Book Review: The Floating Admiral ★★★★★

The Floating Admiral is a murder mystery novel written by the Detection Club, a group of golden age authors who in their time were leading crime fiction authors. The collaboration featured Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and G.K. Chesterton among others. The novel is formed of twelve chapters, a prologue and a conclusion, each written by a different member of the club, each chapter had to make sense but the author did not know where the previous authors were leading the story. The authors had to submit a sealed solution of how they envisioned the murder happening, but it was left to Anthony Berkeley to bring all of the loose ends together into a neat bow, an amazing feat. In short I believe that this is a literary masterpiece.

When a body washes up in the sleepy town of Wynmouth stabbed in the chest Inspector Rudge knows that something fishy is going on. The body is in the vicars rowing boat, and he is clearly withholding information, the victims own identity is called into doubt and a key member of the family has disappeared. A real challenge for the inspector and the reader!

I was so surprised by this novel, I had huge reservations about it because I was convinced it wouldn't read smoothly, that I would note the changes between authors and that the story wouldn't gel together. I should have known not to doubt the Detection Club! All the writers involved are not only wonderful in their own right but also together. I am so glad they wrote this novel.

The story was complicated, that I will not deny, but it was marvellous, I rarely noticed the change in writing styles and actually found that it made the read more interesting and readable. The solution was clever, and masterfully composed, I did not suspect the murderer at all and was in fact convinced it was a different character, a true sign of a good mystery. The absolute gem in this book though is the range of closed solutions submitted by the authors which are included at the end. Each one produces an Ah-Hah! moment, especially that of Agatha Christie (and I'm not just saying that because she is my favourite).

If you are interested in  murder mystery novels and haven't read this, I highly recommend you get your hands on a copy, it may have been forgotten for eighty years but it is an absolute gem of a read and you won't be disappointed.

★★★★★

The Floating Admiral is £6.69 from The Book Depository or £5.35 from Kobo for the digital edition

Book Review: The Secret Life of Bletchley Park ★★★★★

Did you watch The Bletchley Circle when it was on TV? I did, I was absolutely fascinated (and currently have season two, which aired last month, saved on my telly box to watch in one sitting.)

I had never, before the making of that television show, heard of Bletchley Park. I knew there had been code breaking as I knew that somewhere was a group of Brits that sussed out the Enigma Machine, but I didn't know that some of the code breakers had been women, and how bloody good they were at their jobs. Now to some, this may not be unusual as nothing at all was revealed about Bletchley until the 1970's anyway, but I am a librarian, and Bletchley Park was basically the beginnings of GCHQ, which is where librarians who want to be James Bond go to work, so for me not to know about this I felt like I had been living with a huge gap in my knowledge.

What happens when I find I have a gap in my knowledge? I go a little crazy trying to find out a whole lot of stuff about it, and that lead me to this wonderful book by Sinclair McKay. The Secret Life of Bletchley Park is most definitely a non-fiction work, describing what life was like while there, how the code breakers were recruited from the nations top universities, and how difficult life has been afterwards for the people who worked there, unable to share any of the information they gathered or even mention that Bletchley existed.

I am not going to sweeten this book up, it is a hard read, when I took this on I was not an experienced non-fiction reader and I really struggled to get into this as it simply didn't hold my attention at first. I remember sitting in my armchair exasperated thinking why do I need to know so much about each of these individual people's lives?!

This book is oh so worth persevering though, you need to know about those people because they are the ones who finally accepted they could speak up about Bletchley, and they passed on their knowledge before they passed away. As a Librarian (who, if you aren't aware, is essentially the preserver of knowledge for future generations) I struggle to not feel angry that so many of the people who worked at Bletchley still do not feel they should talk about it, and are letting a huge hole in our history stay covered up, I felt a deep pride for those people who have told their stories and allowed others to learn about their experiences so it did not take long for me to become engrossed.

Sinclair McKay took on a difficult subject, and though dry at times somehow he has managed to make it incredibly interesting, and I don't think that a better job could have been achieved. I could not wait to keep reading about the stages of the development of the Bombe machines, how close they were to cracking Enigma several times before the Germans got wise and upped their security. The tension of the time period is very accurately transcribed into the book, and by the end I was determined to go and visit Bletchley, something which is absolutely on my to-do list for this summer.

This has sparked a new interest for me, and the next book I fancy reading to do with Bletchley is Enigma by Robert Harris, a fictional take on code breaking, and I imagine that if you are not quite up to tackling the non-fiction Harris might be a good place to start for fictional renditions.

If you do fancy a challenge though I absolutely recommend you give this book a try.

★★★★★

Book Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks ★★★★★

Please excuse the awful photography with this one, definitely not up to my usual standard!

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a bit of a harrowing tale, it is a non fiction investigation into the dark side of cancer research. The author sets out to investigate into the medical genetics source HeLa, a set of cancer cells which while extracted from an unidentified patient in the 1950's have continued to multiply under their own steam ever since, providing an endless source of cells for biomedical research and from which nearly all cancer research has stemmed. The cells were a mystery, as who this set of genes originated from was kept a closely guarded secret, and in the book Skloot sets about to find out who this person who has made such a difference to medical history was and to give them a voice.

I can honestly say that before reading this book I rarely, if ever, read any non-fiction. I don't know why but I just couldn't find an interest in it. Henrietta Lacks changed all that. I was intrigued by this story after the discovery of a cancer gene in our family. My family has an unfortunately long history with the big C from a patient and a research perspective, so I knew that there existed the fabled HeLa cells, I did not know however that there was a great back story to where they had come from. When I picked up the book and realised its subject matter I got stuck in and couldn't put it down.

The story of Henrietta is fascinating and heartbreaking, it grips the reader from start to finish as you are so conflicted. Henrietta was not even asked permission to have those cells of hers taken and preserved, her family had had no recognition for their contribution to medical history, these are things that nowadays we would be outraged to have happen to us but they were the norm for that time. And yet it is because of this that it is so hard to feel angry at this treatment because of the developments that have stemmed from these medical practices.

The science in the book is far from intimidating, making the complicated parts simpler to understand for a layman and not going into too much detail where it isn't necessary. I would definitely not let the scientific subject matter put you off picking this up. At its core the story is much more to do with Henrietta herself and the effect her illness has had on her family.

I think that with Cancer being such a prominent concern in our world, it helps to be a little more clued up on the origins of treatment. Science is moving so quickly in this field to the point now where a huge number of patients undergo targeted gene therapy rather than traditional chemotherapy, and that would not have been possible without HeLa and the insight into the genetics of cancer that she has given us.

★★★★★

Book Review: The Library Book ★★★★★

This book first came into stock at my library a few months ago. It was large print, which completely put me off, but I had been a follower of the campaign to put it together on twitter, I was a fan of many of the contributors, and I felt it was a great cause.

I read the large print edition, it made my eyes go funny but it was worth it. To read how we wouldn't have such creative minds as Stephen Fry and Zadie Smith and Susan Hill as they are today if it weren't for their access to the public library warmed my heart.

I promptly went to the shop and bought the standard sized copy, much cuter being pocket sized, and it is one of my most treasured books. It epitomises why I went into Librarianship myself, libraries are not just about books or computers, but about information, in whichever form it comes to you. It is about accurate and reliable information, and teaching you as a user how to find information you can trust. Information is absolutely the key to becoming the most that you can be as an individual and our nation should celebrate how easy it is for us to access it.

There isn't much more I can say about this book, it is a wonderful quick read of short anecdotes from some of the most prominent authors of our time, but I would like to share one of my many favourite snippets, this from Karin Slaughter about why she thinks we should encourage reading in children, I see the differences between children who are encouraged not only to read, but to enjoy reading, and those who are not every day at work, and this is surprisingly accurate:
 
"Children are selfish. Reading about other people creates a sense of balance in a child's life. It gives them the knowledge that there is a world outside themselves."

All royalties for the book go to The Reading Agency, which helps to support library events up and down the country, encouraging reading for all ages and abilities.

The Library Book is only £5.16 at the Book Depository, and it could help one more person find the information they have been looking for.

Merry Christmas and Book Review! ★★★★★

Hello all!

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all having a great day and have been enjoying the festivities. I am greatly looking forward to Downton on the telly this evening, accompanied by the mountain of puddings we have in the fridge and this champagne cocktail from The Londoner that we are going to give a go.

I thought I would still post a book review today as I have fallen behind in the midst of the holiday run up (it is a busy time as I am sure you will all understand) and I have been wanting to review this particular book for a while, so if you fancy a bit of classic Christmas to have a read of over the next few days, give this one a go.



The timeless tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens tells of his journey from Christmas humbug to generous friend and colleague, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future help a miserable old man open up his heart to the joys of christmas and learn the error of his ways and how to share with those around him.

I find it hard to review classics, because lets be honest, I don't want to be the one who just doesn't "get" certain classic authors, but if I am honest I really don't enjoy many of them. One particular author whom I have always struggled with is one Mister Dickens, studying Great Expectations completely put me off him as an author and although I often try to get into his novels I find I really cannot read them. One day I will accomplish them, maybe when I have less books to read that I consider to be more interesting.

For now though the only Dickens that I can easily read and regularly do is A Christmas Carol. I generally read this story once a year around the holidays in order to take some time to relax, it is so well known to me (and I imagine to most of yourselves, be it through muppet renditions or a more traditional version) that I find I do not have to focus particularly hard on what is going on. There is a distinct lack of Dickensian waffle (as I like to call it) and the story is so heartfelt and warming that by the end I feel all warm and fuzzy.

My particular edition (which I have had a few years now) comes in at just under 130 pages including illustrations, and I can often read this in one sitting during an evening winding down. It is perfect for after the presents and dinner but before Downton comes on, or for a boxing day when you still feel a bit too full but aren't ready to get out of the house to work any of it off yet.

If you fancy being reminded about what is really important at Christmas time, after the shine of new gifts has worn off, I highly recommend giving this a read. And then if you are so inclined, watching the Muppets version straight afterwards.

 ★★★★★

P.S. I always think a book that you are planning to read a few times should be a nice copy, so here, here, here, here and here are a few of my favourite copies for if you can't get your hands on the Acorn Press edition.

Book Review: Fortunately, The Milk ★★★★★

I am stepping out of my normal routine here and I like it! The book reviews I have been posting for the past few months have been me playing catch up with books read quite a while ago, but this book was read only the other day, and I just have to blog about it because it is so wonderful!



The first children's story book to have come from Gaiman's pen since The Graveyard Book in 2008, Fortunately, The Milk tells the story of a Human Dad who forgets to buy milk for his children's breakfast (and his cup of tea) and must make a trip to the corner shop to buy some. On the way he encounters aliens, dinosaurs, and Wampires, but fortunately, the milk saves the day.  

This isn't a long story, but it is an imaginative one. With illustrations by Chris Riddell bringing the story to life, Gaiman's words are sure to make adult and child giggle with delight. Now I may be a bit biased being a huge fan of Gaiman's work, but I genuinely find his creative mind to be fantastic, plus I really admire his little writing gazebo/cabin.
A wonderful adventure that could befall any of us as we pop to the shop for a pint of milk (not skimmed) ourselves, Gaiman has hit upon an every day occurrence that children can identify with and turned it into a marvelous adventure. The story telling reminds this reader of the stories told by her own father as a child, and I am sure they will do the same for children of all ages.

Marketed as being for children between the ages of 9 and 12, I think this book could also provide a dose of fun for ages both above and below that bracket, and I imagine many parents will enjoy sharing it with their own children.

My only gripe? The size. While I think the size is perfect for smaller hands, if jointly read by parent and child it may be a little difficult especially with a hard bound copy, and Riddell's illustrations would be wonderful in a larger format.

This is definitely a book I can see children I know enjoying, and I enjoyed it so much that at the half way point of reading my library copy I went and bought my own, and then the day after went and bought a copy to pass on to a friend. It is just that darn cute! 

The RRP is £10.99 for the hardback copy, and I happily paid £10 for mine in WHSmiths, but it is currently £5 at Tesco if you aren't sure and just want to give it a try (But I am going to have to link to The Book Depository, as neither of those places have it on their websites. Rubbish.)

★★★★★

Book Review: The Crossing Places ★★★★★

Lets cut to the chase people, I loved this book. It is the first in a series that has become a definite new favourite of mine. I pretty much read The Crossing Places in one sitting, and then went straight out and ordered the next three.

Elly Griffiths' novels are are about Ruth Galloway a thirty something slightly plump forensic archaeologist who lives in the middle of nowhere in Norfolk. She gets dragged into a police investigation following her discovery of human bones on a sacred worshiping site which turn out to be considerably newer than the sacred site they are being associated with.

It sounds like any other crime novel doesn't it? But there is something about the characters in this series, they are incredibly down to earth and believable, which sets them apart from similar modern crime novels.The plot isn't especially shocking or twisty, but you don't mind because it is genuinely the characters that make this story tick. Be it Ruth for her clumsiness, DCI Nelson for his gruff nature or Cathbad the local druid for his weirdness, all of the characters have a quirk that makes them stand out from the crowd, and makes you love them.

Another beauty of the story is its simplicity, it is about forensics and archaeology, which adds a context that keeps the story interesting, and it has police procedure and there was a murder somewhere, but it is so easy to grasp. None of the science makes your brain hurt like certain crime authors I don't care to name, and the police behaviour finds a balance between feeding our stereotypes and still feeling like it is genuine. The coppers in these books have to do their paperwork, and they don't dash about in flashy cars, entering crime scenes without the proper precautions.

I was genuinely left content and smiling when I finished this book, until the craving for the next hit, and the next, and the next. I have read all in the series and will no doubt review them in time, but even five books down the line I still want more. hurry up Ms Griffiths! I need my Ruth fix!

P.S. You can currently buy The Crossing Places for only £2.32 at the Book Depository!

★★★★★

Book Review: The Help ★★★★★

I will start by saying how much I loved this book, this is going to be a very positive review. This book has quickly snuck onto my "favourite books" bookshelf.

The story is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's, during the civil rights movement when there are still high racial tensions, and black workers are mainly seen as "the Help" and nothing more. The story follows Skeeter, a young white girl who has ideas to the contrary and wants to give the black women of Jackson a voice by writing their stories down for them.
Skeeter focusses her attentions upon Aibileen and Minny, two maids with extraordinary experiences, secrets and heart breaking stories to reveal about their employers, and while it takes a while for them to open up, the stories they tell are what makes this book so great.

This story is mainly about the characters, it has an interesting plot that is inspiring and invokes feelings of warmth upon completion, but the main purpose of the story is to tell you about the wonderful characters, it is their story that keeps you gripped.
Aibileen, the quiet woman devoted to the children she raises for her employers, Minny the best cook in town but who has a loud mouth, and Skeeter the white girl who goes to college and comes home without a job so by society's standards should make husband hunting her sole occupation.
The voices are very stereotypical, they have the inflections of a southern drawl and added tones which society has come to expect from that time period, and while this may offend some as it takes a little bit of getting used to, it adds to the atmosphere Stockett creates. The balance between telling us about the women's work lives and their home lives is what really keeps you hooked, how different they are, yet how similar they become when they club together to produce their side of the story. Stockett describes both the people and the scenery beautifully, and you can picture each Jackson home perfectly. The real strength of this book is its realism, you almost feel as if you can remember the events yourself.

The book also has been adapted into a film, and is well worth watching. It is as hilarious as the book and a very faithful adaptation. If you have seen the film that stemmed from this book, you may be put off reading knowing that you will already know about some of the funniest parts (especially Minny's "terrible awful") but I actually watched the film first and equally enjoyed the book. The book provides depth to the story that a 2 hour film simply cannot manage, and I would actually recommend watching the film first because it allows you to appreciate it on its own without being annoyed that wonderful scenes were cut.

The only negative that I have found with The Help, is the controversy behind it. The author, Kathryn Stockett, admits in the last few pages of the book that some of the events depicted were taken from her own experiences, and upon researching I discovered she was taken to court by the real Aibileen who had worked for Stockett's brother. The case was thrown out because of the time frame, but when I first heard of this I was a little upset, I don't doubt that she could very well have been inspiration for the novel, so to use her life experiences evidently without her permission seems to hark back to the very behaviour Stockett is dissuading in the novel.
This aside, the novel really is beautifully written, and I imagine it is these remembrances of actual occurrences that makes it feel so real to read.

★★★★★

The Best of Omens ★★★★★

This was my 26th book of 2012, and my World Book Night book.

I love Neil Gaiman's work, I have written about him before (American Gods, The Graveyard Book) but I had never read any Terry Pratchett. I had had him recommended to me time and time again, but had simply never got around to reading his work. The writing in this novel is fascinating as both authors collaborate and manage to create a story that is both hilariouisly funny and a gripping adventure at the same time. They manage to do so while making sure they read as one voice, and it has inspired me to pick up more of Pratchett's work.

The story follows a slightly suspect bunch of characters, a demon, an angel, a witchfinder, a witch, the four bikers of the apocolypse and the eleven year old anti-christ as they all either help to or fight to stop armageddon from occuring some time after tea next saturday. As you can imagine it is fraught with adventure and hilarious circumstances. I especially loved the use of the stereo as a means for communication between the firey depths of hell and the surface.

The story took me quite a long time to read, though this does not by any means suggest I didnt like it, in fact i loved it and would happily read it again now. It is quirky and funny and also very complex, there is a lot of information packed into each paragraph, with pop culture references and historical and religious references too. The story reminds me of the film Dogma, but better. I love that there are multiple story lines with multiple groups of characters that all come together at the end, it really does help to create the feeling of impending armageddon.

The novel was a great choice for World Book Night as it is something a bit different being of the fantasy genre. It is something i believe many would never pick up by themselves, but if they enjoyed it could open a whole new genre up for them to try.

★★★★★

It's Such A Perfect Day ★★★★★

Now, I want to preface this review by stating nice and clearly that I haven't watched the film adaptation of this book, and so cannot compare it in any way. I actually have waited to review this book because I thought I might have got the film through LOVEFiLM by now (awesome service by the way, if you haven't tried it before you really should) and I really wanted to see which was best, as I am a fan of seeing adaptations, however I haven't, so I thought I would just get on with talking about the book.

One Day has gained some acclaim since its 2009 publication, winning the Galaxy Book Award in 2010 and as I mentioned there recently has been a film featuring Anne Hathaway (also featuring a terrible Leeds accent, apparently), which the author, David Nicholls, adapted himself.

I knew of Nicholls before I read One Day, in fact another of his novels, Starter for Ten (also adapted for film), was sitting on my shelf long before this one and will no doubt feature in a review post soon. I have always had the impression that he would be able to successfully write the 'student' character, and how that character changes, and One Day definitely didn't disappoint in that regard. I have to admit I have no idea why I thought this, in fact I am a bit confused about how I feel about the book in general, but I just had a feeling that he would do so successfully.

 The story follows two characters, Dexter and Emma, shortly after their graduation from university, through twenty years of life and their somewhat strained friendship. The twist is obviously that the story only details one day for each of those twenty years, St. Swithin's Day, July 15th.
Now I have to admit that this fun way of telling the story is the reason I was so attracted to the book. I am a big fan of telling a story in a non-traditional manner, and this works perfectly for this particular story. The characters are typically normal, and as such lead relatively normal lives. They each experience a modicum of fame for a while, but essentially their lives are pretty standard and they endure hardships that a large portion of the readership could relate to and because of this only showing one day of their lives each year works nicely, if Nicholls were to write a great tome where he went into each week of life for each of those years you would be bored silly! In essence the technique manages to produce a fabulous portrayal of real life, expectations squashed and potential missed as well as the little things that can make one individual day perfect.

Now I am loathe to go into much detail about the story itself, because it would require a HUGE spoiler warning, but if you would like to discuss it further you are welcome to send me a message, because that big spoiler is the reason I am not really sure how to feel about the book. It shocked me! Not many books manage to shock me this much, even less so make me cry while shocked. I think Nicholls very cleverly used his writing technique to lull the reader into a sense of security, and I will say no more because I really don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read, but the end of the book left me with that sort of melancholy empty feeling, as if the unease of the characters within the last few chapters of the book stayed with me after reading. Even now, about a month since I finished the book and wrote my initial notes for this review when I think of it or look back through the notes that feeling of unease comes back.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is true writing skill, and why I have given it five stars.

★★★★★

"I want you to hit me as hard as you can" ★★★★★

 

Not literally, obviously. This is instead a rather famous quote from the book above, not the most famous quote, that one is stamped on the front cover, but it is really the one that started the whole 'Fight Club' so is rather important after all. 

I have to say, I have wanted to read this book for a very long time, and it really does stand as testament to this book's strength that I am writing this review 6 months after I finished reading it, and it is still amazing to me, it still creates this sort of weird feeling in the bottom of my tummy and creates a little adrenaline just thinking about. It is that good. 

I knew before I started reading that if the book was anything close to the film I would love it, well guess what, the film is possibly the closest adaptation of a book that I have ever seen. All my favourite scenes were there, my favourite lines, I had Ed Norton's voice running through my head and Helena Bonham Carter's Marla sassing it up and of course, Brad Pitt's abs on my mind. Usually I would say that is a very bad thing, I am a firm believer in the whole "the movie: ruining the book since year x" thing (my sister even has a tee shirt with this on), but I think that because both the book and the film are so strong, they are so iconic, they are true modern classics, it works.

The only thing I found to be noticeably different, was the ending. The ending is really different, and in my opinion better. So much better, in fact so much better that they should have stuck with it for the film, and the prime reason for dispelling the old argument of "well if its the same as the film I wont bother." This ending deserves you taking the time to read this book. It isn't a massive book either, could easily be read in a few days to a few weeks for slower readers. It is also very easy to pick up and put down, perfect for commuter reading.

Basically, if you love the film, you will love the book, if you don't love the film, you should still read the book because it is amazing. This is one of those books which I know I can read over and over and over again and I will never ever get bored of it, and for me that is an elite club, populated by Harry Potter, some Poirot, and 1984. 

A very well deserved   ★★★★★

A/N: Totally off topic, but just a recap of where I have been! Well you all know I am at university, and that has basically what has been eating my time. This is pretty much a knitting, reading and baking blog really, and I haven't had much time for any of those. I have about 4 books on the go at the moment, and none of them are really near finished, but I have just finished one from the library I shall be reviewing. Other then that I haven't had any news of late to be honest. I have been putting a bit of time into my beauty blog and youtube, but picking up knitting needles takes concentration I often don't have at the moment. 

I have however just finished classes, and now only have a dissertation to do. So over the next couple of months expect more book reviews, and I shall be back to posting more regularly on knitting soon!