Book Addicts Anonymous

Boy is there a lot of them. :)
I've read two by Jodi Picoult, but not back to back . House Rules is a very moving story about a boy with Asperger's. He immerses himself completely in whatever he is interested in at the time.At the time in Jacob's life, when the book is set, his interest is in CSI type situations. Jacob's mother does wonder if he has committed the murder, but

The book explores the situation. As usual Picoult has been thorough in her research. I enjoyed it immensely.
The other was Change of Heart. Again, well researched and a deeply moving book.

The next two are by Pseudonymous Bosch. I bought them thinking they would be along the same lines as Jasper Fforde, Anonymous and Tom Holt's books. I did read them, but they are formulaic children's novels, which are possibly very good for the target audience, but to me the language was over simplistic, the plot fairly predictable, I wouldn't read any more personally, but would imagine that they would be very well received by readers from about age 8 to around 12. I do mean serious readers, the kind that become avid readers as adults. Titles...The Name of This Book is Secret, and This isn't What It looks Like.

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. A brilliant book.
Definitely one worth reading, the book follows the repercussions that the act generates through the next year or so. Tsiolkas looks at the act from varying viewpoints. Very well written and plotted.

The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt. A fanstasy novel following the lives of Molly Templar and Oliver Brooks. Two orphans who end up thrown together only to embark on an adveture which will either end up with them killed or they will save the world. Nowhere near as predictable as it sounds, and thoroughly enjoyable.

Love in a Torn Land by Jean Sasson. This is a biography following the life of a Kurdish woman, Joanna, during 19987 mainly, when Saddam Hussein had ordered his cousin "Chemical ALi" to bombard Bergalou, and other villages within the Kurdish area of Iraq. The true story is a real eye opener from someone who was there and lived to tell the tale.
I don't normally read biographical accounts, but this one had me hooked from start to finish.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. This book is aimed at the teenn/young adult market, but is not condescending in any way. As with most books it starts just before the heroine loses her mother, she is then sent to England from India, and is enrolled at a boarding school...very "Little Princess" up to there, but Gemma is 16 years old, and finds herself prone to strange dreams , that draw her into a group of girls. A mystery unfolds. There is some passages in the book where the reader is taken into a "spirit world" that is very real to the girls in Gemma's circle.
A good book.

Valhalla by Tom Holt. :) I was given this for Mother's Day from my daughter, she'd managed to get hold of a signed copy for me. It is just as good as Holt's other books. Tom Holt has taken the idea of Valhalla and given it a unique twist of his own. If you like crazy situations, Tom Holt, and haven't read this book, what are you waiting for? Track it down immediately.

That's all for today. There is still a pile of 9 books that I have read and not blogged about.

Since I last posted here I have read rather a lot of books.
I'll just list them and add a short comment on each.
Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller. A very absorbing read about the progress and immediate aftermath of an illicit affair. It is written by a confidant of one of the two in the affair.
Dark Fire by C J Sansom. The second book by Sansom about Matthew Shardlake, a solicitor in the time of Henry VIII. He is employed by Thomas Cromwell to discover where the "Dark Fire" Cromwell has been told he could have has gone to. At the same time Shardlake is trying to investigate why a young girl is being accused of murder. There are several historical facts explained as part of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Devil's Graveyard by Anonymous. Another book, the third, involving the Bourbon Kid, every bit as amusing as the last two, my only complaint is that I've finished it. A quote from the front of this particular book "This particular Anonymous has decided to take a fistful of drugs and gone on a literary genre-buster...A lot of fun" That is from Daily Sport, but don't let where the quote comes from put you off.
Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult. I make no excuses for liking Picoult's writing. She takes a moral dilemma and puts a "normal" American family in the midst of the dilemma, then she explores what reaction a family could have. This one particularly saddened me at the end, but I won't say why. The ending is VERY poignant.
Hunting Unicorns by Bella Pollen. This novel explores the clash between American thirst for facts about people, and sensationalising them, and the dying breed of the English Upper Class. The clash is quite alarming, and the American journalist is quite happy to film fading upper classes, until she finds out one the families she has filmed is the family of the man who has been arranging visits. An intriguing book.
Brother and Sister by Joanna Trollope. Trollope's novels all seem to deal with females who have got to a certain stage in their lives when they need to find out "who they" are. This particular one explores what happens when two adopted grown-ups decide to try and trace their birth mothers.
The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers. Another helping of Zamonian madness from Walter Moers. A young Zamonian, Optimus Yarnspinner, sets of to find the author of an unknown manuscript. The reader gets swept away into magical world where Optimus has a great adventure, and finds out that sometimes books can kill. I love Moers writing, and this one didn't disappoint.

I'll catch up with the others that I have read tomorrow.

I will not apologise to the person who slated the last post of a Jodi Picoult book. They weren't slating me, just the books. And as I think I replied, what would the world be like if everyone liked the same sort of books, the huge width and depth of books being published today would not exist. To me the variety is good, and most people can find something to appeal if they want to read. And....YES!!!!! I like Jodi Picoult's books, they make the reader think, and are well researched.

Now onto the book.

Nineteen Minutes has a well constructed characters, with back stories that explain the actions they have taken. In this book the switching times to before and after the event helps build a more rounded picture.
It has faint links to "We Need to Talk about Kevin" by Lionel Shriver, by letting the reader know something of the main chacracter's life from his point of view and his parents. Unlike Shriver's book there is insight into the "victim's lives", and to me is better for this as it gives the reader a more balanced view. However, there is not one point where I felt that Peter should be found "not guilty". I did spot something that is only revealed late on the book at an early stage, probably just because I have read so much, and do write a little myself.
The book was very enjoyable, and I have yet to pick up a Jodi Picoult book and not finish it.

For a little more about the book go to the websites below:
www.jodipicoult.co.uk
or www.jodipicoult.com

At first I found the various characters in Second Glance a little disjointed, but as I have read several of Picoult's books, I stuck with it, and soon enough the seemingly various unrelated characters started to fall into place. By the end of the novel Picoult has tied off all the various strands with her usual adeptness.
What shocked me about this novel was the theme. I am sure I am not the only person who was unaware of a Eugenics programme taking place in USA during the early half of the 1930s.
As usual the novel is very well researched, and characters entirely believable.
Spencer Pike came across as a fanatical control freak, and the final chapter of the book was so gripping I had to just sit and read until I got to the end.

This one took me no time at all to read as I really do like Jodi Picoult's writing, and this one didn't disappoint.
Below is a link to Picoult's site, that describes the book very well, with a synopsis and an extract. http://www.jodipicoult.com/
click on books and select "Plain Truth".
I learnt some things about the Amish community in USA, which I will admit I knew nothing about, the closest we have here is "The Brethren" as far as I can see.

As with other books of Jodi Picoult's I have read, this one was was accessible, and an enthralling read.
From the moment Emily Gold is born Christopher Harte is there, their parents are close friends, and when Emily and Chris become girlfriend and boyfriend both sets of parents are happy about it. However, Emily feels she has to finish her life. The novel opens with the two sets of parents being called to the hospital, where both Emily and Chris are in the Emergency Room. Emily dies, Chris survives. The Pact follows the events in the 12 months after the suicide, and the events leading up to the fateful night. I had trouble putting the book down to get on with other things, and think if I'd had the leisure to, I probably could have just sat and read until I finished. The book is constructed well, and the characters quite vivid

http://www.jodipicoult.com/

For a synopsis of the book, go to books, and click on The Pact.