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Books finished in March 2013
Apr. 3rd, 2013 09:19 pmFirst book finished was American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I didn't read this when first published, and was only able to read it now because of the Kindle version. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, with much more swearing and sex than I'm used to in Neil's books! But I quickly adjusted, and grew to love what it did with mythology and storytelling. I now look forward to reading his Anansi Boys, also waiting for me on my Kindle.
Patrick Moore loved his many cats, and Miaow!: Cats Really are Nicer Than People! is his book about them. I read this in Kindle version, but mainly on my iPad, so I had full colour pictures. I wanted to like it more than I did. It was very touching in places, but needed to be edited much more ruthlessly. For example there was an awful lot of repetition throughout.
Love Virtually by Daniel Glattauer was a Kindle deal of the day, which I snapped up, intrigued by its telling of a romance played out in emails. I have a personal connection with this, given partly how my husband and I got together, back in the early days of the Internet. But I found the book frustrating. In particular I regularly wanted to slap the female main character. It was such an irritating reading experience. I do not intend to read the sequel.
Ever since seeing Audrey Niffenegger talk to Neil Gaiman at the Edinburgh Book Festival I'd wanted to read her The Night Bookmobile graphic novel. I was able to borrow a copy through the local library, having one sent over to my local library to pick up. And although I liked the idea of a story set around a mobile library I had huge problems with the book, specifically the ending. It was such a problem for me that it plummeted at that point from earning a Goodreads rating of 3/5 to 1/5. I cannot recommend this book.
For the Yoggie book club last month I read The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. This is a time travelling concoction involving ancient Egyptian sorcery and timey-wimey Doctor Who style plotting. I enjoyed the plot, but had huge problems with the writing style. So often it seemed to be written in a way - arguably over-written - which made it really hard work for me as a reader. I also thought it needed to be edited far more brutally. Still glad I read it.
The BBC are rereleasing a number of Doctor Who old novels, one for each Doctor, in print and digital form. I snapped up Mark Gatiss's Last of the Gaderene, which I tried to read in print years ago, but could never get into. This time I got on much better. It features the Third Doctor and Jo, and although I had some problems with it, and also found it a bit too similar for example to the same author's Nightshade, I really enjoyed it.
Last finished was a quick read: Marcus Sedgwick's The Spear of Destiny Doctor Who anniversary e-short featuring again the Third Doctor and Jo. I really enjoyed this, and found it another step up in quality from the previous month, and a vast improvement over the appalling First Doctor story of January. So very pleased. Having read American Gods recently I also liked what it did with Norse myth. Very good story.
Patrick Moore loved his many cats, and Miaow!: Cats Really are Nicer Than People! is his book about them. I read this in Kindle version, but mainly on my iPad, so I had full colour pictures. I wanted to like it more than I did. It was very touching in places, but needed to be edited much more ruthlessly. For example there was an awful lot of repetition throughout.
Love Virtually by Daniel Glattauer was a Kindle deal of the day, which I snapped up, intrigued by its telling of a romance played out in emails. I have a personal connection with this, given partly how my husband and I got together, back in the early days of the Internet. But I found the book frustrating. In particular I regularly wanted to slap the female main character. It was such an irritating reading experience. I do not intend to read the sequel.
Ever since seeing Audrey Niffenegger talk to Neil Gaiman at the Edinburgh Book Festival I'd wanted to read her The Night Bookmobile graphic novel. I was able to borrow a copy through the local library, having one sent over to my local library to pick up. And although I liked the idea of a story set around a mobile library I had huge problems with the book, specifically the ending. It was such a problem for me that it plummeted at that point from earning a Goodreads rating of 3/5 to 1/5. I cannot recommend this book.
For the Yoggie book club last month I read The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. This is a time travelling concoction involving ancient Egyptian sorcery and timey-wimey Doctor Who style plotting. I enjoyed the plot, but had huge problems with the writing style. So often it seemed to be written in a way - arguably over-written - which made it really hard work for me as a reader. I also thought it needed to be edited far more brutally. Still glad I read it.
The BBC are rereleasing a number of Doctor Who old novels, one for each Doctor, in print and digital form. I snapped up Mark Gatiss's Last of the Gaderene, which I tried to read in print years ago, but could never get into. This time I got on much better. It features the Third Doctor and Jo, and although I had some problems with it, and also found it a bit too similar for example to the same author's Nightshade, I really enjoyed it.
Last finished was a quick read: Marcus Sedgwick's The Spear of Destiny Doctor Who anniversary e-short featuring again the Third Doctor and Jo. I really enjoyed this, and found it another step up in quality from the previous month, and a vast improvement over the appalling First Doctor story of January. So very pleased. Having read American Gods recently I also liked what it did with Norse myth. Very good story.