NOTE: I tend not to discuss plots in any great detail, but if you're worried about spoilers then do not read, take it from someone whose brother ruined a biggie in Harry Potter for me :(
Magical Books
Yesterday I went to the WB Harry Potter studio tour for my Birthday!
It was wonderful. I was especially excited to see their collection of books.
I took some photos to share with you :)
21/06/12
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Ich Liebe ye olde Books!
I love old books. Here are some of my favourites from the bookshelf...
Alice in Wonderland
I love it's faded black edges. Given to me by an awesome Goldsmith :)
The Old, Old Fairy Tales
From the set of Warhouse :)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
26/08/11
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The Most Beautiful Book
(that I own..)
25/08/11
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Sirius
I just found out this existed yesterday!
I'd never even heard of it before I found it at work.
Fascinating, as it's quite obviously J K Rowling's inspiration for her own Siruis Black, the man who can turn into a big black dog at will, and is therefore 'a huge, handsome dog with the brain and intelligence of a human being' as Stapledon's creation is described.
I want to read this!
:)
25/05/11
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Chaos Walking
Yesterday I completed the 2nd in the chaos walking trilogy! I cannot explain how excited I am about these books. I end up selling many of these at work because people can see how good they are by how much I ramble on happily about them.
I've even had people come back in especially to thank me for recommending them because they're so damn good!
Patrick Ness has really done something clever here. Not only is his writing rich, interesting and full of little subtleties (such as how the language of one character may be quite phonetically written but slowly improves as they grow and experience positive influences from others, whereas another characters may start off well spoken and pick up bad habits!) but what really fascinates me (among many other things) is how the books are written in first person, but cleverly remind you of your own presence in relation the story. Through his use of language, every so often you are reminded that this story is being told to you, and that the character is aware of you. It's as if he is recalling these events for you and therefore is wary of your reaction to what he has done. In certain instances he feels shame and embarrassment in front of you personally, as the reader. It is so nicely done.
What makes the second book even more exciting is that it introduces a second view point. This character is so very integral to the first book and a real mystery in many ways, so to suddenly be reading from her point of view also opens up a whole new dimension to the story.
Unlike some literary series where each story is a complete narrative in itself, these feel more like one big story split into three, so you do not get any sense of resolve as you finish each book, only the burning need for more! Ness is incredibly good at cliffhangers, especially in book one where every individual chapter seems to have one, causing the 'well, perhaps just one more' situation, until you realise you haven't slept in 2 days. I thankfully haven't personally suffered from this in a long time, as reading tends to make me sleepy. Perhaps i'm getting old?
Anyway, I don't want to talk about the plot as I don't want to give anything away. All i'll say is this:
A boy, a dog, noise, silence, a knife, a book, a mayor, war, farms, natives, visitors, gators, guns, chanting, bombs, a river, a town, horses, mines, medication and a lot of mind reading :)
13/04/11
I AM THE CIRCLE AND THE CIRLE IS ME
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Uncle Montague's
Tales of Terror
OoooOOOooh I love it, I love it, I love it.
I consumed this one last year. Very excited to have his newest, Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth waiting patiently on my shelf for me to get through The Ask and the Answer (which I am in no hurry to do, as it's awesome).
I suppose you could say it's a book of short stories, but they're all cleverly strung together in one bigger story which ties them all together (I like it when they do that). It's not wet-your-pants scary, but enjoyably spooky (it is technically a children's book afterall!) and the feeling is mostly of an 'old-fashioned ghost story' sort.
His books are illustrated throughout (by himeself, clever boy) and I love his drawings. Full of things which make me giddy like creepy trees and old, mysterious objects. They also work very well slightly animated.
It's books like this which make me think it would be very lovely to just spend the whole of your time writing stories and making drawings of them. I suppose I have started this life in a way.. made a dent in it anyway.. just very much looking forward to a day when I can do this and this only, and no longer have to take jobs which are less exciting.
All in all, a deliciously addictive book. Quite simply a collection of spooky treasures, all wrapped up in a paperback with pictures you'll love to look at. What more can you ask for?
29/03/11
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The Woman in Black
I read this earlier in the year and found it was brilliant! I just love her writing and the way you are entirely drawn in to the environment she places you in, whether its a bustling pub full of roudy farmers on market day, or the desolate and isolated Eel Marsh House, with sea mists clouding your vision and piercing cold water all around. She is so great at building tension and uses the little dog Spider (what a great name!) so very cleverly in doing so. There is nothing more frightening than your own imagination, and Susan Hill is evidentally fully aware of this, often using purely sound effects rather than visual descriptions, leaving your mind to fill in the blanks in which ever horrible way you wish.
The ending is very predictable but that somehow makes it even more terrible! As you just know what is going to happen, but you can't help but read on until your worst suspicions are horribly confirmed.
It also has a nice nod to M.R James' O, Whistle and i'll come to you, my lad right in the middle.
Christian and I have a tradition of going to the theatre every year to celebrate our anniversary and this year I took us to The Woman in Black. The book I found entertainingly scary, a sort of pleasant spookiness if you get my drift, but the play is a totally different experience altogether! Oh its terrifying! And completely amazing. I loved it because i'm usually a wimp with scary things, but for the first time ever, I was able to sit there calm and collected while chris was a puddle in the seat next to me. ah ha! :)
It's a strange experience having read the book first. For the first half, I seemed to find it less scary because I knew what was going to happen. But for the second half, this turned on me, and I seemed to be more scared than everyone else in the anticipation of knowing what was going to happen!
People always say 'my skin crawled' and i'd never truely understood the meaning of this, until the ending of this play. I was quaking in my boots, even after the lights had gone up and everyone was applauding, I was applauding with shaking hands.
Brilliant.
26/03/2011
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A Monster Calls
I just finished reading this today and what a fantastic book! Patrick Ness became my new literary love after reading the first in his Chaos Walking trilogy last year, The Knife of Never Letting Go. I'm moving straight on to the second in this trilogy tonight, which i've been saving for a couple of months, because its special :)
I love MONSTERS, so already we were off to a great start.
Sadly, the story was originally created by Siobhan Dowd, who only had two of her (now five) books published while she was alive. She had outlined the characters, the plot and had just started the book when she lost her battle with cancer. Interestingly the main theme of this book combats a small boy's acceptance of his mother's terminal illness, so seems closely interlinked with Dowd's own personal circumstances at the time.
The main theme of the story is quite a delicate one and one which is difficult to describe without giving too much away. The story looks into the complications of desperately wanting (or being) two very opposite things at the same time and the guilt that often accompanies this. Dowd/Ness mirror this very cleverly through the stories told by the monster to the young boy, which aim to rip apart the predictable characters of our childhood fairytales, piecing them together in a way which shows both good and evil in characters usually portrayed to be soley one or the other. This mixture of conflicting ideas and emotions, when brought into reality, is something which only Dowd could have touched upon with such understanding and attention to detail. I think all will be moved by this story, but only those who have slowly lost or are slowly losing someone they love, will truely understand the often unmentionable emotional theme which is the focus of this tale.
If you think this all sounds a little heavy going, then do not be fooled. The writing is light and vibrant and in places very funny. It is magical and mysterious but equally as grounded in a reality which is terrifically well observed.
The main theme of the story is quite a delicate one and one which is difficult to describe without giving too much away. The story looks into the complications of desperately wanting (or being) two very opposite things at the same time and the guilt that often accompanies this. Dowd/Ness mirror this very cleverly through the stories told by the monster to the young boy, which aim to rip apart the predictable characters of our childhood fairytales, piecing them together in a way which shows both good and evil in characters usually portrayed to be soley one or the other. This mixture of conflicting ideas and emotions, when brought into reality, is something which only Dowd could have touched upon with such understanding and attention to detail. I think all will be moved by this story, but only those who have slowly lost or are slowly losing someone they love, will truely understand the often unmentionable emotional theme which is the focus of this tale.
If you think this all sounds a little heavy going, then do not be fooled. The writing is light and vibrant and in places very funny. It is magical and mysterious but equally as grounded in a reality which is terrifically well observed.
The illustrations are by Jim Kay and are just superb. All scratchy and wild looking, just like the image and nature of the monster who always visits Conor at 12:07 am.
I've only read the uncorrected proof, and so have only seen about half of the illustrations, very much looking forward to feasting my eyes on the rest when it's published on May 2nd of this year.
You can pre-order the book at Waterstone's and its £3 off :)
Hurrah
25/03/2011
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Technorati books, book review, Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls, Susan Hill, Woman in Black, , Chris Priestly, Tales of Terror,
