Reading Challenge 2024

[Paladin]

1. Unruly - David Mitchell - 9/10
2. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Blackman - 7/10
3. The Book of Doors - Gareth Brown - 8/10
4. Hitler's British Traitors - Tim Tate - 4/10
5. 1984 - George Orwell - 7/10

I thought I should read one of those classics that wasn't on my school curriculum back in the seventies. A scary look at what life might have looked like, and eerily similar in some ways to the wartime depiction in Hans Fallada's 'Alone in Berlin'. A bit depressing.

 

[RobMCFC]

1. Unruly - David Mitchell - 9/10
2. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Blackman - 7/10
3. The Book of Doors - Gareth Brown - 8/10
4. Hitler's British Traitors - Tim Tate - 4/10
5. 1984 - George Orwell - 7/10

I thought I should read one of those classics that wasn't on my school curriculum back in the seventies. A scary look at what life might have looked like, and eerily similar in some ways to the wartime depiction in Hans Fallada's 'Alone in Berlin'. A bit depressing.

I read that a few years ago, what with it being considered a classic and all.

I thought the ideas and concepts were great but I didn't enjoy it because I didn't think the writing was that great.

 

[Paladin]

1. Unruly - David Mitchell - 9/10
2. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Blackman - 7/10
3. The Book of Doors - Gareth Brown - 8/10
4. Hitler's British Traitors - Tim Tate - 4/10
5. 1984 - George Orwell - 7/10
6. Big Beacon by Alan Partridge - Steve Coogan et al - 6/10

Utterly pointless, but I nevertheless always find Alan Partridge very funny. A light hearted diversion after 1984.

In this adventure, Partridge purchases a lighthouse out of spite towards a former colleague, and restores it. The dual narrative is as usual, Partridge trying to resurrect his TV career.

In trademark fashion, there are plenty of instances of Alan besmirching the image and reputation of genuine B-listers and other acquaintances. Some of the anecdotes are predictable. Not the sort of book I would ever re-read.

 

[ell]

Finished my 10th of the year last night, had a rapid start to the year and slowed right down for a while. Still hoping for 25 again for the year

 

[Kippax Street 1880]

Used to be a voracious reader but I really struggle to keep concentration nowadays. Anyone else finding this? I used to be able to finish a book in a sitting now I have to re read each page 4 times.

 

[ballbag]

Reading Neuromancer (again) after a stint on Cyberpunk 2077. Molly Millions might have been my first crush.

 

[Paladin]

1. Unruly - David Mitchell - 9/10
2. A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Blackman - 7/10
3. The Book of Doors - Gareth Brown - 8/10
4. Hitler's British Traitors - Tim Tate - 4/10
5. 1984 - George Orwell - 7/10
6. Big Beacon by Alan Partridge - Steve Coogan et al - 6/10
7. The Third Man - Graham Greene - 5/10

Set in Vienna in the years immediately following the war, Harry Lime is killed in an accident. His old school friend starts asking questions about Lime's death and begins to suspect a cover up when someone mentions a third witness to the death.

This is more of a murder mystery than the spy noir thriller I was expecting. It's a short book and the characters aren't particularly well defined, although the narration did help to bring some of the characters to life.

Harry Lime was known by his whistling of a particular tune. This now iconic tune was brought to life in the 1949 film of the book, and is used to great effect here to add atmosphere to the recording.

I'm glad I listened to it, but understandably, it just doesn't stand up to more modern thrillers.

 

[RobMCFC]

1. Fairy Tale – Stephen King - 5/10
2. Wolf Pack – Will Dean - 7/10
3. A Small Death in Lisbon – Robert Wilson - 6/10
4. A Man Called Ove – Fredrick Backman – 8/10
5. Tomorrow's Children – Daniel Polansky – 3/10
6. The Mobster’s Lament – Ray Celestin – 8/10
7. Priest of Crowns – Peter McLean – 9/10

This is the fourth and final 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).

In my review for the first book in this series, I said that a strength of the book was the voice of Thomas Piety, who doesn’t use big words and basically tells it like it is. But I also said that some events seemed rushed and lacking detail. Well, this is certainly not a problem anymore, because as you’d expect, the author has gone from strength to strength as the series has progressed, his writing improving with every book.

Peter McLean has kept the things that worked really well from the start – Tomas Piety’s voice and the impressively detailed characters – but then he’s added just the right amount of detail to get over what’s going on in a satisfactory way.

In the final book, Thomas is dealing with a city on the edge of revolution in a plot that sees both his country and his family in danger, and his loyalty to both are sorely tested. One aspect that I really enjoyed about this last book was the characters who use “The Cunning”. Whilst I love fantasy books, I prefer those where any magic system is low-key or doesn’t overwhelm the plot. Whilst “The Cunning” wielded by Tomas’s son, Billy, his girlfriend, Mina, and the man who taught them, Old Kurt, is powerful, the story focuses more on the price it exacts from users and there are some very effective scenes in this regard.

The plot is wrapped up in great fashion and I would definitely recommend this series to readers who like grimdark fantasy. I will certainly be looking out for future books by Peter McLean.