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.

I won't name the two books I just couldn't read.
One is a biography, but I didn't realise it was until I opened it. I will read it, but probably only very slowly. The other, just doesn't grip me at all. I think I will possibly try to read it again in the future. It explores various aspects of "office life", but it bored me, probably because I have read so many really interesting books lately.
However, I have just finished On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulks, it was a very engrossing read, and I kept finding time to read it rather than do anything else. This is the first Sebastian Faulks book I have read. I like his style of writing, after reading the books I have previously, then this, I have possibly been "spoiled" and could not enjoy the two I have mentioned briefly. I have just started to read a Sophie Hannah book, and can't put that down, perhaps it's where I am in myself at the moment that makes some books difficult to read.