Ellie's (elliepotten) reading for 2018 (3)

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Ellie's (elliepotten) reading for 2018 (3)

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1elliepotten
Editado: Jan 8, 2019, 3:27 pm

Hello again! Welcome to my third thread of the year! I feel like I'm really getting into the swing of reading again in 2018 - partially due to rejoining Bookstagram I think, it's definitely given me my reading mojo back! - so hopefully there'll be plenty more reviews and book chat ahead...



If you want to check out any of the books I've read so far this year (and the movies and TV I've watched, though I think I might stop reviewing those at this point - I'll just mention adaptations I've seen as part of my book reviews maybe), you can click the links to visit my first and second threads.

Now, on to how things are going RIGHT NOW!




BONUS: Number of ROOT (Read Our Own Tomes) books completed, as per my thread here: 32/30

2elliepotten
Editado: Jan 13, 2019, 3:30 pm



ELLIE'S READING FOR 2018

** Books in bold are my favourites so far! **

Thread 1:
1. Night - Elie Wiesel
2. The Gifts of Reading - Robert Macfarlane

Thread 2:
Bonus: How It Works: The Cat - Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris
3. A Good Year - Peter Mayle
4. The Human Experiment: Two Years and Twenty Minutes Inside Biosphere 2 - Jayne Poynter
5. A Voice in the Distance - Tabitha Suzuma
6. Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon
7. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
8. Three Men on the Bummel - Jerome K. Jerome
9. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
10. Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan
11. Vox - Nicholson Baker
12. Bohemian Manifesto: A Field Guide to Living on the Edge - Laren Stover
Bonus: The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter
13. Love, Simon (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda) - Becky Albertalli
Bonus: The Tale of Benjamin Bunny - Beatrix Potter
14. Exhibitionism - Toby Litt
15. Lost in Translation - Ella Frances Saunders
16. Mort - Terry Pratchett
17. The Rules of Attraction - Bret Easton Ellis
18. Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami
19. Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
20. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
21. Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James
22. The Hit - Melvin Burgess
23. Crash - J.G. Ballard
24. Jason and Medea - Apollonius of Rhodes
25. The Kiss Quotient - Helen Hoang
26. Finding Audrey - Sophie Kinsella

This thread:
27. Meg - Steve Alten (message 7)
Bonus: The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle (message 10)
28. Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips (message 22)
29. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen (message 25)
30. The Children Act - Ian McEwan (message 30)
31. The Pleasure's All Mine: A History of Perverse Sex - Julie Peakman (message 34)
32. Berserk - Ally Kennen (message 40)
33. The Martian - Andy Weir (message 44)
34. Scribbles in the Margins: 50 Eternal Delights of Books - Daniel Gray (message 47)
35. Slugs - Shaun Hutson (message 49)
36. The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert 'JKR' Galbraith (message 52)
37. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson (message 60)
38. Getting Off: One Woman’s Journey Through Sex and Porn Addiction – Erica Garza (message 62)
39. The Woman in Black - Susan Hill (message 63)
40. The Black Spider - Jeremias Gotthelf (message 64)
41. It Started With a Tweet - Anna Bell (message 71)
42. The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl - Belle de Jour (message 79)
43. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling (message 81)
44. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling (message 89)
45. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling (message 92)
46. The Unknown Unknown: Bookshops and the Delight of Not Getting What You Wanted - Mark Forsyth (message 93)
47. This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor - Adam Kay (message 102)
48. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling (message 111)
49. Columbine - Dave Cullen (message 116)

3elliepotten
Editado: Dez 31, 2018, 7:37 pm

This came from Katie's mega-non-LT-challenge thread; ideas for books for each prompt are in italics, and completed prompts are in bold, complete with touchstones and ticks (✔)!



2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge

1. A book made into a movie you've already seen - A Good Year by Peter Mayle
2. True crime - Columbine by Dave Cullen
3. The next book in a series you started - Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
4. A book involving a heist - The Hit by Melvin Burgess (two characters hold up a liquor store)
5. Nordic noir - The Dogs of Riga
6. A novel based on a real person - The Paris Wife (the Hemingways), Sleeper in the Sands (Carter/Carnarvon), 11/22/63 (Kennedy/Oswald), Look Who's Back (Hitler), The Danish Girl (Lili Elbe), On the Road (Kerouac, Cassady et al)
7. A book set in a country that fascinates you - Sleeper in the Sands, Tracks
8. A book with a time of day in the title - Night by Elie Wiesel
9. A book about a villain or antihero - Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
10. A book about death or grief - The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
11. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym - The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
12. A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist - Love, Simon (Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda) by Becky Albertalli
13. A book that is also a stage play or musical - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
14. A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you - Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon (Jamaican American)
15. A book about feminism
16. A book about mental health - A Voice in the Distance by Tabitha Suzuma (bipolar disorder)
17. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift - The Gifts of Reading by Robert Macfarlane
18. A book by two authors
19. A book about or involving a sport - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Quidditch! :P)
20. A book by a local author - Black Dog, twist prompt to Pride and Prejudice (WRITTEN locally)
21. A book with your favorite colour in the title - Anne of Green Gables
22. A book with alliteration in the title - Darkly Dreaming Dexter
23. A book about time travel - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (the Time Turner!)
24. A book with a weather element in the title - Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
25. A book set at sea - Meg by Steve Alten
26. A book with an animal in the title - Slugs by Shaun Hutson
27. A book set on a different planet - The Martian by Andy Weir
28. A book with song lyrics in the title - Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakamai
29. A book about or set on Halloween - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (the TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON! scene is at the Halloween feast)
30. A book with characters who are twins - Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips (the gods Artemis and Apollo are twins)
31. A book mentioned in another book - High Fidelity (The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl), Beneath the Wheel (Norwegian Wood), Carry On (Fangirl), The Secret Garden, Pride and Prejudice (Matilda), To Kill a Mockingbird, Walden, On the Road (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), The Hobbit, Middlesex (The Borrower), The Communist Manifesto, I Capture the Castle, Brave New World, Little Women, Romeo and Juliet (Among Others), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Othello (The Secret History), Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility (The Marriage Plot), Sherlock Holmes (The Thirteenth Tale), Murder on the Orient Express (The Dinner), Lolita (Wild), The Little Prince, Flowers for Algernon, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Stranger (Everything, Everything), Bel Canto, the Sookie Stackhouse series (The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry), a book from The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend or the Thursday Next series
32. A book from a celebrity book club - Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella (Zoella Book Club)
33. A childhood classic you've never read - The Wind in the Willows, The Little Prince, Treasure Island, Pippi Longstocking, Pollyanna, one of the later Laura Ingalls Wilder books
34. A book that's published in 2018 - The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
35. A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner - Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (Best Horror, 2013)
36. A book set in the decade you were born - The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis (written and set in the 80s)
37. A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn't get to - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
38. A book with an ugly cover - Three Men on the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome
39. A book that involves a bookstore or library - The Unknown Unknown: Bookshops and the Delight of Not Getting What You Wanted by Mark Forsyth
40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges - The Human Experiment: Two Years and Twenty Minutes Inside Biosphere 2 by Jane Poynter (2015 challenge, prompt 14, a non-fiction book)

TOTAL READ: 30/40

Advanced Reading Challenge

1. A bestseller from the year you graduated high school - The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl by Belle de Jour (2005)
2. A cyberpunk book - Ready Player One
3. A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place - Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (half the people on the plane/at the airport/around the pool on holiday, the year it went stratospheric)
4. A book tied to your ancestry
5. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title - A Clockwork Orange, The Five Orange Pips, Blueberry Muffin Murder, Orange is the New Black
6. An allegory - The Black Spider by Jeremias Gotthelf
7. A book by an author with the same first or last name as you
8. A microhistory - Colour, Rabid, Stationery, A History of the World in 6 Glasses, The Devil's Cup, At Home, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Blood, Birth, Columbine, Living With Enza, something by Mary Roach
9. A book about a problem facing society today - The Pleasure's All Mine: A History of Perverse Sex by Julie Peakman (about how sex is approached in medicine, law, society etc, including repression, feminism and and modern sexuality)
10. A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - True Grit (Katie)

TOTAL READ: 4/10

GRAND TOTAL: 34/50

4foggidawn
Ago 22, 2018, 11:41 am

Happy new thread!

5MickyFine
Ago 22, 2018, 3:10 pm

Happy new thread, Ellie!

6elliepotten
Ago 23, 2018, 5:04 am

>4 foggidawn: >5 MickyFine: Thanks both! Working on my first review for my new pad as we speak! :)

7elliepotten
Editado: Ago 23, 2018, 12:35 pm



27. Meg, by Steve Alten (4*) - fiction

Yaaaay! This one has been on my wishlist for aaaaages, so I snapped up this cheesy old edition at an Oxfam charity shop the other week - lunging over another lady to get to it, such was my glee - only for the first trailers for The Meg to appear on Instagram a day later. I didn't even know it was being made into a film, so that was serendipitous to say the least. :)

And of course, it was SO much fun. In the tradition of other cult classic 'scary animal goes on the rampage, hero saves the day' books (The Rats, Jaws) this one involves a motherfuzzing giant prehistoric shark rising from a deep-sea trench and wreaking havoc on wildlife and humanity alike. Along the way there are conflicts to hash out, gruesome deaths, marital difficulties, over-ambitious individuals, military involvement, unlikely acts of heroism and lots and lots of good old-fashioned info-dumping. I loved it. The next book - The Trench - should be arriving today!

This book also counts for:
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 25 (a book set at sea)

8drneutron
Ago 23, 2018, 10:14 am

Happy new thread!

9MickyFine
Ago 23, 2018, 11:42 am

>7 elliepotten: Definitely not one I'll be picking up (horror is just not my genre) but I'm glad you loved it.

10elliepotten
Ago 23, 2018, 12:24 pm



Bonus: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle (5*) - fiction

SO I BOUGHT MYSELF A COPY OF THIS BOOK AT AGE 31 WHAT OF IT.

Haha, blast from the paaaaast! I love The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I remember reading it with my class at school, and making our own VHC collages with circles of coloured sugar paper and Berol marker pens. As an adult (mostly, anyway), the part where he eats his way through a swathe of junk food and turns into a fat little caterpillar in need of two weeks asleep in a cocoon really speaks to me on a spiritual level... A staple for little and not-so little kids everywhere, I reckon. :)

11elliepotten
Ago 23, 2018, 12:25 pm

>8 drneutron: Welcome, welcome!

>9 MickyFine: Hmmmm. I never think of these ones as horror, but I guess they are. I'm just there like HELL YEAH A GIANT SHARK EAT THE BAD GUY EAT THE BAD GUY. *munches popcorn gleefully*

12MickyFine
Ago 23, 2018, 12:38 pm

>10 elliepotten: Go Ellie! You buy yourself whatever book you want!

13foggidawn
Ago 23, 2018, 2:17 pm

>10 elliepotten: I support this move 100%. (And I agree about that junk food eating montage.)

14bell7
Ago 23, 2018, 7:49 pm

>10 elliepotten: If you ever come to visit me in western Massachusetts, I will take you to see the Eric Carle Museum. And yes, every time I have gone I was an adult.

15elliepotten
Editado: Ago 24, 2018, 5:57 am

>12 MickyFine: Amen to that, lady!

>13 foggidawn: Riiiiiiight?! Relatable... :D

>14 bell7: Ooooooooh! I mean, why WOULDN'T you go, with such riches on your doorstep?

I'm in the middle of the current Bout of Books readathon right now and plodding along nicely, despite not being very well in recent weeks. HAPPILY on this occasion it's the sort of not very well that is actually conducive to reading, rather than feeling so crap or fuggy that you don't want to so much as LOOK at a book.

We also have a house guest right now, which aaaalways makes me kinda anxious and in need of retreat, so that's helping my reading along nicely as well, haha.

I'm a few reviews behind - everything from Jane Austen to a social history of 'perverse' sex - and I've nearly finished Scribbles in the Margins by Daniel Gray as well. Just six or seven vignettes to go out of fifty. NOW I've picked up The Martian by Andy Weir, finally. I am absolutely LOVING it so far, and I'm even managing to more or less follow the maths-y bits when I'm codeined up over meals, which bodes well. So readable and fun!

I was up super early this morning so Imma go have a reaaaaally early lunch and read some more. Got me a bit of quiet time while everyone's out taking our visitor on a touristy trip, so I'm making the most of it! Happy FriYay all! :)

16LovingLit
Ago 24, 2018, 6:02 am

>7 elliepotten: This one has been on my wishlist for aaaaages

Oh the books I could say that about....doesn't it feel good to knock one off that wishlist once in a while? congrats :)

17elliepotten
Ago 24, 2018, 9:30 am

>16 LovingLit: That moment I spotted it for that stupidly cheap price in a charity shop... angels sang... 'At Last' began to play... I got the urge to run a victory lap of the store... Aaaaaaaaaaaah. Sweet bliss. :D

18MickyFine
Ago 24, 2018, 11:45 am

>15 elliepotten: I haven't done a Jane Austen re-read this year. Maybe I'll squeeze one in after the honeymoon and I've unpacked and organized all the books. :D

19London_StJ
Ago 25, 2018, 8:41 am

>7 elliepotten: Ohmygosh, I had no idea this is a book, having only seen the ridiculous trailer. Now I think I need to put together my own October challenge of "horror" movie books - Jaws and The Meg included! What good fun.

>10 elliepotten: AS YOU SHOULD.

20elliepotten
Ago 27, 2018, 6:51 am

>18 MickyFine: The perfect romantic booky treat! :)

>19 London_StJ: Haha, I know I can always count on you for support, whether it's in questionable sharkiness or completely understandable caterpillariness. :D

21London_StJ
Ago 27, 2018, 8:16 am

>20 elliepotten: Darn skippy

22elliepotten
Ago 27, 2018, 12:58 pm



28. Gods Behaving Badly, by Marie Phillips (3.5*) - fiction

Another of the longest-standing TBR books on my shelves (woohoo!), this was kinda fun! Its basic premise is that the Ancient Greek Gods are now living in a decrepit house in London, trying to blend in with their surroundings and slowly but surely draining what little power they have left. They still have all their old instincts though. Apollo and Aphrodite have bored quickies in the bathroom while Athena comes up with survival strategies, Artemis walks dogs in the park and runs a lot, Dionysus makes wine and DJs at his own club... Aaaand then two mortals fall into their lives, shaking everything up in a 'make or break' kind of way.

I definitely enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek updating of the Greek mythology - like Percy Jackson for grown-ups - and Phillips has a really fresh take on certain elements of the stories. The Underworld, in particular, is completely reinvented in a clever and compelling way, and the dynamic between overgrown hard-man Hades and the petulant little Persephone is a joy. The opening of the novel was funny and smart - establishing the gods' depleted lives in modern London - but there was a dragging chunk in the middle where the initial humour was getting tired and the real drive of the plot hadn't taken off yet. The characters are sometimes cliched and unrealistic, almost ridiculously so - yes, even the human ones - and there is a particularly jarring section which attempts to make Apollo's predilection for rape vaguely amusing. It didn't work, especially read now, a decade after publication, against a backdrop of the #MeToo movement.

I'm glad I finally read it, and the final third of the book definitely had a lot more imagination, a better pace and a suitably rewarding pay-off, but it wasn't quite as sparkling and satisfying as I'd hoped, perhaps. Ah well.

This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (on shelf since February 2009)
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 30 (a book with characters who are twins - Artemis and Apollo are twins in Greek mythology)

23MickyFine
Ago 28, 2018, 11:36 am

How goes prep for your sister's wedding? As I recall hers was set for a bit earlier than mine so it must be coming up soon.

24elliepotten
Ago 31, 2018, 6:56 am

It's next Thursday! Prep is going well, as far as I know! She's got her final dress pickup on Wednesday followed by a spa afternoon with my mum. A few last minute things to do like tidying up leaves in the garden ready for photos. For me the prep now is mostly making sure my anxiety and stomach both stay under control in the run-up to her day so I have a fighting chance of not accidentally taking down her wedding from within. TO THAT END... I just watched Bob Ross for the first time. I think I found my new Happy And Calm secret weapon. :D

25elliepotten
Ago 31, 2018, 12:18 pm



29. Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen (4*) - fiction

Another Austen down, one more to go! (Emma, in case you were wondering...) I actually liked this one more than I thought I would. I'd got it in mind that there would be a lot more gothic pastiche and a lot less Austen-y shenanigans, whereas in fact most of the novel is pure witty Regency goodness: ridiculous ladies of a certain age, young cads, scheming social climbers, pure sweet girls, lots of gallivanting around Bath and attending balls and gossiping while taking turns about the room...

It still fondly pokes fun at gothic novels as it goes, but in a far more 'breaking the fourth wall' way. Indeed, Austen spends quite a lot of time exploring the value and nature of fiction, occasionally so forcefully that it was as if she'd given up on storytelling for a moment, slammed down her pen, grabbed you by the wrist and cried "AND ANOTHER THING..." I kinda loved that!

The more out and out parodying - in which Catherine Morland becomes convinced that foul things are afoot at Northanger Abbey - is, as I anticipated, the part that let the rest down for me. It's like she loses all common sense the moment she sets foot inside that door and becomes an almost offensively idiotic little girl, a different character altogether. Happily, that section was a miniscule part of the whole, not the predominant focus as I had expected. On a brighter note, one thing - or person - I DIDN'T expect to like so much? Henry Tilney. Officially my new favourite Austen hero. Hilarious, kind, smart and thoughtful. And JJ Feild. ;)

One last note on my PEL edition, which for some reason contains a surprisingly negative afterword by Susannah Carson that baaaaasically trashes the book and everything in it. Why an edition that's all about showcasing the best of English-language classic literature would include a mini essay about how Northanger isn't a patch on Austen's other novels and how Catherine is too stupid for Tilney and their marriage would be dreadful etc etc, is beyond me. I stopped reading before it completely killed my buzz. >:(

Quotes:

- "The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." - Henry Tilney

- "...it is well to have as many holds upon happiness as possible. - ALSO Henry Tilney

This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (on shelf since October 2014)
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 37 (a book you meant to read in 2017 but didn't get to)

26norabelle414
Ago 31, 2018, 12:56 pm

ooh, Emma is my favorite Austen but everyone else in the world hates it. I'm excited to see what you think!

That's a bummer about the afterword! Good call on not reading it.

27bell7
Ago 31, 2018, 3:48 pm

>25 elliepotten: I have a t-shirt with the first Henry Tilney quote on it from a friend of mine that's an English major. He may have been *slightly* sarcastic there, but I still love it.

28Berly
Set 1, 2018, 2:11 pm

Ellie--I love The Very Hungry Caterpillar! It's a favorite for sure. And Northanger Abbey, too. Awesome. Have fun at the wedding and I hope it proves easy on the mind and stomach for you. ; )

29elliepotten
Set 2, 2018, 6:03 am

>26 norabelle414: Right?! Just... why? Such an odd choice, especially in this particular edition - designed to be pretty and collectible and thus appealing to people who actually LIKE these books.

>27 bell7: It's a good quote! The other people in the book who hate novels are eejits. So are the handful of people I know in real life who turn their noses up at fiction because it 'doesn't have any relevance to the real world', haha. *fist bumps Tilney* :D

>28 Berly: Yesssss to the caterpillary goodness. And the Austen. And... eek, yes, to the wedding. Just a few days to go! Thank you! :)

30elliepotten
Set 3, 2018, 4:30 am



30. The Children Act, by Ian McEwan (3*) - fiction

See, the problem with getting behind on your reviews so that you're writing these things weeks after you finished the book, is that the kind of 'meh' okay ones in the middle rating range get a bit... forgotten. Which is good in one way because when you say "I think it's going to turn out to be kind of forgettable" you're speaking from experience. On the other hand, it's not so great for review purposes because... FORGOTTEN. :)

This was definitely a beautifully written book. Like Atonement, it was elegantly done, filled with beautiful descriptions and thoughtful musings, and I think I could find a future favourite novel amongst McEwan's works yet (Atonement got enough stars to fit this description, it just hit me too deeply and shockingly to be a favourite, y'know?). The story of a High Court judge ruling on the case of a teenage Jehovah's Witness who has refused life-saving treatment, it tackled big themes - medicine vs. religion, marriage, the value of human life, ethics and law - but did so concisely and with a surprisingly light touch.

Perhaps it was those very virtues, in the end, that made it disappear from my mind so quickly. That conciseness meant I read the book quickly and didn't get bogged down in jargon and sadness - but also meant that it didn't really feel as if it ever went below the surface. The light touch meant I wasn't as invested in the plot as I might have expected given the serious and deeply emotive subject matter, and the characters never really became fully three-dimensional.

Perhaps the upcoming film will do a better job of bringing them and their story to life. The casting seems almost perfect and the trailers I've seen have been a close fit in terms of their tone and style, so... fingers crossed?

Quotes:

- "Blind luck, to arrive in the world with your properly formed parts in the right place, to be born to parents who were loving, not cruel, or to escape, by geographical or social accident, war or poverty."

- "The blasphemous notion came to her that it didn't much matter either way whether the boy lived or died. Everything would be much the same. Profound sorrow, bitter regret perhaps, fond memories, then life would plunge on and all three would mean less and less as those who loved him aged and died, until they meant nothing at all. Religions, moral systems, her own included, were like peaks in a dense mountain range, seen from a great distance, none obviously higher, more important, truer than another."

- "Worth remembering the world was never how she anxiously dreamed it."


This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (on shelf since April 2015)

31MickyFine
Set 5, 2018, 3:22 pm

Happy wedding eve! I hope everything goes off well tomorrow!

>25 elliepotten: Seriously, Henry Tilney is one my all-time favourite fictional boyfriends and ranks up there with Gilbert Blythe. Such a lovely man.

32foggidawn
Set 5, 2018, 10:00 pm

Henry Tilney: yes!

33Berly
Set 9, 2018, 10:57 pm

How was the wedding?!?!

34elliepotten
Editado: Set 13, 2018, 7:29 am



31. The Pleasure's All Mine: A History of Perverse Sex, by Julie Peakman (4.5*) - non-fiction

"One person's perversion is another's normality. If we strip sex back to basics, we will find that most sexual acts have been deemed abnormal by someone at one time or another, while conversely, at different times those same sexual behaviours have been deemed acceptable by other groups of people."

Well, this was an interesting one - and a really pleasant surprise! I expected something more heavy going and academic, but actually this was an incredibly lively, lavishly illustrated, often dryly humorous romp (no pun intended) through the sexual history of humanity. The focus is on "perverse" sex, as the title suggests, but Peakman almost exclusively uses that term in quotation marks, as the definition of perversity and its application to individual acts and fetishes has varied so wildly across time and geography. The book covers more extreme paraphilias - necrophilia, coprophilia and bestiality, for example - but also discusses topics that these days might not warrant the batting of an eyelid, including the LGBTQIA+ community, masturbation and body piercing.

In each chapter Peakman traces a particular sexual proclivity or preference back to its earliest recorded roots and then works her way forwards, through law, art, literature, mythology, medicine, psychology and religion, to the modern day. What I particularly liked about her approach was how utterly fair and non-judgmental she is and how she detaches herself enough to show how arbitrary some of our modern attitudes really are, how rooted those attitudes often are in hugely outdated psychological and social lore, and how there are infinite shades of grey (again, no pun intended) between 'this is fine' and 'this is wrong' in even the most controversial sexual preferences if we would only cut our knee-jerk response, stop squicking out and THINK about it. She calls for tolerance, while acknowledging the difficulties of defining how and where those lines might be redrawn, particularly in legal terms.

Absolutely fascinating for anyone interested in social and sexual history, and a cracking good read besides.

This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (on shelf since October 2014)
- PopSugar challenge, advanced prompt 9 (a book about a problem facing society today - includes topics like feminism and repression, the medicalisation and criminalisation of consensual sex, and internet pornography)

35elliepotten
Editado: Set 13, 2018, 7:27 am

>31 MickyFine: >33 Berly: It was so lovely! Hannah looked absolutely radiant, Phil looked like the proverbial happiest man on earth, the extended relatives behaved themselves, there was a Lego cake and the most scrummy afternoon tea ever, and I got to keep the hot best man company for like five hours because there was no one else there under 50 besides the bridge and groom. :)

The only thing I was really disappointed by was the hair and makeup woman, who I wasn't keen on from the start tbh. She barely looked at our 'inspiration' pics (which we were asked to bring) at the trial, then for the day itself just seemed to sort of make stuff up as she went along. No consultation, no reminder, no nothing. Fortunately she nailed Hannah's, but she turned my hair from '50s dance hall' at the trial (which I loved) into a weird kind of beehive thing, and she colour matched my face from pink undertones to a weird peach and shovelled on so much it never settled all day. >:(

BUT. It was all fine. And the couple were happy, which is what mattered! And I was okay, and SO PROUD of my two jellybeans, and Phil hasn't stopped calling me 'sis' since they got married because he's never had a sibling before and he's suuuuuper excited. They're on a cruise round the Med now - the first part of their honeymoon - so we're getting lots of pictures of early morning sunrises over the sea as they approach each port, and lots of amazing looking food, haha. From Saturday they're at a hotel on the mainland again for the second half of the honeymoon, to really relax. :)



36MickyFine
Editado: Set 13, 2018, 11:31 pm

>35 elliepotten: So lovely! I'm so happy for her, her hubby, and you! Gorgeous photos (in which you look great)!

37bell7
Set 16, 2018, 7:09 am

What lovely photos - thanks for sharing! Everyone looks so happy :)

38London_StJ
Set 16, 2018, 8:52 am

>35 elliepotten: Impersonal stylist aside, it looks like a lovely day in every sense. It's wonderful to see such happiness - thank you for sharing.

>34 elliepotten: Much agreed! Glad you enjoyed it

39norabelle414
Set 17, 2018, 11:51 am

>35 elliepotten: Great pics of all of you!!

>34 elliepotten: Wow, that looks really good

40elliepotten
Editado: Set 17, 2018, 3:32 pm



32. Berserk, by Ally Kennen (2.5*) - fiction

The blurb for this one reminded me a lot of Blacklands by Belinda Bauer, in which a boy writes to a murderer and ends up in trouble. Alas, the execution of it reminded me more of The Hit by Melvin Burgess, which I found so disappointing earlier this year. Because it's nothing like the blurb. At all.

In actual fact, the 'brassy teenage boy writes to a murderer on Death Row' aspect plays a very minor role in the novel until nearer the end. Most of it is concerned with the aforementioned brassy teenager getting into various amounts of trouble with his equally brassy best mate, culminating in consequences ranging from bodily injury to time behind bars. I'm sure it had something important that it wanted to say about the cycle of poverty, difficult home lives and criminal youth, but unfortunately I was expecting an entirely different story and nearly DNF-ed it pretty early on when it turned out to be predominantly about a ballsy teenager getting his rocks off putting other people in danger and generally being a dick.

I don't know how much of my dislike of it was the book, and how much was the misleading cover leading to a 'what the hell is this?' kind of approach to the plot, but... well, I finished it. Kinda wish I hadn't bothered since I was pursuing a story that didn't exist, but I finished it.

This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (on my shelf since sometime in our bookshop days - 2014?)

41elliepotten
Editado: Set 17, 2018, 3:36 pm

Thanks all re: the wedding. Such a proud big sis, and it sounds like they're having a grand time away too! :)

>36 MickyFine: Isn't yours happening at any moment too? Or just gone? CONGRATULATIONS either way, I know the two were close together! :D

>38 London_StJ: My favourite photos of the whole day are the ones that capture just pure unposed happiness. There are a couple that make me well up every time I look at them!

42LovingLit
Set 17, 2018, 10:52 pm

>40 elliepotten: scary! And also scarily rated....

43elliepotten
Set 21, 2018, 9:16 am

>42 LovingLit: Yeaaaaaah. I didn't love it. That's the second time I've had one of those in a couple of months, with the super misleading blurb that turned out to bear scant resemblance to the actual book. Makes you wonder if the publishers are surprised when the reviews are largely some variation of 'what the hell?' >:/

44elliepotten
Editado: Set 21, 2018, 10:16 am



33. The Martian, by Andy Weir (4.5*) - fiction

"I'm pretty much f**ked.
That's my considered opinion.
F**ked."


I mean, when the premise is 'a dude stuck on Mars trying to survive', and then the opening line makes you simultaneously snort and think 'ooooooooh!', you know it's probably going to be a good one. And it was. It REALLY was. I love it when a book that's had all the hype and been made into a movie and that I've had sitting on my shelves since it first came out actually turns out to have been worth the wait! :)

This is not a book to coast through. Not unless you have a science background anyway. There was nothing incomprehensible, not at all, but you do have to be paying attention, as our 'Martian' Mark Watney explains the complex elements of his life, habitat and plans for survival. That, to me, was one of the biggest strengths of the book; the research that went into it must have been colossal. I have no idea how accurate this stuff is, obviously, but everyone's favourite Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield seemed to be impressed, if the 'praise for...' page is anything to go by.

I did dock it half a star, just as a personal preference, for the sheer number of 'everything's going to be okay OH NO ANOTHER CRISIS' moments, which was to be expected and all, but it did start to feel a bit like one of those neverending nightmares - and also a tad redundant, since nothing was really going to be resolved one way or the other until the end anyway. Happily, this sort of crisis exhaustion did serve to make me stumble out the other end of the book feeling like I'd been in it with Watney from beginning to end, so heavily invested that I was right there with every other citizen on Earth, willing him on. The nightmarish quality was also somewhat alleviated by the dry and irreverent humour throughout Mark's logs. This is a really funny book - I laughed out loud a few times - and as in real life, it served to lighten what could have been a very dark story indeed.

Overall I loved it. It's almost definitely going to be one of my top books of the year, and I can't wait to watch the film now and see how on earth (lol) they managed to transfer this epic, detail-oriented and cerebral story to the big screen. Highly recommended, if you're one of the handful of people left who haven't picked it up yet!

Quotes:

- "The worst moments in life are heralded by small observations. The tiny lump on your side that wasn't there before. Coming home to your wife and seeing two wineglasses in the sink. Anytime you hear "We interrupt this program...""

- "... every human being has a basic instinct to help each other out. It might not seem that way sometimes, but it's true. If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don't care, but they're massively outnumbered by the people who do."


This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (on my shelf since September 2014)
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 27 (a book set on a different planet)

45drneutron
Set 22, 2018, 9:21 am

Given what I do for a living, it shouldn’t be a surprise that The Martian is one of my faves from recent years. I really resonate with the never-give-up, get it done outlook. And I love the quotes you picked!

46elliepotten
Set 22, 2018, 9:45 am

>45 drneutron: Haha, yes, almost written for you... And it's definitely a lesson in perseverance and Getting Stuff Done, with a side order of optimism and hope. I loved it!

47elliepotten
Set 22, 2018, 4:16 pm



34. Scribbles in the Margins: 50 Eternal Delights of Books, by Daniel Gray (3*) - non-fiction

Yet another disappointment! And my second 'book about books' fail of the year too, after I DNF-ed A Passion for Books in a fit of sheer boredom.

On paper this sounds like it should be a keeper. A collection of fifty mini-essays or vignettes on various aspects of the love of books and reading, it covers everything from reading in bed to snooping through others' collections, rereading old favourites to reorganising our shelves. And don't get me wrong, some of the vignettes definitely hit the spot. I particularly liked 'Hiding Yet More Purchases From Partners', as well as Gray's takes on public libraries, holiday reading and giving up on a book you're not enjoying. There are some beautiful little sentiments and turns of phrase sprinkled liberally throughout the whole book; I frequently found myself reaching for a pencil to (appropriately enough) add hearts and stars and annotations in the margins.

HOWEVER. Each 'delight' had an average of perhaps three pages - and most of them really didn't require it. Did you ever see that meme of the tin of peas?



That's what Gray did here. Repeatedly. He goes overboard, veering into purple prose, way overdoing things that should have been kept punchy and cheerful. I'd start out nodding in agreement at each new topic and wind up rolling my eyes. Honestly - others have done it better. I DO think this would have worked beautifully as a mini-book - 50 pages of well-edited, concise relatability - or perhaps one long online feature article. A more cynical reader might even cough out the words 'BuzzFeed listicle'. It just didn't need to be an expensive 150-page hardcover.

Anne Bogel's book comes out in a few days and I've heard great things about that - third time's a charm for a new favourite 'book about books'? *crosses everything*

Quotes:

- "... the lovers getting together, even when they do so in a manner only possible in print or on screen, bring to us electrifying feelings last encountered years ago. They float us backwards to shaky first kisses and stomachs seasick with nerves, to buying flowers and standing outside cinemas, to late-night calls that last for hours... The reader is a benevolent voyeur, thrilled and wistful." - 'When the Lovers Get Together'

- "... a scarred book is a loved one, a house that became a home." - 'Blotches, Stains and Other Reminders of Where and When You Read a Book'

- "A series strikes our need for continuity and belonging, dropping us on the doormat outside our favourite front door." - 'Feverishly Awaiting the Next Book in a Series'

- "To enter a large bookshop is to become slightly disorientated and stumble around in the dithering manner of a stunned wasp." - 'Large Bookshops'

- "Our life has changed, we have changed, but here are the same lovely words in the same perfect formations. The re-read book becomes an anchor, even if it now soothes in different ways. - 'Re-reading an Old Favourite'

- "The back cover is consulted only after the front has been favourably judged. It hides, often with its face to the wall like a naughty schoolchild, until flipped over in someone's hands, their interest piqued. The front cover is eye-contact, the back a first conversation." - 'The Back Cover'

48norabelle414
Set 24, 2018, 9:07 am

>47 elliepotten: Bummer!

Have you read Dear Fahrenheit 451? That's a book-about-books that I really did love, and the vignettes are very short.

49elliepotten
Set 24, 2018, 11:25 am



35. Slugs, by Shaun Hutson (3.5*) - fiction

I've read Jaws. I've read The Rats. I've read Meg. Sequels aside (I've read a handful of those too), the obvious next place to go was Shaun Hutson's Slugs! Which is basically The Rats but slower and slimier. And with more typos and silly mistakes, unfortunately. On the other hand, look at that cover! Pure 80s magic, right there. :)

The plot will be familiar to anyone who's ever read a book like this - prologue in which creatures get their first taste of blood and set out in search of more; smart hero is introduced; creatures attack humans in increasingly unpleasant ways; hero puts two and two together and makes OMG THE SLUG DID IT; hero goes after creatures in epic finale; last paragraph is something along the lines of 'and one antenna twitched', thus paving the way for a sequel if the book takes off.

I WILL say that this one was a little different in that Hutson managed to rip the rug out from under my feet a couple of times with new twists (a bit of a necessity given that slugs are not the most fast and ferocious of predators, y'know?). The villains of the piece being so tiny and innocuous also gave it, ironically, a bit of an added scare-factor, given that they could show up literally anywhere and go virtually unnoticed.

Clunkily gruesome old-skool fun. I already have the sequel, Breeding Ground, lined up and ready to go!

This book also counts for:
- Readers in Peril (RIP) XIII, the annual Halloween reading/watching challenge
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 26 (a book with an animal in the title)

50Berly
Set 24, 2018, 11:25 am

Hi Ellie! I'm a wee bit behind on LT...forgive me. Love the wedding photos and that you had so much fun (despite the makeup lady). And I am glad that now you have a brother. ; ) Sorry the books have been letting you down lately. At least you read The Martian, which I also really enjoyed. Wishing you a great week ahead.

51elliepotten
Editado: Set 24, 2018, 11:29 am

>48 norabelle414: Not yet! At the moment I have Anne Bogel's book on my immediate to-buy list, and I've already gambled on My Life With Bob and The Reading Cure, so those are on my TBR waiting. Something's got to hit that bookish sweet spot for me in the end, right?!

>50 Berly: Hey Kim! Lordy, don't worry, I'm behind on literally everything on LT, including my own reviews! Not enough hours in the day any more, it seems. I did love The Martian - and my next pending review is for The Cuckoo's Calling, which is also going to up there in my favourites of the year I reckon! Hannah and Phil just got back from their honeymoon on Saturday so life is returning to normal around here a bit finally. :)

52elliepotten
Editado: Set 26, 2018, 12:27 pm



36. The Cuckoo's Calling, by Robert 'J.K. Rowling' Galbraith (4.5*) - fiction

I wasn't sure about this one. I heard it was great. Then I heard it was by JKR, of course. Then it was made into a TV series, Strike (starring Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger, with JKR as an executive producer), which I watched and very much enjoyed, though I admit I occasionally got a bit lost. Two more books and two more series later, with the fourth book (then) due to be released any time (it's now OUT, folks), I finally picked up the novel. And reader... I bloody loved it.

When I got to page three and had already had to stop and sigh happily over a description of heavy snow falling 'with soft fingertip plunks' on the canvas of a white police tent. I knew I was in safe hands. Robert Galbraith or not, this has all the genial warmth, keen eye for humour, strong sense of character and complexity of plot that made Harry Potter so brilliant.

In case you haven't picked any of these up yet, they follow the adventures of private detective Cormoran Strike: son of a hellraiser rockstar and a glamorous supergroupie; Afghanistan vet; amputee and general Good Egg. In this first installment he takes on Robin, a smart (and lovely) new secretary-slash-sidekick, and investigates the death of supermodel and fashion darling Lula Landry in an apparent suicide. Throw in a turbulent private life, a lot of cigarettes, a fair bit of Doom Bar beer and some chocolate biscuits and you're about there.

The book's great. The series is great. I can't wait to pick up The Silkworm and carry on - and that's coming from someone who's pretty useless at reading series in a timely manner. Highly recommended! :)



Quotes:

- "To prove, to solve, to catch, to protect: these were things worth doing; important and fascinating."

- "The seconds it took her to fall through the air towards the concrete, smothered in its deceptively soft covering of snow, must have seemed to last an eternity. She had flailed, trying to find handholds in the merciless empty air; and then, without time to make amends, to explain, to bequeath or to apologise, without any of the luxuries permitted those who are given notice of their impending demise, she had broken on the road."

- "The country was lumbering towards election day... Cuts were coming, whoever won; deep, painful cuts; and sometimes, with their weasel words, the party leaders reminded Strike of the surgeons who had told him cautiously that he might experience a degree of discomfort; they who would never personally feel the pain that was about to be inflicted."

- "Through the shaded window came the sounds of London, alive at all hours, rumbling and growling, part man, part machine."


This book also counts for:
- Readers in Peril (RIP) XIII, the annual Halloween reading/watching challenge
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 11 (a book by a female author using a male pseudonym)

53bell7
Set 26, 2018, 10:09 am

I haven't read the series yet, Ellie, but your review makes me want to! Someday...

54elliepotten
Set 26, 2018, 12:36 pm

>52 elliepotten: Haha, so many books, so little time and all that... I was lucky. I had them already in the house (thanks Mum!) and then the TV series being so good gave me the kick up the backside to finally try one. :D

55foggidawn
Set 26, 2018, 1:16 pm

>52 elliepotten: Yes, so good! I just finished the most recent one.

56SuziQoregon
Set 27, 2018, 2:10 pm

>52 elliepotten: Yay!! Loved the first three. Loved the TV adaptation. Currently about 4 hours into the audio of the new one.

57elliepotten
Set 30, 2018, 10:21 am

>55 foggidawn: >56 SuziQoregon: The new one is now IN THE HOUSE. Hoping to read The Silkworm in October and go on from there, wheeeeee! :D

58Berly
Out 8, 2018, 3:08 am

Just got my copy of Lethal White, #4 in the Cormoran Strike series. Love them! I have yet to watch the series, but maybe after I finish this one...

: )

59MickyFine
Out 15, 2018, 8:43 am

>41 elliepotten: Swing by my thread and you'll see all the wedding things.

Glad to see you've been having some good reads in my absence. :)

60elliepotten
Out 18, 2018, 11:21 am



37. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson (4*) - fiction

Another one of the oldest books on my shelves, and ALSO one of those books that has permeated popular culture so thoroughly that it was almost a relief to have finally tackled the source material, haha. Out of the three stories in this volume - the titular novella, plus The Body Snatcher and Olalla - I read the first two. I have Olalla in a separate little Penguin Mini Black Classic edition so I'm saving that one. :)

Jekyll and Hyde (which is the one I'm rating with those four stars) was far and away the better of the two, I thought. The mystery was nicely paced, the gothic atmosphere was delicious, and the big contemporary literary themes of unnatural science (see: Frankenstein) and the duality of man (see: The Picture of Dorian Gray) were both done well. The Body Snatcher started quite promisingly - a familiar face from one man's troubled past arrives at his local inn, prompting the telling of a dark story by the fire - but it didn't have the same compelling interest for me, and ended on a note that might have been a zinger back then but left me cold.

Really glad I finally read this one though - and it also contributes a third book AND a short story towards this year's R.I.P. challenge!

This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (on my shelf since June 2010)
- Readers in Peril (RIP) XIII, the annual Halloween reading/watching challenge

61MickyFine
Out 19, 2018, 1:21 pm

>60 elliepotten: I've always liked that one. Glad it found another fan.

62elliepotten
Out 24, 2018, 2:02 am



38. Getting Off: One Woman's Journey Through Sex and Porn Addiction, by Erica Garza (3*) - non-fiction

Awww, I'd really hoped for more from this one. Garza had an amazing opportunity here to really upend some misconceptions about sex addiction, to tackle it from a rare female (and WOC) perspective and bring something new to the table. Instead it often reads as a memoir of fairly ordinary dud relationships and general youthful impulsivity, which... let's be honest, has been done to death.

The opening was very much what I was looking for; Garza works in studies and articles, with footnotes and explanations that help place her story within a cultural, societal and psychological context. Alas, within a few pages this approach tails off, and without that background, the book pretty much becomes a straightforward autobiography until far closer to the end, when she goes off soul searching, starts reflecting on her compulsive use of sex as a crutch, and begins to 'recover'. This was one of the strongest parts of the book for me - though thanks to the vagueness of much of what preceded it, we never truly get an idea of what exactly she's recovering FROM, clinically speaking, and how that recovery might look for someone who doesn't have the resources (or the desire) to pull an Eat, Pray, Love and fly off to Bali to find herself.

What, for example, tips a relationship with porn from normal to addicted? Garza talks about repeated episodes of reckless behaviour, anxiety and dysfunctional relationships that clearly fall into a pattern, but never explains at what point those things cross into being clinically significant. It's an interesting, brave and page-turning read as it stands, don't get me wrong, and there is insight buried within its pages; I just felt that there was so much more that COULD have been included that would have elevated it to a great read. Oh well.

63elliepotten
Out 26, 2018, 11:31 am



39. The Woman in Black, by Susan Hill (4.5*) - fiction

Well. For such a short book, this one BROKE ME. It reads like a du Maurier novel - faintly lyrical and beautifully written - but with the deep thematic undertones of grief that so struck me in Pet Sematary, and I was HERE. FOR. IT.

I actually saw the old television adaptation of this as a child, when we were forced to watch it as part of an English lesson on ghost stories. Nearly twenty years on, I still remembered the rumbling of ghostly wheels on the fog-heavy causeway, and the chills that ran down my spine, sitting there in that classroom. On the page that scene had the same effect, with the addition of a few bitter tears. If only I'd remembered a little more, I might have been prepared for the deftly entwined horror and misery ahead.

The novella opens with Arthur Kipps recalling how, as a junior solicitor, he was dispatched up north, to an old house out on the marshes, to deal with the papers left there by its late owner. At her pitifully under-attended funeral, he is surprised to see a young woman in black standing quietly in the pews, and again in the churchyard - and even more surprised by the violent reactions of the locals to his questions about her identity. Over the course of the book, understanding dawns and the house's tragic secrets are uncovered, one by one.

And tragic they are. This is a gothic, frightening haunted house story, yes, but it is also a heartbreaking tale of grief and loss that really got under my skin; by the end I had done my fair share of shivering and sobbing, one following the other several times over until the last page was finally turned. For such a short book, I really couldn't have asked for more than that.

I also watched the newer movie afterwards - with Daniel Radcliffe - and although I was prepared for the onslaught of emotion, I wasn't prepared enough. There are a lot of jump-scares in the film, and it was twisted to be more graphic than gothic, which I wasn't too keen on - but goodness me, it chilled me to the bone and I cried so hard I thought I was going to give myself a migraine. I'm torn between wanting to re-watch it now I know how they played it, and never wanting to see it again! I think I'll leave it on my shelf for a little while and see how I feel later...

Quotes:

- "I have always liked to take a breath of the evening, to smell the air, whether it is sweetly scented and balmy with the flowers of midsummer, pungent with the bonfires and leaf-mould of autumn, or crackling cold from frost and snow."

- "It is remarkable how powerful a force simple curiosity can be."

- "... gradually I discovered for myself the truth of the axiom that a man cannot remain indefinitely in a state of active terror. Either the emotion will increase until, at the prompting of more and more dreadful events and apprehensions, he is so overcome by it that he runs away or goes mad; or he will become by slow degrees less agitated and more in possession of himself."


This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (on my shelf since August 2010)
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 10 (a book about grief)
- Readers in Peril (RIP) XIII, the annual Halloween reading/watching challenge

64elliepotten
Editado: Out 26, 2018, 4:19 pm



40. The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf (4*) - fiction

What a pleasant surprise this one turned out to be! Well, a deeply unpleasant pleasant surprise anyway. I found it for 25p on a Friends of the Hospital charity bookshelf and bought it on a whim, thinking from the cover that it was a translated crime novel. It is definitely NOT; it's actually a 'forgotten classic' Christian horror novella, written by a Swiss pastor in the mid-19th century.

Framed within an (apparently) sweetly pastoral story about a newborn baby's christening, an innocent question about a strange feature of the family's home leads into a fearful double tale of a tyrannical knight, a village of desperate peasants, a broken pact with the Devil, and the terrifying agent of his revenge: a giant, deadly black spider.

Normally a book so obviously written for a very conservative religious and social purpose would do very little for me - I'm about as unreligious as they come, for a start, and the Madonna-Whore angle made me eyeroll - but in this case it genuinely didn't detract from my enjoyment too much at all. The themes of good versus evil, the importance of family, and of love and courage overcoming fear and adversity, are so universal that they held up on their own, and once it got going (which took a while, admittedly), the spidery tale was surprisingly gruesome and compelling. I found myself flying through the pages, shuddering deliciously and hoping fervently that I don't see a real-life spider for a while! Definitely one I might come back to sometime...

This book also counts for:
- PopSugar challenge, advanced prompt 6 (an allegory)
- Readers in Peril (RIP) XIII, the annual Halloween reading/watching challenge

65foggidawn
Out 26, 2018, 12:34 pm

>63 elliepotten: That sounds amazing; I will not be reading it. Nuh-uh, nopenopenope, no way.

66elliepotten
Editado: Out 31, 2018, 5:30 pm

>65 foggidawn: Haha, I've read enough horrory gothicky sad spooky books in September and October to satisfy my pre-Halloween challenge this year I think! Over the weekend I'm going uber-chick-lit-and-pizza to cleanse myself before November begins. :D

67MickyFine
Out 29, 2018, 1:36 pm

>66 elliepotten: Oh good. Then I might be at risk for BBs again. Horror and Micky do not combine. ;)

68foggidawn
Out 29, 2018, 1:50 pm

69elliepotten
Editado: Out 31, 2018, 5:32 pm

Hehe, sorry about that... My latest read has been a girlie novel about a London lass doing a digital detox in the Cumbria hills, and now it's Non-Fiction November so there are going to be less spooky books around here for a while at least. Although, my first pick might be a buddy read of Columbine by Dave Cullen, so... still pretty scary tbh. :(

70MickyFine
Out 31, 2018, 5:39 pm

>69 elliepotten: Yay for girlie novels!

71elliepotten
Nov 1, 2018, 12:38 pm



41. It Started With a Tweet, by Anna Bell (3.5*) - fiction

Awwww, this was just what I needed after two months of (mostly) darker books for the run-up to Halloween. I knew full well that I'd be going from that into Non-Fiction November - heavier reading in a different way - so I thought something frothy and fun would be ideal in between. Happily, Bell delivered just what I was after!

I do enjoy a good chick lit novel sometimes, but given how many of them there are to choose from, there has to be a hook for me, something to set it apart a little bit in my mind. The Thing About Jane Spring had a backdrop of Doris Day movies. The Parisian Christmas Bake Off had... y'know. Paris. Christmas. Baking. This one reminded me a little more of The Undomestic Goddess: overworked city girl gets plonked into a simpler life and finds love and satisfaction.

In this case, our heroine, Daisy, is fired from her job after a disastrous social media gaffe, and ends up agreeing to a digital detox with her sister. Unfortunately, when she arrives, she discovers that Rosie hasn't quite been honest about what she's letting herself in for: this is no luxury retreat with yoga, good food and therapy sessions - it's a ramshackle Cumbrian farmhouse with an airbed, a filthy kitchen and a hole in the front door. Throw in a bunch of cheerful but nosy locals, two handsome young men, sheep, pigeons, some paint rollers, a few packs of crumpets and a LOT of mud, and the scene is set...

It wasn't the best-written (or -edited) book ever - the dialogue was often a bit 'off' and there were plenty of silly slips, typos and other miscellaneous mistakes - and the 'social media probably shouldn't be your WHOLE LIFE' message got a bit heavy-handed towards the end, but it did the job. It made me smile (and laugh, at times), and got me thinking a bit about my own online life, which has definitely crept back towards unhealthy levels lately. Those pages kept on turning, and I really enjoyed Daisy's metamorphosis into a welly-wearing country convert. Final verdict? A little unsubstantial, but quite charming. I'm glad I picked it up! :)

72MickyFine
Nov 1, 2018, 1:26 pm

>71 elliepotten: Sounds cute. The poorer quality keeps me from adding it to the list but I'm glad it hit the spot for you. :)

73elliepotten
Nov 1, 2018, 5:29 pm

>72 MickyFine: It's not HORRENDOUS. I had a particular problem with dialogue not sounding natural. "I'll do the whatever, as the whatever is whatever." That 'as' kept appearing and I was like NO. PEOPLE DON'T TALK LIKE THAT. There'd be a pause there, a full stop or a semi colon or a dash or SOMETHING that's not an actual word. Y'know?

74MickyFine
Nov 2, 2018, 1:36 pm

>73 elliepotten: I dropped The Wedding Date for writing like that, which made me sad because it had one of my favourite romance tropes in it. I just don't have the patience to complete a book with lower quality writing (which is super subjective) when I know there are better books out there that are more worth my time.

75Berly
Nov 20, 2018, 1:13 am

>63 elliepotten: Oh, I'll have to look for the movie now! And since I finished reading Lethal White, now I want to watch the series, too.

76archerygirl
Nov 22, 2018, 12:07 pm

>73 elliepotten: Ugh, yes, dialogue that doesn't sound like something anyone would actually say is a bugbear of mine. And life's too short to waste time on subpar books, so I'll skip that one!

77elliepotten
Dez 3, 2018, 6:22 am

>74 MickyFine: >76 archerygirl: Yeah, there has to be something special to counter the writing once it starts getting annoying! Fortunately this one came along just when I needed an easy cute read, but I can definitely imagine that in a less... forgiving... mood I'd have put it down for something else. Shame.

>75 Berly: I still haven't gone back and picked up The Silkworm! I'm rereading Harry Potter now though, for the first time in forever, so I'm still getting my J.K.R. fix, just in a different way! :)

78elliepotten
Editado: Dez 3, 2018, 6:43 am

Sooooo I've barely read a thing in two months now - not a single book finished in November, thanks to a particularly traumatic disability assessment review thingy that involved a lot of preparation with hefty side portions of reading-comprehension-blitzing terror and anxiety - but now I'm HERE and hoping to kinda give myself my reading mojo back as a Christmas present. I've missed it!

I'm in the middle of a ton of books, so the plan is to attempt to finish all of them PLUS a first-time-in-a-decade reread of the seven Harry Potter books in time for Christmas. If I have time I'd love to squeeze in a Christmassy novel before that too, but... y'know. Miracles can happen, but I won't bank on it. :)

I finished The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl a couple of days ago, so that's a good start - sort-of review on the way - and then The Philosopher's Stone will be next I reckon!

79elliepotten
Editado: Dez 3, 2018, 11:39 am



42. The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, by Belle de Jour (3*) - non-fiction

Sooooo any thoughts I might have about this one are going to be a bit scattered, for two reasons:

1) With about a third of the book left to go, I had an almost complete reading break of a good month due to life getting in the way. Because of this I lost my flow a bit, and forgot who some of the people in the book were - not helped by Belle referring to several of them only by initials (A1, A2 and A3 are exes, for example, but they're all friends and often appear in the same diary entry).

2) When I was still only a few pages in, I spotted that the TV show was on Amazon Prime, all four series of it, and thought I'd dip in and make a start. I loved the first series when it was originally on telly years ago - and sure enough, I got completely sucked in and devoured the whole lot.

With that said, some things I liked about the book... It's definitely a refreshing read. It's extremely sex-positive, and portrays sex work quite candidly and matter-of-factly without forgetting that Belle's experiences in the privileged world of high-class escorting are worlds away from those of prostitutes in other areas of the industry. As a window into a world most people will never see it's fascinating, and Belle's voice is witty and clever, weaving deftly between insights into her work, observations of London life, gently humorous lists and vignettes from her friendships and romances outside the agency.

HOWEVER. It does feel quite dated now (it was first published in 2005), and while it is very SEX-positive, it isn't everything else-positive. For example, while it's inevitable that a call girl might be heavily invested in how she looks, making snide remarks about other women's weight and appearance is never going to sit well with me. There were one or two race-related comments that would be unlikely to go unchallenged by an editor now. I found the 'people as initials' thing a bit confusing; I'd rather she'd just have used pseudonyms for her friends really, I couldn't keep track of who was who. The warmth I loved so much in the television series - where you get a real sense of a girl-next-door morphing daily into a sexual powerhouse, taking pride in finding out what her clients need from her and leaving them happy and fulfilled - ran a lot cooler in the book, and I often found on-the-page Belle a bit snobbish and unlikable.

I mean, I'm glad I gave it a go. It was a bit 'Sex and the City, but in London and with a call girl', and it was easy reading at a difficult time for me, but the TV series was way better. It's warmer, more cohesive, surprisingly gripping, has a cast of well-developed characters outside Belle herself, and has definitely aged better than the original book. Oh, and there are LOADS of youthful guest stars, everyone from Matt Smith to Iwan Rheon, Lily James to Gemma Chan. Watch that instead.

80elliepotten
Dez 3, 2018, 11:38 am

↑ This review is a hot mess, sorry. But it's my first in a really long time so that makes me happy, at least. Yaaaaaaay! :D

81elliepotten
Editado: Dez 30, 2018, 6:00 am



43. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, by J.K. Rowling (4*) - fiction

I don't need to review this one, right...??? Also SPOILERS AHEAD, just in case. :)

I WILL say that it's actually not quite as well written as I remember. Understandably, perhaps, since it was her first. I read The Cuckoo's Calling recently and was struck by the writing in that, so I was a bit surprised to be honest. HOWEVER, the magic, the playfulness, the ability to make me laugh one minute and cry the next, the sheer creative mind and scope behind it - those things haven't dimmed one bit.

I was impressed to find upon rereading that much of the dialogue translates across to the film almost word-for-word, but interested to note that many of my favourite moments are missing on-screen. Peeves's antics, for a start, and Harry seeing all of his family in the Mirror of Erised, such a powerful and heartbreaking scene - but also several moments involving the Weasley twins (their Voldie-bopping enchanted snowballs, them circling underneath Harry during the cursed Quidditch match trying to save his life) and Dumbledore (his taste for sherbert lemons, and teary-eyed appreciation for the school song!). Maybe I just know the earlier films so well at this point that it was the divergent details that struck me most while I was reading...

Anyway. I loved it. Of course I did. Just what the doctor ordered for a cold, soggy, generally rubbish week when I'm still recovering from that assessment and have now gone down with my first 'proper' cough-cold-headache-sore-everything combo in years. (No idea where I caught it, it's usually one of the few perks of being agoraphobic, haha. Very limited exposure to winter nasties!) I've rewatched the film in chunks over the past few days too, and when I found myself wide awake in the wee hours of this morning I settled into The Chamber of Secrets over tea and cough syrup. They've just de-gnomed the garden at The Burrow and are about to go off to Diagonally Diagon Alley and Lockhart's book signing. No sign of a giant snek yet. :D

Quotes:

- "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

- "'The truth.' Dumbledore sighed. 'It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.'"


This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (not read it since 2013)
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 29 (a book about or set on Halloween - the "TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON!" scene is at the Halloween feast!)

82crazy4reading
Dez 6, 2018, 8:36 am

I love the HP books and try to reread them every so often. I may have to make that a goal for this coming year! I hope you are feeling better.

83MickyFine
Dez 7, 2018, 3:21 pm

Comfort re-reads are lovely. I'm glad you're enjoying your latest visit with Harry and friends. *hugs and get well smooches*

84elliepotten
Editado: Dez 10, 2018, 12:08 pm

>82 crazy4reading: >83 MickyFine: I'm loving them so much! I've just ignored everyone for a good two hours because "IT'S GIANT SNEK TIME!" On to The Prisoner of Azkaban this evening, with Great Hall Christmas ASMR in the background and a planned pit stop for another chunk of The Chamber of Secrets movie over dinner. :D

85MickyFine
Dez 13, 2018, 12:00 pm

>84 elliepotten: Excellent life choices. :D

86LovingLit
Dez 17, 2018, 2:52 pm

>85 MickyFine: lol (such a great support group, is LT)

Have a great time playing out your excellent life choices :)

87crazy4reading
Dez 17, 2018, 3:34 pm

>84 elliepotten: I support your decisions!! I have been enjoying catching up on some of my TV shows instead of reading, and also baking cookies.

88elliepotten
Dez 19, 2018, 4:39 pm

>84 elliepotten: I thought so, haha! :D

>85 MickyFine: The Potteriness goes on! Yassssssss!

>86 LovingLit: Sometimes you just need telly and cookies. The books can hush up for a bit and wait their turn! :)

89elliepotten
Editado: Dez 30, 2018, 6:01 am



44. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J.K. Rowling (4.5*) - fiction

Another one I don't reaaaaally need to talk about much. **SPOILERS AGAIN** though.

A lot of people seem to have CoS down as their least favourite Harry Potter book, but I've always been rather partial to it; it's surprisingly dark and menacing, but still has The Philosopher's Stone's humour and lightness of touch. Something about the unseen danger, something so deadly and brutal and ancient that it could attack students in broad daylight without being seen or stopped, even by Dumbledore - it's very effective. I still remember the first time I read it as a child, being chilled to the bone by each attack, and my heart stopping when TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE writes his name in the air and waves his wand. Now, of course, I also appreciate things like the way the Whomping Willow makes an appearance ahead of The Prisoner of Azkaban, and the way Harry's Parseltongue harks back to the snake in the zoo. The little details go a long way on a reread, I think.

Brilliant - now, bring on the next book and my favourite chocolate-advocating DADA teacher! :D

Quotes:

- "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

- "When in doubt, go to the library."


This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (not read it since 2013)
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 19 (a book about or involving a sport - Quidditch counts, right?! :P)

90PaulCranswick
Dez 25, 2018, 3:07 am



Happy holidays, Ellie

91elliepotten
Dez 29, 2018, 3:12 pm

>90 PaulCranswick: Thank you! Did you have a good Christmas yourself? Happy New Year in a couple of days' time! :)

92elliepotten
Dez 30, 2018, 12:27 pm



45. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling (4.5*) - fiction

**SPOILERS AGAIN**, because a review seems completely pointless so I'm going to spew THOUGHTS instead. I'll also be talking about the book AND movie again, because I'm enjoying them side by side as I go - to the point where I'll watch half an hour of the film each night to catch up to where I'm at in the book, like it's a TV show. :)

This is where I hit the swathe of the HP series that I haven't reread since 2007, AND the point where the books start to deviate a bit from the movies. Not too much, in this case, but when you're reading and watching as closely as I've been doing, one after another, it IS noticeable after the often word-for-word translation onto the big screen achieved by the first two movies. On the other hand, this is obviously the book where important things start to happen that will have a bearing on the story later - Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black - and of course, we also get our first taste of the utterly terrifying Dementors and the utterly wonderful Remus Lupin (who may be my favourite character in the entire series, we shall see...).

I found the interactions between Lupin, Sirius and Harry heartbreakingly lovely - his first taste of something akin to a family from his past, two people who held his parents so dear. I also think the scene in the Shrieking Shack and the subsequent Dementor attack by the lake were done WAY better in the book, something I'd forgotten with repeated viewings of the film over the years. The dynamics between the Potters and the rest of the Marauders are explained far more clearly, and there's that extraordinarily important and sob-inducing moment when Harry puts two and two together and makes 'my dad was also an Animagus and is basically my Patronus now'. How they left out that detail in the movie I have no idea, when the map's right there with their nicknames on it and there's clearly a stag sending the Dementors reeling. No explanation at all...

Aaaanyway. I really enjoyed it. Maybe not quite as much as I'd expected from memory, but more than the movie, which surprised me. I thought PoA was my favourite of the films so far; I was apparently wrong. I'm loving every minute of this journey though!

Quotes:

- "You think the dead we loved truly ever leave us? You think that we don't recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?"

- "We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are."


This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (not read it since 2007)
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 23 (a book about time travel - Hermione's time turner!)

93elliepotten
Dez 30, 2018, 1:32 pm



46. The Unknown Unknown: Bookshops and the Delight of Not Getting What You Wanted, by Mark Forsyth (4*) - non-fiction

This cute tiny book was a reread for me. It was the Independent Booksellers Week essay a few years ago and I really gelled with it! It explores the idea that bookshops can lead you to books you never even knew you wanted (or needed) to read, and that such serendipitous discoveries can be fun, important and even life-changing.

Forsyth's style is amusing and littered with pop culture references, and at under 25 pages it's a quick little read. I didn't enjoy it quite as much the second time around, but I think that was more me than the book. Still a keeper!

This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (not read it since 2014)
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 39 (a book that involves a bookstore or library)

94lycomayflower
Dez 30, 2018, 1:44 pm

>92 elliepotten: Nice discussion of PoA! It's one of my favs of the books, and you hit on a lot of the reasons why.

>93 elliepotten: That sounds fascinating.

95elliepotten
Dez 30, 2018, 5:32 pm

>94 lycomayflower: Haha, it's a hot mess of a post but it's from the heart! I'm trying to catch up before the New Year and it's showing... :D And the bookshoppy book is really cute. Chimed quite strongly with me - some of my favourite books have been bought, borrowed or tried on a whim, yet I hardly ever seem to pick things up that way any more. I should make an effort to gamble on books more often again, see what I discover!

96MickyFine
Dez 30, 2018, 11:45 pm

PoA is my favourite of the films but HBP is my favourite book. :)

Enjoy the end of year catch-up.

97lycomayflower
Dez 31, 2018, 9:58 am

>95 elliepotten: I feel this way too! So often the best books are the ones I stumble upon, but so rarely seem to *do* that anymore.

98thornton37814
Dez 31, 2018, 11:41 am

99Berly
Dez 31, 2018, 4:55 pm



Happy New Year's Eve!!

100archerygirl
Jan 2, 2019, 5:49 am

>92 elliepotten: Happy New Year! I think your thoughts hit on why PoA is my favourite book and my least favourite film. The film leaves out too many small but incredibly important details! And it wouldn't have taken much time to put those in, so it always annoys me.

101foggidawn
Jan 2, 2019, 9:53 am

>100 archerygirl: My thoughts as well! Also, I felt like the director of the movie version of PoA was trying to hard to add his own aesthetic, and that came with a trade-off regarding some of the book's charming details.

102elliepotten
Jan 3, 2019, 5:28 pm



47. This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor, by Adam Kay (4*) - non-fiction

"I realized that every healthcare professional - every single doctor, nurse, midwife, pharmacist, physio and paramedic - needs to shout about the reality of their work, so the next time the health secretary lies that doctors are in it for the money, the public will know just how ridiculous that is. Why would any sane person do that job for anything other than the right reasons? Because I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I have so much respect for those who work on the front line of the NHS because, when it came down to it, I certainly couldn't."

I'm going to straight up say that I always think books like these should be required reading for everyone in the UK - ESPECIALLY people who moan about the NHS (ie. gripe at doctors and the concept itself, rather than the broken systems dragging it down) and those who think it's okay to behave atrociously in hospitals and surgeries because they've had to wait. Or someone's told them no. You get the idea.

I thought this was going to be an all-out five star rave review, given the praise that's been heaped on this one, but in fact overall it was probably on a par with other doctor and surgeon memoirs I've read, particularly Gabriel Weston's Direct Red (on the surgical side) and Benjamin Daniels' Confessions of a GP. Kay was in obs and gynae (so a lot of delivering babies and removing foreign objects from interesting places, just for starters) and like his authorly peers in other areas, pulls no punches when it comes to both the giddy highs and the terrible lows of his work. He is very, very funny - several times I had to put the book down because I was crying laughing, and I LOVED the way he substituted names of his friends and peers with random Harry Potter characters - but there were also moments that made me cry, things that made me gasp, and a whole lot that made me angry.

I've always been one of those women who prefers to show some basic respect for the person in the white coat who is trying to make someone well yet is also demonstrably a human being too - call me old-fashioned - but there are stories and politics and bureaucratic nightmares in here to make even the grumpiest amongst us shudder. The hours, the sacrifices (in everything from relationships to personal sanity), the meddling from people in suits who have no idea what goes on in their own hospitals, the abuse (the woman who throws a sharps bin at Kay's head, showering him in used needles and blades... I had to put the book down, I was so horrified) - all of these things sometimes need to be laid out for us to be truly appreciated, and now I have more respect for those on the front line of medicine than ever. Read it. It's funny, it's compassionate, it's pointed, it's sad, and despite these diaries being a few years old now (Kay left medicine in 2010), it's still, frustratingly, as relevant as it was when they were written. Read it.

103elliepotten
Jan 3, 2019, 5:34 pm

>96 MickyFine: I think so far on this read-through Goblet of Fire is my favourite book, and that or Chamber of Secrets is my favourite film. Which is blowing my mind, because I was sure PoA was The (Chosen) One.

>97 lycomayflower: Exactly! I should try to pick up a random thing each time I go to the library, or at the charity shop, take a gamble every once in a while. See if I can have one of those serendipitous book moments again!

>100 archerygirl: >101 foggidawn: Yes! I couldn't understand those choices in that one, upon rewatching it. Little bits that were sort of half done on screen, it was bizarre. It's the first time I've noticed things that actually are important that are missing. I don't think it's even acknowledged that the Marauders are James et al. In the book Lupin outright says 'we made the map, duh' - in the film he just knows how to use it with no explanation. There's a sort of hint there but... not enough to get away with it. Funnily enough, someone else commented on my Instagram post that they recently rewatched PoA and had the same experience, wondering why it was their favourite years down the line!

104elliepotten
Jan 3, 2019, 5:36 pm

Oh! Happy New Year everyone! Forgot that bit. :D

And I do have two more books to review here to round off the year - The Goblet of Fire and Columbine - but I have a thread in the 2019 group up and running if anyone's around over there.
https://www.librarything.com/topic/301713

105bell7
Jan 3, 2019, 7:12 pm

>103 elliepotten: Hmmm, PoA has also been one of my favorite of the films - primarily because I like the camerawork on some of the images (like in the clock) and that things look more like I imagined them in my head. But you're right that they leave major plot points out like the authors of the Marauders Map. And the movies just diverge even more from the books from there - I've long argued that you can't really follow the movies from #5 on if you haven't read the books. You're kinda making me want to do a reread/rewatch of my own (maybe a 2020 project).

106norabelle414
Jan 3, 2019, 10:26 pm

I think PoA is the best movie but the worst adaptation

107MickyFine
Jan 4, 2019, 11:59 am

>106 norabelle414: That's an excellent point, Nora. I was having this discussion recently about Ready Player One too. It's a good movie but a TERRIBLE adaptation.

108elliepotten
Jan 5, 2019, 3:12 pm

>105 bell7: Yesss some of those cinematic moments are BEAUTIFUL. Also... the soundtrack. A Window to the Past and Buckbeak's Flight are breathtaking. Like, 'can make me cry out of nowhere' breathtaking. Yes, I AM YouTubing them right now to listen to while I'm typing this. :D

>106 norabelle414: That's an interesting way of angling it! I'll have to see how I feel about the others as I go now.

>107 MickyFine: Oh gawwwwd, I've heard the most dreadful things about the movie but the best things about the book. I WILL get to the latter eventually. Might just pretend the former doesn't exist tbh.

109MickyFine
Jan 7, 2019, 11:28 am

>108 elliepotten: That's fair. I wouldn't write the movie off completely though and if you haven't read the book, seeing the movie first isn't a terrible way to go in this case. Then you won't be disappointed with all the changes.

110elliepotten
Jan 8, 2019, 4:46 am

>109 MickyFine: That's true! If I see it knocking around somewhere I might give it a go then. See, if I'd just read it when I bought it, ten thousand years ago, I'd have plenty of distance from it now and could have watched the movie and groaned like everyone else! :D

111elliepotten
Jan 8, 2019, 3:25 pm



48. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling (5*) - fiction

Soooooo, turns out I ended 2018 with a new favourite Harry Potter book! So far, anyway. **SPOILERS AHEAD**, in case you haven't read them yet. :)

I've always kind of put off reading (or watching) beyond The Prisoner of Azkaban in recent years, just because in my head the earlier books are kind of magical and lovely and lighter to read, whereas the later ones start getting Too Real and also killing people off. If I hadn't been such a baby about it I might have allowed myself to realise that this is also where the books start getting complicated and brilliant, without losing the magic and humour I loved earlier on.

Great swathes of this one were like reading a whole new Potter novel, it's been so long. Anything not in the movie I'd all but forgotten. Winky. Rita's Animagus-y snooping. Ludo Bagman. The REAL story of Barty Crouch Jr. The fact that those Nifflers everyone's been cooing over since the Fantastic Beasts movie actually appeared in one of Hagrid's lessons. The way part-Veela Fleur and super-cool Bill were eyeing each other up already. The weary wizards trying to stop the Quidditch World Cup festivities being noticed by Muggles - and the fact that the Death Eaters there were TORTURING PEOPLE, not just marching about throwing fireballs. I lapped up every extra scene, every detail, and fell out the other end drained and a bit weepy (as I expected) but also in love with this series all over again.

Aaaand to my surprise, I really enjoyed the movie too - albeit not quite as much as the book. The omissions and changes felt more deliberate and less puzzling this time, the music was BEAUTIFUL (c'mon, Harry in Winter and Foreign Visitors Arrive?), and the Priori Incantatem scene actually made me cry MORE on screen. That music swelling as Lily and James appeared on either side of Harry, and his arrival back outside the maze with Cedric, just GOT me. Completely and utterly. I loved it. As soon as I've toppled a couple of my library books, I'll be back into Order of the Phoenix, woohoo!

Quotes:

- "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."

- "No good sittin' worryin' abou' it... What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does."

- "Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery."

- "Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."


This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (not read it since 2007)

112MickyFine
Jan 8, 2019, 5:45 pm

>111 elliepotten: All the details for the Triwizard Cup are all so brilliant. I love that section a lot.

113foggidawn
Jan 9, 2019, 9:35 am

Ditto. And I must say, every time I read one of your Potter posts I want to do a reread of my own.

114lycomayflower
Jan 9, 2019, 1:40 pm

>111 elliepotten: this is also where the books start getting complicated and brilliant, without losing the magic and humour I loved earlier on. YES! This is how I feel. (I sort of see 1-3 almost as prologue to the real meat of the story.)

his arrival back outside the maze with Cedric, just GOT me. I cry every time at that point in the movie.

Great discussion!

115elliepotten
Jan 12, 2019, 11:19 am

>112 MickyFine: Yessss! There was so much more going on than I remembered, I loved it!

>113 foggidawn: Ooops, haha. A couple of people said that on Instagram as well, thank you! I'm just so glad I'm finally going back there and rereading them all - especially because I promised myself a chocolate frog and a house cushion at the end. :D

>114 lycomayflower: Yes yes yes! I think that's how I'm going to end up feeling about them this time around. And riiiiight? Something about the sobs and the way he won't let go, and everyone starting to realise what's going on - it's so heartbreaking!

116elliepotten
Jan 13, 2019, 3:28 pm



49. Columbine, by Dave Cullen (4.5*) - non-fiction

This book has been sitting on my shelves FOREVER, so I was really glad when someone on IG suggested a last-minute buddy read... I've heard Columbine described (several times) as "In Cold Blood but for school shootings", and I can see why. Cullen, previously a journalist reporting from Columbine, spent ten years putting this book together to correct many of the assumptions and mythologies that sprang up around the tragedy - in large part due to media coverage like his own - and his dedication really shows.

Early on, admittedly, he does seem to fall into a slightly inappropriate tabloid-y pattern of cliffhangering the ends of his chapters, teasing unpleasant details yet to come; however, once that settles it really becomes an in-depth piece of journalistic detective work that manages to cover a vast amount of ground. From building painstaking psychological profiles of Harris and Klebold, to exploring the deep effects of the shooting on the students, families and community in the years ahead, the level of research and detail is astounding.

It is also, it has to be said, somewhat fascinating for an English reader. Columbine happened as I started secondary school - but you would never have known that in the years ahead. There was a ripple in the news, but then it settled and that was the end of it. No lockdown drills, no fear, our schooldays just went on as normal. In its gun culture, above almost all other things, America feels like a very very different society to ours, and it's made for an interesting and enlightening reading experience that I'm sure must feel rather different (and more personal) for readers across the pond.

I believe there is a new edition being published this year (in the UK, at least) for the 20th anniversary of the shooting in April, so if you don't have a copy it might be worth waiting in case there's new material or edits in there. If you have a copy and just haven't read it, like me - I highly recommend it. One of the best books I read in 2018.

This book also counts for:
- ROOT challenge (on shelf since March 2013)
- PopSugar challenge, prompt 2 (true crime)

117elliepotten
Jan 13, 2019, 3:31 pm

Aaaaand that's all she wrote, folks! My last review owing from 2018.

Please do come over and join me in 2019's thread - or if not, happy reading all the same, and thanks for following along for the last few months! x
https://www.librarything.com/topic/301713