Tag: Murder

Books

Book 132: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling

Geoff W

[Click here to read an updated response from September 2018.]

I’m sad that my re-read of the series is coming to an end, but elated that Tom has started reading them and is seriously enjoying them! We’re watching the movies as soon as he finishes each book and both playing through the Lego Harry Potter series. Although I could do without him telling me everything that’s different in the books (open-wound people!), but it’s still exciting that he’s enjoying them.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is DEFINITELY in the top half of my arbitrary which Harry Potter books do I like more list. In this book more than any other, I believe, we truly see just how much potential Rowling has. She begins tying up loose ends while at the same time keeping the story moving forward in such a way that you can’t stop reading. This book more than any other (except for perhaps the first) provides the stage and set for the final novel. And as such – the wait for the final novel was by far the hardest and the longest (seeming)!

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2012 Challenges, Books, The Classics Club

Book 131: A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

Geoff W

I knew very little about Charles Dickens going into reading A Tale of Two Cities. Seriously, the most I know I’ve got from either The Muppets version of A Christmas Carol or the Doctor Who episode from a few years ago. (Yay Gwen!) I am glad, however, that I’m reading two of Dickens’ greatest most well-known novels this year as it is his 200th birthday! What better year to read it than on such an occasion?

I picked up this version of the book almost exactly a year ago helping my sister move to New Hampshire for grad school, mentioned in my very first Lunchbreak Interlude! I really only picked it up because I’d never read Dickens, it was incredibly cheap and is staggeringly beautiful I think – both the black and the red are actually imprinted so the cover has texture; and the pages are uneven cut. This novel counts as part of my Mount TBR Challenge (book 19 of 25 – 76%) and The Classics Club (book 10 of 100 – 10%).

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Books

Book 123: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy РJohn Le Carr̩

Geoff W

John le Carré’s espionage thriller can definitely carry it’s weight, but for once I think I prefer the film to the book. This is the third book in a row (of five) which have absolutely nothing to do with my challenges, but I wanted to read them.

Overall Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy was well written and the story was interesting, but if I hadn’t seen the film I would have had very little idea about what was going on in the story. Le Carré, pen name of David John Moore Cornwell, definitely has a way with words and there were a few turns of phrases which struck me as extremely well written or beautiful, specifically the fourth and sixth quotes below.

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ARC, Books

Book 121: The Absolutist – John Boyne

Geoff W

Where to begin…seriously. I finished this novel Monday night after a whirlwind read—I could not put it down. I stumbled across this novel on Net Galley and requested a copy from the publisher and I am incredibly glad I did! The following is my honest response and the views/opinions are my own. I did not receive compensation to review the novel.

I’ve divided my response into three parts: my response to the novel, a brief comparison and my (rambling) thoughts and questions to those who have also read the novel. If you have any desire to read the novel (WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL BE!), don’t read part three. I’ll try not to say explicitly, but it may give some parts away. Sorry it’s such a long post, but it’s such a good book! I will definitely have to re-read it as I didn’t come close to discussing everything I wanted to discuss!

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2012 Challenges, Books

Book 120: The Phantom of Pemberley – Regina Jeffers

Geoff W

Yay for a quick enthralling read! We all know I discovered a love for Jane Austen fan-fiction last year and picked up quite a few volumes at the time. Some I was (and still am) not so sure about and this is one of those. I’m not quite so sure about this one, but at least it counts towards my Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

The major plus to this novel is that the story itself was gripping enough to keep me interested and there was just enough of a plot twist to make me constantly second guess what I deduced early on. The downside to the novel itself was Jeffers writing. Although she tells a captivating story, I wasn’t quite convinced that it was regency era enough for me. It definitely brought in the seedier side of things, but the language and revelations of the story just didn’t have the eloquence which Austen’s originals had. And the quoting was sometimes a bit erratic, like ‘Oh I think I’ll throw in a Pride and Prejudice quote here. And the WORST part was that she even through in an entire scene/section that was pulled directly out of Mansfield Park which really bothered me for some reason.

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