After The Party by Lisa Jewell

It's eleven years since Jem Catterick and Ralph McLeary first got together. They thought it would be for ever, that they'd found their happy ending. As everyone agreed, they were the perfect couple. Then two became four, a flat became a house. Romantic nights out became sleepless nights in. And they soon found that life wasn't quite so simple any more. But through it all Jem and Ralph still loved each other, of course they did. Now the unimaginable has happened. Two people who were so right together are starting to drift apart. And in the chaos of family life, Ralph feels more and more as if he's standing on the sidelines, and Jem that she's losing herself. Something has to change. As they try to find a way back to each other, back to what they once had, they both become momentarily distracted - but maybe it's not too late to recapture happily ever after...

I really enjoyed Ralph's Party by Lisa Jewell, to which After the Party is the sequel, so I was beyond excited when I found out that this book was being released and I would be able to see how life turned out for Jem and Ralph.

I don't know whether it was due to this massive excitement, but my overwhelming feeling having finished this book is one of disappointment. It was wonderful delving into the lives of Jem and Ralph again, meeting their beautiful children and seeing how hard it can be to keep a sense of love alive after years of being together. The sentiment behind the book, as presented most succinctly by the quote from Mignon McLaughlin: "A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person" is believable and very pertinent to many couples.

However, the mechanics of the book didn't work for me. The flitting back and forth in time felt clumsy - I prefer it by far when Jewell uses a linear structure. I also didn't enjoy the throwing in of several subplots that felt too convoluted. Dealing with Joel, his son and wife; Karl Kasparov; Ralph's new spirituality; Rosey and Smith; Jem trying desperately hard to find herself - it just seemed like too much by far. Jewell works best with a more simplistic story. Karl's tale, especially, was just so much tacked on nonsense.

The characterisation was odd. I ended up not liking Jem very much, which seemed unimaginable to me when embarking on the story. I had little sympathy for her, being as she was so unable to see the best solution to her problem. A solution that didn't involve leading on men, going out drinking and trying to forget she is a mother! Joel was just hideous and I had no idea why Jem was so fascinated by him when she had the lovely Ralph at home. And then Ralph himself! His actions towards the end of the book are incomprehensible to me (and I'm frustrated that I am unable to say anything further for fear of spoilers).

I was pleased with the ending of the book and I do remain glad that I read this book. Jewell's novels will still be a must-buy/read for me, but this was not one of her better works. Of course, anyone who read and enjoyed Ralph's Party will be reading this book as a priority, regardless of how I report back, but I would advise those who haven't yet tried Lisa Jewell to either go back to the beginning with Ralph's Party or pick up Vince and Joy, which is a gloriously joyful book. Disappointing.

What Qualifies a Book Blogger?

EDIT: This post has now been changed to include the full emails sent to me by said friend (I don't want to put his name or email address to credit him with it, because of data protection issues - if he wishes to, he can come forward and attest to his emails). He asked me to post the full emails rather than the snipped versions I originall enclosed.

I have been having a discussion with a friend of mine. He disputes the review of Altered Carbon that I did which can be read here. His points are as follows:

First email:

The following is a rant. Well, two sub-rants. Feel free to delete without reading :)

The issue I have with blogs is as follows:

Squeeky wheel gets the kick. When commenting on people's blogs - sometimes in disagreement, sometimes not - hackles tend to be raised all too easily. The same is true of web fora.

Merely because someone has opinions doesn't mean that those opinions are of any special value. Merely because someone is capable of putting those opinions online does not in any way add value to them.

Given that you're an uneducated heathen who's never listened to Radio 4, you'll not have heard "From Our Own Correspondent". This is, for me at least, a good example of what a blog should be. An expert talking about their own feelings and impressions of a newsworthy event.

To me, opinions have value when they are backed with expertise and knowledge. Then I take them seriously.

This is rather like my view of film / book recomendations from friends. If I like someone, it's usually because I have similar tastes / views / outlook to them. I am therefore inclined to believe them more than I am some random person. I do not think that one can be an expert in films or literature in the same way that one can be in terms of news or technology. Further, I think that you in particular cannot be, given your perference for fantasy over scifi.

Still, your opinions carry weight because of the friend-thing rather than because of the expertise-knowledge thing.

As you have put your head up above the parapet to express an opinion in a public medium, I will take the opportunity to respond to it.

In the specific case of Altered Carbon, I maintain that you missed the point of the book, and of the Envoy Corps. At its heart, though, are questions of what is the nature of a human. You touch on this when you describe Morgan's ability to characterise his characters through reference to their mannerism and attitude rather than appearance (To say that you think authors are lazy because they chose to describe someone's appearance is ... horrible grandiose - it is neuropsychological fact that humans make their first impressions built on appearance. You are therefore asking an author not to think like a human).

To read this book and to describe it as a linear actioner would be like reading Dickens and think that they were charming scenes of Victorian life - to ignore the biting social commentary, or to read Starship Troopers by Heinlein and think that it was simply a book about power armour. In short, I think that you didn't lift the veil on the author's intention. I suspect that I simply engaged with the novel more deeply than you because I have read it so many times. Or maybe it's because I'm a lawyer and therefore prone to always asking why something is written, rather than merely what has been written.

Turning to the relatively trivial matter of the Envoys, in describing them as SAS troopers, you miss the key fact about how resleeving works. Modern solidery is concerned with extreme physical conditioning. When an Envoy can arrive in literally any body, they cannot rely on the physical. Instead, and this is what made the Envoys so terrifying in my view, they are all about mental conditioning. Part psychoanalyst, part demagogue, part ace-private investigator, and yes, part spy.

I suspect the conclusion I'm reaching here is that I found your review of it to be superficial. Having talked to you a number of times, and read your emails, I think I expected more... engagement. Or maybe I just hoped that we had the same taste. In any case, here endeth the rant.

Second email:

You say that a book can have different levels to it.
You say that, Lord of the Rings, for instance, can be seen as 4-5 different levels. I'd say more, but that's not the point.

You see in AC one theme / level. I saw at least three. It is therefore the case that I saw more in the book than you did.

In terms of what right I have to say that you didn't get the book? I have read more sci-fi than you, I am more familiar with the work of the author. I can therefore comment on themes apparent in other books in the series that you weren't aware of. Further, I think the half degree I have in Engish literature makes me more keenly aware of certain tropes, styles and devices found through English and French literature that you perhaps might not have been aware of.

As to what right I have to say that you didn't get thebook, you are saying that I don't have a right to an opinion if it disagrees with yours. You have every right to have an opinion. If it is one I disagree with I'll argue with it.

I'm not going to apologise on this one because you're being petty and your argumentation is week.

So... my gentle wondering for today (and it has to be gentle, thanks to the hangover I am *still* suffering) is: what qualifies us as book bloggers to give our opinions? What about us lends weight to our words?

Take me, for example. I have not had any formal training in book critiquing or reviewing. I have not done an English degree. My day job does not involve using English to any great degree.

My only qualification for posting my reviews for the whole world to see is an enormous number of books read and a great enthusiasm for sharing my likes and dislikes with those who care. That is all.

Is that all I need? Or would people consider my reviews at a higher level if I did have said English qualifications? Are my reviews of science fiction and horror automatically to be dismissed because I don't read a great deal in these genres, or am I bringing fresh eyes to a genre that those who read in it might be more jaded and cynical about?

I would be curious to hear other opinions. I would also be interested to hear other bloggers state why they think they are qualified to speak of books!

The floor is yours!

Books I Adopted This Week (plus giveaway!)

Oooh, Sunday - and I am hungover to high heaven. What better way to ease me through than to show off the books I have received this week? (Most of them, to be fair, were received through the beneficence of various relatives and the provision of book tokens for my birthday which I blew this week *grin*)

Received for review

April Dunne is not impressed. She's had to move from Edinburgh to Highgate, London, with her parents. She's left her friends - and her entire life - behind. She has to start at a new school and, worst of all, now she's stuck in a creepy old dump of a house which doesn't even have proper mobile phone reception. Ravenwood, her new school, is a prestigious academy for gifted (financially or academically) students - and the only place her parents could find her a place, in the middle of term, in the middle of London, on incredibly short notice. So she's stuck with the super-rich, and the super-smart ...and trying to fit in is when the rest of the students seem to be more glamorous, smarter, or more talented than she is, is more than tough. It's intimidating and isolating, even when she finds a friend in the conspiracy-theorist Caro Jackson - and perhaps finds something more than friendship in the gorgeous, mysterious Gabriel Swift. But there's more going on at Ravenwood than meets the eye. Practical jokes on new students are normal, but when Gabriel saves her from ...something ...in the Highgate Cemetery, and then she discovers that a murder took place, just yards away from where she had been standing, April has to wonder if something more sinister is going on. ..and whether or not she's going to live through it...

This was received from Gollancz (will be published 15th July 2010). It is one of their YA titles and I am pretty excited about reading it! Although the teen vampire books seem to have flooded the market, and some are definitely more miss than hit, I am hopeful that this one will provide a spooky new angle.


Books purchased by me

Nick and his brother Alan are on the run with their mother, who was once the lover of a powerful magician. When she left him, she stole an important charm - and he will stop at nothing to reclaim it. Now Alan has been marked with the sign of death by the magician's demon, and only Nick can save him. But to do so he must face those he has fled from all his life - the magicians - and kill them. So the hunted becomes the hunter...but in saving his brother, Nick discovers something that will unravel his whole past...

Recently Ana of The Book Smugglers wrote a spectacularly good review of the second book in this series. I merely scanned the review, trying to avoid the spoilers (which Ana was very clear about the review containing) and the sheer enthusiasm about the book encouraged me to go book shopping! I hope it lives up to its billing!

The Berry family are different. Love abounds - both healthy and incestuous. It is the overwhelming desire of the Berry father to run a hotel, which he does, with dubious success, in both a former girls' school in New Hampshire, and in Vienna. It is the Berry children who grab the readers' attention, sympathies and love - all five of them: Frank (the eldest), Franny (the weirdest), John (the narrator), Lily (the writer) and Egg (the youngest). When Irving, or rather John, writes 'Frank's queer, Franny's weird, Lily's small and Egg is Egg' the initiated reader can do no other than shout a deafening 'yes, I know what you mean!' From there on, the reader is held spellbound as the family Labrador, Sorrow, is first stuffed then becomes the cruel victim of a plane crash; and as John and Franny realise their incestuous desires.

I have only read A Widow For One Year by this author and have been keen to try more. A chap I have been talking to regularly swears by this book - saying it is both twisted and funny - so I decided that I would give it a go.

Tormented and racked with guilt over the brutal slaying of his wife and daughter, Charlie Parker, ex-cop with the NYPD, agrees to track down a missing girl. It is a search that will lead him into an abyss of evil. At the same time, he is warned by an old black woman in Louisiana that 'The Travelling Man' is about to strike again. Multiple strands converge with a horrific confrontation in which hunter and hunted are intimately connected by guilt.

I have read and enjoyed Michael Marshall and Sarah Pinborough - who both write supernatural thrillers with a crime bent. I have heard John Connolly's name mentioned in the same breath a couple of times, so I figured it was high time I gave him a go. So I brought the first Charlie Parker novel, and I am looking forward to having to keep the light on for a few nights!

Susannah and Rob were childhood sweethearts. But as with most early love affairs, they broke up, moved on and now find themselves in very different places. And not entirely happy - who is? A chance meeting between them sends shockwaves through their lives. What happens when your first love makes a surprise reappearance? Is fate telling you it's time for a second chance ...or should you simply walk away and let the past become ancient history? But Susannah and Rob just aren't able to forget the way they were ...and the world is about to realize the consequences of their reunion.

I have read a few of Elizabeth Noble's novels, and I love them. She has become an author who I will instantly buy the new book of (others include Freya North, Fiona Walker and Marian Keyes). I was stoked to discover that her latest book is now out and it sounds perfect to save for a lazy summer afternoon!

Young pioneer, Micah, enters Wrymeweald full of hope to return home having made his fortune. But this is a land where wyrmes, fabulous dragon-like beasts, roam wild and reign supreme. In Wyrmeweald man is both hunter and hunted - and seventeen-year-old Micah may never return alive, let alone a hero...After a near-brush with death on the edge of a canyon, Micah soon finds a chance to prove his worth when he meets with Eli, a veteran tracker of Wrymeweald. They choose to defend a rare whitewyrme egg and its precious hatchling before it falls into the hands of a band of evil Kith. But the fledgling wyrme has its own guardian in the shape of the beautiful, brave and dangerous Thrace. Thrace, a Kin and a highly-skilled wyrme rider-assassin; and Micah, a would-be Kith, should never mix - but the magnetism between them is strong. Together they join forces on a mission to rescue the hatchling and seek vengeance for loved-ones lost at the hand of Kith bandits. Meanwhile the glorious whitewyrme colony of Wyrmeweald looks on as its land is encroached by gold-diggers and ravaged by bounty hunters. Is Exodus the only option? And if so, when - and where - will they flee too?

Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell have already written the successful children's series of The Edge Chronicles. This is their first YA novel. I love the cover of the book and I really can't resist tales about dragons - I think this could be great fun.


Okay, people, that was my little haul for this week - thanks for reading!

If you managed to get this far, and you fancy getting a copy of By Midnight by Mia James, then please drop me an email to magemanda AT gmail DOT com with the subject line MIDNIGHT GIVEAWAY. The giveaway is open worldwide and will close next Sunday.

Ralph's Party by Lisa Jewell

Ralph and Smith are best friends, living at 31 Almanac Road - they spend most of their time in front of the TV, drinking and smoking spliffs. Smith holds a torch for Cheri, a blonde femme fatale who lives in the top floor flat, and has admired her from afar for five years. Ralph is in a tortuous relationship with Claudia, little realising that his life is about to change utterly. Because Jem (Jemima) moves in as the new flatmate, and Ralph falls helplessly in love with her. Linked and intertwined with this storyline is the tale of Karl and Siobhan, a couple who have been together for years and find their relationship stagnating.

Ralph's Party was Lisa Jewell's debut novel and my first comment is that it really doesn't seem so. The voice is assured, the plot is quirky (although maybe a little forced in places), and the dialogue is extremely realistic.

What really makes this book is the characterisation. Jem and Ralph are two characters that you adore, and you are rooting for them right from the start. They are very loveable, with foibles, and mood swings, and the inability to see what the reader is able to (thanks to Jewell writing beautifully from both points of view).

I also enjoyed the jump in between the two storylines - and, in the mark of a good book, I was equally pleased to follow both sets of people. Karl and Siobhan showed the other side of relationships - when a couple has been together for many years, whereas Jem and Ralph gave us the sparkle and mutual attraction of a new flirtation. The comparison was handled beautifully.

Jewell handles ideas such as body image, unrequited love and life focus with equal charm and warmth - showing us the internal thoughts of each of the characters.

In fact, my biggest issue is Smith. At first, we are encouraged to like him, since he is best mates with Ralph and comes across as quite a nice chap. However, Jewell subsequently turns this first image on its head, to the point where I despised Smith and desperately wanted him to receive his comeuppance (which was crude when it came, and went a little too far). It could be that Jewell was trying to show that first images are not always correct (in which case, she did an admirable job!), but maybe I am giving too much credit.

This is a minor part of what turned out to be an excellent read for me. Although light and fluffy in places, the humour and observations were sharp, witty and very believable. This is an entertaining novel, perfect to read as escapist page-turning fiction.

Living With the Writer - Deborah Beale

This interview was originally posted to FanLit! There is a giveaway running there for Tad Williams/Deborah Beale books, so do go and check it out!

Here we are with the second edition of Living With The Writer, a semi-regular feature where I grill the partners of those authors that entertain us with their speculative fiction. My guest today is a very special one: I’d like to introduce Deborah Beale (a name that may well be familiar to some of you), otherwise known as Mrs Tad Williams.

AMANDA: A very warm welcome to you, Deborah, and thanks so much for agreeing to conduct this interview for the readers at FanLit. First things first, can you introduce yourself in your own words?

DEBORAH: I’m a woman who works in a room of her own in California, with a glorious view of a hill. I’m someone who always tries to live every moment to the maximum because that way there can’t be any regrets. I’m obsessive and perpetually uncomfortable in my own skin. I have more desire than I have time and energy, so it cheers me up to think about how eternal it all is. I have laughing Buddhas on my desk. I have two growing kids and we’re all beginning the teen years, which is frightening and huge and already quite a rough passage. I run the business that is the backbone of Tad, Inc. I write with Tad – we collaborate on a series of children’s books. I write a whole bunch of stuff on Twitter. Tad and I live entwined lives.

AMANDA: If it isn’t too personal, can I ask why you’re not Mrs Williams?

DEBORAH: I’ve never used Williams and styling myself ‘MrsTad’ for Twitter is the first time I’ve ever used Tad’s name in connection with me! I’m quite enjoying it! I have a thing about patriarchal naming (and Tad does, too) so I’ve never been able to do it before in good conscience (and, besides, in the sci-fi and fantasy world my name has a little bit of recognition, so I’m not about to jettison that!)

AMANDA: Would you tell us a little about a typical day in the life of Tad Williams and Deborah Beale?

DEBORAH: I’m up early, between 6 and 7, and Tad’s up late, around 10 or so. We have separate offices right now but I’ll be back in the big office when my mum comes to stay from England – she’ll reclaim this room for her own. I like to work early when my energy is best. Tad has no settled time of day right now, other than not in the morning. I spend blocks of time online, juggling all the business pins, but if I’m sunk in writing something (at this moment in time I’m between projects) then I prioritise the writing and do my best to cut off from things and get work done. For parts of the day Tad either plays basketball, or lies on the bed or a sofa, thinking. The thinking is critical to the writing process; at some point he has done enough work in his head to go and nail down his 12 pages a day (sometimes in only an hour or two), which is what is happening right now, being his meeting-the-deadline speed, and is quite intense. At some point in all of this the kids come home from school and dinner happens. There are also homework struggles and chore issues round about this time, and bathing issues too – the kids not the parents! Tad is then the hero who puts the kids to bed whilst Mom reads and crashes out.



AMANDA: How did you meet Mr Williams? Was this as a result of your work in publishing (Deborah was one of the founding members of the Orion Publishing House)?

DEBORAH: I was Tad’s British publisher, and after a while we fell in love. It was neither politic nor wise, and involved a two-year hell quest to achieve our fairy tale ending.

AMANDA: Since we’re talking about it obliquely, how did it come about that you were a founding member of Orion? Was this something you always wanted to do or did you fall into it rather by accident?

DEBORAH: Oh, well, when I was a kid I wanted to write, but the wind blew me sideways on that one. So then I pursued book publishing, because I’ve always been (as my niece calls me) a books fanatic. I chased my breaks and I worked hard. I didn’t get much of a break at first, one result of which was I ended up working with and sometimes writing all kinds of non-fiction and fiction books whilst thrashing my way around the industry. In the end that turned out to be a blessing. Then my break came, working for Anthony Cheetham, who is a publishing entrepreneur; and when he plus his wife Rosie Cheetham (now de Courcy) and his business partner Peter Roche started up a new company, they asked me to join them. Which was heaven and hell all combined, as is, I imagine, any start-up venture.

AMANDA: Why and when did you take the decision to move out to the States?

DEBORAH: After the Grand Adventure of the Orion Publishing Group, I was at a point where I felt I had done a great deal and wanted to stop and have children. And, basically, learn to write too.

AMANDA: And you seem to have learnt very well to write, going by the fact you and Mr Williams are now collaborating! How long have you been doing this, and does it fulfill the dream you had as a girl to become a writer?

DEBORAH: Our Ordinary Farm books started in the middle of the aughties, I think.

Nothing would fulfil the dream I had as a child, short of a Pulitzer, and Oscar, and all them awards (and the money, ha!) If I had really been able to follow that particular dream, then I would have ended up a journalist, because I think that is where my particular strengths are. But then I would have been unlikely to meet my amazing man, so what kind of life that would have been, who knows… I have the writer’s life now, any which way, and before that I had an astonishing life as a London media-chick with a bit of a brain. Nothing about the London life was accidental, and I had to be brave and overcome quite a few things: ultimately the whole damn enchilada’s been wonderful, despite life’s woes.

AMANDA: Have you been one of Mr William’s test readers since the early days? If so, do you wear the hats of both ‘publisher’ and ‘partner’ and how do these conflict when offering advice?

DEBORAH: Being involved in Tad’s work as a reader/editor – that tends to be sometimes yes, sometimes no (and I have to say that Tad’s editors at DAW, Betsy Wollheim and Sheila Gilbert, are the BEST). It depends on what else is going on in our lives. I had less involvement with Shadowmarch, but probably more with Otherland. The upcoming ‘Angel Doloriel Books’ (working title) I had more involvement with at a conceptual stage: I’ve never done that before – it took the form of us working together with Tad’s initial synopsis.

Business and personal don’t often clash for us, but when they do there can be lots of hurt feelings and pouty faces for everyone, ha.

AMANDA: Since you are both busy working on respective projects at any given time, do you ever find it difficult deciding who takes priority?

DEBORAH: I don’t think we ever have clashing priorities. Our interests are all wrapped up in each other. We don’t have anything in the way of power battles, either. We do have occasional flaming yelling arguments that upset the kids and the dogs and cloud everything till they’re resolved. I suspect we exert gravity on each other, as we live and grow and change; sometimes we pull each other over, sometimes we’re running hand in hand through the daisies.

AMANDA:When do you feel proudest of Mr Williams?

DEBORAH: Ooh, I get all squidgy when he pulls off a cool speech. There was a moment in Germany when he was accepting the Corinne Award, which is like a national book award in the US, or maybe a Whitbread in the UK (except I think that’s gone now). And Tad, doing his speech in German, live on national TV, stepped on his own joke. Which actually worked to make it even funnier, fortunately (a line about Schwarzenegger’s mangled English being the model for Tad’s German).

There are a lot of moments like that that go by me, if I’m touring with Tad, or at a convention with him. It’s a lot of fun. He’s a grand performer, and when he’s up there having a good time, well, it’s the best. I’ve seen him reduce a room of thousands to helpless laughter.

AMANDA: With regards to the travel: has it been extensive? Do you always travel with Mr Williams? How does this affect family life?

DEBORAH: Sometimes I’m with him, sometimes I’m not. Sometimes we travel as a family. Sorry, I don’t have anything interesting to say – except that I’m hoping to take our kids to Montana this year to visit Christopher Paolini and family, because they kindly invited us and it will be good for the kids to see a successful writer who isn’t their father!

[Deborah told me that this dragon eye was doodled on their message board by Christopher Paolini!]



AMANDA: Finally, what are the upsides and downsides of being the partner of such a well-known and beloved fantasy author?

DEBORAH: There’s a Michael Marshall Smith novel ‘Only Forwards’ (which in itself is a killer title and a bit of a mantra round here!) I seem to remember there is a room in the novel where the gravity is adjustable. I think about that room and imagine what it would be like to live with - lightweight over here, much heavier over there. Living with Tad is a bit like that for sure. Funnily enough, I think I’ve only recently discovered this, which is a bit of a while into the process, ha!

The upsides most definitely include him. It’s living with a man who has this incredible mind. Tad’s my buddy and we do it all together.

AMANDA: And on that note, which brought a slight lump to my throat, can I just say thanks so much for your honesty and eloquence. It’s been fabulous having this insight into the working life of Tad and his amazing wife.

The Book Habits Meme

Okay, so I have seen this on Genre Reader and the original post is hosted on The World in the Satin Bag. Howabout joining in with us?

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack:

I don't snack compulsively, but I do like to nibble while I'm reading. Unfortunately, I haven't trained myself to eat snacks like fruit or vegetables! It tends to be crisps or chocolate, which is very naughty!

What is your favorite drink while reading?

Peppermint tea on a very regular basis. If it is a Friday evening or I'm in the bath, then a glass of crisp chilled white wine...

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

I'm not horrified by the idea of writing in books - in fact, I did it extensively when I was doing English Literature and wanted to mark pertinent passages or make notes that would help with essays and exams. Now I tend not to write in books, but I willingly use post-it notes and fold down pages to help mark anything I want to use while reviewing.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?

I will lay a book flat - I am a person who deliberately and maliciously breaks the spines on books! In my opinion, nothing looks nicer than a book which has a heavily broken spine - it shows a book has been read and read often. It is a sign of love. I know other people feel very differently! I also dog ear the pages in a book to mark my place. I am a regular book abuser!

Fiction, nonfiction, or both?

Pretty much exclusively fiction. I read the odd travel book, and a couple of history books, but nothing that really marks me out as a non-fiction reader.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?

Oh, I am almost fanatical about reading to the end of a chapter. I get distinctly upset if I have to finish partway through a passage. If not at the end of the chapter, then I like to find the change in a character point of view, or the handy gaps that show the action has moved to a different place or time. One of the most frustrating authors for me is Terry Pratchett - he does not believe in chapters!

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?

Oh man! I have literally ripped the pages from a book! One book disgusted me so much that I couldn't bear to even donate my copy. I tore the pages from it. I'd like to say I also burned them since that seems suitably dramatic, but I merely threw them away in a slightly anti-climatic way. And then felt a little ashamed of myself. But, gotta say, tearing the pages from a book feels SO naughty, so taboo.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?

No, I rarely look up words. Instead I will use the sentence context to figure out what it might mean. I don't like to sound boastful but there are few words that catch me out these days - in fact, Adam Roberts is one of the few authors recently to send me to a dictionary!

What are you currently reading?

Ralph's Party, by Lisa Jewell (After the Party, the sequel to this book, was recently released so I am re-reading the first).



What is the last book you bought?

The first six books in J R Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?

I am a complete book monogamist. I simply cannot read more than one at once. I have tried, but I really don't like it. If I'm reading a book, then it receives my full attention.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?

Anytime and anywhere. I read constantly - at home, in the office over lunch, whenever I am on public transport, in front of the TV, listening to music, in the bath, in my bed. Basically, whenever I am not actively doing something else (such as going to the cinema or visiting with friends) I will be reading.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?

Either is good. I love the excitement of starting a new series, loving it, and realising that there are loads of other books in the series. I enjoy totally immersing myself in the worlds and the characters. But sometimes nothing else works than a stand alone book, where I can pick it up and put it down with no commitment to subsequent novels.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?

Two. Michael Marshall Smith. Charles de Lint. I don't think there *are* two finer authors. Both seem woefully under-read by my genre compatriots. This makes me beyond sad. For those who are paying attention here, and determined to change your ignorant state when it comes to MMS and de Lint, try 'One of Us' for the former and 'The Little Country' for the latter. Nice stand alone books so you don't have to invest in a series and can just dabble your toes in the water. If you read them and love them (WHICH YOU SHOULD!) then come back and tell me so I can bask in your undying gratitude for bringing these authors to your attention!

How do you organize your books?(by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)

Some of my books are organised by genre and then in alphabetical order. Most recent books, including all review copies, are stacked in untidy piles on my coffee table in the living room so that I get to look at them constantly and feel the book guilt!


So, those are my answers! Please do join in - link back to both blogs (and mine, if you will!) at the top of the post. Look forward to reading your answers...

Ghostgirl: Homecoming by Tonya Hurley

Charlotte may have graduated Dead Ed but that's not the end of her story. Life, for Charlotte, was one bitter disappointment after another. And it seems death isn't going to be much different. Convinced that graduating Dead Ed was her route to the afterlife Charlotte is a little surprised to find she has to complete an internship! Answering the phones at a help centre for troubled teens isn't proving brilliantly exciting. Until Scarlet calls: a pedicure-gone-hideously-wrong has landed Petula in a coma and Scarlet thinks Charlotte is the only person who can help...

I really enjoyed Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley and was eager to read Ghostgirl: Homecoming. In this book we follow Charlotte as she learns to cope with life after Dead Ed. Interestingly, we have a few more character perspectives in this book than the first, following Scarlett, Petula and Damen more extensively. This helps to flesh Ghostgirl: Homecoming out a little more than the first novel, lending extra depth to the characters mentioned.

However, the story perplexed me somewhat. The wonderfully dark humour was ever-present - here we have the shallow Petula being put into a coma by a failed pedicure, and her detestable cronies (the Wendys) coming up with funeral chic clothing to wear as one part of the novel. I love the subversive nature of the humour, which never fails to entertain. But the plot itself in this book seemed all over the place. For a long time I had no idea who Maddy was and why she was trying so hard to do damage to Charlotte. The reveal of that particular subplot came straight out of left-field and made me go 'huh' rather than 'a ha!' If it was a mystery for the reader to try and solve, I believe Tonya Hurley made it just a little too obscure.

Barring that, all of the elements that made Ghostgirl so quirky and such a joy to read were still present, and supplemented by Scarlett and Damen's wonderful subplot. I thought the resolution to this was extremely sweet and worked extremely well with the rest of the story.

Again, the greatest pleasure I got from reading Ghostgirl: Homecoming was the wise little snippets that accompanied the start of each chapter. Here is one as an example:

"Most hope is false if you think about it. It's a belief that an outcome will be positive despite evidence to the contrary. But where would we be without it? It's the mind's compass and the heart's buoy, which we cling to as we wait for help to arrive. Without hope, life is sink or swim, and Charlotte hoped she would find a way to swim."

I would recommend Ghostgirl: Homecoming to those who think Buffy crossed with The Corpse Bride would make for an entertaining idea. It is charming, kooky and deliciously noir. Plus, my beautiful hardback edition has purple-edged pages - win!

Voyager Giveaway Winner!

Just a quick announcement that the winner of Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay and Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane is:

Emily Goldman!

The winner has been contacted and the books will be on their way shortly.

Thank you to everyone who supported me by entering, commiserations to those who weren't the lucky one, and look out for another giveaway soon!

Books I Adopted This Week

With grateful acknowledgement to The Story Siren!

Here are the books that entered my house this week - I received 6 for review and brought 8 books (and I have to say that my book buying has spiralled out of all control since starting this blog! I love the generosity of the publishers, but just those books never seem to be enough for a confirmed bookaholic!)

FOR REVIEW

Stone Spring by Stephen Baxter

Gollancz, to be published June 2010.

Ana is fourteen. Her father is missing, her mother is dead. Ana herself has perhaps another twenty years of life left to her. But in that time she is destined to change the shape of our world. Ana lives on the North coast of Doggerland, a vast and fertile plain that 10,000 years ago linked the British Isles to mainland Europe. Life is short for Ana's people but they live in an Eden-like world teeming with wildlife, a world yet to feel the impact of man. But their world is changing. The ice has melted, the seas are rising and one fateful year a Tsunami sweeps inland and scatters Ana's people. But if the people of distant Jericho could build a wall to keep the world out, surely Ana's people could build a wall to keep the sea out? Stephen Baxter's new imaginative epic is the story of life in the Mesolithic, a rich world of alien cultures, a world where death comes swiftly, a world about to be swept away. A world that will become our world. Unless one girl can change it forever.

Woefully, I haven't yet read any Stephen Baxter, but my penchant for alternate histories should mean that I will enjoy this book thoroughly. I like the premise, and the blurb gives just enough intrigue to ensure that I will be trying this one out in the not-too-distant future.


Dark Knights of the Soul by Jeremy Simpson

Quartet Books, published on 20th March 2010

The heroic ideals of the Templar and Teutonic Knights live on through the charitable groups working today under their names. Yet, like Alistair Crowley or more recently, the leader of the Swiss suicidal cult, the Order of the Solar Temple, corrupt individuals have sometimes claimed to be ancient Templars incarnate. Dark Knights of the Soul tells of a neo-Templar Order located on the Swiss/German border at the end of the 20th century. The public image they project is of the original Templar: one of protection of Jerusalem and its holy shrines. However their ambition is to control the Temple Mount under the auspices of the United Nations. To achieve this they plan the destruction of the Moslem Dome of the Rock using men dressed as Israeli soldiers. They ally themselves with a neo-Teutonic order of Knights, whilst the charismatic Grand Master of the neo-Templar Order prophesises the 9/11 attacks on America. He claims access to the Holy Grail in a hidden Templar abbey in Armenia which will provide the 'elixir of youth' to its inner circle of Templar leaders. Meanwhile, the Order invites three historians to study their archives - two historians from Cambridge and one from Harvard. The academics not only stumble on the Jerusalem plot, but also the dark secrets of the Order's spiritual activities, revolving around ancient Mithraic sacrificial practices. The very essence of evil becomes a stark reality as the three historians realise they have mistakenly become embroiled in a plot which threatens the balance of world power.

I confess, I have a weakness for all things Knights Templar - I have read a lot of fiction and non-fiction about this most famous martial order. So, when I was offered this copy for review by Quartet Books, I jumped at it. The novel is relatively slim as well, which only pushes it up my TBR pile faster!


Firespell by Chloe Neill

Gollancz, to be published 20th May 2010

As the new girl at the elite St. Sophia's boarding school, Lily Parker thinks her classmates are the most monstrous things she'll have to face. When Lily's guardians decided to send her away to a fancy boarding school in Chicago, she was shocked. So was St. Sophia's. Lily's ultra-rich brat pack classmates think Lily should be the punchline to every joke, and on top of that, she's hearing strange noises and seeing bizarre things in the shadows of the creepy building. The only thing keeping her sane is her roommate, Scout, but even Scout's a little weird - she keeps disappearing late at night and won't tell Lily where she's been. But when a prank leaves Lily trapped in the catacombs beneath the school, Lily finds Scout running from a real monster. Scout's a member of a splinter group of rebel teens with unique magical talents, who've sworn to protect the city against demons, vampires, and Reapers, magic users who've been corrupted by their power. And when Lily finds herself in the line of a firespell, Scout tells her the truth about her secret life, even though Lily has no powers of her own - at least, none that she's discovered yet...

This is another of the YA titles that are coming from Gollancz later this year, and it looks like a fun fast read, with nods towards the House of Night series published by Orbit. I can see it being disposable fun, personally, and I do enjoy reading well-written YA novels. I might save this one for my beach holiday later in the year!


Absorption by John Meaney

Gollancz, to be published 20th May 2010

600 years from now on the world of Fulgor Roger Blackstone, son of two Pilots (long-time alien spies, masquerading as ordinary humans) aches to see the mythical Pilot's city of Labyrinth, in the fractal ur-continuum of mu-space. In 8th century Norseland, a young carl called Wulf kills a man, watched by a mysterious warrior who bears the mark of Loki the Trickster God. In 1920s Zurich, Gavriela Silberstein enters the long, baroque central hallway of the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule where Einstein so recently studied. And on a nameless world, not knowing his human heritage, a silver-skinned youth tries to snatch back an Idea - but it floats away on gentle magnetic currents. There are others across the ages, all with three things in common: they glimpse shards of darkness moving at the edge of their vision; they hear echoes of a dark, disturbing musical chord; and they will dream of joining a group called the Ragnarok Council. ABSORPTION is the first novel of RAGNAROK, a new space opera trilogy of high-tech space warfare, unitary intelligences made up of millions of minds, the bizarre physics of dark energy, quantum mechanics and a mindblowing rationale for Norse mythology.

Wow, now this one has shot right to the top of my anticipated reading! A space opera with lashings of Norse mythology? Sounds awesome to me! Also, I want to give a shout out to the cover art by Jim Burns, which is just gorgeous. I am really looking forward to reading this book.


Moon Sworn by Keri Arthur

Piatkus Books, to be published 27th May 2010.

A rare hybrid of vampire and werewolf, Riley Jenson works for Melbourne's Directorate of Other Races, an organisation created to police the supernatural races - and protect humans from their depredations. More werewolf than vampire, Riley is vulnerable to the moon heat, the weeklong period before the full moon, when her need to mate becomes all-consuming. But that's the least of her worries. Evil is on the rampage in Melbourne and it's up to her to stop it...

Riley Jenson Guardian series:

1. Full Moon Rising
2. Kissing Sin
3. Tempting Evil
4. Dangerous Games
5. Embraced by Darkness
6. The Darkest Kiss
7. Deadly Desire
8. Bound to Shadows
9. Moon Sworn

This is book 9 of the series that I have been sent. Luckily, I do believe I have book 1 (Full Moon Rising) on my bookshelves already, so I will give that one a read first and see if it intrigues me enough to go pick up the other books in the series. Consequently, if I do review Moon Sworn, don't expect it any time soon!


Lover Mine by J. R. Ward

Piatkus Books, published 6th May 2010

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly war raging between vampires and their slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers like no other - vampire warriors, defenders of their race...John Matthew has been through his vampire transition and taken to the life of the Brotherhood with a vengeance, but he still can't shake the nightmare of his past and is unsure of his future as a warrior hero. He's made a promise to honour the Brotherhood and their fight with the slayers at all costs, until the love of his life is kidnapped and he is forced to make a choice that could change his life and the Brotherhood's forever...

Black Dagger Brotherhood series:

1. Dark Lover
2. Lover Eternal
3. Lover Awakened
4. Lover Revealed
5. Lover Unbound
6. Lover Enshrined
7. Lover Avenged
8. Lover Mine

Another long-running paranormal series! When will these ladies learn to write nice, neat trilogies like their fantasy counterparts?! I liked the premise of this series, and I remembered that my local Oxfam store had a couple of these in stock last time I browsed, so you will see below that I have now managed to pick up most of this series and will embark on a read pretty soon.


Books Purchased

As I have just mentioned, 6 of the 8 books I purchased were those from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I am not going to list all of them but here is the Wikipedia page if you wanted any more information about them!


Tony and Susan by Austin Wright

Atlantic Books, published 1st May 2010

Fifteen years ago, Susan Morrow left her first husband Edward Sheffield. One day, comfortable in her home, and her second marriage, she receives, entirely out of the blue, a parcel containing the manuscript of her ex-husband's first novel. He writes asking her to read the book; she was always his best critic, he says. As Susan reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of his character Tony Hastings, a maths professor driving his family to their summer house in Maine. And as we read with her, so are we. As the Hastings' ordinary, civilized lives are disastrously, violently sent off course, Susan is plunged back into the past, forced to confront the darkness that inhabits her, and driven to name the fear that gnaws at her future and will change her life. "Tony and Susan" is a dazzling achievement: simultaneously a riveting portrayal of the experience of reading and a page-turning thriller, written in startlingly arresting prose. It is also a novel about fear and regret, revenge and aging, marriage and creativity. It is simply unique.

Okay, it is positively dangerous for me to be stuck in an airport with a handy W H Smith nearby! I was delayed coming back from Leeds last week and two books found their way home with me, this being one of them. It was definitely an impulse purchase based on both the blurb and the cover quotes from such distinguished authors. I don't really know much about it beyond the blurb, but I am definitely curious about the story within the pages.


The Captive Queen by Alison Weir

Cornerstone, published 1st April 2010

It is the year 1152 and a beautiful woman of thirty, attended by only a small armed escort, is riding like the wind southwards through what is now France, leaving behind her crown, her two young daughters and a shattered marriage to Louis of France, who had been more like a monk than a king, and certainly not much of a lover. This woman is Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, and her sole purpose now is to return to her vast duchy and marry the man she loves, Henry Plantagenet, a man destined for greatness as King of England. Theirs is a union founded on lust which will create a great empire stretching from the wilds of Scotland to the Pyrenees. It will also create the devil's brood of Plantagenets - including Richard Cuur de Lion and King John - and the most notoriously vicious marriage in history. "The Captive Queen" is a novel on the grand scale, an epic subject for Alison Weir. It tells of the making of nations, and of passionate conflicts: between Henry II and Thomas Becket, his closest friend who is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral on his orders; between Eleanor and Henry's formidable mother Matilda; between father and sons, as Henry's children take up arms against him; and, finally between Henry and Eleanor herself.

I firmly believe every woman should read about Eleanor of Aquitaine - she was such an amazing woman, and her achievements were legion. I have already read historical fiction that includes her - such as the work by Sharon Kay Penman - but I am more than happy to try the take of other authors. This was my other spur of the moment purchase while waiting for my flight.

So, that was my list of books that have now been adopted into my home. I promise to care for them diligently and give them lots of love!

Are there any that you feel particularly interested in? Any that you would urge me to read earlier than the others? I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who have been reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood and Riley Jenson Guardian series - are they worth my time and effort?

Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley

Instead of doing my own summary of the book, as is my wont, I am going to use the blurb from the back of Ghostgirl, since it tickled me enough for me to pick up and buy the book: Charlotte Usher wants to be popular. It's all she's ever wanted. And this year she has a plan to make sure it happens. But she's got her work cut out; the popular girls (and more importantly, Damen, object of Charlotte's desire) are completely oblivious to the fact that she even breathes the same air as them. She may as well be dead. So, she choked to death on a gummy bear. Admittedly it's not the most stylish way to die - but why should being dead get in the way of her plans? She'll just have to be a little more creative about achieving her goals..."

It was the gummy bear that got me - that fabulously dark and mordant sense of humour had me chuckling from the off, and I'm pleased to report that the book itself lives up to this. There were continual flashes of that same humour, such as: "A wave of post-mortem depression swept over her once again."

Not only this, but I appreciated some of the sly nods to modern pop culture. One that I am fairly sure the author intended (if she didn't, it was a fantastic coincidence) is where our narrator Charlotte refers to 'Nightmare on Hawthorne Street' - similar in a woodsy way to 'Nightmare on Elm Street'.

This book is like a lovely mash-up of The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, and Beetlejuice with lashings of Buffy and Gossip Girl for good measure. The gothic tone permeates the entire novel, emphasised by chapter quotes from such diverse sources as Evanescence, Sylvia Plath and Johnny Rotten. The dialogue, however, is as witty and snarky as anything that Joss Whedon has penned, helping to make Charlotte and Scarlett both believable and entertaining.

Mention should also be made of the simply gorgeous book itself. Usually when I resort to discussing the cover of a book, it is because I have run out of decent things to say about the novel. With Ghostgirl it is quite the reverse - the cover, internal illustrations, colour palette and beautiful, kooky cartoon character adds a great deal to the reading experience. I would urge you to visit the Ghostgirl website where additional background and even merchandising is available - it is a complete brand, and a very cute one!

The story itself was diverting enough, although full of gentle cliches, but nothing that detracted too much from my enjoyment. When you are writing about high school these days, it is inevitable that a book will feel familiar, thanks to the many books and TV shows that offer up a perspective on the US school system.

I was never completely sure why Damen was so important to Charlotte, but I guess teenage infatuation just is and can't be questioned.

Lastly, I adored the really rather wise little snippets of commentary offered up at the start of each chapter. For example:

I love you, but I'm not in love with you. This is a false distinction. Completely backward if you think about it. Love is love. What's really meant by being "in love", is obsession, addiction, infatuation, but not actual love. Being "in love" is a statement of your own needs and desires rather than an attempt to fulfill another's. True love, on the other hand, is a bridge between two people. It had taken Charlotte most of her life, and all of her afterlife, to come to this realization."

Ghostgirl is a spiky, attitude-driven novel with a warm heart that invites you to care about the characters that tackle both life and afterlife with humour, spite and wit. All I can say is that I am enormously glad I already have the sequel so that I can read more immediately about Charlotte Usher. A delightful surprise.