The Four Legendary Kingdoms by Mathew Reilly

The Four Legendary Kingdoms
Matthew Reilly
2016, kindle ebook
Unnumbered

Jack West Jr. again has to save the world. Oh wait no, this time he has to save the universe. Something something Hercules something Sikorsky.

Enjoyable as always. Reilly writes really fun books.

Still without compute so reviews will be shorter than normal/littered with spelling errors.

The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling

The Casual Vacancy
JK Rowling
2012, Little Brown and Company, New York
9780316228589
503p.

Adult novel by Harry Potter author JK Rowling, The Casual Vacancy is set around a small town in the UK and its politics. When a councilman dies while in term, many local people are very intent on seeing that their favourite candidate gets into power. This book looks at not just local small town politics, but small town gossip and social issues to do with the working and middle classes.

This was an engrossing read. There was only one character I liked throughout the book, and the cast of  characters is quite considerable. I also learned a plethora of new English words! I recommend reading this with a dictionary close at hand, unless, of course, you're an English major.

It's certainly not a happy kind of book. Time have reviewed it as "... funny, very upsetting ..." and I think that is an apt description.

Nothing to Fear by Karen Rose

Nothing to Fear
Karen Rose
2005, Headline, London
9780755373550
593p.

A deaf boy and his interpreter are kidnapped from a holiday house by a woman who is seeking revenge.

The story has a solid premise but is let down by one-dimensional characters and just plain terrible sex scenes.  I did finish it though (and it's a long book), so it wasn't unreadable.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

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.

Pox by Richard Reinking

Pox
Richard Reinking
2011, Amazon Kindle
9781463547219
unnumbered

 A group of terrorists infect themselves with a strain of the small pox virus and then go on to spread it in four major cities of America.

This was a quick read - a solid medical thriller.  I am fascinated by the small pox virus and I thought this was a fairly credible telling of how it could be potentially used as a bioterrorist attack and how the virus would react in modern society.  Yes it was full of clichés but heck, that makes it easier to read and sometimes I'm after something a little silly.

The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld

The Interpretation of Murder
Jed Rubenfeld
2006, Headline, London
9780755331420
522p

Factional novel of murder in New York at the time Freud was visiting and psychoanalysis was an emerging science.  A young socialite is found murdered in her apartment and then another rich young girl is attacked in her own home.

This was an interesting enough read but I found the writing style to be inconsistent to the point of irritation.  The voice switches between first person and third person without warning, and sometimes we see the main narrator from the third person, but for no apparent reason.  Some of the sentence structure is also a little awkward at times.  And the rants on Shakespeare are tedious.

I did enjoy the book though - I don't read 522 pages of a book I'm not enjoying.  Perhaps a heavier handed editor would have made this an amazing book instead of an ok one.  There's no reason why it couldn't have been written entirely in the third person.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

Mage Heart by Jane Routley

Mage Heart
Jane Routley
1996, Avon Books, New York
0380781271
470p.

Dion is a young female mage in a world where magic is dominated by males. After her foster father dies, she becomes the magical protector of the Duke's favourite mistress.

I spent about a month reading this book, which is a very long time for me to spend on one book and yet I did enjoy it quite a bit. It had a simple writing style (almost for teenagers) and the story was interesting with good solid plot twists. I liked how the character of Dion was so unsure of herself all the time and felt no qualms with talking about her fears and naiveties.

Link to journal at bookcroosing

Bachelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast Pillow Book by Bill Richardson

Bachelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast Pillow Book
Bill Richardson
1998, St. Martins' Griffin
0312194404
208 p.

Sequel to the book Bachelor Brothers Bed and Breakfast in which two brothers run a bed and breakfast for bibliophiles. This book is a collection of recipes, gossip and stories of their lives.

Not as good as the original but still I had an enjoyable time with the brothers and their crazy townspeople.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat by Chris Riddell

Ottoline and the Yellow Cat
Chris Riddell
2007, 2008, HarperCollins, New York
9780061448812
171p.

Ottoline is a little girl living with a Norwegian swamp creature in a house full of her parent's strange collections. When a series of robberies and dog disappearances disrupt her neighbourhood, Ottoline decides to investigate.

This is such a clever, cheeky little book. The illustrations are gorgeous and I liked how they were multi-layered. It's a good story too.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson

The Men Who Stare at Goats
Jon Ronson
2004, Picador, London
0330435264
273p.

This book makes the claim that highly placed members of the US military believed that they could kill goats by looking at them and that they could walk through walls. They created a unit called the First Earth Battalion in the 1970s which was brought back during the War on Terror.

When I started reading this book I was totally incredulous. I kept thinking "no way, this is all made up", but then the author related it to something commonly accepted as fact and I was like "well, maybe". It's an incredibly disturbing tale. And quite scary in places, if not downright terrifying to think that things like this could have happened.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

The 5 Greatest Warriors by Matthew Reilly

The 5 Greatest Warriors
Matthew Reilly
2010, Simon & Schuster, New York
9781416577577
374p.

Continuation of the story The Six Sacred Stones in which Jack West Jr. and his team fight to save the earth from destruction by using an ancient machine with parts scattered all over the world.

Everything that's great about Matthew Reilly is in this book. Action every step of the way - continually bigger and more hair-raising than what came before. Of course, I'm now suffering from adjective-overload, but that's a small price to pay for such a great ride.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

The God of Small Things
Arundhati Roy
1997, Flamingo, London
0006550681
340p.

The story of an Indian family set in the 1960s.

It's very hard to describe the plot of this book without losing something, so I won't bother. The writing is beautiful. And the story is intricately woven. I loved how we're never given the entirety of anything, we have to be patient and read on - the plot doubles back on itself and jumps forwards and backwards with such ease.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast by Bill Richardson

Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast
Bill Richardson
1993, Wyatt, New York
0312171838
152p.

Virgil and Hector are twin brothers in their mid-50s who run a Bed & Breakfast in a small Canadian village. Their establishment is known as a place where people come to relax and read. This book is written in part by Virgil and Hector and in part by their visitors who write little stories about their lives.

I want to visit this place! It sounds like a perfect retreat - a bibliophiles B&B with laid-back proprietors. The story is humorous and clever, full of witticisms and poignancy. Loved it.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

The Last Oracle by James Rollins

The Last Oracle
James Rollins
2008, Orion Books, London
9780752889337
430p.

Russian scientists have been researching the genetics of a rare gypsy tribe, and discover that the children of this tribe have extra-sensory savant talents. They attempt to bring destruction to the Earth by nuclear radiation, and use the children to begin a new world order.

Sounds like a James Bond novel, and reads a bit like one. Plenty of fun action sequences, and paper-thin plotlines. I thought it could have done with a final edit, as it tended to repeat itself in places, but I did enjoy the story.

Link to journal to bookcrossing

The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards

The Clockwise Man
Justin Richards
2005, BBC Books, London
0563486287
253p.

The ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler travel to 1920s London and encounter a mystery involving faceless killers and mechanical creatures.

This was an adventurous story, full of action. I really liked the character of the painted lady with all her masks.

Link to journal to bookcrossing

The Head Book by John Marsden

The Head Book
John Marsden
2001, Pan Macmillan, Sydney
0330363212
172p.

John Marsden, Australia's foremost author for teenagers, writes about history, culture, and life in this short book with the aim to arm young people with necessary information.

This is history on steroids. Marsden gives his audience bite sized chunks of information on beliefs, historical events, politics, literature, and the world's greatest thinkers. It is written with the right amount of humour for the teenage audience - just a touch - it's informative without talking down. A criticism is that it gives the facts, but doesn't make the reader think or allow discussion, though it does give additional reading for most topics.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

Star Trek in Myth and Legend by Thomas Richards

Star Trek in Myth and Legend
Thomas Richards
1997, Orion Media, London
0752807994
180p.

This book looks at and evaluates the themes of the Star Trek TV series. It takes a film studies approach to the subject matter, focussing on The Next Generation series, but covering all series' and movies.

It is an interesting description of the themes of the TV show. I wish the author would not use such broad strokes when describing non-Trek science fiction though. Star Trek is unique, but I don't think it's as unique and ground-breaking as the author would have us believe.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

From Baghdad, With Love by Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman with Melinda Roth

From Baghdad, With Love
Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman with Melinda Roth
2006, 2007, Macmillan, Sydney
1405037969
177p.

Story of a little puppy found abandoned in a building in Iraq by US Marines. Kopelman decides to save the dog, and attempts to get him out of the war-torn country.

This book is both heart-breaking and heart-warming. It's about the horrors of war, but also about the hope that an innocent creature such as a stray puppy can bring to those in the middle of it.

I may or may not have gotten a little teary ...

Link to journal at bookcrossing

Abducted: The True Story of Alien Abduction by Ann Andrews and Jean Ritchie

Abducted: The True Story of Alien Abduction in Rural England
Ann Andrews and Jean Ritchie
1998, Headline, London
0747275165
243p.

Story of the Andrews family from rural England, specifically the son Jason who has had strange encounters his entire life with aliens. The book is about his experiences and speculates about the causes.

This story has everything - abduction, lights, mutilations, UFOs, shadowy government figures - but I found that this abundance of different experiences associated with alien encounters didn't add to the credibility of the story ... it seemed a bit too perfect. Still, it's very well written and researched, giving a great depth of detail about the family's life and history, and I think it could be read as a simple biography by someone who was not interested in aliens or UFOs. It could have done without the speculation of intent of the aliens on the part of the author - just leaving it as a description of facts would have made it a more credible book.

Link to journal at bookcrossing

What's Your Poo Telling You? by Josh Richman and Anish Sheth

What's Your Poo Telling You?
Josh Richman and Anish Sheth
2007, Raincoast Books, Vancouver
0811857824
95p.

Small book which lists different types of poo and explains what causes each type. It contains little informative tid-bits about poo culture and history.

I never realised there were so many different types of poo. I have led a sheltered life. This book was laugh out funny, but too shameful to laugh at!

Link to journal at bookcrossing