History of the Rain by Niall Williams

             

A beautiful book with little plot about family history.
All the characters become likeable, especially Ruth.
I like the way the narrative has lots of ironic humour.

It does meader a little and some of it drags on with over long sentences. 

The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth

 

 

 Set three years after the Norman invasion of 1066, The Wake tells the story of a fractured band of guerilla fighters who take up arms against the invaders.

 

Good points:

I loved the topic as I never thought what happened after 1066 - shows as a species we haven't improved much!  War is still horrific!  

Very moving

The spellings and lack of capital letters, apostrophes and commas made this a unique reading experience

I  have now a realisation of how significant this invasion was and how much of our culture it changed

 

Bad points:

 Written partly in Old English, partly Modern - which made it tricky to ready (although after the first 2 chapters it did get easier), although there were some words I didn't get!  There is a glossary for some words at the back but this was useless to me as I read it on a kindle.  This is one of the few books I nearly gave up on - I am glad I didn't but it was hard going! 

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler

A funny, thought proving tale of  animal rights and family life.

Good points:
Interesting plot twist
The narrative is both complicated and simple



Bad points:
Avoid any spoilers to get the full impact.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

This is an epic novel - I feel a sense of achievement having read it .  This is an epic tale of a man seeking revenge following the ruination of his life.  However, it is more than 1200 pages long.

Good Points:
Fantastic story
 The characters are memorable, the language is brilliant, and the details of 19th-century European history are fascinating.

Bad points:

Lengh

Most of the plot is told with dialogue which is confusing

Number of characters is hard to keep track of who is who

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

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This is a 'who-done-it' set in the goldfields of Western New Zealand in the 1860s. 

Good Points:

Cleverly written - Eleanor Catton uses a non-linear approach, with shifting points of view which involves doubling back on a handful of crucial circumstances and events, seen from various perspectives. 

I  enjoyed the description of the frontier town lifestyle.

Negative points:

 Long - about 800 pages

The astrological content of the novel seems, and probably is, obscure and entirely irrelevant

                                                                                                                                                              

The Hollow by Agatha Christie

 
Good points:
I love Christie - everyone could have committed the murder and I simply don't know until the detective (in this case) Poirot reveals it.

This is a typlical Agatha Christie - setting large country house, servants etc.

Bad points:
Poirot looks weak in the book - he takes him nearly to the end to figure out who the murder is.
Some of the early chapters a bit rambling

Sidney Chambers and The Perils of the Night (The Grantchester Mysteries) by James Runcie

 

The second in the series which I enjoyed a little less than the first.

 Good points:

There is not a lot of action and not a lot of clues to solve these mysteries, yet still the stories manage to be engaging.

The stories are very warmly humorous, with lots of interesting digressions into maths, physics, music and cricket.

Bad points:

There was a lot more religious content this time