Here are Valpot reviews of her books 56-60 (Note both pledgers should have reached book 100 by end of August to be up-to-date with their pledge).
56. The Bone Collector
I love the film and enjoyed the book. It was difficult not to see Denzel and Angelina as the main characters, and personally I think the film's take on the suicide was much better than the book. The whole forensic stuff was interesting to read and the denouement was different from the film. I understand - and agree with - the changes the film made in general, but still enjoyed the book.
Rating: I like it
57. The Empty Chair
Also by Jeffrey Deaver (author of The Bone Collector), I enjoyed this book even more. Lots of good character development, an unusual situation, and lots of twists.
Rating: I like it
58. Stir of Echoes
I have read The Shrinking Man and Legend, and thought both books were brilliantly written and very imaginative. In contrast, Stir of echoes seems very tame, the plot is quite light, and it has none of the impact of the other novels of his that I've read. Still, it's well written, though you would like it developed a lot more.
Rating: Not Bad
59. St Gerard Majella
I picked up a biography of this great saint a while ago. Unfortunately the style of the book is very old-fashioned, which makes it difficult to read. I ended up leaving it aside, only to finish it a couple of months later.
Rating: Amazing saint but I'm sure there's a better biography out there.
60. Blessed Miguel Pro
A short biography of this holy man but a brilliant one! He actually reminds me of Fr William Doyle (Merry in God) because he seemed to unite a sense of fun and humour with courage and heroic sanctity. If, as is rumoured, they make a film of Mexico in the 1920's and featuring this saintly priest, I will queue up to see it!
Rating: An inspiring read
Monday 10 September 2007
Friday 7 September 2007
BEST READ AUGUST
It's time we looked to see what book will be voted the Best Rad of Augist.
Here are the candidates (a short list this month):
The Prestige
For One Day More
The Coffin Dancer
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The Secret Of Crickley Hall
The Empty Chair
Hurin's Children
The Stone Monkey
It won't take long for you to decide - so please decide by midnight Tuesday 11th September!
Here are the candidates (a short list this month):
The Prestige
For One Day More
The Coffin Dancer
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The Secret Of Crickley Hall
The Empty Chair
Hurin's Children
The Stone Monkey
It won't take long for you to decide - so please decide by midnight Tuesday 11th September!
Wednesday 5 September 2007
MONTH OF INKPOT
Congratulations to Inkpot - September is her special month.
Already it has started well with Inkpot being whirled off to a secret location for filming an advertisement set to surprise us next month.
We also expect her to complete her revised Mark Of The Wolf novel, which is being eagerly awaited.
Have a great month, Inkpot!
Already it has started well with Inkpot being whirled off to a secret location for filming an advertisement set to surprise us next month.
We also expect her to complete her revised Mark Of The Wolf novel, which is being eagerly awaited.
Have a great month, Inkpot!
Monday 3 September 2007
CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations to the winners of Mungo's "I want to be like Mungo" competition.
The bookies had tipped Mango and Tottie as favourites, closely flanked by Rosie. The other entrants were not too much further behind, and October and November brought up the rear at 100/1 shots.
In a surprise move (surprise for the bookies anyway), Mungo announced that all entrants were winners in a competition with exceptionally high standard.
So well done, all of you!
For those who don't know, the winners were:
The bookies had tipped Mango and Tottie as favourites, closely flanked by Rosie. The other entrants were not too much further behind, and October and November brought up the rear at 100/1 shots.
In a surprise move (surprise for the bookies anyway), Mungo announced that all entrants were winners in a competition with exceptionally high standard.
So well done, all of you!
For those who don't know, the winners were:
Mango & Tottie
Rosie
Duckles
Pamela Murphy
Dr Madeline Murphy
October & November
Tuesday 21 August 2007
VALPOT'S BOOK PLEDGE 51 TO 55
51: For One day More
This book did really well - a bestseller I think - from a very successful writer (Mitch Albom). I have to ask: why? The protagonist's marriage has failed, he has turned to drink, his family disowning him (not even inviting him to his daughter's wedding), and he almost had a baseball career but quits his dull job, and is now considering killing himself. His childhood was spent trying to please his father (who deserted his mother for another woman) and taking his mother for granted, which he now regrets as she is dead. On the way to his old family home to kill himself, he is involved in an accident. A little dazed he staggers on towards his old own where he meets his mother,and gets to spend a day with her. The day is interspersed with flashbacks of his childhood plus a new appreciation for his mother, before he is returned to life by the medics, no longer suicidal but anxious to make amends with his daughter and estranged wife. Well, apart from the unoriginal story line, the uninteresting glimpses of childhood (dull and lacking in insight), and the cliched characters - it's probably wouldn't be bad if it had anything else. Which it doesn't (the writing is polished enough, though the language unexciting). So - don't bother.
Rating: Darren Shan wannabe
52. The Prestige
I enjoyed this book though I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't seen the film first. Well written, characters well drawn, and interesting idea. I did think the plot was a little thin for a full length novel - but if I hadn't known what was going on (more of less), I might have found it more intriguing.
Rating: Curate's Egg (Good in spots).
53. The Coffin Dancer
I enjoyed this a lot. I read it before I read The Bone Collector (first in the series, excellent film made) but not having read the first did not impair my enjoyment. Exciting thriller, interesting forensics, and good characters. Jeffrey Deaver does go in for a lot of twists at the end of his books, perhaps one too many but very well done here.
Rating: Not Bad
54. Left to Tell
True story of a Tutsi woman surviving the holocaust by hiding in a pastor's tiny bathroom with 18 other women and trusting in God. Her parents sounded wonderful saintly people, who were brutally murdered, as were two of her three brothers. An upsetting read, especially reading the accounts of her family's murders, but it shows how quickly people can descend into evil killing gangs. Imaculee, the author, now works for the UN trying to promote forgiveness and peace in Rwanda. It's remarkable how she can forgive the killers, who were once family friends, neighbours or locals whom her parents had helped.
Rating: Not for the faint hearted
55. Something Wicked This Way Comes
I enjoyed this atmospheric tale by Ray Bradbury of the evil circus that comes to town, although too much time is spent by the father agonising over his age without resolving it totally.
Rating: Not Bad
This book did really well - a bestseller I think - from a very successful writer (Mitch Albom). I have to ask: why? The protagonist's marriage has failed, he has turned to drink, his family disowning him (not even inviting him to his daughter's wedding), and he almost had a baseball career but quits his dull job, and is now considering killing himself. His childhood was spent trying to please his father (who deserted his mother for another woman) and taking his mother for granted, which he now regrets as she is dead. On the way to his old family home to kill himself, he is involved in an accident. A little dazed he staggers on towards his old own where he meets his mother,and gets to spend a day with her. The day is interspersed with flashbacks of his childhood plus a new appreciation for his mother, before he is returned to life by the medics, no longer suicidal but anxious to make amends with his daughter and estranged wife. Well, apart from the unoriginal story line, the uninteresting glimpses of childhood (dull and lacking in insight), and the cliched characters - it's probably wouldn't be bad if it had anything else. Which it doesn't (the writing is polished enough, though the language unexciting). So - don't bother.
Rating: Darren Shan wannabe
52. The Prestige
I enjoyed this book though I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't seen the film first. Well written, characters well drawn, and interesting idea. I did think the plot was a little thin for a full length novel - but if I hadn't known what was going on (more of less), I might have found it more intriguing.
Rating: Curate's Egg (Good in spots).
53. The Coffin Dancer
I enjoyed this a lot. I read it before I read The Bone Collector (first in the series, excellent film made) but not having read the first did not impair my enjoyment. Exciting thriller, interesting forensics, and good characters. Jeffrey Deaver does go in for a lot of twists at the end of his books, perhaps one too many but very well done here.
Rating: Not Bad
54. Left to Tell
True story of a Tutsi woman surviving the holocaust by hiding in a pastor's tiny bathroom with 18 other women and trusting in God. Her parents sounded wonderful saintly people, who were brutally murdered, as were two of her three brothers. An upsetting read, especially reading the accounts of her family's murders, but it shows how quickly people can descend into evil killing gangs. Imaculee, the author, now works for the UN trying to promote forgiveness and peace in Rwanda. It's remarkable how she can forgive the killers, who were once family friends, neighbours or locals whom her parents had helped.
Rating: Not for the faint hearted
55. Something Wicked This Way Comes
I enjoyed this atmospheric tale by Ray Bradbury of the evil circus that comes to town, although too much time is spent by the father agonising over his age without resolving it totally.
Rating: Not Bad
Friday 17 August 2007
POLL RESULTS
In a surprising turn of events, the nodpot voted most likely to be DNOTY 2007 was tied between Valpot (who has produced nothing new this year) and Inkpot (ditto), with 30% of the vote each. Mungo (whose second book of the year is on the printing presses as we speak, and his third promised before the end of the year) received a low 20% of the vote. Sparkie also received support - 10% of the voters, while 10% also guessed that a nodpot other than those mentioned would scoop the coveted prize.
I assume that many of Mungo's supporters were too busy anticipating his new book to vote, or realise that one existed.
I wonder how many of those eligible to vote in December actually voted on this poll.
It would also be interesting to know where the respective nodpots stand in relation to points accumulated so far this year - as you know, these points count as much as votes on the day. Perhaps Marvin could supply us with this information?
We shall run the poll again in a couple of months time to see if people's views change.
I assume that many of Mungo's supporters were too busy anticipating his new book to vote, or realise that one existed.
I wonder how many of those eligible to vote in December actually voted on this poll.
It would also be interesting to know where the respective nodpots stand in relation to points accumulated so far this year - as you know, these points count as much as votes on the day. Perhaps Marvin could supply us with this information?
We shall run the poll again in a couple of months time to see if people's views change.
Monday 13 August 2007
INKPOT'S BOOK PLEDGE 51-55
Here are the latest reviews from Inkpot - now over a third of the way to 150 books!
51. THE SECRET OF CRICKLEY HALL by James Herbert.
Gabe, an engineer, moves his family (wife Eve and two girls, Loren and Cally) to Crickley Hall for a couple of months while he works in the nearby town. Gabe and Eve are mourning the loss of their son Cam, who was abducted from a park a year previously. Crickley Hall has its own tragic past, as 11 evacuated orphans and their guardian all perished on the night of the big storm during the Second World War. Now it seems that the house is haunted by the ghosts of the dead and Eve won’t leave because she hopes to find a link to her missing son through the dead children.
Ok, this book is long – over 600 hundred pages – and stories of haunted houses should be scary, right? Well, er, not in this case. I expected more from the author of The Fog. I think a good editor could have brought this book down to 200 pages and it would have improved immensely. This was not my cup of tea.
2/10 Darren Shan Wannabe
52. THE EMPTY CHAIR by Jeffery Deaver
Once more top criminalist Lincoln Rhyme and top cop Amelia Sachs are collecting evidence and walking the grid to fight crime, except this time they are fish out of water in the backwoods of Carolina. Yet again Jeffery Deaver has produced an interesting, well written thriller which breathes new life into the formula.
7/10 Not bad.
53. HURIN’S CHILDREN by J.R.R Tolkien
You can not fault the works of Tolkien that were published during his life, but I have questions about his posthumous works, published by his son Christopher. Always a perfectionist, Tolkien worked on several different versions of this story (and a short version is included in the Simerillion) but was never finished one to his satisfaction. While there are parts of this tale that are brilliant, a lot of it is stilted and I can’t imagine Tolkien ever allowing it to print if he were still alive. The plot reads like a Greek tragedy with elves.
6/10 Curate’s Egg
54. ST MARGARET CLITHEROW by Margaret T Monro
A concise biography of an amazing martyr under the reign of Elizabeth 1st. An inspiring tale of an admirable woman and her trials and eventual death, as well as providing a snap shot into life in England at the time and the systematic eradication of the Catholic faith.
9/10
55. THE STONE MONKEY by Jeffery Deaver
This is the fourth Jeffery Deaver in the Lincoln Rhyme series. I really enjoyed the other three and I was expecting another exciting thriller with my favourite characters, Rhyme and Sachs, in this book, but I was disappointed. I suppose every author throws a dud here and there. This book is about human smuggling from China to America and involves Rhyme trying to hunt down a ‘snakehead’ (a human trafficker) before he kills the surviving passengers of a ship he blew up. I caught Lethal Weapon 4 on telly the other night, and the plot is pretty much the same except Murtagh and Riggs are slightly more entertaining. Apparently Deaver considers this to be his best Lincoln Rhyme book. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned in this. The book that the author likes best is never his best book.
5/10 Readable.
51. THE SECRET OF CRICKLEY HALL by James Herbert.
Gabe, an engineer, moves his family (wife Eve and two girls, Loren and Cally) to Crickley Hall for a couple of months while he works in the nearby town. Gabe and Eve are mourning the loss of their son Cam, who was abducted from a park a year previously. Crickley Hall has its own tragic past, as 11 evacuated orphans and their guardian all perished on the night of the big storm during the Second World War. Now it seems that the house is haunted by the ghosts of the dead and Eve won’t leave because she hopes to find a link to her missing son through the dead children.
Ok, this book is long – over 600 hundred pages – and stories of haunted houses should be scary, right? Well, er, not in this case. I expected more from the author of The Fog. I think a good editor could have brought this book down to 200 pages and it would have improved immensely. This was not my cup of tea.
2/10 Darren Shan Wannabe
52. THE EMPTY CHAIR by Jeffery Deaver
Once more top criminalist Lincoln Rhyme and top cop Amelia Sachs are collecting evidence and walking the grid to fight crime, except this time they are fish out of water in the backwoods of Carolina. Yet again Jeffery Deaver has produced an interesting, well written thriller which breathes new life into the formula.
7/10 Not bad.
53. HURIN’S CHILDREN by J.R.R Tolkien
You can not fault the works of Tolkien that were published during his life, but I have questions about his posthumous works, published by his son Christopher. Always a perfectionist, Tolkien worked on several different versions of this story (and a short version is included in the Simerillion) but was never finished one to his satisfaction. While there are parts of this tale that are brilliant, a lot of it is stilted and I can’t imagine Tolkien ever allowing it to print if he were still alive. The plot reads like a Greek tragedy with elves.
6/10 Curate’s Egg
54. ST MARGARET CLITHEROW by Margaret T Monro
A concise biography of an amazing martyr under the reign of Elizabeth 1st. An inspiring tale of an admirable woman and her trials and eventual death, as well as providing a snap shot into life in England at the time and the systematic eradication of the Catholic faith.
9/10
55. THE STONE MONKEY by Jeffery Deaver
This is the fourth Jeffery Deaver in the Lincoln Rhyme series. I really enjoyed the other three and I was expecting another exciting thriller with my favourite characters, Rhyme and Sachs, in this book, but I was disappointed. I suppose every author throws a dud here and there. This book is about human smuggling from China to America and involves Rhyme trying to hunt down a ‘snakehead’ (a human trafficker) before he kills the surviving passengers of a ship he blew up. I caught Lethal Weapon 4 on telly the other night, and the plot is pretty much the same except Murtagh and Riggs are slightly more entertaining. Apparently Deaver considers this to be his best Lincoln Rhyme book. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned in this. The book that the author likes best is never his best book.
5/10 Readable.
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