Bookshelves

Yes, this is all about bookshelves, which I feel is apt seeing as I've just moved house!

I came across an article yesterday in which a book lover couldn't believe that someone had suggested that bookshelves were going to become obsolete in the digital age of book reading. Now the e-book is available and becoming more and more popular, there is no need for these shelves - but I disagree. I love my bookshelves and what should have been a five minute job - bundling my books up into a box to move to the new house, became a much longer job.

I love thumbing through books and there are still lots - both fiction and non fiction that I haven't read yet, but I am not ashamed of this, I just wish I had more time but I will get round to it eventually. I just get greedy and buy too many books - more than I can read. I got caught up with looking through the books, reading the backs and looking at the pictures. It took me ages to pack them all up and the books were the first things I got out of the box at the other end.

To start with I tried to make the bookshelf look tidy, with all books of similar height together in ascending order from the edge of the shelf, but then I gave up and realised that a messy book shelf is a thing of beauty. There are meant to be books all higgldy piggldy on the shelf and not all books by the same author are meant to be together. The fun is then looking through them and remembering books you had forgotten you had.

I have just seen a bookshelf in a TV programme and it was exactly the same - all unordered and untidy. Unfortunately I cannot do the same with my Kindle bookshelf - they are ordered and the right way round and when I have finished one I can archive it for later and perhaps even forget about it.

So the next time you look at your bookshelf - or anyone else's, take time to appreciate it. Look through it, see what treasures you can uncover, play spot the difference with your own book shelf, or eye spy even and find the ones you have - or the ones you don't have. Bookshelves are fun, they are not boring necessities and I certainly hope they won't become obsolete. One day I dream of having my own library but there is still a long way to go. The digital age is upon us but I will put up a fight to keep the beloved bookshelf - even if mine is the last one left!

Mills and Boon

Ok, yes I hold my hands up - I have read a Mills and Boon book and I'm only 26! But it was a free kindle book so there's no harm in trying yeah?

It was one of their intrigue novels so it had none of the raunchy stuff that Mills and Boon are famous for and in fact I really enjoyed it! It was a murder story, which I am a sucker for at the best of times and it certainly kept me guessing. It was a simple story where a body is found down a well and in the small town it could have been any one of the members who put the body in the well.

It was just a short story and it didn't take me long to finish it, but that's because it had me hooked. There was also the small romantic thread running through it, where two lovers are reunited after being apart for five years and it had a heart warming ending.

I won't say that it was written well, because it wasn't and there were lots of bits that I thought if I had been writing it I would have taken out. You knew the characters thoughts before they were spoken (if that makes sense) but nonetheless it was a good read.

I think I will try another of the intrigue novels but only if they are free but I do urge people to read them as well - even just for a bit of fun!

My books so far this year - something different for 2011

I have made a bit of a pact with myself that this year I am going to read something different to what I normally read and try something new.

The first new thing was that I got a new phone with a Kindle reader on it, so I have read my first Kindle book, which wasn't as bad an experience as I was expecting. In fact I quite enjoyed it. I loved having a book readily available that I could pick up and read whenever I wanted to - I didn't have to remember to take a physical book with me - it was already downloaded on my phone which always goes everywhere I do. I could read on my lunch break at work, in the car when I was waiting for people and even (when I was being really lazy) when I couldn't be bothered to go upstairs and fetch the book from the bed! The only thing I didn't like was that I couldn't rest it against anything - if anyone wants to invent a Kindle rest then I would certainly buy one.

The book I read on my Kindle was 'The Snowman' by Jo Nesbo. She is a new author to me and seeing as I have now got a taste for Swedish Crime I thought I would give her a go. Although it took me a while to read, I absolutely loved it. It was scary and sexy at the same time and it kept me guessing until the end. So many people were framed for the murders but it was always the wrong person and the suspense was there throughout the book. I have now bought another book by Nesbo although a hard copy and not a digital one this time.

Another book I read certainly proves the theory - never judge a book by it's cover. The book in question was by Christopher Ransom - The Birthing House. I love a good scary story and especially when an old house is involved. This book certainly promised both and did sort of freak me out a bit. But then I have an over reactive imagination and once I get an image into my head I can't get it out. Shadows standing over the bed and ghostly figures in old rooms were the two that kept haunting me. Having said that though, the story could have been better developed and even now I don't really understand why the hauntings were happening. It was very raunchy and I'm not sure if that was needed or not and towards the end I just drifted off and skimmed the last few chapters. The story had ended about 3 chapters before the book actually had. Unfortunately I won't be recommending this one, or reading it again.

Another new author I have tried is Mo Hayder. I was recommended to read her book 'Birdman' but I have found it hard to get my hands on a copy. However for Christmas I did receive a copy of her then latest book 'Gone' which I thoroughly enjoyed. I had preconceptions that she was an American author so I was pleasantly surprised to find that actually she is British and her stories are set just down the road from where I live. I have since likened Hayder to works by Lynda La Plante, I suppose because they both write British crime fiction which is written from the point of view of a policeman - giving an insiders experience of the police force. There were points where I couldn't put it down, it kept me guessing and the suspense was certainly there. It was also someone who I wasn't expecting which is always a good thing.

Those are the books so far that have stood out for me and I couldn't resist the old favourites so I have devoured a book by Kathy Reichs, Jill Mansell (to satisfy my chick lit cravings) and currently reading Nicci French's newest offering 'Complicit'.

I have downloaded another five Kindle books to make sure I have enough reading material for when I get caught out without a paper book and got a reading list longer than my arm. So watch this space for some new authors I enjoy.

The Stonecutter, by Camilla Lackberg

I was lucky enough to receive an early reading copy of this book a few weeks ago (it's not released in the UK until the 3rd march).

I hadn't heard of the author before I received this book but I'm very willing to try a new author and got stuck in. the size of the book was a bit daunting to start with, knowing that I only had 4 weeks to read it in and it being over 550 pages long.

But I absolutely loved it. It is written by a Swedish crime writer who is trying to break through into the UK and I think this book is the one to do it. It had already been translated into 25 different languages and sold throughout 33 countries.

It tells the story of several families in Fjallbacka, a town in Sweden and how their lives are turned upside down when a small girl is found murdered. The novel has two stories that are told side by side and the book is constantly switching between past and present, but it doesn't get confusing at all. The only thing I did get a bit confused about was the fact there were a lot of characters for you to get your head round but this got easier as the story went on. I loved it because the murderer wasn't revealed until the last few pages and it was then that the two stories came together.

Apart from some of the character names and place names, you wouldn't know that it was written by a Swedish author and translated. The English was perfect and it fitted in to the crime genre perfectly.

The book is highly recommended and I can't wait to read the other books in the series.

When do you not finish a book?

Following on from something I wrote yesterday and also something I saw on Twitter earlier - when do you not finish a book?

I am an avid reader and have a book on the go constantly but I think I can count on one hand the amount of books that I have note finished. They have to be really bad for me not to get to the end. The ones I can remember are:

Dan Brown: Angels and Demons.
I had really enjoyed The Da Vinci Code and just as the above hit the big screen I thought I would read the book first. I have to say that I got the very last pages before I gave up so I did read the majority of the story. I think I had even got to the part where I found out who was responsible and the end was just going on and on and on so I shut the book and it's not been opened again since.

Mark Billingham: Death Message
I was very disappointed in this book and in Mark himself. I was due to attend a crime writing workshop hosted by Mark Billingham so I thought I would try out one of his books as I'd never read any before. This one was in the library and looked very good so I tried it, and I'm afraid I didn't like it. I got half way through and I already knew who had committed the crime and the rest of the book was spent chasing this guy around London (I think as I didn't finish this one either). I was bored, there was no mystery left in the story.

And, when I went to the workshop, Mark told everyone not to reveal who the killer was too early on in the book as you need to build suspense! I will remember that to this day and I'm glad I read it because now I know what not to do. I tried reading another one of his books after the workshop but I got a far as the second chapter and just couldn't stomach it. Which is a shame because I really liked the person behind the books and learnt a lot from his workshop.

Patricia Cornwell: Scarpetta
I have a passion for forensic crime, I love CSI and have watched nearly all of Bones. Kathy Reichs is my favourite author and I've nearly read all of her books too so I thought I would try something related to keep me going when I've finished all of Kathy's books. Scarpetta was in a buy one get one free offer a while back so I bought myself a copy and got stuck in.

Whether I wasn't in the mood or what but I just couldn't get in to it. The words wouldn't go in and even now I couldn't tell you what it was about. All I remember is a control room of some sort but that's about it. Maybe the story didn't appeal, I'm not sure but I really didn't enjoy it. I put it down after 2 thirds of the way through knowing I was getting nothing out of it. Which again is a shame because she has written so many good books. However I will try another of her books at some point - maybe from the library so I don't get stuck with a copy if I don't like it.


Barbara Vine: A Fatal Inversion
I was recommended this book as my other half had seen the TV series and loved it. He had read reviews and said that the book was meant to be even better than the TV series, so I was expecting great things. It wasn't to be. It was very long and drawn out and took ages to get to the point. There were lots of characters and I kept having to refer to the back to remember who was who. Also it kept skipping between the past and present and it was very difficult to determine which time zone I was in. I was desperate to find out who did it so started to skim read. In the end I gave up and had to watch the TV series to find out who did it and I have to say the TV series was very good, but the book was no where near that good, I'm sorry.

So there are my four novels of recent years that I have note finished. I would love to hear about your experiences and why you didn't get to finish the book!

Twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

Picture Christmas in a large old house with lots of corridors and a blazing open fire. It's snowing outside and your sitting by the aga sipping a glass of mulled wine. Sounds perfect doesn't it? Well that's Holly Brown thought when she was at Old House, until the rest of the Martland family descended on her and decided to spend Christmas with her.

I wanted to read a book that was festive and help me to get into the spirit of Christmas. This book stood out on Amazon and as it was heavily reduced, as most books are on there at the moment, I bought it. When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had lots of glitter on the front cover - something I absolutely love.

The storyline was good, nothing special and at times slightly predictable but it was good and well thought out. The characters were good as well. There was lost of detail on Holly and the reader really did get to feel what she was feeling throughout the story. It did go on a bit though. Normally in books you don't include every single detail of every day in the life of the character, but this is what was happening here. The story spanned only about a week - the time leading up to Christmas and it finished at New Year, but every single detail of what Holly did each of those 7 days was included. The meals were a big feature of the book and every single meal was described in detail which I felt was a bit un necessary.

I did enjoy the book and kept on reading, though I rarely don't finish a book - it's got to be really bad for me not to finish a book. It didn't have the desired effect of getting me in the mood for Christmas but I don't think anything could have done that this year, it just didn't feel right.

Perhaps I will try reading it again next year and post my verdict then!