Forfatter: Mirthful

A Fête Worse than Death – Iain Aitch

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How disappointing. I love travel books, and I love travel books about the UK above all, which is why I was looking forward to reading A Fête Worse than Death by Iain Aitch, however, the book was a bit of a disappointment. I’m hard pressed to put my finger on exactly why Aitch’s writing is not engaging. He includes liberal amounts of anecdotes, enough dialogue to please me and visits precisely the sort of events whose description I’d be likely to find interesting. He even travels the way I would, by public transport or by convincing people to give him lifts. And still I continually found my attention drifting. A pity, really.

Sons of Fortune

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There ought to be an internet site where you can list the authors you are interested in and be notified whenever they publish a new book. Too often I find there is a new book out by one of my favourite authors and that it has actually been out for quite a while and no one has bothered to tell me. I know I could pay greater attention to the press or visit bookshops more often, but I would really prefer not to as I spend enough money on books as it is (and as we all know, it is physically impossible to walk out of a bookshop without having purchased any books – and were I to read more reviews I would be tempted to visit bookshops more).

So we need an internet service. I offer this as an idea to anyone who is looking for a concept for a new site. I’d do it myself, but can’t be bothered. I’d rather just get on with reading the books.

In the meantime, I am grateful to Donna for listing Jeffrey Archer’s Sons of Fortune on her currently reading list, as it alerted me to the existence of the novel. Naturally, I rushed to the bookshop to secure a copy immediately.

It is good. It’s not Archer’s best, but it gripped me pretty much immediately and held my attention until the last page (I would have preferred not to have to put it down, unfortunately that could not be avoided). It ends with a trick, as is habitual with Archer – I’d tell you what it was, but that would be a major spoiler.

Trilogy of Scottish Childhood

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In which the tenements of Glasgow come to life.

Molly Weir’s Trilogy of Scottish Childhood has been my main read since Christmas – there seems to be very little time for reading these days (blame Martin). I picked up my paperback copy in Dufftown in September, it contains three volumes – however, they only seem to be available separately now – Shoes were for Sunday, Best Foot Forward and One Toe on the Ladder.

Weir writes engagingly about her childhood in the Glasgow tenements, and paints a vivid picture of a way of life based on making every penny go as far as possible. I had a most difficult time getting through the chapters on food, not because they were in any way boring but because I kept getting hungy (I mean, there’s a limit to how much you can read about fish and chips before going in search of a pub that serves them). It was also fascinating reading about Weir’s progress towards fame on the stage, despite never (knowingly) having seen her.

On searching for the amazon links for this entry, I discovered that there are actually three more installments of Weir’s autobiography. They are now duly ordered (though through abebooks).

Harriet the Spy – Louise Fitzhugh

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In which we go spying.

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The second book borrowed from Theresa was Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. I really don’t have a lot to say about this one either. I enjoyed it is praise enough. One thing I wasn’t quite happy with was that the child psychologist seemed to make a point – worth noting, I thought – of how Harriet was less able to concentrate on what was actually happening around her when she was taking notes all the time, and I felt that that point was never really taken up again. But that was really all I had to complain about, and it wasn’t very important at that.

Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White

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In which we revert to childhood, briefly.

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Theresa forced (ok, so I didn’t exactly protest loudly, I think my response to «You really must borrow..» was «Yes, please!») a couple of American classics on me the last time I visited and I’ve just finished two. The first was Charlotte’s Web, which was sweet and touching and that’s pretty much all I have to say about it.

Books read 2003

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Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy – Carlos Eire

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In which we are enchanted in a soberly fashion.

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Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy had to wait, half-read, on the shelf while I made my way through Hobb and Fforde. This was an unwarranted slight on my part, and I apologise. Eire describes his childhood in Cuba in vivid detail and on occasion you almost feel the sun on your face as you watch him and his brother blow up lizards. From his father – who thinks he is the reincarnation of a French king – to the tiny figure of Castro as he addresses the people, the book invokes a magical – though by no means problem-free – childhood turned upside down because of a revolution.

Lost in a Good Book

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In which we’re delighted.

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Jasper Fforde has to be the best thing that’s happened to book-freaks in recent years. Not only are his novels «ripping good yarns» of the sort that you really can’t put down, but the way he weaves his way through literary history is fascinating to watch and also makes for laugh-out-loud moments too frequently to make this safe reading on the bus (that is, if you care when people stare at you, which I, personally, don’t).

Lost in a Good Book is every bit as good as The Eyre Affair, which means I’m now dreading coming to the end of The Well of Lost Plots – currently the last book in the series. I could always hang around thursdaynext.com for a bit, but waiting for another book is going to be just as bas as it usually is. Well, we’re not quite there yet – a few more hours of enjoyment before we arrive in waiting hell.

The Tawny Man

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In which we get to read Robin Hobb’s latest trilogy at last.

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Shortly after I finished Cullimore, the last book in Robin Hobb‘s trilogy The Tawny Man – Fool’s Fate – arrived, and I could finally start reading it. I’ve been pre-ordering the books from amazon as they’ve been published, which means I’ve had the first one – Fool’s Errand – since November 2001 and the second – The Golden Fool – since November last year. I learnt my lesson when reading The Liveship Traders trilogy, though – starting on a Robin Hobb trilogy without having all the books available is (emphatically) not a Good Idea.

Normally, I’d have devoured this series in a weekend or so, but I seem to have had little time to read of late (a lot of it being a certain person‘s fault), so it’s taken me about a month to finish all three books.

And how were they? Well, brilliant, of course.

We’re back to Fitz, the hero of the Assassin trilogy – and I was pleased to have some of my suspicions regarding links between the Assassin and Liveship Traders plots confirmed (especially regarding the time-scale and the identity of Amber, my theories having been loudly disputed by another Hobb-fan recently – I like being right…). Further links also become apparent now, and I have to hope Hobb keeps going and lets us know what happens next. Fitz, and the Fool, are off to save the world again – this time with less regard for the Farseer reign, though that cannot be ignored, obviously. Hobb still writes with the same flair for creating characters – even very minor ones – that become real people while you read.

So, when’s the next book coming?