The Book Club Blog

I love my library! They are truly awesome at getting in new books to read, without a long wait or huge price tag. I received my copy of this to read last week and it took me a little while to read, due to the fact that I didn’t want to have nightmares so I didn’t read this book at night.

Saying that I was both compelled to read and yet forced to stop at turns during the reading of this book. I thought it was a brilliantly written novel, yet, novel, I have to ask how much of it really is a novel, this story is seeped in reality. What I found most disturbing about the book is that to me, it is a reflection on the world at the moment. A reflection on how our lives are online, how we are often afraid to speak, how work can dominate our lives and how there is such a breakdown of community that social media is the norm. How people become more broken, how utterly convinced of their own dream that nothing stands in the way of it.

I loved how Beukes weaves a tale of artists dreaming and how it is catching and that doors can open, and it seems to me that she captures this day and age perfectly in her book. So, what is it about? A serial killer in detroit who is an artist who is broken and where the dream inside his head takes over the human part of him and infects others who can ‘see’. It is about the relationship between a Police detective mother and her teenage daughter. It is the story of an online ‘self made’ journalist. A disturbing and rather dark novel set in the here and now, it captures the essence of our times.

Read it, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

To see my review on The Shining Girls go here and for those of you who have read her other books, do they all contain serial killers? Or is it just her last two that do?? And I am sure that even after I have pressed publish on this post, this book will still sit with me and percolate inside my brain….

The Hidden Cottage – Erica James

Erica James is one of my guilty pleasures, just like Penny Vincenzi and Maeve Binchy. I like how her books are easy to read and always have people at the heart of it. Her books are solid and dependable and even though there may be a tragedy stuck in her story for good measure, people generally make it out of it alive and with positivity.

A Passionate Love Affair with a  Perfect Stranger – Amy Robinson

A chick-lit book with a difference. This was not your usual chick-lit fair, it had good, well written characters, an interesting story line and was actually fairly amusing. It did have some boring bits which I did skim read but as a general whole, this was a fun and easy read for when you need some light heartedness in your life.

Night Music – Jo Jo Moyes

I really enjoyed Me before You so when I found this in the library, I decided to give it a go. Well, I have to be honest that it did not grab me one bit. I think I got a few chapters in and by then the characters had started to annoy me and the writing just did not pull me in. I have to, again, admit to having ditched the book and didn’t actually finish it. If you have read it, does it turn out good at the end? I know she has a new one out, which I am tempted to try, apparently its as good as Me before You…

Have you read any good chick-lit of late? I do usually enjoy Jane Green and Marian Keyes, but if you know of any other goodies out there, do let me know.

I could not put this book down! Beautifully written, it opened my eyes to this one mans talent. Gave me new respect for tennis players and has my hooked on reading more about other players to see how their tennis journeys compared with his.

I remember Agassi when he won Wimbledon, I was in high school and I thought he was the bees knees! I don’t think I have ever watched Wimbledon in quite the same way ever again, blame it on my teenage hormones if you must;-) But to have read this book, really was brilliant, he was quite a tortured man. To think of doing something that you hate because you have to, I think many people in the world live like that, just maybe not quite so publicly.

I love that he eventually met and married Steffi Graf, I love how supportive she was of him and his career, and how she stood by him through both the ups and downs. I think that they must have  a truly awesome marriage.

I found this book quite reminiscent of The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua in how Andre’s father was quite the tiger. Forcing not only one of his children but all of them into tennis because it was what he wanted. I am glad that all of them figured themselves out in the end though and became who they were meant to be without force. The fact, that there was no kindness in all of the forcing just makes me realise , again,what an important job we have as parents. I wouldn’t wish his father on anyone.

Have you read it? What did you think?

Oh my Goodness, every now and then you come across a book which just completely grabs your attention. This one was it for me this month. I loved it. The writing is beautiful, the story is beautiful, sad, heart rendering even in places and left me gasping at the end. Will Davis really knows how to write, so much so that I do believe I may have to go in search of his others, just to see if they are as good as this one!

I loved how he captures the essence of growing up in a small town, with ‘odd’ parents, the relationship between him and his best friend. I love how as an adult the main character runs away to join a circus, and not because of any other reason but that he feels propelled to. I think this book could speak to a great many people, how we get stuck in a rut and then one day, we just snap and do something completely out of the ordinary that everyone who knows you must think that you are crazy. I love how he portrayed the relationships in this book and how sometimes we just need someone to be there.

I loved the circus element, especially considering that I am a budding aerialist and in my own small way can relate to the danger and sense of fear that one has when doing tricks, the hard work and dedication that goes into those tricks.

A Beautiful Book and will hands down go onto my list of all time favourites.

Welcome to my new favourite series! I read The Cuckoo’s Calling a few months ago and thoroughly enjoyed it! You can read my review here and the next in the series does not disappoint.

Cormoran Strike is officially one of my new favourite characters in a book with his trusty sidekick Robin, who is navigating her relationship with her fiancé and having found her calling in her work life. I do like how it is been portrayed in the book and adds in an extra dimension to the characters. Strike is Strike, a war veteran with one leg and relationship issues with his ex. I really enjoyed that he didn’t succumb to his fleeting desire to get in contact with his ex girlfriend Charlotte.

I found the murder in this book a little gruesome (and have to admit to having had a night mare one night which was closely related to the books murder…doesn’t happen often when a storyline heads into my dreamscapes…) but the book was full of literary references and was twisty enough to keep one interested and entertained. The only thing which I did notice and which detracted slightly from the book, was the continued references to how Strike was feeling at times, it just felt a little repetitive, though I am not sure if it is just because I read the first one a few months ago, so still have that as a reference inside my head or if it was slightly repetitive. Other than that, I enjoy her writing and I think she manages to wheel the reader in and keep one there in order to find out what happens.

I would highly recommend this series if you are interested in crime novels with a heart.

Have you read it, what did you think? Are you as taken in as I am?

The Waves is the second in The Island books. You can read my first review here.

Though this book can be a stand alone book, it shows us the other side of the story that we read in The Island, and get an understanding of some of the characters that we meet in The Island. I did enjoy this short book and I have to admit that Jen Minkman does definitely write readable books. Though I do find her books a little under utilised, with regards to the fleshing out of  characters and story line, they are very readable and she manages to draw the reader in to her story so you want to know what happens next.

The third in this series is called The Deep and concludes the story of The Island.

I would recommend this book for teens, and though it is dystopian in form, it is not as hard core as the likes of The Hunger Games etc.

Available in English and Afrikaans on Kalahari, and easy read when you need a quick fix, though I would recommend reading the series in chronological order.