Book Review Year 7 No 3
Mar. 31st, 2021 11:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smallhobbitWell, so much for my year of not buying books. I could say this is the library's fault, because the five books I had on my reservation list at the beginning of March were still there at the end. But that's only partly true.
The Summer Before The War by Helen Simonson
This was a library book, and it took two months to read. Although from the title the book should be about June and July 1914, in fact a good proportion of the book deals with the effects of the war. Overall I was disappointed in it. It's nearly 500 pages, and felt very much like a book which is desperate to include everything and bring lots of different strands together, when it would have been much better to have been more selective. Also, for me it felt like the heroine had been transplanted from 2014 and didn't truly belong in 1914. [A3]
The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin
I have a feeling this was recommended to me, but am not sure. It's the first of the Gervase Fen murder mysteries, set in Oxford in 1940. Fen is annoying (deliberately so), but quite fun if taken in the right way. Mrs Fen is excellent, a perfect counterweight, and I'd have happily seen more of her. The plot is very cleverly constructed and quite convoluted. I've now started to read through the rest of the series. [C3]
A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll
The first of my newly bought books. This is a teen/YA book, which is Blackwell's Book of the Year. It's about an autistic girl, written by an autistic writer. I thought it excellent and would definitely recommend it. The back cover describes it as 'a story about courage, friendship and what it means to be different', and I would completely agree.
Knitting Bones by Monica Ferris
Continuing through the needlecraft mysteries, I enjoyed this one. It was slightly different and had some interesting strands. [D3]
Suicide Excepted by Cyril Hare
I've read all Hare books in the library, so am now buying them when I find them cheap. And then, of course, reading them. This is an early book and had me fooled until the end. Lots of twists and turns which I enjoyed.
Two-Way Murder by E C R Lorac
A new book from the British Library Crime Classics, which I'd pre-ordered. The book had never been published before, and doesn't include Lorac's regular detective Inspector McDonald. Lots of different posibilities, lots of strands woven together, some of them classic red herrings, some not. I had a suspicion of whodunnit, but couldn't see howdunnit until the explanation was given. My sort of book and I read it rapidly - not too rapidly as I wanted to enjoy it, but in less than a week.
Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan (audiobook)
I don't normally include audiobooks in my book reviews, but this was a book on my library 'to read' list, only they no longer had a copy (strange since the book was only published in 2019). It's set in January 1950 in Bombay, with a female police inspector investigating the death of a British official employed by the Indian government. I really enjoyed it as a look at the period, and the plot was convoluted and convincing. I would much prefer to have read the book rather than listening to it, which is something I shall bear in mind for the future - there are books to read and books to listen to. [A4]
Holy Disorders by Edmund Crispin
The second Gervase Fen book. I preferred Fen in this, and enjoyed the plot, which once more involved several strands, this time needing to be drawn together. And the slightly off the wall characters seemed to work.
Untimely Death by Cyril Hare
The second Hare book I bought cheaply. This is set in Dartmoor, and I enjoyed the atmosphere, the legal nature of the plot, and how it all worked out.
Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
This is the Shedunnit book of the month for April. I read most of Michael Gilbert's books thirty plus years ago, and remembered really enjoying them, so I thought it would be worth rereading. I didn't remember the plot - which was good because it meant I could enjoy it again - although certain snippets had stayed in my mind (not plot related at all). I'm looking forward to next month's discussion.
[Letters/numbers refer to my reading lists for the year, and record how I'm progressing. No B this month, because I reached B4 last month.]
And finally, my book bingo card:
The Summer Before The War by Helen Simonson
This was a library book, and it took two months to read. Although from the title the book should be about June and July 1914, in fact a good proportion of the book deals with the effects of the war. Overall I was disappointed in it. It's nearly 500 pages, and felt very much like a book which is desperate to include everything and bring lots of different strands together, when it would have been much better to have been more selective. Also, for me it felt like the heroine had been transplanted from 2014 and didn't truly belong in 1914. [A3]
The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin
I have a feeling this was recommended to me, but am not sure. It's the first of the Gervase Fen murder mysteries, set in Oxford in 1940. Fen is annoying (deliberately so), but quite fun if taken in the right way. Mrs Fen is excellent, a perfect counterweight, and I'd have happily seen more of her. The plot is very cleverly constructed and quite convoluted. I've now started to read through the rest of the series. [C3]
A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll
The first of my newly bought books. This is a teen/YA book, which is Blackwell's Book of the Year. It's about an autistic girl, written by an autistic writer. I thought it excellent and would definitely recommend it. The back cover describes it as 'a story about courage, friendship and what it means to be different', and I would completely agree.
Knitting Bones by Monica Ferris
Continuing through the needlecraft mysteries, I enjoyed this one. It was slightly different and had some interesting strands. [D3]
Suicide Excepted by Cyril Hare
I've read all Hare books in the library, so am now buying them when I find them cheap. And then, of course, reading them. This is an early book and had me fooled until the end. Lots of twists and turns which I enjoyed.
Two-Way Murder by E C R Lorac
A new book from the British Library Crime Classics, which I'd pre-ordered. The book had never been published before, and doesn't include Lorac's regular detective Inspector McDonald. Lots of different posibilities, lots of strands woven together, some of them classic red herrings, some not. I had a suspicion of whodunnit, but couldn't see howdunnit until the explanation was given. My sort of book and I read it rapidly - not too rapidly as I wanted to enjoy it, but in less than a week.
Midnight at Malabar House by Vaseem Khan (audiobook)
I don't normally include audiobooks in my book reviews, but this was a book on my library 'to read' list, only they no longer had a copy (strange since the book was only published in 2019). It's set in January 1950 in Bombay, with a female police inspector investigating the death of a British official employed by the Indian government. I really enjoyed it as a look at the period, and the plot was convoluted and convincing. I would much prefer to have read the book rather than listening to it, which is something I shall bear in mind for the future - there are books to read and books to listen to. [A4]
Holy Disorders by Edmund Crispin
The second Gervase Fen book. I preferred Fen in this, and enjoyed the plot, which once more involved several strands, this time needing to be drawn together. And the slightly off the wall characters seemed to work.
Untimely Death by Cyril Hare
The second Hare book I bought cheaply. This is set in Dartmoor, and I enjoyed the atmosphere, the legal nature of the plot, and how it all worked out.
Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
This is the Shedunnit book of the month for April. I read most of Michael Gilbert's books thirty plus years ago, and remembered really enjoying them, so I thought it would be worth rereading. I didn't remember the plot - which was good because it meant I could enjoy it again - although certain snippets had stayed in my mind (not plot related at all). I'm looking forward to next month's discussion.
[Letters/numbers refer to my reading lists for the year, and record how I'm progressing. No B this month, because I reached B4 last month.]
And finally, my book bingo card:
no subject
Date: 2021-03-31 01:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-31 01:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-03-31 08:33 pm (UTC)Glad you're enjoying the Cyril Hare books. There is an excellent audiobook version of Untimely Death with Chris MacDonnell narrating, he does a good Francis Pettigrew.
I didn't realize The Thursday Murder Club would count, but I am still on the waiting list for the audiobook version (22 of 100+) so eventually it will come to me :) Glad you got a new Lorac, too. I was on the British Library Crime Classic web site the other day and saw it was new and thought about you.
I am looking forward to Smallbone Deceased. I am happy that folks are a bit more positive this month at the Shedunnit book club. I had more than enough of the Negative Nancies last month and wasn't certain if I wanted to deal with so much whining another time.
no subject
Date: 2021-03-31 08:53 pm (UTC)The Thursday Murder Club definitely counts as a bestseller - it was one of the UK highest sellers in 2020.
The Negative Nancies were out in force last month. I suppose Marsh conforms more to the Golden Age type. It's a couple of years since I read the book, so I'm struggling to remember the plot. I know it wasn't one that particularly grabbed me.
no subject
Date: 2021-04-02 04:56 pm (UTC)Also, for me it felt like the heroine had been transplanted from 2014 and didn't truly belong in 1914. [A3]
This is my main annoyance with a lot of historical fiction, where I feel the heroine or hero act as if they have been transplanted from the 20th / 21st century and probably why I don't read an awful lot of historical romance or fiction - not as much as I would like.
no subject
Date: 2021-04-02 05:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-11 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-04-11 08:00 pm (UTC)