into You by Jasinda Wilder
72. Hard to Love by Kendall Ryan
73. Suicide Note by Theresa Mummert
74. Up in Flames by Nicole Williams
75. Fissure by Nicole Williams
12. Before I Go To Sleep - S.J. Watson
13. Like Bees To Honey - Caroline Smailes
90. Dark Tower Books 10-11 - Stephen King, Robin Furth, Peter David, Laurence Campbell, Alex Maleev etc. 7/10
Marvel Entertainment Group, 333 pages <Graphic Novel> Collecting The Way Station #1-5 and The Man In Black #1-5 sees Furth and cos wonderful adaptation of the first Dark Tower book, The Gunslinger.
91. First X-Men - Neal Adams and Christos Gage 6/10
Marvel Entertainment Group, 105 pages <Graphic Novel> First X-Men #1-5, sees Neal Adams return to an X-Book and attempt to provide a prologue to Sentinels, Weapon X, Creed's hate for Logan and more, as Logan leads a campaign to halt the United States first attempt to curb the 'mutant problem' circa 1950s-60s.
92. Fever In The Blood - Val McDermid 7/10
Sphere (Hachette UK), 500 pages <Crime> The sixth 'Wire In The Blood' book… as ever a gripping addictive read… Carol's team has to hunt a serial killer who grooms his child victims on a social network site; they also have a cold case and on top of all that the new chief deems profiler Tony Hill too expensive and a conflict of interests for Carol!
93. The New York Trilogy - Paul Auster 4/10
Faber and Faber, 314 pages <Literary> Original published as three separate books - City Of Glass, Ghosts and The Locked Room are three post modernist variations of detective stories set in an hypnotic New York landscape.
94. The Girl In The Flammable Skirt - Aimee Bender 7/10
Windmill Books (Random House), 184 pages <Short Stories> 16 almost magical realist / surreal very short stories. Bender is a great short story writer in that she gets you into the setting within the first page and keeps you interested 'til the last with her surreal characters and sometimes surreal worlds.
95. Grant Morrison's Animal Man - Grant Morrison, Chris Truog etc 8/10
D C Comics, 651 pages <Graphic Novel> Animal Man #1-26, one of the most well known runs in comic books… another Grant Morrison masterpiece of groundbreaking storytelling.
172 - Dianne Hartsock - Nathaniel
173 - Heidi Cullinan - Dirty Laundry
174 - Richard Rushfield - American Idol: The Untold Story
175 - Mike Dash - Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions it Aroused
176 - David King - Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris
177 - Warwick Davis - Size Matters Not: The Extraordinary Life & Career of Warwick Davis
178 - Lori A. Levesque - Diary Of A Dating Shit Magnet
179 - Heidi Cullinan - Special Delivery
180 - Darren Worrow - The Perminator
181 - Dominic Stewart - An Italian Job: Two Days In The Life Of An Englishman In Italy
182 - Heidi Cullinan - A Private Gentleman
183 - Gesine Bullock-Prado - Confections of a Closet Master Baker: One Woman's Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker
184 - Danny Bee - Blinded Sight: Murder, Mayhem, Riot and Revolution: Ann Arbor in the 1960's
185 - Harold Schechter - Fatal: The Poisonous Life Of A Female Serial Killer
25. Our Holocaust, by Amir Gutfreund. Slow to start but once it got going this was an incredibly moving account of the holocaust. So much emotion of unspeakable events, but skilfully restrained. Admirable. 5/5
26. Austerity Britain, by David Kynaston. Timely, unfortunately so. 4/5