The Caveman by Jorn Lier Horst

The Caveman
Jorn Lier Horst
2017, Affirm Press
9781925475708
352p.

A neighbour of Detective William Wisting dies and remains undiscovered for four months. Wisting's daughter, a journalist, wishes to write a story on how this could happen in modern society and begins to investigate his life. Meanwhile a body is found in a Christmas tree lot which appears to be connected with a 1980s serial killer.

This is the first book I've read in this Scandinavian murder series, even though it's book four. I bought it at the airport and that's probably the best way to describe it. It's an airport book - extremely easily readable, fun and quick. The chapters are really short, even rivalling James Patterson (ok, maybe not that short). There were a couple of errors in the text, not sure if it's an error by the author or by the translator. Still, a fun quick read and definitely recommended.

This book is registered at bookcrossing

Hagseed by Margaret Atwood

Hagseed
Margaret Atwood
2017, Kindle ebook

Former theatre director Felix starts a theatre program in a prison with the plan to take revenge on those who are responsible for his downfall. This is a retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

I was unfamiliar with The Tempest but didn't find that that mattered, and I actually didn't realise it would be a retelling until I started reading. A great tale of revenge and pettiness that keeps the reader (well, kept me) guessing as to what is true or what is imagined.

Zone One by Colson Whitehead

Zone One
Colson Whitehead
2011, Kindle ebook

A zombie plague novel set in post-apocalyptic New York city. Mark Spitz was an ordinary man before the outbreak, and after the outbreak he is still an ordinary man, but the bar of what's ordinary has shifted. His job is to eradicate the remaining zombies in order to make the island inhabitable by the living.

An enjoyable zombie outing, with lots of words I had to use the kindle's dictionary feature on! I thought it was a very realistic take on post-zombie-apocalyptic madness, and a delve into human nature.

Wool by Hugh Howey

Wool
Hugh Howey
2013, Random House, London
9780099580485
537p.

A dystopian, post-apocalyptic tale of a society that lives entirely in an underground silo. The outside is contaminated by some type of toxins and is said to be uninhabitable, but criminals are sent outside to 'clean' grime from view screens. A few inhabitants begin to question this, and other aspects of the society.

This was a relatively quick read and quite enjoyable. Which I found surprising because I really don't like the person who gave me the book! haha! The pace was a bit uneven at times, parts could have used a bit more editing. I also feel that some parts were perhaps not logically thought through as they made no sense if you start really thinking about it. Again, something that could have been solved by another edit pass. But overall, great story, interesting characters, and relatively unique premise.

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

The Year of the Flood
Margaret Atwood
2009, Hachette Digital, London
9780748113378
unnumbered ebook

This is book two in the MaddAdam series which began with Oryx and Crake. I was excited to see this in the bookstore as I hadn't realised there were other books! So I went home and bought the Kindle edition - haha.

The Year of the Flood follows a similar timeline to Oryx and Crake but focuses on the stories of two women, Toby and Ren. They are a part of the religious cult The Gardeners who talk of a 'waterless flood' that will wipe out humanity (the viral apocalypse of the first book). There are connections to Oryx and Crake throughout this story.

I liked learning more about the society, especially this time from a female perspective. And I am looking forward to reading the third book, MaddAdam.  In this book, there was less of a focus on the scientific side of things, and more of a societal - specifically, religious - slant. It's a very optimistic view of an apocalyptic situation.

The Dark Half by Stephen King

The Dark Half
Stephen King
1989, 1990, Hodder & Stoughton, London
045052468X
468p.

A writer is forced to admit his use of a pen name to write violent and profitable novels. He takes the opportunity to publicly 'kill off' his pseudonym in order to fully pursue his own, less popular but less violent, writings. But the pseudonym does not stay dead.

This book starts off as wryly amusing, and then very quickly turns violent and horrible. A couple of passages made me feel almost physically ill, and the last section had to be read all at once as it was terrifyingly suspenseful. The other great passage is the opening scene in which an eyeball is excised from the brain of an 11 year old boy - King can paint with words.

Insomnia by Stephen King

Insomnia
Stephen King
1994, Signet, New York
0451184963
663p.

Sixty-something year old Ralph begins to suffer from insomnia shortly after the death of his wife. And then he starts seeing coloured auras around people, and stumbles onto a whole other world beyond normal vision.

Stephen King is always a good read, and this is no exception. It's a great premise, and quite suspenseful. I read this in my first week in Iceland, it's so nice to have time to read again. If I was at home, working, a 600-page book would take months to read.

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.  

Make Death Love Me by Ruth Rendell

Make Death Love Me
Ruth Rendell
1979, 1982, Arrow Books, London
0099223309
216p.

Bank manager, Alan Groombridge, dreams of stealing money from his small branch in order to have a year of freedom away from his tedious life.  But then, his branch is robbed for real and he is caught up in a scary and dangerous situation.

I've never read Rendell before, I quite enjoyed this little novel.  A lot of crime books don't put the effort into developing characters, but Rendell does a great job.  I felt empathy for poor Groombridge and his desire to leave his 'normal' life.

Deadpool, Vol 1: Secret Invasion by Daniel Way and Paco Medina

Deadpool, Vol. 1: Secret Invasion

Daniel Way and Paco Medina

2009, Marvel

0785132732

136p.

Marvel superhero Deadpool battles an invading army of aliens and goes on a mercenary mission to a zombie infested castle in this collection of five stories.

This was my first introduction to Deadpool and I really like him.  He's a bit of a crazy asshole, but he sure gets the job done!  This is a good first read as there's a lot of backstory contained within.  

Dark Highways by Megat Ishak

Dark Highways
Megat Ishak
2013, Fixi Novo, Malaysia
9789670374406
265p.

A collection of short stories set in Malaysia - I picked this up at a Borders on my recent trip to KL.  The main themes of these stories are horror, magic, violence, and betrayal.

I quite enjoyed reading these stories as an insight to Malay culture.  My favourite stories were 'Mr. Bolero', about two professional killers and set in the near future; and 'Cloud Sparkle', which is a horror story about killer clouds!

Overall I found the theme of betrayal, specifically female lover betrayal, to become a little tiresome but it's just a part of the collection.

Murder in the Dark: A Phryne Fisher Mystery by Kerry Greenwood

Murder in the Dark: A Phryne Fisher Mystery
Kerry Greenwood
2006, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest
1741147093
295p.

Phryne Fisher is a well-to-do amateur detective from 1920s Australia.  In this tale she is invited to an intense multi-day party to celebrate the end of 1928.  She is threatened to not attend, which makes her want to even more.  At the party, people start disappearing and the threats continue.

I had seen the TV series of this, but this is my first read of the books.  I really enjoyed it, Phryne is a great character, she is so powerful and confident.  Th
e storytelling really evokes the feel of 1920s Australia (albeit, the upper-class side).

Link to journal at bookcrossing

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

:)

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

Al Capone Does My Shirts
Gennifer Choldenko
2004, Puffin, New York
0142403709
215p.

This children's book is set on the prison island, Alcatraz, in 1935.  The protagonist, a twelve year old boy named Moose, has recently moved there with his parents (his father works as an electrician and prison guard) and his sister Natalie who has autism.  The story centers around trying to get Natalie into a special school to help with her condition (autism had not been defined in the 1930s).

I picked this up knowing nothing about the story, I just found the title to be intriguing.  It was a very enjoyable read - I like reading about characters with autism and asperges.  The historical aspects really make this book extra special, and it seems as if the author has done a fair bit of research for it (judging by the author's notes at the end).

Link to journal at bookcrossing

Garden of the Purple Dragon by Carole Wilkinson

Garden of the Purple Dragon

Carole Wilkinson

2005, Black Dog Books, Fitzroy

187632656

350p.

This is the second book in the series. Ping is a young imperial dragon keeper who has charge of a baby dragon named Kai. They fight off evil and have adventures.

Aside from a couple of continuity errors, this was excellent! The characters are so well written and the scenery evocative. It was a little slow to start (recapping what had happened in the first book), however, once it got going, I found it hard to put down.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

The Children's Writer by Gary Crew

The Children's Writer
Gary Crew
2009, HarperCollins, Sydney
9780732285869
233p.

Charlie, aspiring writer and uni student is living with his partner Lootie, when a favourite childhood author comes into their lives and changes things between them.

I totally bought into the voice of the narrator from the start which often doesn't happen when you know the author, but Charlie is written really, really well. I've so enjoyed being with these people over the last few days, even though the story is not exactly a positive one. Also, I should have seen the end coming, but did not. lol

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much
Allison Hoover Bartlett
2009, Kindle Edition
1594488916
unnumbered

True story of a man who wanted to gain a rare book collection, but didn't have the money. So he took the next logical step - he stole them.

This book just makes me want to collect rare books! I could smell them! I found Gilkey's reasons for stealing to seem really quite immoral and yet make total sense - as a bibliophile.

Dinosaur Wars: Earthfall by Thomas Hopp

Dinosaur Wars: Earthfall
Thomas Hopp
2011, Kindle Edition, Amazon
ASIN: B004IWQXKW
unnumbered

A probe finds an abandoned base on the moon which was not put there by humans. It was put there by ... dinosaurs! And now the dinosaurs are reawoken and want their planet back.

This was just awesome. I mean, space dinosaurs from the moon? What's not to love? And for a Kindle Freebie, you can't go wrong.

I am Spock by Leonard Nimoy

I am Spock
Leonard Nimoy
1995, 1996, Arrow Books, London
0099647419
347p.

Auto-biography written by Leonard Nimoy who played Spock in the original series of Star Trek, as well as a number of motion pictures. This is written after the Star Trek: Generations movie.

Leonard Nimoy is a talented writer. And the stories he tell in this are very interesting, there's not too much boring stuff in there as some auto-biographies have. I like the way he talks to Spock throughout the book.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

The Tipping Point
Malcolm Gladwell
2000, Abacus, London
0349113467
259p.

A look at the sociology and psychology behind the reasons certain fads and other social phenomena become very popular.

This wasn't blow-your-mind amazing, but I enjoyed it. It is very well researched and written in an accessible language. It's quite good for pop-sociology.

Link to journal at bookcrossing