Book Addicts Anonymous

I don't normally go for books with "love" in the title, had enough slushy stuff to last me a lifetime, plus it is an unrealistic view of life in so called "love stories".....BUT....this isn't really a book about slushy "romantic" love, it's about the love families have for each other, even in strained circumstances.
There, at first, appears to be just two narratives in the novel, but there is a third one quietly weaving the two main narratives together. A further one helps bring the novel to conclusion.
For me, the narrators are Leo, Alma, Bird and Zvi.

The novel starts off with Leo and his very strange, almost bizarre ways of ensuring that although he is old, and lives alone, he won't be one of those lonely dead people who are discovered days, sometimes weeks after they have finally died. Although comic, it is probably true, Krauss has him going out every day and doing unpredictable things in public places, such as knocking over stack of cans in a supermarket. A bittersweet condemnation of society today.

Alma's quest to find the "cure" for her mother's loneliness is also sad, but heart warming, not in a mushy way though. I had put off reading this book for quiet a while presuming it would be all hearts and flowers, it's anything but that, and a very good read.

http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/books/reviews/11916/

Sharon J Bolton's first novel tackles a subject, albeit in a disguised way, that once brought to mind, I found difficult to forget. I won't spoil it, but the novel gives nothing at all away about this particular thread of the plot.
Part thriller,part medical, part investigative is what springs to find on reading the bumph. I did find myself telling the heroine "don't do that" several times, but as you know, the heroine....no doing would lead to a very short dull book.
I enjoyed the various twists and turns of the plot, and wasn't able to predict a couple of them. The setting, of the novel is crucial to the plot, it really couldn't happen elsewhere, [other than other remote islands,] as is revealed towards the end of the novel.
Sacrifice is a first novel from a past Waterstone's "New Voices" promotion, S.J.Bolton having now written a second novel, and her website says she's working on a third.
I'll not type out the bumph here, visit Sharon Bolton's website to read more about Sacrifice, her newest release Awakening, and the book still being written.

www.sjbolton.com

This is the second Win Garano novel I have read by Cornwell, and to me Win Garano is not quite as enigmatic as Kay Scarpetta. That aside, the novel is very accessible, but this one had a rather confusing conclusion, to me. I will probably read more in this series because of the author, but they are no way as engrossing as the Kay Scarpetta books.

I discovered this book thanks to Waterstone's Books Quarterly. It was one of their...if you like this book, you will like this one too, books. The link in this case was Poppy Shakespeare, which I haven't read as yet, but have watched the TV dramatisation
However, the title of this book also intrigued me. "Broken Biscuits".....when I was young......Mum would buy broken biscuits from the market. They were cheaper, and many biscuits that were beyond my parents weekly budget would be in the broken biscuit mix. I don't know if Liz Kettle meant readers to make this connection, but I did. My sister would shake the biscuit tin, deliberately before choosing her biscuits, as we were under strict instructions to "eat the broken biscuits first"....the implication of this being, if guests came, they could choose the whole biscuits. As I said, I have no idea if this is the link Liz Kettle made when choosing the title, but the characters in the novel are both damaged in some way.
The novel could be confusing, as Aggie's narrative goes backwards, and Jodie's goes forwards, but both women are struggling to make sense of their worlds. I really enjoyed this book, despite it's unsettling subject matter....after all...no-one likes to think they might loose their marbles.

When I bought this book...I didn't realise that it was a graphic novel...however...I read it quite quickly. The underlying message from this novel is......I suppose...don't judge a book by it's cover.
Throughout the text Marjane tries to "fit in" to other cultures/ and indeed her own, she is displaced, and left adrift. Her extreme actions are expected, in my book.

The novel is a very good way of reminding US....that there are other cultures...and they should be taken into consideration.

Bumph;
www.randomhouse.com/pantheon/graphicnovels/satrapi.hmtl

This is one of those books that has been in my "stash" of books for a while, and I'll be honest, I forgot what it was about, until I picked it off the bookshelf. It's a perfect contrast to the insanity of the previous book, but not deadly serious.
I have seen a review of this book comparing it to Lovely Bones, as this book is also told through the eyes of someone who we learn is dead.
The characters are very believable, and Razi is a very gutsy young woman. Just why she is "haunting" the couple, Amy and Scott, seems random, until things start to tie together. What at first seems like two random plot lines becomes one through which both Razi and Amy learn something very important.

Although the bumph does say that this is a love story, I wouldn't let that fool you. It is not mushy and sentimental at all, it explores the depths of feelings people can still have for each other, even after death. When Domingue tied things up at the end of the book, I thought back and there was a pointer to one thing that was a mystery all through. Razi's first and only love could really only have settled for one other person in the book.

The link above takes you to Domingue's website, to date this her only full-length novel. It does say she was working on a second, but has shelved it for the time being, and is working on another.

The new Poet Laureate is Carol Ann Duffy. Her job will entail creating poems for Royal Occasions.
Carol is the first ever female holder of the post, it used to be for life, but Tony Blair made the post one with a ten year tenure in 1999.
I think this is brilliant news as alongside Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy is one of my favourite poets. I wonder if her lovely wry sense of humour will creep into any poems she writes for special occasions.

I'd just like to offer my congratulations to Ms Duffy on her appointment.
To read more about Ms Duffy, click here