Tag: London

Books

Book 268: A Burnable Book – Bruce Holsinger

Geoff W

Whoa, talk about a fascinating novel. It opens with a murder and builds from there! I finished the book in just over three days (with severely limited time) and it is most definitely a page turner with realistic characters and enough actual history thrown in to make you wonder how much is real and what isn’t.

I heard about this book from Books on the Nightstand and I HAD to read it. Not only did the story sound fascinating, but I mean come on it’s about Geoffrey Chaucer. He was the first person, out of my family, that I can remember who had the same name and more importantly, the same spelling, as ME!

Click here to continue reading.

2014 Challenges, Books

Book 255: The French Lieutenant’s Woman – John Fowles

Geoff W

So I finally got around to reading The French Lieutenant’s Woman. I won this book as part of Robert’s blogoversary give away almost two years ago back in August of 2012. And all I have to say is shame on me for waiting this long to read it. Not only am I ashamed because it was such a wonderful book, but I am ashamed because it inspired one of my favorite posts of 101 Books of all time: 101 Books Guide to Carrying an Embarrassing Book in Public.

I’d love to say that Fowles’ mentioning of Jane Austen didn’t sway me, but of course it did a little, but overall that was minuscule compared to the mastery Fowles showed in this novel and he mentioned Austen and her works MULTIPLE times! But it wasn’t this that made the book so great, it was the omniscient unidentified narrator and the breaking of the fourth wall (I guess it’s called that in reading as well).

Click here to continue reading.

ARC, Books

Book 246: Unleashing Mr. Darcy – Teri Wilson

Geoff W

What can I say about a book like this? Not only was it giggle inducing and full of fun and even some drama, it was an easy read and left me wanting so much more on the last page! I’m honestly not sure the last time I blazed through an Austen fan-fiction novel as fast as I did with this one. I’m so happy I requested a copy from the publisher and I received no compensation for my response. Unleashing Mr. Darcy will be published on December 31 by Harlequin and EVERYONE should check it out.

So I’ll start out with my biggest concern: I was TERRIFIED this book was going to be yet another S&M/50 Shades effort, but thankfully it was not! I mean seriously, what could I think with the cover art and the title!? Looking back now the title and cover art make perfect sense and would’ve made even more sense if I would’ve re-read the back cover blurb, but oh well the dread only added to the buildup.

Click here to continue reading.

Books

Book 231: The Cuckoo’s Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) – Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)

Geoff W

I don’t know why I waited so long to read this book. If I guessed it’s probably the same reason I put off reading The Casual Vacancy, that I didn’t want Rowling to disappoint. And in this instance she didn’t!

With The Casual Vacancy Rowling faced a lot of justified criticism in that the book did nothing and went nowhere. And although I disagreed with the numerous critics, I can see why and how readers would think this. Personally, I preferred the quiet and slow reveal of the story line and the intimacy of all of the characters and the small-town feel. With The Cuckoo’s Calling Rowling answers all of this and more. She provides a fast-paced and gripping thriller with adult characters whom the reader can identify with. As I went into this book, this was my chief concern, whether or not Rowling could write a book solely featuring identifiable and sympathetic/empathetic adult characters.

Click here to continue reading.

Books

Book 230: The Serpent’s Shadow (The Kane Chronicles #3) – Rick Riordan

Geoff W

My thoughts still stand from the first two novels. This series is not as great as the other two of Riordan’s series, the publisher really should have invested in a better copy editor and I’m still not convinced about the ‘transcription’ part of the story (it brought the author into the story in a way that Percy Jackson didn’t). Aside from that, this was a great ending to a mediocre trilogy.

The Serpent’s Shadow picks up right where The Throne of Fire ends. Looking back on my reviews of it and The Red Pyramid, I’m not sure what holes in the plot I referred to were but it didn’t feel like there was anything missing from this third book from the second. A lot of the characters that I remembered and enjoyed from the first two books made appearances in this novel and there were even a few introductions of new characters, although fleeting. Riordan seemed to have mastered the Sadie/Carter duality in this novel so that was great and I enjoyed their love interests although the parallel of the two was a bit weird and could be misconstrued as lazy.

Click here to continue reading.