Susan Hated Literature

Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
ISBN: 9780007189885 DDC: 823.92
LibraryThing ; Other Reviews

Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion and Papa flung his heavy missal across the room and broke the figurines on the étagére.

Kambili, the teenage narrator of the book, is a 15 year old girl. In many ways she lives a priveliged life in Nigeria. Her father owns factories; he is a “big man” in the community. A fact that is brought home to her when she visits her less well off aunt and cousins. But wealth doesn’t equal happiness. Kamibili and her brother Jaja live under the strict rules of their father and his fiercely religious beliefs.

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Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
ISBN: 9780007200283 DDC: 823.92 LibraryThing ; Other reviews

Master was a little crazy; he had spent too many years reading books overseas, talked to himself in his office, did not always return greetings, and had too much hair.

This is the story of a collection of different characters; Ugwu from a small village who becomes a Houseboy to Odenigbo, a university professor. His lover Olanna. Her twin sister Kainene. Kainene’s English lover Richard. The setting, Nigeria in the 1960’s, is one I know pretty much nothing about. And I know even less about the Republic of Biafra. But it isn’t just a political or historical novel. It is really all about the people.

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Author: Benjamin Black (aka John Banville)
ISBN: 9780330445320 DDC: 823.92
Book 1 in the Quirke series
See also: LibraryThing ; MetaCritic ; Grumpy Old Bookman ; PopMatters ;

She was glad it was the evening mailboat she was taking, for she did not think she could have faced a morning departure.

Supposedly this is the first book in a series of crime novels by John Banville, writing as Benjamin Black, but to be honest there really isn’t that much crime in it. A few people being beaten up, some documents being faked, but it is a long way from the murder-thriller that readers may be expecting.

Christine Falls is set in 1950’s Ireland, so right away you know to expect the Catholic Church to be the “ebil authority” for our protagonist(pathologist Quirke) to rail against. And we even have the nun-run “laundries” for unmarried mothers and the whisking away of babies to the United States of America.

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Author: Anne Bishop
ISBN: 0451529014

1. Daughter of the blood
2. Heir to the shadows
3. Queen of the darkness

DDC: 823.92
Group read - FantasyFavorites

I am Tersa the Weaver, Tersa the Liar, Tersa the Fool.
When the Blood-Jeweled Lords and Ldies hold a banquet, I’m the entertainment that comes after the musicians have played and the lithesome girls and boys have danced and the Lords have drunk too much wine and demand to have their fortunes told.

I’m very much in two minds about this trilogy. One the one hand I read it all in the space of two days, and it is quite long at over 1200 pages. But on the other hand it read like fanfiction to me. And not very good fanfiction. Come to think about it, that may be the reason I read it so fast. The more I read, the more I saw Jaenelle as a Mary-Sue device and less as an actual character.

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Author: Robyn Young
ISBN: 0340839694
DDC: 823.92
See also: Library Thing ; Robyn Young’s site ;

The sun was approaching its zenith, dominating the sky and turning the deep ochre of the desert to a bleached bone-white. Buzzards circled the crowns of the hills that ringed the plain of Ayn Jalut and their abrasive cries hung on the air, caught in the solidity of the heat.

Set in the C13th this historical novel sets out to tell a tale of Will Campbell, a young sergeant in the Templars, who wants nothing more than to be made a knight so all his past sins can be forgiven and he can be reconciled with his father. But on his journey towards knighthood he becomes caught up in intrigue and conspiracy, both within the order and without. There is also the matter of a secret book, stolen from the Templars that Will has been ordered to locate.

And in the east there is a new sultan, Baybars Bundukdari, who has succeeded in driving out the invading Mongol armies, and has now turned his attention on the Christians inhabiting the Holy Land.

The book is well written, the character well-drawn, but I was never gripped by either the plot of the characters. Because the story covers such a range of characters there is quite a lot of jumping about, both geographically and time wise. And it seemed to be handled in a slightly clumsy manner. There was simply nothing, and no one that I really engaged with. However, there is a lot of detail and obviously quite a considerable amount of research has gone into this book.

Still, some interesting ideas, and I wouldn’t be totally averse to reading the sequel, but neither would I be rushing out to buy it.

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Author: Steph Swainston
ISBN: 0575077980
DDC: 823.92
2nd in the Fourlands ‘verse
See also: Library Thing; Infinity Plus review

January 2020 On this soft night I followed the Moren River valley, flying back to the Castle, hearing the chimes of clock towers in the Plainslands villages as I passed high above.

I really enjoyed the first in this ‘verse, The Year of Our War, and while I didn’t like this one quite as much is still makes for a great read. Our hero, once again, is Jant. A member of the immortal Circle, dedicated to serving the Emperor San and the Fourlands, protecting them. Five years have passed without attack from the Insects, and Jant is clean. Although still a drug addict. And with his wife’s affairs, and San’s orders that he, phobic about the sea as he is, is to be sent on a mission across the ocean, well, lets just say that the call of escape and drugs is getting harder to ignore.

Jant is the main attraction in reading this book, his character is so perfectly written you’ll have no problem believing in him. Some other aspects do suffer a little. As the only being with the ability to fly, you’d think he might revel in it. And he does, but this isn’t conveyed very well. There is no sense of delight, or wonder in his flight. Actually, this sort of writting is absent as regards other emotions too. And that is possibly why it didn’t grip me the way the first book did.

Still, worth a read, and I love the cover art too. But I do like my simplicity in book design.

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ISBN: 1841492531
DDC: 823.92
The First Parrish Plessis Book
Author: Marriane De Pierres

First line:
If Jamon Mondo touched me one more time I’d kill him.

I almost wish I hadn’t finish this book. I was on the verge of tossing it around two thirds in, but figured I’d read this far might as well see how it ends. But the final third is actually quite good. Not sure if it is enough to make up for the first part, But now I am a little curious about the next books in the series.

When we first meet Parrish she is low on the pecking order, a bodyguard-come-unwilling companion to a local gang leader. And in this is a dystopian Australia of the future if you go against the gang leaders without backup you end up dead. And most likely after a spell of torture.

So when Parrish runs into Dark and Sto she thinks that maybe by using them she can get in with the Cabal, and maybe get away from Jamon. But things are not what they seem, and Parrish soon finds herself in deeper than she could ever have believed.

The basic story itself is vaguely interesting. But the writing isn’t. First person narration often results in supporting characters lacking depth and, well character, but in this book Parrish herself isn’t all that interesting or believable. A fairly typical wise-cracking, but scared underneath it all heroine. There is also a fair amount of future slang that seems clunky and forced.

But, over halfway through and the book seems to shift a gear. Almost as though everything in this book is simply setting the scene. Letting the reader get to know the Tert and Viva. Letting us see how things worked, and then suddenly introducing another plot element that really doesn’t seem to fit with everything that has gone before.

From then on it is readable, and even enjoyable. The question is, is this what the other books or like? Or will they return to the dull story-telling-by-numbers of the previous chapters.

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