Book Addicts Anonymous

Am glad I went out and bought this for myself. Hinting that I would like a certain book doesn't seem to help very much, or music, come to think of it.
What can I say? I love Tom Holt's off the wall sense of humour, it appeals to me, probably because he seems to go off at tangents like I do.
You want to know what the book is about? I'll put a link at the bottom of this to Tom Holt's website.
Magic and mayhem as usual, with what can only be called a reluctant "hero", and a feisty major female character. Dennis Tanner and his Mum pop up, in true Goblin fashion. There are dastardly plots afoot, but what self respecting Tom Holt novel would be without these things?
By the way....whilst hunting for books for my Mum in a secondhand book shop I found a Tom Holt I don't have.....I do now....it was in brilliant condition, a hardback copy, and only £3...cheaper than the paperback would be if I ordered it.
As promised....click here for Tom Holt's website

Forgot to add....this book had a bonus! The first two chapters of another book, looks promising, think I'll be looking for it. The Accidental Sourcer by K. E.Mills....who just happens to be Karen Miller. I love Karen Miller's books.

This is not a novel, but a knitting book. I thought would give it a quick mention here, as I think it is a really good book. It encourages the knitter to experiment with yarn. Exploring different techniques, to make amazing scarves. There is a blog devoted to knitters who have used this book, it is called, Knitting New Scarves Knitalong, where you can see some of the scarves that knitters have made following the patterns.

This book can be forgiven for looking like the fluffy sort of book that is packed for holidays. It is despite it's fluffy appearance a very well thought out novel with some good twists to it. The "Missing" person, is included briefly at the start of the novel, then she goes "missing" until about half way through. It is narrated by an omniscient narrator, which works very well, as there are many people affected by the disappearance of Jacqueline Avery.
It did not however answer, or attempt to answer one of the plotlines, but I think that was deliberate. The cover of my copy is a little misleading, as it shows a toddler , beside an old fashioned swing slung from a tree. It is quite a while before the significance of the toddler is revealed. The publisher classes this novel as fiction, which it is, but it is also a mystery. An engrossing read.
Susan Lewis has written quite a few books, for a read of the cover bumph from Missing, click here, click on home when you get there if you wish to find out more about the author and her books.

This book blog cann also be found on wordpress, under the same name, Book Addicts Anonymous.

Yes, I am reading two books at once, as I realise that Anna Karenina is a fairly difficult book, and I might need a little "light relief" from it.
Saying that, what I have read so far is pretty straightforward, and flows better than Middlemarch, but then again, I never finished reading Middlemarch. [One of the few books I have abandoned.]

Be warned, if you pick this book up and expect a "nice read" about a shipwreck, you won't get it. This is not a Swiss Family Robinson, or Robinson Crusoe for adults. The main character Jeronimus Cornelisz is a desperately flawed character, who in The Accomplice by Kathryn Hayman comes across as evil, and he doesn't come across any differently in this novel. However the novel is told from Cornelisz' viewpoint. He is a man given to sadistic pleasure, even from and early age, and he makes no excuse for it. In fact he sees his pleasures as entirely natural. This doesn't make him likable by any means, but the actions that he takes are entirely in keeping with his warped character. Having read The Accomplice, I knew what the book had in store, and wasn't horrified. I do wonder if the story may have inspired, in part William Golding's Lord of the Flies.
The Company is a good read, but not for those of a delicate constitution.
http://www.panmacmillan.com/displayPage.asp?PageID=2557

The extract above gives a potential reader an insight into the novel.

Oliver bought this book while he was on his way back from his trip around Europe. Now I've finished it, and we've talked about it. We both agree that is a very depressing book.
I'm sorry, I didn't really like it for that reason, and the fact that the internal monologue passages are far too long for my liking, perhaps if the subject was less depressing I could have enjoyed it, but then it wouldn't be 1984. I am glad however Orwell's bleak outlook of the future has not happened.
I much prefer Animal Farm.
http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780141187761,00.html?strSrchSql=1984/Nineteen_Eighty-Four_George_Orwell

"The scariest novel since Stephen King's The Shining, The Birthing House grips from the first line to the final terrifying twist." That is what it says on the back cover. With that in mind I sat and read the last 100 or so pages in broad daylight.
The story is indeed griping, and you just want to read on. I've never read The Shining, so can't equate. The last 100 or so pages the story took on a nightmare-ish quality that made me want to keep on reading, rather than put the book down.
The story starts out quite positively, but then things start to go wrong, and the main character seems to become obsessed by the house. I was however disappointed that the snakes the main character keeps were not made more use of, as they could have added a sinister twist to the story, yet another one.
The story is well constructed, and I could see that with very little alteration it would be able to be made into a film.
To read more about the book and author, click here.

Isn't it funny how you pick up novels and don't want to put them down, but also every so often there seems to a be "theme", the last three I have read the main character(s) have travelled around, and the last two have been translations. I used to shy away from translations, but after reading "The 13 and 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear" by Walter Moers, I stopped avoiding them.

Most people have seen at least one Zorro film. Bearing that in mind, the man who is revealed to be Zorro in this book doesn't ring the same, but I prefer to think that Zorro would be like Diego de la Vega in Allende's novel. What better way to put people off thinking a person is Zorro, than be an effeminate fop? Following Diego around in the story, from the New world, to the Old World, and back again, Allende fills in the background of Zorro, how he came to be the man he was in legend.
After reading this book, I would happily read another of Allende's books. For more about her, and some bumph about the book, click here.

This novel is narrated by four children....all aged 6 or thereabouts. Each child is trying to make sense of their situation, yet fails, as they are only 6!
The story retreats in time from present day California to Munich during the second world war, with stops on the way.
Each child's voice is pure and confused.
The novel covers things I didn't know happened during the second world war.......and perhaps most people are unaware. The consequences of the actions are in this case far reaching but settled within the novel.
This novel makes the reader think, which is not a bad thing.

Nancy Huston is a French speaking Canadian, this novel was originally written in French. Nancy Huston translates her own books.