29) The House of Silk 30) Telling Liddy

29) The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

Having recently read a lot of the original Sherlock Holmes collection (before starting this blog), I really enjoyed this book, as it perfectly captures Conan Doyle's narrative style, whilst dealing with a far more controversial subject than any of the other cases. The plot unfolds beautifully, keeping you guessing right until the very end what The House of Silk is, when the disturbing truth comes to light. I recommend this book for fans of Mr Holmes, whether that be of the original stories, any of the plethora of films, or the outstanding BBC series. The game's afoot, if you wish to play...





30) Telling Liddy by Anne Fine

Anne Fine has a disturbing way of getting under your skin; I had to get ride of my copy of The Tulip Touch when I was younger as I found it so unsettling. This book is less obviously sinister, but leads us to a moral dilemma that makes us question ourselves and our family loyalty: what do you do when you hear a shocking rumour about your sister's new boyfriend? Do you tell her and risk ruining your relationship if it isn't true, or do you keep quiet, but feel guilty for not warning her. The dynamic between the four sisters in this book is captivating and uncomfortable; and as the truth slowly comes together, and the sisters' lives fall apart, we feel a sense of voyeurism in observing this family tragedy, and yet we cannot look away.

27) The Kill Order 28) Troilus and Cressida

27) The Kill Order by James Dashner

This book is the prequel to the Maze Runner series, and I really enjoyed reading things from Mark's perspective, and finding out the events that led up to the flare (trying to avoid spoilers here!) There are more female characters in this book, which I appreciated, although the characterisation is slightly two-dimensional in some cases, and the writing style is still a bit clunky. I really enjoyed finding out how everything began though, and am curious about the sequel-to-the-prequel (haha) which should be coming out in 2016. I'm hoping that it focuses on Teresa and Thomas, and their time before the maze.

28) Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare

I'm studying this play at uni and I find the re-telling of the Trojan War really interesting, especially as the focus isn't on Paris and Helen, but on Troilus and Cressida. While ultimately unsatisfying (the ending is not at all what we're led to expect, considering the precedent given by Romeo and Juliette and Antony and Cleopatra) the play captures our interest through the intriguing characterisation of the double-faceted Cressida, and the distrustful Troilus. The fact that their roles have already been laid out for them by Chaucer, which the characters predict in saying  'As true as Troilus' and  'as false as Cressid', does not prevent us from bemoaning their bewildering fate. This play can be viewed in turns as a history, a tragedy, and  a comedy; and this problem of genre perfectly compliments its problematic ideology.

25) The Scorch Trials 26) Death Cure

  

25) The Scorch Trials and 26) Death Cure by James Dashner


Firstly, I would like to apologise for my long absence. I've been rather busy lately, and have been putting off blogging due to my massive back-log, but I decided to get down to it today.

I have to say that I thought that these two were not as well written as the first book, and given that the first book already had stylistic issues, that meant that these two were less enjoyable to read. The storyline was also less compelling outside of the maze, which I loved as a setting, but it was interesting enough for me to do a bit of a reading spree and read both of these over a couple of days.

I've chosen not to write separate posts about them as they've kind of blurred into one in my head, even though the settings are quite different. As with the Divergent and Hunger Games series, I found the last book in the trilogy a bit disappointing and harder to connect with, maybe because of the increased violence and action takes away from the emotional side, which I prefer. However, I still recommend reading them if you enjoyed the first one, especially given the fact that there is some essential information given in them which makes reading the prequel, which I will write about in my next post, extremely interesting.

23) Finding My Voice 24) The Maze Runner

23) Finding My Voice by Jonathan Veira

I bought this book after seeing Jonathan in concert and being very impressed not only by his capacities as a singer, but also by his comic genius. I have to say that it's not the most well-written book I've ever read: occasionally the language is a little awkward or there is an overuse of exclamation marks; but it was immensely enjoyable to read about all the funny experiences that Jonathan has had throughout his career, and quite enlightening about the world of opera. I really don't have much experience of reading autobiographies, but I would recommend this one if you enjoy Jonathan's music.



24) The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I loved the concept of this book, with its undertones of Greek mythology, and although the writing struck me as a bit clumsy, the plot made up for it, keeping me intrigued throughout. There are so many questions to be answered: what are these boys doing in the centre of this maze? How do they get out?  What will happen if they do?

Having already seen the trailer for the film, I picked the book up  at Healthy Planet, a great little shop that seems to have just sprung up near where I live  which gives books away for free! I'm now considering buying the sequels, my hesitation only really coming from a fear of not being able to put them down and do my uni work!

21) Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves 22) The Mill on the Floss

Two posts in two days? I know, it's crazy, but I haven't been binge-reading, I was just rather behind in my posts :) So here goes:

21) Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves by PG Wodehouse

This being the second Wodehouse I had read, I was jolly well ready for some spiffing stuff, and I was not disappointed. I hugely enjoyed watching Jeeves and Wooster as a child, and the witty dialogue comes across as well on the page as it does in the series, if not better, as it is accompanied by Bertie's inward musings and revelations. The only thing which slightly disrupted my enjoyment of the book was Bertie's tendency to use single letters to replace words, for example: "I sank forward in my chair, the f. buried in the h.". While it's clear to anyone familiar with English idioms what he means, it rather pulls you up short, but this may, in fact, be the effect that Wodehouse is going for: a slight annoyance on our part at Bertie's laziness, while equally enjoying his ridiculousness.  

22) The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot 

Alternately diverting and dull, this novel is not something to be undertaken lightly, and I must confess that I may not have reached the end had it not been for the fact that I'm studying it. Just to give you an idea of its length: if you were to listen to the audiobook, it would take thirteen hours. I think it actually took me longer than that to read, as my mind had a habit of wondering off, and so I was often forced to read the same page several times. 

I don't want to be too harsh on Eliot, she (yes, she's a woman!) created some extremely interesting characters and surprising character development, it's just a rather slow book to take off (although much better than Robinson Crusoe, don't even get me started) and goes off into philosophical musings too often for my liking (did anyone else force themselves through all the philosophy in Sophie's world just to find out the answer to the mystery?). All in all, a book to read if you have a lot of patience and time on your hands.