Finished Shadow of the Wind (eventually). To be honest struggled with it and lost my way a few times while reading it. Not sure it down to the book and it just didn't catch my imagination or just too busy to read recently. Certainly preferred the Bob Mortimer one out of the 2 books. Next on agenda is On Wings of Eagles
Reading Challenge 2024
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
2023 Books
I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while. My Dad read it in the 80s, and he recommended it to me. But the paperback remained unread on my shelf for many years until it eventually got discarded during a clear out.
It was worth the wait. Outside of sport, the Iranian Revolution was one of the first major world events that I remember being reported on the TV. I read Mark Bowden’s excellent Guests of the Ayatollah years ago, so it was good to finally read this account of another international incident that took place a few months before the US hostage crisis.
I'll withhold most of the review until others have read it, but I enjoyed it.
- Cunning Folk – Adam L.G. Nevill - 8/10
- Bad Apples – Will Dean – 7/10
- The Winter Road – Adrian Selby – 6/10
- The Dark Place – Damian Vargas – 9/10
- Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris – 7/10
- The Tyranny of Faith – Richard Swan – 7/10
- The Game – Micah Richards – 8/10
- The Ticket Collector from Belarus – Mike Anderson and Neil Hanson – 8/10
- The Satsuma Complex – Bob Mortimer – 6/10
- Notes on an Execution – Danya Kukafka – 9/10
- And Away … – Bob Mortimer – 7/10
- Dead Man's Blues - Ray Celestin – 8/10
- On Wings of Eagles – Ken Follett – 8/10
I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while. My Dad read it in the 80s, and he recommended it to me. But the paperback remained unread on my shelf for many years until it eventually got discarded during a clear out.
It was worth the wait. Outside of sport, the Iranian Revolution was one of the first major world events that I remember being reported on the TV. I read Mark Bowden’s excellent Guests of the Ayatollah years ago, so it was good to finally read this account of another international incident that took place a few months before the US hostage crisis.
I'll withhold most of the review until others have read it, but I enjoyed it.
JRockBlues
Well-Known Member
Time once again for another of those catchup posts.
The Fuller Memorandum by Charles Stross
The continuing adventures of Bob Howard, IT Specialist and field agent for the British Secret Service section dealing in the occult. This time around there’s some very cultish behaviour for Bb & the gang to deal with and we get to to learn some back-story to a supporting character as well as Mo’s violin. Get the feeling there’s going to be some fallout from this instalment further along in the series. 3½★'s
Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card
4th book in the Ender’s Game series continues in an interesting way but is not a great story. There’s a mix of credible science mixed with the more fantastical and the author seems to shy away from the questions this work could be asking. I still intend to get to the Shadow series at some point. 3★'s
Absolute Sandman Overture by Neil Gaiman
This collection brings together the 6 volumes of the Sandman prequel series about what happened to Dream of the Endless to leave him in the state where he could be captured and bound by a human at the start of the main series. As well as cameo’s from his siblings we also get to meet mummy & daddy this time along.
Packaged in faux leather binding and the oversize pages showcase the art of [[J. H. Williams, III]] beautifully with some even displayed on 4-page spreads. Additional material provided includes: The Artist’s Edition, every age of Williams’ painted artwork before the addition of final colouring and digital effects. Script for issue 1, Interviews with the principals involved in making this book, variant covers and other artwork and short biographies. 4★'s
Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis
Having read some of the authors comic books I thought it was time to see how he transitioned to the novel form. It translates into a gritty, dark, crude and depraved look at the seedier side of life by way of a private detective searching for a book for the Vice-President of the United States which could help turn the tide of moral decay spreading in the country and worldwide. His search starts of with macroherpetophilia (don’t look this one up in work) and gets progressively worse with each step. For me, it was a helluva lot of fun. 4★'s
The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
Collection of short stories ranging from the opening chapter of a novel to little snippets of ordinary lives. A lot of these deal with the sense of loneliness that can creep into the everyday life. Well written as ever from the author but short stories are just not my favourite form of prose. 3½★'s
Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
Dark and grisly thriller with a touch of the supernatural about it. Opens with a brutal murder which sends the main character, Charlie Parker, into a spiral into darkness. Quits his job on the police force so that he can follow any lead no matter how tenuous and do the things that cops aren’t supposed to be able to do to find any scrap of information that will eventually lead him to the killer. To try and end his descent a former colleague and friend asks Parker to look into the disappearance of a young woman with links to a charitable trust.
There is a lot of violence in this book and it’s usually described quite graphically. It features mutilation, flayed victims and other traumatic scenes throughout. It’s also very much a first book and not without some of the problems that can occur. The dialogue is a bit clunk, it’s a book very much of it’s time and I doubt very much it would pass the Bechdel test as although there is a strong female character she is used primarily as a love interest/plot device. Some of the other background characters are interesting though and hopefully they recur in later books of the series. It’s not often that you get a gay black couple who are both strong and capable people in their own right. Yes, that does mean I intend to continue with the series as, despite it’s faults, this was an enjoyable read. 3½★'s
The Fuller Memorandum by Charles Stross
The continuing adventures of Bob Howard, IT Specialist and field agent for the British Secret Service section dealing in the occult. This time around there’s some very cultish behaviour for Bb & the gang to deal with and we get to to learn some back-story to a supporting character as well as Mo’s violin. Get the feeling there’s going to be some fallout from this instalment further along in the series. 3½★'s
Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card
4th book in the Ender’s Game series continues in an interesting way but is not a great story. There’s a mix of credible science mixed with the more fantastical and the author seems to shy away from the questions this work could be asking. I still intend to get to the Shadow series at some point. 3★'s
Absolute Sandman Overture by Neil Gaiman
This collection brings together the 6 volumes of the Sandman prequel series about what happened to Dream of the Endless to leave him in the state where he could be captured and bound by a human at the start of the main series. As well as cameo’s from his siblings we also get to meet mummy & daddy this time along.
Packaged in faux leather binding and the oversize pages showcase the art of [[J. H. Williams, III]] beautifully with some even displayed on 4-page spreads. Additional material provided includes: The Artist’s Edition, every age of Williams’ painted artwork before the addition of final colouring and digital effects. Script for issue 1, Interviews with the principals involved in making this book, variant covers and other artwork and short biographies. 4★'s
Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis
Having read some of the authors comic books I thought it was time to see how he transitioned to the novel form. It translates into a gritty, dark, crude and depraved look at the seedier side of life by way of a private detective searching for a book for the Vice-President of the United States which could help turn the tide of moral decay spreading in the country and worldwide. His search starts of with macroherpetophilia (don’t look this one up in work) and gets progressively worse with each step. For me, it was a helluva lot of fun. 4★'s
The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami
Collection of short stories ranging from the opening chapter of a novel to little snippets of ordinary lives. A lot of these deal with the sense of loneliness that can creep into the everyday life. Well written as ever from the author but short stories are just not my favourite form of prose. 3½★'s
Every Dead Thing by John Connolly
Dark and grisly thriller with a touch of the supernatural about it. Opens with a brutal murder which sends the main character, Charlie Parker, into a spiral into darkness. Quits his job on the police force so that he can follow any lead no matter how tenuous and do the things that cops aren’t supposed to be able to do to find any scrap of information that will eventually lead him to the killer. To try and end his descent a former colleague and friend asks Parker to look into the disappearance of a young woman with links to a charitable trust.
There is a lot of violence in this book and it’s usually described quite graphically. It features mutilation, flayed victims and other traumatic scenes throughout. It’s also very much a first book and not without some of the problems that can occur. The dialogue is a bit clunk, it’s a book very much of it’s time and I doubt very much it would pass the Bechdel test as although there is a strong female character she is used primarily as a love interest/plot device. Some of the other background characters are interesting though and hopefully they recur in later books of the series. It’s not often that you get a gay black couple who are both strong and capable people in their own right. Yes, that does mean I intend to continue with the series as, despite it’s faults, this was an enjoyable read. 3½★'s
richardtheref
Well-Known Member
The Rise & Fall of D.O.D.O - Neale Stephenson & Nicple Gallard 2/5
The Defence - Steve Cavanagh 3/5
The Defence - Steve Cavanagh 3/5
SWP's back
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I read this a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I even went as far as watching footage from some of his unlicensed boxing bouts on YouTube. He was a scary scary man to fight against, no doubt.1. Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch. 7/10.
2. The Racketeer - John Grisham. 5/10.
3. Orphan X - Gregg Hurwitz. 9/10.
4. The Longest Kill - Craig Harrison. 8/10.
5. Notes on an Execution - Danya Kukafka. 8/10.
6. The Satsuma Complex - Bob Mortimer. 7/10.
7. The Garderobe of Death - Howard of Warwick - 6/10.
8. A Village in the Third Reich - Julia Boyd, Angelina Patel - 9/10.
9. Three Days in June - James O'Connell - 9/10.
10. The Guv'nor - Lenny McLean - 10/10.
Superb book (audiobook version) finished in about five days. I kept finding more and more gardening jobs, and errands to run, so that I could continue to listen to Lenny's life story. Or stories. He seemed to have endless anecdotes and tales from an adventurous life. An excellent autobiography - never a dull moment.
Lenny's is a life and lifestyle totally alien to me. Brought up by a physically abusive step-father, who married his mother when his father died young, Lenny learned at a very early age to absorb physical pain such that it never bothered him. The system was never really for the likes of Lenny, so in adult life, he pretty much entered the underworld of protecting, avenging, street fighting, bare knuckle fighting and unlicensed boxing. He became the undisputed Guv'nor of his manor (in London), then London, then probably the UK. He even went to New York to fight and beat the Mafia's own champion.
What makes Lenny endearing though is that he wasn't a bully. He was never abusive or violent towards his family. He claims he didn't pick on innocents or "straights". He did dispense his own violent form of justice though, towards those who didn't recognise the authority of the Old Bill. He hated the police, but he tells how he rescued a young police woman who was being unfairly bullied by a gang of yobs.
His violence sometimes went too far, and he would end up in trouble with the law. He was no stranger to the inside of a prison cell or a hospital ward.
A lovable rogue. He died before his 50th birthday from cancer.
A rare 10/10 from me. Not a book of epic ambition, but a really absorbing life story, and a genuine page turner (or audio equivalent).
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
Books
This is the third book in the War for the Rose Throne series that follows the story of ex-soldier, Thomas Piety, and his ascent from gang leader to the higher echelons of the Queen’s Men (a fantasy version of MI5).
I think the writing is improving with every book, and I enjoyed this immensely. The plot centres on the political shenanigans that put a young princess in line for the throne, but as Thomas discovers, not all is right with the Queen to be.
The series concludes with a fourth book, which I’ll save for a holiday next year.
- Cunning Folk – Adam L.G. Nevill - 8/10
- Bad Apples – Will Dean – 7/10
- The Winter Road – Adrian Selby – 6/10
- The Dark Place – Damian Vargas – 9/10
- Act of Oblivion – Robert Harris – 7/10
- The Tyranny of Faith – Richard Swan – 7/10
- The Game – Micah Richards – 8/10
- The Ticket Collector from Belarus – Mike Anderson and Neil Hanson – 8/10
- The Satsuma Complex – Bob Mortimer – 6/10
- Notes on an Execution – Danya Kukafka – 9/10
- And Away … – Bob Mortimer – 7/10
- Dead Man's Blues - Ray Celestin – 8/10
- On Wings of Eagles – Ken Follett – 8/10
- Priest of Gallows – Peter McLean – 8/10
This is the third book in the War for the Rose Throne series that follows the story of ex-soldier, Thomas Piety, and his ascent from gang leader to the higher echelons of the Queen’s Men (a fantasy version of MI5).
I think the writing is improving with every book, and I enjoyed this immensely. The plot centres on the political shenanigans that put a young princess in line for the throne, but as Thomas discovers, not all is right with the Queen to be.
The series concludes with a fourth book, which I’ll save for a holiday next year.
stoneblue
Well-Known Member
20/23 The Rebel’s Mark - S W Perry
21/23 The Sinner’s Mark - S W Perry
These are the 5th and 6th books in The Jackdaw Mysteries series, featuring Dr Nicholas Shelby and his wife Bianca and several other regular characters.
The first story is set in 1598 where Shelby and Bianca have returned to Court from Padua.
Shelby works as a reluctant spy for Robert Cecil and when Cecil receives an enigmatic letter from England's greatest living poet in Ireland (Edmund Spencer), he dispatches Nicholas to meet with him. Accompanied by Bianca he travels to Ireland but is soon finds himself drawn into the Irish Rebellion and Cecil's powerplay with Robert, Earl of Essex.
In the second story it’s now 1600 and sees the arrival in London of an old friend of Doctor Shelby but his wife Bianca soon begins to suspect all is not what it seems behind his reasons for being in London. The backdrop to the story is the turbulent period towards the end of Elizabeth I’s reign and Shelby has found himself owing Robert Cecil a favour and he gets drawn into a plot to overthrow the state.
Perry is a good author of historical fiction and cleverly weaves real characters and events alongside fictional equivalents. For me, C J Sansom is the best author of this genre/period but Perry isn’t too far behind.
Although each could be read as a standalone story, you’d likely get more out of them by reading the series from the beginning.
21/23 The Sinner’s Mark - S W Perry
These are the 5th and 6th books in The Jackdaw Mysteries series, featuring Dr Nicholas Shelby and his wife Bianca and several other regular characters.
The first story is set in 1598 where Shelby and Bianca have returned to Court from Padua.
Shelby works as a reluctant spy for Robert Cecil and when Cecil receives an enigmatic letter from England's greatest living poet in Ireland (Edmund Spencer), he dispatches Nicholas to meet with him. Accompanied by Bianca he travels to Ireland but is soon finds himself drawn into the Irish Rebellion and Cecil's powerplay with Robert, Earl of Essex.
In the second story it’s now 1600 and sees the arrival in London of an old friend of Doctor Shelby but his wife Bianca soon begins to suspect all is not what it seems behind his reasons for being in London. The backdrop to the story is the turbulent period towards the end of Elizabeth I’s reign and Shelby has found himself owing Robert Cecil a favour and he gets drawn into a plot to overthrow the state.
Perry is a good author of historical fiction and cleverly weaves real characters and events alongside fictional equivalents. For me, C J Sansom is the best author of this genre/period but Perry isn’t too far behind.
Although each could be read as a standalone story, you’d likely get more out of them by reading the series from the beginning.
JRockBlues
Well-Known Member
The Dark Heart of the Nightside by Simon R. Green
Omnibus edition which contains books 5 & 6 of the series.
Paths Not Taken is the first of these and continues pretty much from where the previous one ended. Now that John Taylor, the Nightside’s resident private detective, has discovered who his mother is and seen a future devastation that she causes John decides he needs more information and plans a trip back in time to the very creation of the hidden city within a city. He knows such a journey won’t be easy so enlists some help to deal with the perils that are bound to occur. Shotgun Suzie is again along for the ride and they are accompanied by Tommy Oblivion, an existential detective. After dealing with some local unpleasantness they’re off to see Father Time to see if he’ll be willing to send them on their way and that’s when the fun really begins.
Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth is the 2nd part of this duology and deals with the consequences of what they found in the first and concludes the Lilith arc in an epic confrontation.
Despite being so far into the series I still have no real affinity for the characters. The lead is still pretty much the same person he was at the outset despite all that’s happened to him and the supporting cast are almost just cardboard cut-outs to use as cannon fodder or bounce plot points off. The stories themselves are okay though with plenty of action and imaginative use of varying magical implementations to get through some sticky situations. This is probably the end of this series for me though as I’m not looking to seek out the next book and it’s as good a place as any to leave.
Omnibus edition which contains books 5 & 6 of the series.
Paths Not Taken is the first of these and continues pretty much from where the previous one ended. Now that John Taylor, the Nightside’s resident private detective, has discovered who his mother is and seen a future devastation that she causes John decides he needs more information and plans a trip back in time to the very creation of the hidden city within a city. He knows such a journey won’t be easy so enlists some help to deal with the perils that are bound to occur. Shotgun Suzie is again along for the ride and they are accompanied by Tommy Oblivion, an existential detective. After dealing with some local unpleasantness they’re off to see Father Time to see if he’ll be willing to send them on their way and that’s when the fun really begins.
Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth is the 2nd part of this duology and deals with the consequences of what they found in the first and concludes the Lilith arc in an epic confrontation.
Despite being so far into the series I still have no real affinity for the characters. The lead is still pretty much the same person he was at the outset despite all that’s happened to him and the supporting cast are almost just cardboard cut-outs to use as cannon fodder or bounce plot points off. The stories themselves are okay though with plenty of action and imaginative use of varying magical implementations to get through some sticky situations. This is probably the end of this series for me though as I’m not looking to seek out the next book and it’s as good a place as any to leave.