24 October 2011
Call no: 800
Genre: detective & mystery, historical fiction
Setting: France
7 Stars
12 Comments
This is the final week of our group read of The Lantern, and it was a really good experience. First off because I don’t think I would have read this one without the group prompting me to. And Secondly because … Continue reading
2 March 2011
Call no: 155.3
Genre: non-fiction, Pop psych
10 Stars
8 Comments
How our minds, society, and neurosexism create differences ISBN: 0393068382 ; Quotes I liked Suppose a researcher were to tap you on the shoulder and ask you to write down what, according to cultural lore, males and females are like. … Continue reading
1 November 2010
Call no: 800
Genre: general fiction, Juv/YA
Setting: 1980s, London
6 Comments
This is the sort of book I don’t usually read. You know the ones, from the “sad story” section of the bookshop. The misery-books as I call them. But a few years ago I’d heard of Melvin Burgess as an author to look out for. I’ve read his Lady : My life as a Bitch and to be honest I wasn’t all that impressed, but I’ll always give an author a second go. So I tried this one.
In the 1980′s Nick Dane is growing up as an average, if bright kid. He comes from a single parent family, and his mother has a secret. She never got off the drugs, not completely. And in the course of having a “taste” she accidentally overdoses and Nick is left all alone in the world. Soon he finds himself carted off to a “home” for boys, and soon learns that the violence and random beatings are not the worse this place has to offer.
12 September 2010
Genre: detective & mystery, historical fiction
Setting: Britain - Civil War & Revolution, England
4 Comments
By Iain Pears
This was a wonderful read. When I first started it I had no idea what to expect; I knew nothing about it apart from the fact that it was an Historical Favorites pick and so, most likely, an historical novel :). It opens with Marco da Cola setting down his recollections of his time spent in England. He travelled over in an attempt to help with his family’s business troubles. However there was little he could do and soon he found himself in Oxford among the professionals there and became embroiled in the case of Sarah Blundy, and the possible murder of Robert Grove. As well as delving into medical experiments with blood transfusion.
Continue reading
14 August 2010
Genre: historical fiction, romance
Setting: Britain - Georgian
Comments Off
by Georgette Heyer
The library at Fontley Priory, like most of the principal apartments in the sprawling building, looked to the south-east, commanding a prospect of informal gardens and a plantation of poplars, which acted as a wind-break and screened from view the monotony of the fen beyond.
Adam Deveril has just left the army and the Peninsular War. Not through choice, but because his father recently died and he must assume his family responsibilities as the new Viscount Lynton. Added to his problems is the fact that his father was not the most reliable with money, and Adam finds himself hugely in debt. He may even be forced into selling the family home, as not only does he have mortgages and debts, but he will also have to support his mother and provide for his two sisters. But he is also a man of principle and honour; he does not even consider his advisor’s opinion that he find himself a wealthy bride. But he forced to reconsider when the wealthy business man Jonathan Chawleigh suggests he marries his daughter.
Continue reading
19 July 2010
Genre: general fiction
Setting: England
Comments Off
Charlie Yost, the Chicago gunman, called on Horace Appleby one morning in June as he chatted with Basher Evans before going off to the Wellingford races.
Horace Appleby is a criminal, specialising in “inside jobs”, his modus operandi is to secure the position of butler in a respectably well-off establishment and then arrange the details whereby his companions carry out the actual burglary. But he is not too happy with the American, Mr. Yost, and Yost’s blatant disregard for Appleby’s most important rule, never carry a gun. So he refuses to pay Yost his cut, as you can imagine, Yost is not too happy about this. Not wanting to overly provoke a man who carries a gun Appleby things that maybe a job down the country might be just the thing.
28 June 2010
Genre: Juv/YA, sff
2 Comments
I wriggled my toes, enjoying the feel of the warm sand trickling like fine baby powder between them.
Callum and Sephy have grown up together, best friends, and now in their teens maybe their friendship is developing into something more. But there is a problem, Callum is a Nought, and Sephy is a Cross, and the two don’t mix, not in this world. But there are moves towards progress and integration, or at least hopes of that in the future; for the first time noughts will be allowed into Sephy’s school, and Callum is one of the four that managed to pass the entrance exams. He will be allowed in, but he knows that it will be difficult, Sephy is more innocent. She’s just glad they’ll be able to spend more time together. Neither knows just how hard it is going to be, and all that is before the bomb goes off.
1 June 2010
Call no: 800
Genre: detective & mystery, general fiction
Setting: England, London
Comments Off
by Simon Lelic
I wasn’t there. I didn’t see it. Me and Banks were down by the ponds, pissing about with this Sainsbury’s trolley we found on the common.
This is the story of a school shooting. A teacher walks into assembly and kills three people. Two students and a teacher. Lucia May is the police officer who is supposed to “wrap up” the investigation and file it under psycho teacher, terrible tragedy, nothing anyone could have done. But instead she finds herself returning again and again to the school, and trying to figure out why it happened. How this mild-mannered history teacher could have had so much violence in him. Continue reading
27 May 2010
Call no: 800
Genre: graphic novel, sff
4 Comments
Where do you start when trying to review a collection like this? I really have no idea. I was going to give up before I even began; admit defeat without letting anyone know about it, but I decided, what the hell, lets give it a go.
I first read some of Gaiman’s Sandman series years and years ago. Like a genius I started with A Doll’s House rather than at the beginning, but I soon realised my mistake and retraced my steps. The first few issues never really grabbed me. But they begin the story, so you do need to start there, and then, even if you dislike them, persevere for a little while longer. Because, lets face it, the character of Morpheus isn’t really that likeable. He is an arrogant ass. But his story is interesting. And the stories and places Gaiman gets to explore through the Sandman and his sibling Endless characters are fascinating. If you like comics and myths then you should give this a go.
2 April 2010
Genre: detective & mystery
Setting: 1920s, C20th, England
9 Comments
The body of a stout man is found in a bathroom, naked but for a gold pince-nez. At the same time, a prominent banker goes missing. Is the dead man the missing Mr. Levy? And if so, how did he manage to end up in Mr. Thipps’ bathroom? And was he murdered?
This is the first book Sayers wrote to feature Lord Peter Wimsey. He is the second son of an ancient English house, his elder brother is the Duke of Denver. And his hobby is criminology. Already he has solved the case of some missing emeralds, now he is on two cases at once; to find the missing Levy & to figure out the who, why and where concerning the mystery body.