May 2013
2 posts
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John Dies at the End
“John Dies at the End” - by David Wong
My rating: 3.5/5
A book that is quite original in format and voice; it is hilarious at times, thoughtful at others and sometimes both at once. Sadly, the narrative pace and quality of humour both seem to diminish towards the centre, so I did lose interest a little. The ending makes up for this, and the humour resumes with full force while the...
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March 2013
5 posts
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Bright Young Things
“Bright Young Things” by Scarlett Thomas
My rating: 4/5
The dialogue in “Bright Young Things” is great, very British at times, which is natural considering the novel is about six British twenty-somethings who reference their culture so often. While this tends to date the book, it absolutely nails a certain realism and while I’m probably within the last...
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January 2013
7 posts
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The Wrong Place
“The Wrong Place” by Brecht Evens
My rating: 5/5
The Wrong Place is a graphic novel unlike any other that I have read before. The format and presentation of dialogue is truly original, using colour to retain the sources of conversation, and banishing any sort of “panel” from the page which might cramp the atmosphere that is so wonderfully communicated. This clever layout...
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The Gods Themselves
“The Gods Themselves” by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 5/5
With three distinct segments, Asimov presents three varying styles of storytelling that combine to tell one intriguing story. “The Gods Themselves” describes a parallel universe with very different laws of physics to those that we experience, and suggests lifeforms entirely alien to us but with emotions and interactions that...
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Strangers
“Strangers” by Taichi Yamada
My rating: 5/5
Vivid, hilarious and haunting. Taichi Yamada uses punchy dialogue and the perfect amount of detail to create a brilliant atmosphere, populated with fantastic characters and commentary on the relationship between a son and his parents. The narrative is naturalistic whilst surreal, casting rays of believability onto wonderfully unbelievable occurrences....
December 2012
5 posts
5 tags
Christmas Winner!
Firstly, I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas filled with family, friends, and piles and piles of books. Mine was lovely, thanks. Secondly, I can announce the winner of the little Maze Runner competition I ran last week. Drum roll please…. it’s levlyb, who, as a matter of fact has a rather cool blog so check her out!
I like the idea of sending out books that I like to strangers,...
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November 2012
3 posts
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October 2012
2 posts
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September 2012
3 posts
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August 2012
6 posts
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When people say, “I need to read more.” I think to myself, so what’s stopping you? Turn off the television, dummy.
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Cloud Atlas
Have you seen the trailer for the upcoming film adaptation? It looks quite incredible, and appears as though the producers are actually making a proper attempt at translating some of the depth within the novel. Visually it looks beautiful too. Am I excited? I never wanted this book to be adapted as I didn’t think it could be done well, but it looks like there is potential here; okay, I...
July 2012
5 posts
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June 2012
24 posts
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Happy Birthday George
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Rainfall
Rain smashes down, pinning us to the earth as it pushes upon our umbrellas, squeezes between the threads of our cotton socks and tethers us to our sofas. It bullies us into our houses if we have them, or ridicules us if we don’t. Whatever happens, we can find comfort that whatever the arrangement of molecules - raindrops, blades of grass, herds of animals, blossoming trees, toddlers on...
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