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vivdunstan) wrote2012-11-01 10:20 pm
vivdunstan) wrote2012-11-01 10:20 pm
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Books finished in October 2012
It was quite a good month for finishing books, though some were quite short. Though I'm still very knocked out for much of the time, so can only read for short bursts.
First up was a reread of Tolkien's The Hobbit. I decided to reread it before the first movie comes out. It's surprising how much I don't remember so well, though I've read it many times since childhood. The bits most familiar to me are the Misty Mountains section and Mirkwood. All the stuff with the dragon etc. is a bit of a blur. But an enjoyable read nevertheless.
Doctor Who: The Angel's Kiss by Justin Richards was a tie-in to the recent Angels Take Manhattan TV episode. On the downside, and this did disappoint me quite a lot, it wasn't the book featured in that episode, but more of a prequel. It's a quick and easy read, but I'd rather have read what we saw on screen.
A very quick read was Hamish McHamish of St Andrews: Cool Cat About Town by Susan McMullan. This is about a cat who has adopted St Andrews town centre as its home, and is much loved by the local residents. I've stroked him in a South Street hairdresser and can attest that he's gorgeous in real life. Apparently he gets a brush every day there from the hairdressers, and has his own seat. It was a very quick read: a collection of photos of Hamish, from kitten age upwards, with a little text. I was slightly disappointed that some of the better pictures were just too small to see the detail properly. Also there were a few too many pictures of St Andrews without Hamish in them. But still a good read.
My favourite H.P. Lovecraft story is The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. This month I read the graphic novel version adapted and drawn by I.N.J. Culbard. I was somewhat disappointed with this, though I'd greatly enjoyed his At The Mountains Of Madness graphic novel version. The plot didn't seem to flow well in the graphic novel, and was often hard to make sense of. And the pictures were often too dark and dingy to see what was going on. I suspect that it probably needed a more radical adaptation.
Some of my favourite books as a child were Enid Blyton's Famous Five series. As a bit of light reading I decided to read the first one on my Kindle, Five on a Treasure Island. The text has been somewhat updated, but I still enjoyed it, and will probably go on to reread more of the series. Always preferred the Famous Five to the Secret Seven. Though perhaps my favourite stories of all were the Adventure ones.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson was this month's choice for the book club I'm in. I enjoyed this, but with reservations. I wasn't as terrified by the end as I hoped to be, and think that one of the main characters was underwritten. Also the introduction of new characters near the end of the story totally removed the tension that had been building at that stage.
Last up was the latest tale of gothic and macabre goings on in Whitby from Paul Magrs. Brenda and Effie Forever is the sixth in a series of books, and one of the strongest, possibly the strongest. I really enjoyed it, and wrote up a review immediately afterwards summarising my thoughts. I was so keen to read it that I didn't wait for the (slow coming) Kindle version, but bought a hardback copy, and battled with it, despite my brain damage problems reading print. Luckily it was nicely typeset, not too large pages, and so long as I covered up the opposite page each time I managed ok.
First up was a reread of Tolkien's The Hobbit. I decided to reread it before the first movie comes out. It's surprising how much I don't remember so well, though I've read it many times since childhood. The bits most familiar to me are the Misty Mountains section and Mirkwood. All the stuff with the dragon etc. is a bit of a blur. But an enjoyable read nevertheless.
Doctor Who: The Angel's Kiss by Justin Richards was a tie-in to the recent Angels Take Manhattan TV episode. On the downside, and this did disappoint me quite a lot, it wasn't the book featured in that episode, but more of a prequel. It's a quick and easy read, but I'd rather have read what we saw on screen.
A very quick read was Hamish McHamish of St Andrews: Cool Cat About Town by Susan McMullan. This is about a cat who has adopted St Andrews town centre as its home, and is much loved by the local residents. I've stroked him in a South Street hairdresser and can attest that he's gorgeous in real life. Apparently he gets a brush every day there from the hairdressers, and has his own seat. It was a very quick read: a collection of photos of Hamish, from kitten age upwards, with a little text. I was slightly disappointed that some of the better pictures were just too small to see the detail properly. Also there were a few too many pictures of St Andrews without Hamish in them. But still a good read.
My favourite H.P. Lovecraft story is The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. This month I read the graphic novel version adapted and drawn by I.N.J. Culbard. I was somewhat disappointed with this, though I'd greatly enjoyed his At The Mountains Of Madness graphic novel version. The plot didn't seem to flow well in the graphic novel, and was often hard to make sense of. And the pictures were often too dark and dingy to see what was going on. I suspect that it probably needed a more radical adaptation.
Some of my favourite books as a child were Enid Blyton's Famous Five series. As a bit of light reading I decided to read the first one on my Kindle, Five on a Treasure Island. The text has been somewhat updated, but I still enjoyed it, and will probably go on to reread more of the series. Always preferred the Famous Five to the Secret Seven. Though perhaps my favourite stories of all were the Adventure ones.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson was this month's choice for the book club I'm in. I enjoyed this, but with reservations. I wasn't as terrified by the end as I hoped to be, and think that one of the main characters was underwritten. Also the introduction of new characters near the end of the story totally removed the tension that had been building at that stage.
Last up was the latest tale of gothic and macabre goings on in Whitby from Paul Magrs. Brenda and Effie Forever is the sixth in a series of books, and one of the strongest, possibly the strongest. I really enjoyed it, and wrote up a review immediately afterwards summarising my thoughts. I was so keen to read it that I didn't wait for the (slow coming) Kindle version, but bought a hardback copy, and battled with it, despite my brain damage problems reading print. Luckily it was nicely typeset, not too large pages, and so long as I covered up the opposite page each time I managed ok.