Dark Fire (C J Sansom)

Book Synopsis
The second book in the Shardlake series.

It is 1540 and the hottest summer of the sixteenth century. Matthew Shardlake, believing himself out of favour with Thomas Cromwell, is busy trying to maintain his legal practice and keep a low profile. But his involvement with a murder case, defending a girl accused of brutally murdering her young cousin, brings him once again into contact with the king’s chief minister – and a new assignment . . . The secret of Greek Fire, the legendary substance with which the Byzantines destroyed the Arab navies, has been lost for centuries. Now an official of the Court of Augmentations has discovered the formula in the library of a dissolved London monastery. When Shardlake is sent to recover it, he finds the official and his alchemist brother brutally murdered – the formula has disappeared. Now Shardlake must follow the trail of Greek Fire across Tudor London, while trying at the same time to prove his young client’s innocence. But very soon he discovers nothing is as it seems . . .

Ups
As engaging and compelling as the first book in the series. The period detail is superb - London in the 16th century really comes to life. Although the author has clearly done a lot of research on historical facts of the time, he has cleverly woven these into the story, so the book does not read like a dissertation on layout of and life in 16th century London. Highly readable, and I will definitely been reading the next one in the series.

Downs
The whodunit element of this book was somewhat disappointing, as it was quite easy to guess who was behind the disappearance of Greek Fire. Perhaps my expectations were too high, given the standard Sansom set in the first Shardlake mystery.

Rating

Language & Style - 9 / 10
Memorability - 4 / 10
Re-readability - 3 / 10
Pageturner factor - 8 / 10
Overall - 7 / 10

Peril At End House (Agatha Christie)

Book synopsis
Nick Buckley was an unusual name for a pretty young woman. But then she had led an unusual life. First, on a treacherous Cornish hillside, the brakes on her car failed. Then, on a coastal path, a falling boulder missed her by inches. Later, an oil painting fell and almost crushed her in bed. Upon discovering a bullet-hole in Nick's sun hat, Hercule Poirot decides the girl needs his protection. At the same time, he begins to unravel the mystery of a murder that hasn't been committed. Yet.

Ups
Quite a typical Agatha Christie, with lots of twists and turns and red herrings at every corner. Narrated by Captain Hastings, Poirot's faithful old sidekick. If you want a classical Agatha Christie, this won't disappoint.

Downs
Christie made this one a little too obvious for me. I had my suspicions on who the murderer was from the start, and watched out for clues to confirm my theory throughout the rest of the book. I was still hoping that I had latched on to the obvious red-herring-murderer that Christie sometimes artfully (and not too obviously) plants in her books. Alas that was not meant to be. Very enjoyable read, but definitely not up there with her best like the Ten Little Niggers, Crooked House, or the Murder on the Orient Express.

Rating

Language & Style - 9 / 10
Memorability - 4 / 10
Re-readability - 3 / 10
Pageturner factor - 8 / 10

Overall - 7 / 10

Towards Zero (Agatha Christie)

Book Synopsis
Before a murder is committed, events collude and juxtapose in such a fashion as to set up the scene of the crime; indeed, it is only a matter of time until the clock points towards zero and violent death occurs...

The story begins as Lady Tressilian, an old and rich woman confined to her bed, invites several guests into her seaside home of Gull's Point for two weeks at the end of the summer. However, handsome tennis star Nevile Strange, former ward of Lady Tressilian's deceased husband, incurs her displeasure by bringing his new wife, Kay, and his ex wife, Audrey, under her roof together, thus causing no end of romantic misunderstandings. But events soon take on a much less whimsical turn when someone is killed and Superintendent Battle, who is vacationing nearby in the home of his nephew, Inspector James Leach, finds himself pawing his way along a labyrinthine maze of clues and deception...

Ups
An unusual Agatha Christie, with several seemingly irrelevant stories NOT involving the central characters, yet are woven together until the whole puzzle comes together at the end. What is the connection between the seemingly innocent death of an old solicitor from a heart attack, a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and a child who commits a calculated murder? None of it makes sense until the final chapters of the book. Also I enjoyed the atmosphere in this book and the tension in the household between the new wife and the ghost like presence of the ex wife both of which reminded me strongly of Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca (one of my all time favourite books).

Downs
In my view Agatha Christie cheats in this book, as two key pieces of evidence only come to light in the final chapter, and they hold the key to the book's solution. Without these it is impossible for the reader to confidently surmise the murderer and motive. I much prefer Christie books where all the clues are presented to the reader interspersed throughout the book, so the solution is there in front of you and yet elusive at the same time. Also not sure why this is not a Hercule Poirot book - Superintendent Battle is very much inferior in his detection methods to the brilliant Belgian. Finally the intricacies of the whole plot take a long time to build - the first murder is not committed until well into the second half of the book.

Rating
Language & Style - 9 / 10
Memorability - 4 / 10
Re-readability - 3 / 10
Pageturner factor - 8 / 10

Overall - 7 / 10

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)

Book Synopsis
Financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist has made his living uncovering the corrupt and crooked practices of Stockholm's leading financiers in his magazine, Millennium. But one expose unexpectedly backfires, and Blomkvist's reputation is in tatters. When he is offered an investigative job by powerful industrialist Henrik Vanger, he is in no position to refuse. But he is surprised to find it has nothing to do with high finance - this time, it is a case of murder.

Many years ago, Henrik's niece, Harriet, disappeared during a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the Vangers. No-one saw her leave the island, and no body was ever found. Even so, Henrik is convinced that she was murdered by a member of his own family - the tightly knit but dysfunctional Vanger clan. Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander set out to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

The first book in the Millenium Trilogy, this book and the two that followed were published soon after Stieg Larsson's death in 2004.

Ups
Set in a remote town in the north of Sweden, the setting is unconventional and reeks of a locked room murder mystery, with the members of the family who were present on the day Harriet Vanger disappeared. The two lead characters Blomkvist and Salander are beautifully depicted, with all their strong attributes as well as their flaws, and were very believable. The story flows and unfolds well, and although the murder mystery is the key theme, it is also cleverly intervowen with Blomkvist's personal vendetta with the businessman who put his journalistic reputation into tatters.

Downs
Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I did not think this book merited the attention and hype it generated and the number of copies it sold worldwide. Sure, it was a pleasurable read, though it could have done with more rigorous editing, as it was at times too long winded and destroyed the page-turner effect the author was clearly trying to accomplish. The translation into English was generally competent, though there were a couple of instances where the point being made seemed to be lost in translation. I also felt the ending was clumsy, the murder mystery was solved, and yet there were still over a 100 pages to go which made it a bit of an anticlimax. The last chapters of the book concluded the story of Blomkvist's personal vendetta. I felt the book would have been more impactful if the two endings could have been achieved simultaneously.

Overall a good read, but I don't think I will be bothering with the other two in the series.

Rating
Language & Style - 7 / 10
Memorability - 6 / 10
Re-readability - 3 / 10
Pageturner factor - 6 / 10

Overall - 6 / 10

Sad Cypress (Agatha Christie)

Book Synopsis
Distant cousins Elinor Carlisle and Roddy Welman are happily engaged to be married when they receive an anonymous letter claiming that someone is "sucking up" to their wealthy aunt, Laura Welman, from whom Elinor and Roddy expect to inherit a sizeable fortune. Elinor immediately suspects Mary Gerrard, the lodgekeeper's daughter, to whom their aunt has taken a considerable liking. They go down to visit their aunt: partly to see her and partly to protect their interests.

In the night the rich aunt dies without having arranged a will. Elinor is the key suspect - only she had the motive, the opportunity and the means to administer the fatal poison that killed Laura Welman. Yet Hercule Poirot is not convinced that she is guilty, and he sets out to prove her innocence.

Ups
A classic Agatha Christie, the queen of the locked room murder mystery. Only a certain number of people were on the scene, and they are questioned one by one by Poirot in typical Christie format. Also as typical with other Agatha Christie murder mysteries, all is not as it seems at first, and as Poirot peels off the layers of hidden secrets in the suspects' lives the mystery begins to unfold. It is hard to comment more on the ups of the book without giving away a spoiler. The clues are masterfully hidden and spread throughout the book, so read it carefully!

Downs
I would not say it was the simplest of Agatha Christie mysteries, but I had guessed the murderer and the murder motive before Poirot announces it at the end of the book. So I did not get the spine tingling sensation that I normally get at the end of a really great Agatha Christie novel - when the murderer is announced and it seems so obvious that you wonder how you did not see it sooner. However this may have been because I had read the book many years back and I subconsciously recalled the ending....

Rating
Language & Style - 9 / 10
Memorability - 7 / 10
Re-readability - 5 / 10
Pageturner factor - 9 / 10

Overall - 8 / 10

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)

Book Synopsis
Nazi Germany in 1939. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier. Liesel, a nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family in a town on the outskirts of Munich. Liesel steals books. This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street when the bombs begin to fall.

The story is narrated by death. It's a small story, about: a girl, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter hidden in the basement, and quite a lot of thievery. DEATH WILL VISIT THE BOOK THIEF THREE TIMES. 


Ups
This book has received so many awards and critical acclaim, and has stayed in bestseller charts for so many weeks that I picked it up off my shelf with great anticipation. I enjoy books set in Nazi Germany, though this one was different from others in that it told the story of an ordinary German family rather than the sufferings in the concentration camps. It was even more powerful as the horrors of the war were to a large extent untold, but always implied and permeated the whole fabric of the book. The lead character was an engaging little girl, who also loved books so I could identify with her immeditately. The story was well told, in bite-size chunks, and there were lots of little glimpses of what was to come at the end of the book. It was a book about the second world war, but it was also about the power of words, despite the Nazis' totalitarian censorship and suppression of forbidden books.

There was lots of beautiful language throughout the book, but my favourite was probably the following sentence by Death, when he was talking about war in the trenches:
I've seen so many young men over the years who think they're running at other young men. They are not. They're running at me.

Downs
Critics loved the idea that this book was narrated by Death - I did not think this was a novel idea at all, Terry Pratchett and others before him have already been there. Also Zusak's Death was not a believable character, almost caricature like, and attributed with way too much human emotion. The little girl was engaging enough, but I found her thoughts and the way she spoke far too adult for her years, even making allowance for the fact that she had to grow up fast from her experiences. I also felt the book tried too hard to be a literary masterpiece, Zusak had really gone overboard with his allegories and metaphors, and I think it would have been much better to pick a select few, less would have been more. In the end it took me a long time to go through this book. Although the story was interesting enough, and the language not offensive and at times quite lovely, for me it was not 'unputdownable'. However it did have a great ending.

Rating
Language & Style - 7 / 10
Memorability - 7 / 10
Re-readability - 5 / 10
Pageturner factor - 7 / 10

Overall - 7 / 10

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde (R. L. Stevenson)

Book Synopsis
**SPOILER ALERT - if you don't know what this book is about do not read further!**
Everyone has a dark side. Dr Jekyll, a respected scientist and well-regarded doctor, has discovered the ultimate drug. A chemical that can turn him into someone (or something) else. Suddenly, he can unleash his deepest depravities and cruelties in the guise of the sinister and evil Mr Hyde. Transforming himself at will, he roams the streets of fog-bound Victorian London as his monstrous alter-ego, looking for prey. It seems Dr Jekyll is master of his fate. It seems he is in complete control. But soon he will discover that his double life comes at a hideous price and he becomes the victim of his success...

Ups
I could have sworn I had read this book, as I already know so much about its main concept. However during a recent browse through my library I noticed that I don't actually have a copy, so rushed to rectify the situation. The book was much shorter than I thought it would be, at 88 pages it's more of a novella. When first published in the 1800s, it was a truly shocking tale, especially because the readers at the time would not have known the fact that Jekyll and Hyde were one man with a dual personality until the last pages, and would have been trying to figure out the mystery throughout the book only to be faced with the shocking revelation at the conclusion. Despite the fact that it is almost impossible for a modern reader to innocently experience the story as it was meant to (as we all know what happens at the end), it is still a bone-chilling piece of writing. I loved the Edgar Allan Poe-esque atmosphere that oozes from the story, even the foggy, murky streets of London is an apt setting for the sinister tale that unfolds.

This isn't just a gothic horror story - it is one of the first of its kind. Also its not just about the old chestnut of good versus evil - its insights into human psychology were decades ahead of its time. Stevenson wrote this book several decades before Sigmund Freud revolutionized human psychology yet a lot of the tenets that Freud would write about are here in this book. Fascinating.

It is said there is a sentence in every book that captures the essence of the book, and I always look out for this. In this book there was one line that really struck me: "My devil had been long caged, so he came out roaring". Notice the use of 'He' and not 'It' - showing that Dr Jekyll considered Mr Hyde a person just as real as himself, and not a chemically induced monstrous beast.

Downs
I can think of very few downs. Whilst I was reading this book I desperately wanted to find out exactly what Mr Hyde did during his evening excursions to satisfy his cruel nature, and wished the book had been longer to answer all these unanswered questions. I was going to put this as a 'Down'. However, now that I have finished the book, I actually quite like the way Stevenson was 'economical' with his writing, as half the story is in what was left unsaid. The exact nature of the depravities and cruelties enjoyed and inflicted by Mr Hyde is never spelt out, but left to the imagination of the reader. Therefore whatever the reader imagines these to be, that probably reflects the deepest and darkest thoughts of the reader's own Mr Hyde... Worrying thought!!

Rating
Language & Style - 9 / 10
Memorability - 10 / 10
Re-readability - 8 / 10
Pageturner factor - 8 / 10

Overall - 9 / 10

Remarkable Creatures (Tracy Chevalier)

Book Synopsis
In the early 1800s, a windswept beach along the English coast brims with fossils.  From the moment she's struck by lightning as a baby, it is clear Mary Anning is marked for greatness. When she uncovers unknown dinosaur fossils in the cliffs near her home, she sets the scientific world alight, challenging ideas about the world's creation and stimulating debate over our origins. In an arena dominated by men, however, Mary is soon facing prejudice from the academic community, vicious gossip from neighbours, and the heartbreak of forbidden love. Then - in prickly Elizabeth Philpot, a fossil-obsessed middleclass spinster - she finds a champion and a rival.



Ups
I have been a big fan of Chevalier ever since reading her debut book, the Girl with a Pearl Earring. Alas her last book, Burning Bright, received a savaging from reviewers, and rightly so. But  now she has shown her mettle by bouncing back with what may well be one of her best novels.

Mary and Elizabeth were real people, and it is said the tongue twister 'She sells seashells by the sea shore' is attributable to Mary. However this is not just their story, or even a story about dinosaur fossils and evolution theory in the early 19th century. Sure, these are the obvious themes in the book, and very well told they are, in Chevalier's beautifully flowing, simple style. To me the undercurrents in this book were even more unforgettable - two self-taught women challenging the position of women in society; the struggle between the religious and scientific communities about the origins of our existence; and how a shared passion can transcend class and gender - all of which scandalous concepts in those days.

This book has been described as 'Jane Austen meets Darwin' - which I found very apt. Not only was it set in the Austen era, there were so many little touches in the book that reminded me of Austen's novels, particularly Sense and Sensibility (three unmarried sisters, banished to live in a small cottage on a windswept shore, when their brother and his new wife take over their comfortable mansion. Sound familiar?). It considers all the Austenish concerns of that era (marriage, etiquette, social mobility) and there are even references to Austen in the novel.

An extraordinary story, wonderfully told. Full of period detail. A great gentle read.

Downs
Some readers may find the amount of artistic license in this book frustrating - so this novel is really not for you if you are looking for a strict biography of Mary Anning. I personally am a big fan of the historical fiction genre, so I did not mind the author's imaginative license, or the love story thrown in. 

The book is told in first person, and alternating chapters are told from Mary's and Elizabeth's points of view. I think this was a great idea, however I could not differentiate between the voices of Mary and Elizabeth. I would have expected the differences in their class, age, education and upbringing, language, even accent to be much more recognisable. However, this is a minor criticism in what is otherwise an exceptional book.

Rating
Language & Style - 9 / 10
Memorability - 8 / 10
Re-readability - 6 / 10
Pageturner factor - 7 / 10

Overall - 8 / 10

My all time favourite reads

So that you can get an idea what sort of books make me tick, here's a list of 10 books that I consider to be my all time favourites. This is in no particular order, as asking me to pick a favourite amongst these 10 is like asking a mother to pick their favourite child! They are all unforgettable reads.

       

        

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Whilst working as a lady's companion, the heroine of Rebecca meets Maxim de Winter, a handsome and rich widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. She accepts, but whisked from glamourous Monte Carlo to the ominous and brooding Manderley, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory of his dead wife Rebecca is forever kept alive in the house. Most interestingly we never find out the name of the heroine, which subliminally reinforces her insignificance compared to Rebecca. Love the atmosphere in this book. 

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett 
An epic historical novel set in 12th century England that tells the story of Philip, prior of Kingsbridge, driven to build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has known; of Tom, the mason who becomes his architect; of the beautiful, elusive Lady Aliena, haunted by a secret shame; and of a struggle between good and evil that will turn church against state, and brother against brother. A large tome, but absolutely unputdownable. Follet recently published a sequel to this book, which is just as good. 

River God by Wilbur Smith
Ancient Egypt lies ravaged by war, as weak men inherit the crown. Taita - a wise eunuch slave, sees the pharaoh only as a symbol of a kingdom's fading glory. Beside Taita stand his proteges, Lostris, daughter of Lord Intef, beautiful beyond her 14 years; and Tanus, proud, young army officer, who has vowed to avenge the death of his father, and seize Lostris as his prize. I enjoy Wilbur Smith books, but I wouldn't rank him as one of my favourite authors. This book however is a real masterpiece.  You will find yourself transported to Ancient Egypt. 

The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George
Ancient Egypt theme continues with the story of Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile. This saga of ambition, power and passion is told in the first person, from the queen's earliest memories of her father's tenuous rule to her own reign over one of the most glittering kingdoms in the world. It is a big book, but meticulously researched and extremely well written, so well worth the time and effort.  I would also strongly recommend The Autobiography of Henry VIII by the same author. 

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
A chilling ghost story. Arthur Kipps, a solicitor, is summoned to attend the funeral of Mrs Alice Drablow. It is not until he glimpses a wasted young woman, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a creeping sense of unease begins to take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk of the woman in black - and her terrible purpose. I am not a huge fan of the supernatural, but I will never forget the chill down my spine when I read this book. 

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, this is my favourite Hardy novel and my favourite classic. 

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Ten strangers, with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon. Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the voice of an unseen host accuses each person of hiding a guilty secret. That evening,one of them is found murdered. The tension escalates as the survivors realise the killer is not only one of them but is preparing to strike again! and again! I have read all of Christie's books, and this one is by far the best.  

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
The first book in the Earth's Children series set in the Stone Age. When her parents are killed by an earthquake, 5-year-old Ayla wanders through the forest completely alone. She is rescued by a group of Neanderthals that call themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear. Ayla, a cro-magnon, finds herself challenging the beliefs of the clan. Spellbinding. I have recommended this book to many friends, and they all rush out to buy the second book as soon as they finish this one. 

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
My childhood favourite. Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert are in for a big surprise. they are waiting for an orphan boy to help with the work at Green Gables; but a skinny, red-haired girl turns up instead. Feisty and full of spirit, Anne Shirley charms her way into the Cuthberts' affection with her vivid imagination and constant chatter. This book brings back many a fond childhood memory. 

The Foundation by Isaac Asimov
An epic sci-fi saga set so far in the future that Earth is all but forgotten by humans who live throughout the galaxy. Yet the Galactic Empire is on the brink of collapse. Hari Seldon, a psycho-historian and mathematician, can scientifically predict the future, and it doesn't look pretty: a new Dark Age will send humanity into barbarism in 500 years. He concocts a scheme to save the knowledge of the race in an Encyclopedia Galactica. But this project will take generations to complete, and who will take up the torch after him? Not just for the sci-fi fan.

If you also loved any of the books listed above, stay tuned to my blog! :)

The Leopard (Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa)

Book synopsis
The first book I will review in my blog is The Leopard, written by Sicilian nobleman Giuseppe Tomasi, Prince of Lampedusa. The book is a semi-autobiographical novel set at the end of the 19th century and depicts the death throes of the great feudal nobility of Sicily at the time of invasion by Garibaldi. This book has a wide renown as a 20th century classic, and one of my husband's favourites. I decided to finally read it after watching a very favourable review of it on Australian TV.

Ups
I don't normally like books translated into English from another language, as I often find the original meaning and prose gets 'lost in translation', and what may well be a jewel of a book in its native language is all too often ruined by an incompetent translator. Happily, in this case the translator has done a magnificent job and The Leopard does not seem to have lost of any of the charm of its original in the process.

The book is quite small - and yet in 190 pages very vividly depicts a very hot, sleepy, never-changing Sicily and the life of the local landowner aristocracy in late 1800s, at the time of invasion by Garibaldi and Sicily's eventual annexation into a new united Italy. It's a great example of historical writing, recapturing the essence of a bygone period and all the class politics of that day with the aristocracy being replaced by rising middle class 'gentry'. Sadness, melancholy and impending death permeates the whole book from beginning to end.

The language is very sensual, full of ideas and new ways of looking at things that makes you pause and think. In particular I found myself moved by the author's depiction of his life ebbing away in his old age, likening it to 'grains of sand lining up unhurried, unceasing, before the narrow neck of an hourglass'. In earlier chapters he refers to marriage and love as '1 year of fire, 30 years of ashes' and describes two young and naive lovers as 'unknowing actors set to play the parts of Juliet and Romeo by a director who had concealed the fact that tomb and poison were already in the script'. Also watch out for a description of the gorgeous Italian food throughout the book - especially the macaroni pie and the desserts - absolutely mouthwatering and got me heading straight for the fridge. Great writing, to evoke all these senses and emotions in the reader. 

Downs
While some people may not mind, I did not enjoy the overuse of the semicolon - a few too many paragraph-long sentences. I also thought the book was a little untidy in places and would have preferred a little more continuity in the story. Though it does not by any means diminish the overal impact of the book, I found the big jumps between chapters in both subject and time somewhat annoying, as if big chunks were removed from the book by an overzealous editor.

Rating
Language & Style - 8 / 10
Memorability - 7 / 10
Re-readability - 6 / 10
Pageturner factor - 4 / 10

Overall - 7 / 10 (Yes, I know it is harsh but I have high expectations of a book that is a 20th century classic, and this book fails to deliver on a few accounts)

Munching books is born!

Welcome to my blog. I am a real bookworm and spend a lot of my free time 'munching' my way through a large variety of books. I decided to start this blog to share with the world my views about the books I read.

Firstly a little about me. I am a lover of books. Seriously. I know a lot of people say they love books, but my love of books goes back to my very first memories. I should probably start at the beginning to explain.

My love affair with letters and words started when I was about 4. I have very few real memories from that time, but some of the most vivid ones involved learning (or trying to learn) to read. I remember pestering my dad to tell me what the newspaper headlines said. I remember being so jealous of him for being able to look at those incomprehensible symbols on a page and make sense of them all. I remember asking my parents to read me the roadsigns, during the frequent weekend road trips we used to make. Bit by bit, slowly, haltingly, I somehow managed to put it all together and teach myself how to read. My parents did not believe me at first, they thought I could read the roadsigns as I had simply just memorised what each of them said (every weekend we would drive along the same route). Then we got home and I read them some bits from a book. My mum still talks about the sheer shock of it - I couldn't even talk properly and here I was reading a passage from a book for adults. (Reading badly, obviously, but still reading).

After that I just read anything and everything I could get my hands on. This included all magazines and newspapers at the house, my dad's books (as he was a booklover too), encyclopedias, even a dictionary once when I had run out of things to read (I was determined to read the dictionary from beginning to end - a task which of course I never completed). My dad encouraged my love of reading and would frequently bring books home with him after work. He introduced me to Asterix and Tintin, Little Nicholas series, and Anne of Green Gables. By the time I was 9 my copy of Anne of Green Gables was completely tattered and falling apart, and I had read it so many times I can still recite some passages from it. I am an only child, so I had to contend with solitary pleasures, and reading books was my number one pastime.

And here I am some 30 years later still in love with books. Some women have a shoe-habit to support, I have a book habit. Thankfully my husband is also a book lover so between us we have amassed a large library (we never throw away a book, unless it was really, really bad). When we recently moved from London to Australia, we left all our furniture behind, but paid an indecent amount of money to have our books shipped over. When I was single and living in London, I would often spend an entire Saturday afternoon at the Waterstones bookstore in Piccadilly Circus. For those of you who have never been, it is one of the largest bookstores in London, with 5 stories crammed with any book you can imagine, but what I especially loved  about it were the squishy sofas and armchairs they had on every floor. So whilst my girlfriends went shopping for clothes and shoes on Regent Street, I would spend entire afternoons on these armchairs, browsing through a huge stack of books. Happy times.

I have a bit of a ritual when it comes to reading books. When it's time for me to start a new book I go to my library and select 4-5 candidates depending on my mood. As I buy books faster than I can read them my backlog of unread books has been evergrowing and was over a 100 at last count. Then I sit down with these 4-5 books and a cup of coffee, read the back of the books, perhaps some online reviews, before selecting 'the one'.

I read all sorts of books but I am primarily a fiction reader. My favourite genres are literary and historical fiction, but I also love children's books, and some (select) thrillers ala Michael Crichton or Matthew Reilly. I am keeping this blog not only to share with the world my views about the books I am reading, but also to keep a record for myself of what I thought about a book when I first read it.

As well as reviewing the books I will be rating each book out of 10, using a number of criteria. Here is how I would describe a rating of 10 in each category:

Language & style - beautifully written, the style was accomplished and absolutely delicious. I did not realise it was possible to write so well.

Memorability - one of my favourite reads of all time. I will always remember the story, and even perhaps some memorable passages from it.

Re-readability - the second I finish the book, I want to go right back to the beginning and read it all over again. Or read it again in a few years' time, like going back to an old friend.

Pageturner factor - literally had to read the book in one sitting. Even if it meant staying up till 4am.

Oh and I really hate reviews with spoilers so I will be extra careful not to give away any particular plot twists (or even tell you there is a twist in the plot, as even knowing there is a twist can spoil a good book).

The first book review coming in a few days' time! Watch this space!