soulsneaker

Struggling to get into my fourth TBR – looking unlikely to get to the end.
However, I got distracted by a few other books along the way.
1. No Time for Goodbye – Linwood Barclay
i fancied an easy peasy read and thats what it was. Intriguing opening about a 16 year old girl who wakes up to find her family has disappeared. The story resumes to find her as an adult with her own daughter and husband. I found the depiction of the impact this key event had on her life to be quite compelling. However, it descended into fairly standard thriller fare and the endings took in some rather formulaic paths with some major suspensions of disbelief required.
2. Shakespeare: The World as a Stage. Finally, I have found something I loved. A brilliant account of the known facts of Shakespeares life. Bill Bryson sets the bar for writing deliciously dry funny text with an economy of style that is deceptive. So easy to read and mindbogglingly fascinating in its description of Elizabethan life and also the mysterious task of sleuthing into obscure texts to construct a life. Many of the ‘heroes’ of this account are the strangely ecccentric Shakespearean scholars who sacrifice much of their life to research and sell a particular interpretation of Shakespeares identity and the ‘real’ meaning of his plays. Recommended.
3. Finally, re-read the Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman. Awesome, awesome, awesome. This is a children’s story for grown ups. Wonderfully inventive storytelling that makes your mouth fall open with wonder. The best childrens fiction I have every read including Harry Potter, Tolkien and I have to admit, C.S.Lewis.
I suppose I ought to get back to the list. On holiday soon so will take a few of the next on the list with me!!!

Sprawling and charming story of a young man finding love and friendship in Barcelona after the civil war. Easy to read and sparkling easy prose; I enjoyed the read but after it was all done felt a little empty. Possibly because I never really emotionally identified with the characters I just felt it was a quirky and lengthy story but felt strangely unmoved by it.

This novel has had really great reviews, the novelist has been shortlisted for the Booker prize umpteen times and two of her previous books have been turned into BBC drama series. So she is no doubt a well respected novelist. So it is with regret I report that this novel did not float my boat. It was a tad too slow and one had to read hard in the beginning to keep track of the characters. I have to admit my life has been a bit chaotic of late and I may have not given it the concentration it needed. But by page 250 (half way) I was hanging in because I thought it was bound to pick up. But no…........ it took two months for me and so I am behind in my TBR schedule. And my my next book is a big Spanish tome – methinks I am not likely to catch up here. Still got to go for it.