Lush in Translation by Aimee Horton

February 8, 2016February 8, 2016Leave a comment

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Helllllo readers, hope you’re well! I’ve been reading a hell of a lot of fun books recently because I’m worried that reading something toooooo serious will kill off my want to read at all. But fun stories are good for me and this one seemed like the perfect read for little ole me. I got a hold of this copy after subscribing to a blog which is something I haven’t done before – without further delay onto the review.

Find out just how British Dottie is…

Dottie Harris is as British as they come, which is exactly what endears her to us. But when her pregnant American cousin comes for a visit, Dottie is a frazzled disaster who can’t seem to overcome the language barrier.

Lush in Translation is a funny look at parenting from both sides of the pond, and the surprising number of confusing language differences that entails.

So, plot time – the book follows the routine of busy working woman Dottie Harris who has gone from working woman to full on Mummy. Battling little ones her days are filled whizzing around wiping noses and finding shoes. Although things aren’t exactly what she was expected she’s adjusting to life. One day though, her expecting cousin from across the pond comes to stay and let’s just say there’s a bit of a language barrier and a bit of difference in expectations but the story follows the differences between the two and the little quirks and ideas about parenting.

This is a very short story but it’s a fun story – we see the quirks and confusion in the changes of language between the two. The confusion when the words nappies (diapers) sweets (candy) and dummies (pacifiers) are used. Throughout we see Dottie desperate to impress and as she attempts to bribe her children into behaving she starts to struggle with keeping up appearances. The story continues to play out between the two women and we get to see the thought process that no matter where we’re from, the ideas we have, the life we decide to lead and the way we parent we are really just the same people underneath. Parenting comes in all different styles and we each have our own way of doing it.

In terms of the writing style it’s very very simple; there’s very little description or character build up and there isn’t a lot into the characters. We don’t really get a description of Dottie other than she’s very British and likes a gin and tonic or too every so often. Her cousin is the same and that’s the real problem of the book it’s just too short. It is sold as a snapshot into her life but it definitely could have been worked into a longer tale. All of these comments will revolve around it being too short but there was just very little space in the scenes, almost each was told in a just sentence which made it difficult to really get involved in.

The ending also was really disappointing because we just know so little about the characters it’s difficult to feel anything at the end of the book. I love short stories and I know T doesn’t because they so rarely deliver and recently I’ve felt a little like that. There’s a difference between a short story and what just feels like a teaser to a really GOOD book that’s just not there. Maybe if this had been a selection of books and snippets it would have been better because I thought the premise of the story was really good.

Overall I enjoyed this but I think if I had bought this in paperback i would have been quite disappointed. At thirty pages I almost (I’m sorry) thought was it worth it? I just felt there could have been so much more to this tale. The continuation of the language barrier, the relationship between the two women as her cousin gets closer to her due dates; there’s a real story there but it’s missing here. I think if this had been worked into more stories then this would have been better, but right now, it’s just not enough for me?

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The Highway by C.J. Box

December 31, 2015December 31, 20154 Comments

Helllllo readers, it’s time for another book review. I’m sorry for the lack of Christmas tales but I don’t tend to buy/get requests/have time around this time of year. It’s one of the wobbles with scheduling posts in the future and it’s something I want to get better at – but having to shut my review requests inbox I’ve been battling through the books and festive tales have just been disregarded this year *sobs.* I must just say before we start this is the second in the Cody Hoyt series by C.J Box and I haven’t read the first because I’m silly and didn’t realise! Without delay le review.

It was Danielle and Gracie’s secret. A teenage adventure. A 1,000 mile drive along the spine of the Rocky Mountains to visit Danielle’s boyfriend in Montana. Their parents were never to know. But now the girls have simply vanished.

The only person who knows they’re missing is Danielle’s boyfriend. He persuades his father – a disgraced, suspended cop – to search for them. But he too simply disappears.

Now it’s up to rookie cop, war widow and single mother Cassie Dewell to find them. Her investigation will introduce her to FBI’s Highway Serial Killer Task Force, compel her to confront a spate of roadside sexual mutilations and murders, and lure her towards a darkness greater than anything she could ever have imagined.

As the blurb states the book follows two sister Gracie and Danielle Sullivan who set out from their mother’s home in Denver to celebrate Thanksgiving with their father. However Danielle has a secret; they’re going to visit her old boyfriend Justin but neither her sister nor Justin know until they’re on the road. Justin’s father Cody Hoyt is an ex-law enforcement officer fired for planting evidence and once he learns from Justin that the two girls have gone off the grid after failing to arrive, he goes out to search for them despite being fired for planting evidence in a previous murder trial. Cody aware that many young women have been vanishing in the region enlists Cassie to help him find the girls and the man he believes to be the kidnapper. Can they find the girls in time?

I’m going to try really hard to not give away any spoilers and yet still let you know how brilliant this book is. In terms of the writing the characters are wonderfully deep and full of character profiling. They spring from the page with realistic dialogue and believable actions. The build up of the characters Danielle and Gracie is skillfully done and seeing one play the hero or survivor and one more of a victim was a good contrast. The author also really plays with the different personalities of Cassie and Cody. We see Cassie come into her own as the good cop who though having to deal with the stresses of being a female officer in terms of sexism and the like – although not from Cody, grows strongly in confidence.

The action with the girls is continually intermixed with the life of a long-distance trucker who calls himself the Lizard King. Here we get insights into the life on the road and the traffic laws and the continuing hierarchy of the different truckers at the gas stations and the rules they live by. The writing has lots of different sub-plots that are intermixed well and flow well together. The descriptions are heady and the swapping between the girls, the Lizard king and the detectives story lines works well despite there being a lot to keep an eye out for.

I guess the only negative I can really come up with was there is definitely an unsavory tone to the book as a whole. The use of the truckers and girls they pick up and what happens next is disturbing and dark. There were quite a few horrific moments and this book definitely stayed with me and made an impact. For me, it’s a work of fiction and it’s important to remember that but there definitely was a very dark side to this book that surprised me a little. The only other complaint was some bits were overly repeated as if we couldn’t keep an eye on the plot twists which over time became tedious.

Overall though I thought this was a well crafted and created book. I thought the storyline was quite original (for me.) I know numerous readers would disagree with that looking at Goodreads and Amazon but I am yet to encounter a book that looks at this type of thriller plot. It also seems that those have read the first book in the series were a little angry. For me, reading the second only it didn’t affect me as much. Overall I solid although a little bit of a terrifying read.

Linnnnnks

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Shards: a short story anthology by C.J Cummings

September 21, 2015November 2, 2015Leave a comment

Hellllllo readers I have a really interesting book of short stories to share with you today. It’s very rare that I would be sent a collection of books that make an anthology but I’m really excited to have received this and have it to review for you today. In terms of my review schedule I am about month ahead now in terms of what needs posting but I will get them all read and up for you soon. Without delay: THE REVIEW.

Like a box of lost and found, Shards is a dive into fiction and all its wonderful edges. Tales of life and of death; war and poetry; monsters with fangs and creatures with claws; the weird and the woeful; the realism and the obscure. It is a journey into the back of a brain, deep in the tunnels of imagination, where the most unusual and brilliant and terrible ideas are born.

An anthology of twenty brand-new works of short-fiction: Science-fiction, Weird, Abstract, Fantasy, Dystopian, Contemporary, Horror, War & More. A love-letter to the written word.

Gah some of these stories are real stunners. The anthology is total mix of different stories and contexts. The first few are very subtle stories There are subject matters than appear once or twice, especially the writing of intense emotion. ‘A busy doorway’ is a beautiful tale of two people who are saying goodbye at an airport the emotion that the author manages to get into the tale and the use of words to give the characters description despite it being a very short tale is skilfully done. The ending was very endearing and difficult to read but it just summed it all up without tying it up in a really finished bow. Delightful. ‘Just Right,’ was another romantic tale that just fell into the readers hands; the author has a definite way of writing to really tell a tale with the characters without needing long descriptions or lots of backstory. It’s a very sweet tale and one I really enjoyed. The two characters continually meet at different coincidental opportunities and although maybe a little twee I thought it was beautiful.

Some of the stories also take on a darker turn especially ‘Soil in the eye,’ is a very dark tale, it tells of a person being buried alive but the emotion driven into the story makes you feel as if you’re there with quaking in the box, feeling the oxygen slowly slip away. More subtle stories including ‘Facing the right’ and ‘The Light’ tend to be more soft stories revolving around the telling of the tale rather than telling a story. Due to them being so short they do have an abstract feel but for me I thought it just added to the authors ability to weave such delicate stories. This is shown most in the tale ‘The Still Bridge,’ it’s so atmospheric and different to the earlier tales I thought it was beautifully done.

My favourite of the tales I think was ‘The Aching Vengeance’ one of the stories towards the start of the anthology. The tale shows an old cowboy who has been searching for his daughter for many many years and after wandering into a bar it all starts to get a bit messy. The story shows Cumming’s ability to string together a powerful tale in only a couple of pages and the story really stayed with me. It’s a very dark tale but one I thought was really intriguing.

There were a couple of stories that did fall short, ‘Sunday Night Movie Massacre,’ felt a little rushed and didn’t fully explore enough into the monster to make me believe in such a tale, and the story before ‘The Town Built on tragedy’ didn’t give enough to end the tale and make a lot of sense to the reader. I think it was a really interesting start but there wasn’t quite enough to make me feel that, oh wow feeling. There are a few near misses but most of spot on.

Overall this is a really brilliant complation of different tales with different contexts, characters and stories. Some of the stories I felt had too much content to be tied up too quickly and lacked a little more information but I thought the experimentation with style and genre was really exciting. I’ve just seen the author has another book and I might just have to give that a good. If you like short stories or want to read some really superb ones, this is a compilation for you.

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“… only then did I wake out of the book.” – John McGahern

August 6, 2015July 14, 2015Leave a comment

Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent

May 23, 2015May 23, 20153 Comments

Good afternoon readers and a happy Monday to you all. I have so many things to tell you about Copenhagen however for now a really exciting book review. It’s the first time since starting a book blogger that a publishing house of such calibre has got in contact with mylittlebookblog to ask for a review. Little old me blogging from my tiny terraced house in my sonic pyjamas and a my over-washed woolly jumper was approached by Penguin. Now, for some of you this may be a daily occurrence, but for me this is one of the most exciting things that has happened all year. What adds to this, is the book they sent was fantastic and a total knock-out and I adored it. I read it in two sittings, one snuggled up in the car from Silvy to Nottingham and the second on the journey from Nottingham back to Stoke-on-Trent and it is absolutely brilliant. I am so nervous to bring you this today but I cannot help but sing praises for this superb book.

Oliver Ryan is a handsome and charismatic success story. He lives in the suburbs with his wife, Alice, who illustrates his award-winning children’s books and gives him her unstinting devotion. Their life together is one of enviable privilege and ease – enviable until, one evening after supper, Oliver attacks Alice and beats her into a coma. In the aftermath, as everyone tries to make sense of his astonishing act of savagery, Oliver tells his story. So do those whose paths he has crossed over five decades. What unfolds is a story of shame, envy, breath-taking deception and masterful manipulation. Only Oliver knows the lengths to which he has had to go to get the life to which he felt entitled. But even he is in for a shock when the past catches up with him.

The first thing to point out is that I have not read a book with such a suitable title for a little while now but Unravelling Oliver works perfectly here. It is the book in a nutshell; we read through whilst unknotting the stories that lead to the terrible event that leads to us now. See, Alice and Oliver appear to have the flawless relationship. He writes terribly successful children’s books under a pseudonym and she expertly illustrates them. However, one evening, Oliver cracks and he hits Alice. He beats her savagely and without abandon. From this moment on we unravel the man that is Oliver from numerous and differing points of view and from different points in history. We begin to build the real picture of Oliver and the path that his life has taken and the relationships he has been a part of until we turn the final few pages and find out the final shocking secret.

This book is sublime; utterly riveting and unspoiled throughout. The first thing to mention is the outstanding writing style. From the very first paragraph, even the first line I knew I was going to enjoy this. The writing has a way of curling itself around you and pulling you so deeply into the plot you know you won’t be able to stop reading till the very, very end. The story weaves a number of strands that clot an overall perspective of Oliver woven from a discussion of his childhood, his relationships, his affairs and his dark and cold personality. These are told by people that know Oliver. However, the author juxtaposes this with Oliver’s own view of himself, a look into his own psyche and the differences are mind-blowing. I was continually on the edge of my seat trying to understand this character. You realise early on that Oliver is not going to be a character you admire, respect or like at all however you can’t quite stop yourself wanting, no, needing to know more about him. His speech his brutal, his ideals and his way of speaking often blunt and rude, he is a chilling but stunningly written character.

I don’t want to give too much away about the supporting characters because you meet them along the way and their subtle differences help to paint a more succinct picture of Oliver. They slowly, chapter by chapter tell us more and more about this dangerous character. Each is written with true style and strongly built character profiles. I could easily describe each of them one by one which is a testament to the authors ability to build characters but I’ll let you discover that for yourselves. In some ways this book is a thriller but for me it comes across more as a psychological drama. I thought the contrast between what the supporting characters gave away was done with maturity and an understanding of how to give the book pace but not leave the reader constantly in anticipation. Some of the reveals could be guessed however a number were truly shocking.

So, this book is not a happy read, no, not in the slightest but it was an all-consuming tale of neglect, hatred, and need. It moves fluidily pulling the reader deeper and deeper into the tale until the final pages have turned. Reading the epilogue which is a brilliant addition I realised that I had been holding my breath for some time and had to let all out at once. It deals with uncomfortable issues but it does it with such skill and understanding I could hardly believe this was a debut. A truly inspiring read that will stay with me a long time into the future: Definitely, definitely worth a read.

A thank you from mylittlebookblog

May 3, 2015May 3, 20159 Comments

So, it’s Sunday and the end of this celebration of mylittlebookbookblog. I’m going to keep it short because I’ve waffled enough this week.

I’ve learnt a lot blogging and I’ve learn a lot about myself in doing so and to be honest with you, I think that this blog has ultimately saved me from a number of cripplingly scary moments. My life right now is a little in limbo and it’s terrifying. I’m not sure what I want to do let alone where I want to be and in the last ten months I’ve seen the worst of myself and the panic that comes from graduating and feeling a little lost. But this blog has brought out the best of me.

I have felt so wonderfully supported and this blog has been a life saver and I just wanted to really say thank you. From my mushy emotional and slightly whimsical heart. Because you are the best people that I could have ever wished for. All the authors, the bloggers, the tweeters, the likers the commenters and the emailers (these are not words) but all of you. Thank you. Thank you so much and here’s to another year of this pretty goddamn wonderful tiny space of the internet that I have found I’m able to call home.

A short story is a different thing all together –

April 20, 2015April 15, 2015Leave a comment

Two Year Anniversary of mylittlebookblog!

April 9, 2015April 15, 20155 Comments

Afternoon readers, a little news from my little book blog. On the 29th of April 2015 I will be celebrating the two year official anniversary of mylittlebookblog.com. I can not believe how much this blog has given me in terms of confidence in my writing and reviewing, the sheer number of authors, readers, publishers and book bloggers I have met who have been such a joy to get to know and the number of books I’ve read and been introduced to. I will be celebrating the two years blogging between the dates of the 29th of April and the 3rd of May and would love as many of you to get involved as possible. Whether that’s a guest post, helping me with a give-away in terms of prizes or just sharing my blog posts on the day. If you would like to get in touch please comment or email me at mylittlebookblog2014@gmail.com

Thank you

Piano from a 4th storey window: Jenny Morton Potts

March 25, 20151 Comment

Good evening readers, hope you’re all well unlike me, a little sick bunny. It seems I have caught a tummy bug which left me rendered completely useless yesterday. After being rudely awakened by my housemate, I heaved myself out of bed to go and purchase whatever it was she was complaining about. Hauling a sick ridden body out of bed dressing it in patterned black, red and white leggings, an orange t-shirt and a pair of blue fabric pumps and a massive coat with a fur hood I must have looked comical. I cannot wait to move away from the drama of where I live. Before I get too off topic there are a number of reviews that were supposed to be posted days ago but I’ve been so sick I haven’t had any time to sort them and amongst packing for the move last week. I’m hoping to get them written up ASAP so if you’re waiting for a review it’s on its way I promise. So, without further delay onto today’s review.

Lawrence Fyre and Marin Strang aren’t like other people. He is the eccentric owner of failing Sargasso Books in the Brighton Lanes. She is an ex-Jehovah’s Witness and isolated Spanish teacher. If they live together in his illegal, beautiful, rope laddered lock-up; can their love overcome their losses? Original, sexy, very funny and deeply moving. An author in complete control of a number of unforgettable characters and emotional highs and lows, Jenny Morton Potts leaves the reader breathless, and wanting more.

So as the blurb suggests Marin Strang is a Spanish teacher whose life hasn’t quite gone the way she wanted it to; having to live on a wage from numerous temporary teaching contracts and coming out of a rather painful breakup she’s in a bit of a sticking point; in limbo as to what she should do next. An ex-Jehovah’s witness but with ties to her father who remains a loyal member, Marin finds her days wandering The Lanes in Brighton a shopping spot and ends up in the a café named Number 8. Here she meets Lawrence Fyre, the owner of the (failing) store Sargasso Books. The two, after a number of chance meetings enter into an intense relationship but a number of hiccups including his sister and the intriguing Nina could force their relationship to fail. Will their relationship rise or flounder? You’ll have to get hold of a copy to find out!

So, there’s the book in a nutshell; now you could be forgiven for thinking that this is a rather stereotypical boy meets girl style plot-line but it’s more than that. Firstly I have to commend the author for getting the feel of Brighton down so very well. I could feel the blustery wind and see the cobbled lanes full of brightly painted houses, it’s incredibly evocative of the little seaside town. The writing style is wonderful although a little difficult to get into to start with. It reads almost like a stream of consciousness, which we don’t experience all too often as a reader and when mixed with dialogue and narrative it was a little different at the start. However as you get more stuck in the words rise and fall in a very smooth almost lyrical prose which I thoroughly enjoyed.

In terms of plot line it is the perfect mix of both tragedy and love story and the whirlwind mix throughout is both tender and comedic. The two main characters are wonderfully written both quirky in their own rights but written with a real feel of human warmth and understanding. They come alive with each other and the conviction of their relationship is maddeningly exciting and euphoric. The pace is fast and forward thinking, it ricochets off with such breath taking speed that I found myself reading chapter after chapter without noticing.

I think what makes this book is the style; it is a unique and unforgettable writing quality that is both quirky and gripping. It also allows for the highs and the lows of the novel to really come alive and punch the reader in the jaw which is exactly what I wanted from this novel. It is a love story but it also intertwines personal growth, the pressure to conform to society or religion and trust in the relationships we have. It really made me sit up and listen and made me think about my own place in the world that I find myself in. Overall a stylish and quirky read that was a wonderful mix; thoroughly enjoyable.