Book Review Year 4 No 6

[smallhobbit]

I'm quite surprised I've read 31 / 36 of this year's Goodreads Challenge.  I suppose I could increase the number of books I'm planning to read, but at the moment I have no particular wish to do so.  Averaging three books a month is quite acceptable to me, more is just a bonus.

Snuff by Terry Pratchett

The final book in the City Watch series in Discworld.  I really enjoyed it - all my favourite characters were present, and the theme was compelling.  I'm now thinking of treating myself to a AMCW hoodie for the winter.


The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles

I was reading an article and there was reference to the book, so I thought as I'd never read it (I've seen the film), I'd give it a go.  It was not my sort of thing.  I really disliked the main character, Charles Smithson, and found him self-pitying and pathetic.  And the author interpolations reminded me of the sort of fanfic I instantly back-button.  I finished it and returned it to the library.  Feel free to disagree with my thoughts.


Biggles in France by W E Johns

DebrisWoman has a number of Biggles books and since, once again, it was something I'd never read, but the library had a few of the books I reserved one.  Very much a book of its time, and of the boys' own genre, it didn't do much for me.  Although reading about dog fights over the Western Front was interesting, having seen one of the planes in a museum a few months ago.  Not my thing, but then cozy mysteries don't appeal to others, so I can understand why they are read.  The language was very restrained compared to what I imagine it was like in reality.


Aunt Dimity Detective by Nancy Atherton

And so onto a cozy mystery.  The heroine has some annoying faults, but at least she admits to them.  And the characters who live in the village of Finch are an attractive bunch - not perfect in any way, no doubt frustrating as neighbours, but I wouldn't want any real harm to happen to them.


The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey

stonepicnicking_okapi  refers to Alan Grant, the detective in this case, as Hobbit's detective, because he fits my competency kink very well.  And I did enjoy following his deductions and the process he took to track down the killer, plus his determination to find the right person.  The ending was a bit 'meh' to my mind, but that wasn't Grant's fault.


Famous 1914 - 1918 by Richard van Emden & Victor Piuk

This was one of the books I bought when we were on the battlefields tour.  It tells about the war, and generally in each case one particular action, for a number of men who went on to become very famous after the war.  Amongst them were C S Lewis, Ralph Vaughan Williams, J R R Tolkien, A A Milne, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.  I found it fascinating, very sad, for they all lost friends or relatives, but at the same time a great insight into the period and also the effect the war had on them subsequently.

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Glad you liked The Man in the Queue. Yeah, I was sort of surprised at the end, too. Grant does seem very competent.

So is the Goodreads Challenge just a number of books or specific books or books in certain categories?

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. I have the next Grant book reserved at the library.

The main challenge is number of books - every reader sets their own number. But you can have different shelves for different books I think.

[tripleransom]

Interesting. I read the French Lieutenant's Woman years ago when it first came out and was the hottest thing going. I disliked Charles also, although I think we were supposed to admire him. I just thought he was a real jerk without the courage of his convictions. Practically everyone I knew saw him as some sort of tragic hero-figure, trapped by the society he lived in, though.

I really liked Inspector Grant in The Daughter of Time, which I read years ago and recently re-read. Have you read that one? "Josephine Tey" seems like a strange and interesting person in her own right.

[smallhobbit]

Charles was a jerk and used the standards of his time as a justification for his behaviour.

I read Daughter of Time many years ago and really enjoyed it.

[aome]

Glad to see you're still (mostly) enjoying the Dimity series. Lori DOES eventually stop crushing on every man she meets. :P

And an AMCW hoodie would be awesome!

[smallhobbit]

I see you instantly knew the fault I was referring to!

A vote for the hoodie. It's getting closer!

[moth2fic]

Total agreement on Snuff, and on The French Lieutenant's Woman! I like mysteries too, but some cosy ones are not too well written. Recs gratefully received!

[smallhobbit]

Oh good - I thought I'd be alone in my thoughts on The French Lieutenant's Woman. I enjoyed the film, but that may be more due to Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons than anything else.

The Aunt Dimity stories aren't brilliant, but I like the characters enough, and the premise - and the pink fluffy rabbit - enough to keep reading.

[howsmyenglish]

Oh, thank you for mentioning Snuff! I somehow was sure I had read all the Night Watch books. So happy there is another one!

[smallhobbit]

And Snuff is great fun too!