Review 37: The Blue Book by A. L. Kennedy

"Elizabeth Barber is crossing the Atlantic by liner with her perfectly adequate boyfriend, Derek, who might be planning to propose. In fleeing the UK - temporarily - Elizabeth may also be in flight from her past and the charismatic Arthur, once her partner in what she came to see as a series of crimes. Together they acted as fake mediums, perfecting the arcane skills practised by effective frauds. Elizabeth finally rejected what once seemed an intoxicating game, Arthur continued his search for the right way to do wrong. He now subsidises free closure for the traumatised and dispossessed by preying on the super-rich. The pair still meet occasionally, for weekends of sexual oblivion, but their affection lacerates as much as it consoles. She hadn't, though, expecting the other man on the boat. As her voyage progresses, Elizabeth's past is revealed, codes slowly form and break as communication deepens. It's time for her to discover who are the true deceivers and who are the truly deceived. What's more, is the book itself - a fiction which may not always be lying - deceiving the reader? Offering illusions and false trails, magical numbers and redemptive humour, this is a novel about what happens when we are misled and when we are true: an extraordinarily intricate and intimate journey into our minds and hearts undertaken by a writer of great gifts - a maker of wonders."


This is a difficult book to review. On the one hand it is clever and bold and intricately written, but on the other it is unpleasant to read; it doesn't uplift or inspire you but drags you down into the cruelty and intimacies of everyday human existence. I was fascinated by it, in the way you are with the somewhat repulsive creature you see in the aquarium, you can't stop looking at it even though it horrifies you. It is also difficult to review as things are revealed throughout the book that change the way you perceive the situation or characters and to spoil them would fundamentally spoil the book but it is difficult to consider your feelings about the book without revealing them.


First Line: "But here this is, the book you're reading."

Why I read it: It was one of the titles on the Orange Prize longlist that appealed, but not quite enough to buy it in hardback so I borrowed it from Solihull Library.

Who I would recommend it to: If you like to read heavy, post-modern literature that is challenging rather than enjoyable.

Review 36: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

"Every year, the Scorpio Races are run on the beaches of Skarmouth. Every year, the sea washes blood from the sand. To race the savage water horses can mean death, but the danger is irresistible. When Puck enters the races to save her family, she is drawn to the mysterious Sean, the only person on the island capable of taming the horses. Even if they stay together, can they stay alive?"


First Line: 'It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.'

I'm a little torn about this in a very similar way to how I felt about Delirium by Lauren Oliver recently. The writing is carefully crafted and atmospheric but the pacing is off and the book takes too long to get going. The characters are largely appealing and the concept is refreshingly unique for the young adult market but I think the horsey focus put me off a little, as I'm not a big animal lover. I imagine that this will go down a treat with some teenager readers.

Why I read it: I bought it for my husband after seeing it on the Cannonball group blog, who took it on holiday with us to Iceland where I read it after I finished the books I brought with me.

Who I would recommend it to: Fans of earthy, gritty books rather than high tech, futuristic worlds who like a strong heroine and difficult decisions.

Review 35: The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

"Great art is difficult - that's the motto of the family Fang. The family consists of Caleb and Camille (the parents), Annie (Child A) and Buster (Child B). The family Fang create art: performance art, provocations, interventions - call it what you like. And many people certainly don't call it art. But as Annie and Buster grow up, like all children, they find their parents' behaviour an embarrassment. They refuse to take up their roles in these outrageous acts. They escape; Annie becomes an actor, a star in the world of indie filmmaking, and Buster pursues gonzo journalism, constantly on the trail of a good story. But when their lives start to fall apart, there is nowhere left to go but home. Meanwhile Caleb and Camille have been planning their most ambitious project yet and the children have no choice; like it or not, they will participate in one final performance. The family Fang's magnum opus will determine what is ultimately more important: their family or their art."


This was so close to being a favourite, I really loved so much of it and if it wasn't for the anticlimatic and depressing ending I would have adored it. This is a wonderful mix of quirky and brutally realistic with charming characters and a totally unique concept, which makes a nice change from paranormal romances and dystopias. Whimsical and beautiful and heartbreaking, it's a Wes Anderson film in book form.

First Line: 'Mr. and Mrs. Fang called it art, their children called it mischief.'

Why I read it: I saw it reviewed on the Cannonball group blog and though it sounded right up my street so I ordered it from Amazon.

Who I would recommend it to: Fans of quirky, unpredictable fiction with an solid emotional backbone.

Review 34: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

"They say that the cure for love will make me happy and safe forever. And I've always believed them. Until now. Now everything has changed. Now, I'd rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years suffocated by a lie. There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it. Then, at last, they found the cure."


In the future world of Delirium, love has been defined as a disease. When children turn 18, they are required to undergo a procedure that renders them immune to the 'delirium' before being matched with a member of the opposite sex in order to have children and contribute to society. Lena is 17 and eagerly counting down the days to her procedure, frightened of the disease that caused her mother to commit suicide when Lena was still a child. Oliver is adept at creating her world, she begins each chapter with a piece of documentation, an extract from the Safety, Health and Happiness Handbook or a poem from a banned collection. Oliver manages to write what is essentially a love story without making it sentimental and also managing to cover other bases and exploring family, friendship, loyalty, honesty and science amongst other themes. I didn't fall for it, maybe I've just read too many dystopian YA novels, maybe because I did find Lena a little uninspiring or maybe because I found it rather dragged in the first half, but Oliver's writing is undeniably beautiful. I will definitely be reading both the sequel to Delirium and her other novel, Before I Fall, as I think I would really enjoy her writing in a less saturated genre.


First Line: 'It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure.'

Why I read it: I saw it in Oxfam Books and had heard it was a good entry into the post-apocalyptic YA canon.

Who I would recommend it to: Post-apocalyptic fans who enjoy solid world building. Fans of Divergent by Veronica Roth or Matched by Ally Condie

Review 33: Planetary Vol. 2 - The Fourth Man by Warren Ellis

"This is Planetary. Three people who walk the world in search of strangeness and wonder, uncovering things others wise were left covered. They are the mystery archaeologists, explorers of the planet's secret history, charting the unseen borders of a fantastic world."


Whilst I don't love Planetary in the way I love Fables, it is a high quality story with plenty of complexity (if anything maybe too much, I struggled to work out what was going at times). I preferred this volume to the first and will definitely read the third and fourth volumes which complete the series as I am intrigued as to how it will all be wrapped up. The 'hero' is a bit too much like Warren Ellis' other unappealing and egotistical alpha males but the secondary characters, particularly Jakita and the Drummer, are excellent and we do get a bit more intriguing backstory to Snow.

First Line: "Jack Carter's dead."

Why I read it: I was lent Planetary Vol. 1 by a colleague and enjoyed it enough to want to find out what happened in Vol. 2.

Who I would recommend it to: Readers who would like to explore the world of graphic novels or fans of science fiction that tend towards mysteries and character rather than spandex and explosions (although there is some of that very much present).

Review 32: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

"Among the tangled waterways and giant anacondas of the Brazilian Rio Negro, an enigmatic scientist is developing a drug that could alter the lives of women forever. Dr Annick Swenson's work is shrouded in mystery; she refuses to report on her progress, especially to her investors, whose patience is fast running out. Anders Eckman, a mild-mannered lab researcher, is sent to investigate. A curt letter reporting his untimely death is all that returns. Now Marina Singh, Anders's colleague and once a student of the mighty Dr Swenson, is their last hope. Compelled by the pleas of Anders's wife, who refuses to accept that her husband is not coming home, Marina leaves the snowy plains of Minnesota and retraces her friend's steps into the heart of the South American darkness, determined to track down Dr Swenson and uncover the secrets being jealously guarded among the remotest tribes of the rainforest. What Marina does not yet know is that, in this ancient corner of the jungle, where the muddy waters and susurrating grasses hide countless unknown perils and temptations, she will face challenges beyond her wildest imagination. Marina is no longer a student, but only time will tell if she has learnt enough."


A careful and intelligent novel about science and human nature, I enjoyed reading a novel with such interesting, unpredictable characters and subtle themes. There are some heavy themes here but Patchett is rarely heavy-handed and manages to avoid it being an 'issues' book with a beautiful story and well written, realistic heroine. The settings are the other star here, Patchett's descriptions of both Minnesota and in particular Brazil are incredibly evocative, she creates worlds that spring up around you in beautiful detail. Also, I adore the title and the paperback cover (I wish I had hung on for it.)


First Line: "The news of Anders Eckman's death came by way of Aerogram, a piece of bright blue airmail paper that served as both the stationery and, when folded over and sealed along the edges, the envelope."

Why I read it: I had it on my Amazon wishlist and when it was announced as being on the Orange Prize longlist I bought it. (It has since been announced as being on the shortlist).

Who I would recommend it for: Keen readers who look for careful writing and situations that escape the moral black and white. Fans of Kazuo Ishiguro, A. S. Byatt or Jeffrey Eugenides.

Review 31: The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce

"My brother believes he is being chased by a demon... a demon that makes things vanish. Carnegie Medallist Frank Cottrell Boyce transports readers from the steppe of Mongolia to the street of Liverpool in a story that is compelling, miraculous and laugh out loud funny."


This is a lovely, charming and quirky story of family and friendship. Cottrell Boyce also weaves in serious themes of refugees and self which lend the book a melancholy touch at times. The beautiful printing on exercise book notepaper with photographs means the entire book is a entirely enjoyable experience. The story was inspired by a true story, when the author visited a school that had a Mongolian little girl who was taken by Immigration Services with her family and never seen again.


First Line: 'I hadn't seen this photograph since the day it was taken, until now.'

Why I read it: I bought it for my library stock and couldn't resist the cover and the wonderful photos inside.

The Orange Prize

I always have a look at the Orange Prize longlist, shortlist and winner as an indication of excellent new writers and novels. I really enjoyed last year's winner, The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht and was glad to have an exciting new author pointed out to me. I also really liked The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna and thought that the rest of the shortlist looked varied and interesting, although I didn't read any of the others.

This year I thought there were some really interesting choices on the longlist. I absolutely adored The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and was pleased to see it there. I had had my eye on State of Wonder by Ann Patchett and it's appearance on the longlist prompted me to buy it (my review will be up this week). I also have borrowed The Blue Book by A. L. Kennedy from the library, bought The Submission by Amy Waldman and am on the reservation list for There But For The by Ali Lewis. There seemed to be a great variety of genres and styles. I was really excited to see who had made the shortlist and was massively underwhelmed when I saw it. Patchett has made it on there but Morgenstern hasn't. To make matters worse, Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan is there. Edugyan was on the Man Booker shortlist and I really didn't like the two thirds of it that I read. I didn't even finish it, which is hugely unusual for me, I so infrequently don't finish books but I just couldn't get through it. So the fact that that was there and Morgenstern wasn't immediately made me feel as though the judging criteria weren't in line with my own personal preferences.

The books that have made it onto the shortlist, as well as Patchett and Edugyan are:
The Forgotten by Anne Enright
Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick

Of those four, The Song of Achilles had caught my eyes as I enjoy historical fiction, but I had passed it over as the focus seemed to be on the romance and the other three didn't appeal either because of the focus on scandalous or illicit relationships. I'm sure that they are well written or have some literary strengths of some description but I think it is a shame that there seems to be such a narrow scope for the shortlist. Maybe I am judging them prematurely but they all appear to be traditional in structure and to focus on romance and said illicit affairs. For a prize that celebrates the best of female writers, I think it is a shame for the shortlist to be so narrowly romantic as it feels as though it is reinforcing the stereotype of what female writers can write about. Considering the variety and creativity of ideas on the longlist it is a disappointing shortlist in terms of scope.

I may try The Song of Achilles and Painter of Silence and I will almost definitely read the winner if I haven't already, and I hope to be proved wrong once I read more of the shortlist, but I hope that future Orange shortlists celebrate the variety and creativity in female writers rather than reinforcing stereotypes about women only writing about illicit romance, however high quality it is. To be honest, they lost me this year when they shortlisted Edugyan and failed to include the magnificent The Night Circus.

Reviews to books I've mentioned and read:
The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht: http://acaseforbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/review-34-tigers-wife-by-tea-obreht.html
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna: http://acaseforbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/review-36-memory-of-love-by-aminatta.html
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: http://acaseforbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/review-49-night-circus-by-erin.html
Man Booker Summary 2011: http://acaseforbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/man-booker-prize-summary.html

Review 30: VIII by H. M. Castor

"VIII is the story of Hal: a young, handsome, gifted warrior, who believes he has been chosen to lead his people. But he is plagued by the ghosts of his family's violent past and, once he rises to power, he turns to murder and rapacious cruelty. He is Henry VIII."


This is clearly a very well researched novel with a solid grounding in historical fact. The first half which focuses on Henry's childhood and adolescence is evocative and exciting but unfortunately Castor speeds through the rest of his life (and wives) too fast for readers who don't already know what happened to keep up. It also is in the unusual position of being a young adult novel where the protagonist is an adult for a large portion of the book, and is in his 50s at the end, which doesn't quite work for me. There are some dramatic devices that are overused and it casts Henry in a rather too favourable light but it is very readable and hopefully will encourage some younger readers to delve further into historical fiction and Tudor history.

First Line: 'I'm still half asleep when I feel strong hands grabbing me.'

Why I read it: My husband bought it for me from my Amazon wishlist. I studied Tudor history at university so am always interested to read perspectives on Henry VIII.

Review 29: Floodland by Marcus Sedgwick

"Imagine that England is covered by water, and Norwich is an island... Zoe, left behind in the  confusion, survives there are best she can. Alone and desperate among marauding gangs, she manages to dig a derelict boat out of the mud and escapes to Eels Island. But Eels Island, whose raggle-taggle inhabitants are dominated by the strange boy Dooby, is full of danger too."


Why I read it: The author is visiting my school and I wanted to read a bit more of his back catalogue and this is his first novel.

The first three quarters of this book are strong but unfortunately it tails off somewhat and I found the end very underwhelming. Sedgwick wrote this, his first novel, of a disintegrating apocalyptic society long before it was in vogue, he of course did not invent the genre but was definitely ahead of the young adult trend for it. Zoe is a gutsy and strong heroine but I would have liked more detail about her family and the people she meets along the way who felt a bit more hurriedly sketched in. I would have actually liked this short novel to be longer and find out a bit more. It is rather unrelentingly miserable and I did find it rather depressing but if you're after a short, sobering read with plenty of action and a unnerving atmosphere then give this a go.


First Line: 'Zoe ran harder than she had ever run in her life.'