Book Review Year 2 No 6
Apr. 25th, 2017 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitSo, my final book review for this year's goals. I have read a total of 30 books since May 2016, some of which, since I read them in the last four months, will also be included in my Goodreads reading challenge.
Equal Rites
Feet of Clay
Reaper Man - all three by Terry Pratchett
I'm continuning to enjoy working my way through the Discworld books. Equal Rites dragged a little I felt, but I always enjoy the City Watch (Feet of Clay) and am very fond of DEATH (Reaper Man), so am satisfied overall. I have more Discworld books sitting on my shelf, ready for me to continue the stories, possibly later this year.
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
I'm one of those people who regularly fill in the boxes to win prizes in giveaways. I particularly enjoy the ones on Caboodle, although never really expect to win anything. But this time I did. It's a book I would never have selected by myself, because it's very different from my normal reading sphere. It's set in 1980s Nigeria, written by a Nigerian author. The plot is interesting, although I found the ending a little too neat - I shall be interested to hear what other readers think of it. The setting is a culture I know little about, but is explained in enough detail to understand. And I felt it would have helped if I had known a bit more about the history of the period. It's written in the first person, but occasionally changes the narrator at the start of a new chapter, without any announcement, which I didn't find particularly helpful. The book is shortlisted for this year's Baileys Prize, so I'm feeling quite pleased with myself for having read it.
Adventures in the Strand by Mike Ashley
Subtitled Arthur Conan Doyle & The Strand Magazine. This is a book I'd had on my wishlist for some time, so I requested it for Christmas. It's very interesting to read about ACD's long relationship with The Strand, and the very varied contributions he made. Perhaps inevitably I finished it satisfied that Sherlock Holmes was his best creation, despite the author's enthusiastic recommendation for some of his other stories. I was also left with a lowered sense of interest in the man himself, who, no doubt a product of his time, seem to lack the breadth of vision of Holmes. It's an interesting read, although I found the constant conversion to modern values of the sums paid for ACD's stories irritating, and Ashley intruded too much into the book for my liking. But, as an undoubted phenomenon of the time, the role of the Strand Magazine and ACD's part in it, was worth reading about.
Equal Rites
Feet of Clay
Reaper Man - all three by Terry Pratchett
I'm continuning to enjoy working my way through the Discworld books. Equal Rites dragged a little I felt, but I always enjoy the City Watch (Feet of Clay) and am very fond of DEATH (Reaper Man), so am satisfied overall. I have more Discworld books sitting on my shelf, ready for me to continue the stories, possibly later this year.
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
I'm one of those people who regularly fill in the boxes to win prizes in giveaways. I particularly enjoy the ones on Caboodle, although never really expect to win anything. But this time I did. It's a book I would never have selected by myself, because it's very different from my normal reading sphere. It's set in 1980s Nigeria, written by a Nigerian author. The plot is interesting, although I found the ending a little too neat - I shall be interested to hear what other readers think of it. The setting is a culture I know little about, but is explained in enough detail to understand. And I felt it would have helped if I had known a bit more about the history of the period. It's written in the first person, but occasionally changes the narrator at the start of a new chapter, without any announcement, which I didn't find particularly helpful. The book is shortlisted for this year's Baileys Prize, so I'm feeling quite pleased with myself for having read it.
Adventures in the Strand by Mike Ashley
Subtitled Arthur Conan Doyle & The Strand Magazine. This is a book I'd had on my wishlist for some time, so I requested it for Christmas. It's very interesting to read about ACD's long relationship with The Strand, and the very varied contributions he made. Perhaps inevitably I finished it satisfied that Sherlock Holmes was his best creation, despite the author's enthusiastic recommendation for some of his other stories. I was also left with a lowered sense of interest in the man himself, who, no doubt a product of his time, seem to lack the breadth of vision of Holmes. It's an interesting read, although I found the constant conversion to modern values of the sums paid for ACD's stories irritating, and Ashley intruded too much into the book for my liking. But, as an undoubted phenomenon of the time, the role of the Strand Magazine and ACD's part in it, was worth reading about.
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Date: 2017-04-25 08:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-25 08:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-26 02:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-26 07:59 am (UTC)I only started reading Discworld a couple of years ago. They're an 'easy' read, so good as a contrast from a more emotionally involving book. I made the mistake of starting with the first two books The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic which although providing the background aren't the most exciting or the best introduction to the world. Overall I'd say I like the City Watch arc the best at the moment - lots of fun characters.
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Date: 2017-04-26 03:16 pm (UTC)If you want to know more about the background to modern Nigeria, try Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It's fairly harrowing (with a happy for now ending) and deals with the civil war. It's very informative as well as being quite a gripping novel. I read it because somebody recommended it but also because at the time of the civil war I had some Nigerian students in Birmingham (and a Nigerian friend at uni even longer ago)and was interested to know more about their experiences.
The Conan Doyle book was mentioned in the TWC Sherlock issue. Interesting to read a review though the book itself doesn't appeal to me.
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Date: 2017-04-26 04:12 pm (UTC)Thank you for the recommendation for the background to modern Nigeria. It's probably not an area I'm going to be reading about in the near future, but I will keep it in mind.
I still haven't got through all the TWC Sherlock issue. I think you'd need a particular interest in the man and the era to read the book - both of which I, of course, have ;)