The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The Goldfinch
Donna Tartt
2013, Amazon Kindle e-book
no isbn
unnumbered

A young boy and his mother are inside a New York art museum when a bomb goes off.  In the ensuing chaos the boys accidentally steals a painting called 'The Goldfinch'.  His fear of getting into trouble precludes him from going to the authorities, and this fear remains as he grows up.

 It is not often that I read a book I know nothing about (from a plot point of view), but this is one of them.  I really enjoy discovering everything as I'm reading.  As a fan of the author's other work (namely Secret History), I thought I'd give this novel a go.  Tartt is really good at getting 'voice' right.  There are a few voices in this book as the narrator Theodore grows up and changes, and she nailed all of them.  I felt let down by the overly-philosophical ending, I thought the author had done a good enough job of getting her point across through narrative without having to resort to holding the reader's hand at the end.  

Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorpe

Nothing Lasts Forever
Roderick Thorpe
2011, Amazon Kindle ebook
no isbn
240p.

The novel the movie Die Hard is based on.  A group of terrorists take over a building on Christmas ... you know what, you've seen Die Hard, and if you haven't, get off my blog and go see Die Hard.

That said, it does vary a little from the movie in that the main character is the father not the husband, and the terrorists' motivations are different.  Also, different people die, but I won't give it away.  Needless to say, being a huge huge fan of the movie I was shocked when it happened!

This is a very 'boy's own' book.  Lots of action scenes and macho emotional stuff.  Yes, macho emotional is a thing.  I just made it a thing.  The characters are well rounded; because the main character in the book is not the main character from the movie, I thought I may have trouble accepting him, but he is written really well.

Overall, I found this novel to be a little underwhelming - it's ok, but lacks the humour of the movie.  I guess it's just a different style.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Battle Royale
Koushun Takami
1999, 2003, 2009, Haikasoru, San Francisco
9781421527727
576p.

A group of junior high students from an alternate reality of Japan are taken to an island where they are fitted with exploding collars and told they must kill each other until there is one survivor remaining.

I saw the movie and wanted to read the book.  This is like Hunger Games only better.  Bloody and violent and a hell of a lot of fun.  It may have been improved by a more in depth look at the dystopian aspects of this alternate reality, but then again, that may have distracted from the premise of the book.  As a stand alone, straight-out blood bath novel, it works.

Gon: Volume One by Masashi Tanaka

Gon: Volume One
Masashi Tanaka
1992, 2011, Kodansha Comics, New York
9781935429395
unnumbered

This is a manga story of the very last dinosaur on Earth, a cute little guy named Gon.  It is a wholly illustrated story, without words, so following in the tradition I shall also do my review without words.

:)

:D

XD

:)

The Destiny Makers by George Turner

The Destiny Makers
George Turner
1993, Avon, New York
0380718871
321p.

Set in the future when Earth is over-populated by humans, The Destiny Makers takes a socio-political view at what could be done to solve the over-population issue.

This book made me uncomfortable a number of times - the racism (which is an essential part of the story) is so casual and so seemingly logical that it's just tough to read.  I found it to be very realistic and enjoyed the thought games played out.  It's also great to read some dystopia set in Australia. :)

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The Book Boy by Joanna Trollope

The Book Boy
Joanna Trollope
2006, Bloomsbury Publishing, London
0747582114
94p.

Quick read about Alice, a housewife who cannot read and the teenage rebel who guessed her secret.

This was a very simple book with simple language, and I didn't really find the characters all that believable - they were two-dimensional.

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Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss

Eats, Shoots and Leaves
Lynne Truss
2003, 2004, Gotham, New York
1592400876
204p.

This is a book about punctuation. Not exactly a style guide, though it does inform the reader of the main conventions of punctuation, it's more of a educated rant from a literate stickler.

I really loved this: it's proof that I'm not the worst grammar or punctuation Nazi around. It also taught me a thing or two I didn't know about the correct use of punctuation, which is fantastic! Now I just have to remember it all and not slip back into old ways.

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Antarctica on a Plate by Alexa Thomson

Antarctica on a Plate
Alexa Thomson
2003, Random House, Milsons Point
1740512073
385p.

Alexa decides to give up her city-based web-design career to fly to Antarctica and be the cook for a small base.

This was an interesting memoir, however, I was expecting to be wowed by the majesty of Antarctica, but that didn't come through.

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Murder on Marble Row by Victoria Thompson

Murder on Marble Row
Victoria Thompson
2004, 2005, Berkley Prime Crime, New York
04251988707
310p.

A period mystery set in 18th century New York City. A wealthy businessman is murdered by a bomb and Detective Inspector Malloy suspects anarchists are involved.

Clunky writing style and very predictable until the final twist. I also couldn't stand the character of Malloy - he's not very nice at all. However, it was interesting to read about New York City in that era.

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The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

The Daughter of Time
Josephine Tey
1951, 1995, Scribner, New York
0684803860
206p.

While recovering in hospital, Scotland Yard Inspector Grant begins to research the story of Richard III, popularly believed to have murdered his nephews. But upon looking deeper into the history of the time, cracks in this otherwise established fact begin to appear.

What a brilliant little book! I didn't know anything about this story, and I find British royal history confusing at the best of times, but this was written so well. And we never left that hospital room ... I thought that was a clever literary device. Purely academic detective work.

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Bad Twin by Gary Troup

Bad Twin
Gary Troup (Touchstone Television)
2006, Hyperion, New York
1401302769
258p.

This is the manuscript written by one of the victims of Oceanic Flight 815 and read by Sawyer in the first season of the television show Lost. It tells the story of Paul Artisan, a private detective who investigates the disappearance of a rich man's twin brother.

This was great as a stand-alone story. And I enjoyed all the references to Lost. I'm not sure it helped explain anything, but it sure was fun to spot them all.

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World War: In the Balance by Harry Turtledove

World War: In the Balance
Harry Turtledove
1994, Hodder and Stoughton, London
0340618396
656p.

It is the 1940s, during WWII, an invading fleet of reptilian aliens disrupt the sparring humans who then must unite against a common and technologically superior foe. But the reptiles are underprepared, as their scouting probe had sent back images of the Middle Ages, and when they arrived on Earth, they found humans had advanced more rapidly then they could have anticipated.

This book has an interesting premise and it's well executed but frankly it's far too long. I think if I knew more about WWII I would have enjoyed it more, but I'm a hard sci-fi fan and need a fair bit of action involving technology or sociological commentary to keep me interested. This was just a war tactics books with intelligent reptiles.

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The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

The Little Friend
Donna Tartt
2002, Random House, New York
0679439382
555p.

Set in a small town in Mississippi, The Little Friend tells the story of Harriet, whose older brother was murdered when she was a baby. As a twelve year old, Harriet vows to find and punish those responsible for her brother's death.

This is a dark story, I didn't think it was as taught as The Secret History, but it's still a great book. Tartt writes such fantastic characters and puts them in scenarios so real you can nearly smell the dusty streets of Mississippi.

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Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte

Enslaved by Ducks
Bob Tarte
2003, 2004, Algonquin, Chapel Hill
1565124502
308p.

Bob Tarte is a writer who one day decides to get a rabbit. That one rabbit eventually becomes parrots, geese, turkeys, ducks, more rabbits, and an assortment of other birds. This books tells of their adventures and misadventures.

I really enjoyed the read. A lot of books about pet owners are glossy, cutesy books with overly-crafted scenarios, emotional highs and lows. But this book is excruciatingly honest. The animals are all psycho, and the clueless humans are neurotic and not ashamed to admit it

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Born on a Blue Day: A Memoir of Asperges and an Extraordinary Mind: Daniel Tammet

Born on a Blue Day: A Memoir of Asperges and an Extraordinary Mind
Daniel Tammet
2007, Hodder, London.
0340899751
305p.

Daniel Tammet has asperges and synesthesia. A very rare combination that lets him see numbers and words as colours, shapes and feeling. This is a memoir of an extraordinary life where he travels around Europe and learns new languages easily and recites pi to over 22,000 decimals!

This is an amazing look inside the mind of this man.

I really enjoyed this book - it is written extremely well. I can identify with a lot of the way Daniel thinks and acts (apart from the math!), I find it amazing that he has achieved so much.

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