1st August, 2008

Friday’s Child by Georgette Heyer

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I don’t quite remember when I started reading this book, probably at the end of June or beginning of July and I only finished it tonight! I’m already not a fan of romance books but I thought I’d give this book a try as it was sent from Sourcebooks.

This was my first Georgette Heyer book and at least, it’s better than Austen. It is still dull for me, the story was slow and I really couldn’t wait to finish the book! So I’m really, really glad it’s over.

Anyway, what day were you born on? I was born on a Wednesday and I guess I’m full of woe. :D Friday’s child is loving and giving, which describes Hero perfectly. Hero’s an orphan and she’s been under her cousin’s care ever since she was young. Well, her cousin wasn’t really fond of her and her life’s actually quite miserable.

The hero in the story would be Sherry or Lord Sheringham. He has asked the Incomparable or Isabella for her hand in marriage but was rejected. Feeling indignant that he should be married right away so that he can have full control of his money, which was left to him by his late father, he vowed that he’d marry the next girl he meets. Sherry’s quite addicted to gaming and he is in a lot of debts.

And it’s no other than Hero Wantage who’s about to be sent to Bath to become a governess. She’s also Sherry’s childhood friend and adores him completely. When he suggests that they get married, she agrees on the condition that they don’t interfere in each other’s lives. It’s like they’re free to do what they want but in a discreet way, I guess. So, they set off to London and Hero says goodbye to being a governess.

With the help of Sherry’s cousins, Gil and Ferdy, the wedding goes smoothly. They nickname Hero ‘Kitten’. After that, life goes on as usual. Hero gets along very well with Gil, Ferdy, and another of Sherry’s friend, George, who’s completely smitten with Isabella and has always been trying to win her heart. Thanks to the characters of Gil, Ferdy, and George, as they make the story much more interesting! What would the book be without them?

Hero also lands herself in a number of scrapes and Sherry helps her out since he’s her husband and he’s responsible for her. But for how long will he tolerate it all? Hero utterly worships him and would do anything to make him happy. Whatever he says, she follows. She doesn’t really have a mind of her own but then when it comes to love, can’t blame her, right?

If you want to try Georgette Heyer’s books, I’m not sure if you should start with this one. I have more Heyer books to go and I hope that they might be better than this.

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: Ames

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Posted in Authors H, Historical Fiction, Romance, Titles F at 11:02 pm | Comments (7)



3rd February, 2008

Maggie Again by John D. Husband

When I read the synopsis for Maggie Again, I knew this was going to be a one-of-a-kind kind of book. And I was right! This book was an enjoyable and easy read. Great for reluctant readers.

From the title, it’s obvious that the story revolves around Maggie, an active and vivacious 16-year-old country girl from Cobblers Eddy, Indiana. She enjoys spending time with her three best friends, Tom, Gordie, and Alfie. She and Tom have some romantic thing going on. Alfie is some kind of psychic. Sometimes, he knows what’s going to happen in the future.

Maggie’s world was turned upside down when she found out that her dad was going to move to New York and she and her mom are going too. Initially, she hated the idea of going to live in New York but later she understood how much it would mean to her father to work there. So, they did move to New York.

Maggie also wrote a letter to Tom, asking him to come visit her as soon as possible. After that, Tom, Gordie and Alfie hopped onto a boxcar, which they thought was going to New York. Alfie began to hear some strange music and before they knew it, they arrived in New York. But they arrived in the year 1984. They left Indiana in 1926. This means that they had travelled through time. Interesting, huh?

Meanwhile, in 1926, Maggie found out that the three boys had left Indiana to visit her. But they never came to New York. After weeks of their disappearance, they were declared dead and Maggie moved on with life. She got married and had a son. But she was not happy. She still wished she could see her 3 childhood friends again.

Well, she did meet them in 1984 when she’s already an old lady and the boys are still teenagers. The whole thing seemed completely bizarre for them. Totally unbelievable but it was hard to not to believe since they were all right in front of one another.

So, how do you think it’ll all work out? How will the relationship between Tom and Maggie develop? While reading, I wondered if Maggie will become young again. I wondered if it’s just all a dream for Maggie, Tom, Gordie, and Alfie. That kept me turning the pages.

Maggie Again is John D. Husband’s first novel and not a bad one either. I enjoyed reading it and if there’s a second novel, I’ll surely put it in my list of books to read.

Alfie looked down at her and answered her question in a low and somber voice: “You’re Maggie again.”

I’d like to thank Lisa Roe for sending this ARC for me to review. My very first ARC too! :)

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: Mrs S, Lauren

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Posted in Authors H, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Titles M, Young Adult Fiction at 4:51 pm | Comments (11)



25th November, 2007

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

Mark Haddon’s second best-selling novel isn’t anything like his first. I enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time but I can’t say the same for A Spot of Bother. However, it’s an easy book to read because Haddon wrote in short sentences and small paragraphs. Plus very short chapters too.

The story is about George Hall’s and his family’s adventures. I say ‘adventures’ because the things happening to them sound like that. George is a retired guy and he’s in the middle of building his own studio in his garden so that he has his own space to draw and paint. He also has some lesion on his hip, which he thinks is cancerous and he also thinks he’s lost his marbles.

Then, his wife, Jean, is having an affair with George’s old friend from work, David. Sometimes she feels guilty about it all and feels bad betraying her husband. One day, David poured out his feelings to her and asked her to be with him forever. To leave George and be with David, that is. But Jean doesn’t think she’s ready to take such a huge, drastic leap.

Besides that, Katie, their daughter, is about to get married a second time. She already has a little son, Jacob, from her first marriage. This time, she’s going to marry Ray. Unfortunately, her parents and brother don’t think that he’s quite suitable for her. Also, Katie isn’t sure if she’s in love with him or not.

Finally, there’s Jamie, Katie’s brother. He’s a homosexual and he’s having trouble with his partner, Tony. Jamie is also trying to get his life back together, trying to rebuild the perfect life he created for himself. Anyway, things don’t always go to plan, do they?

Well, doesn’t it sound like a pretty exciting book? I find that things got more exciting after about 60% of the book. My favourite part of the book was when Jamie’s mother and sister greeted Tony after a very unexpected scene, which shocked family and friends.

Actually, most of the book is about George. Yeah, it’s quite pitiful for him. He admits he’s afraid of death and yet he doesn’t get a thorough medical check-up. His family’s too busy to take any notice. They took it for granted that he could take care of himself, like he always did.

I guess this book would be perfect to pick up to read if you’re having a particularly rough day. While reading, imagine you’re in the shoes of any one of the characters (except little Jacob, though), then perhaps you might feel a little bit better.

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: Bibliolatrist

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Posted in Authors H, Contemporary, Humour, Mystery/Thriller, Titles A at 2:23 pm | Comment (0)



19th April, 2007

Boy by James Hanley

Well, I can say that Boy by Irish writer, James Hanley is quite a riveting book. It’s easy to read and the language is simple. In fact, it only took 10 days for James Hanley to complete the book. That’s rather interesting, isn’t it?

It’s about a young boy, Arthur Fearon, who is approaching his 13th birthday. However, he is absolutely devastated because his parents are going to take him away from school and make him work to earn some money. He has to pass an examination first, and then only can he leave school. He’s a smart kid and he did pass the exam.

His bad-tempered father took him to work at the docks. He managed to be picked on to work in a stinking bilge tank and later in a hot boiler. But, he gave up in the end. The work was just too hard and there were bullies who picked on him on his first day of work. Thus, to escape his father’s wrath and further work at the docks, Arthur hid himself in a ship, the Hernian, which was going to set sail soon.

He thought life was good when he was given a job on the ship. He had high expectations and intended on fulfilling them. Nevertheless, the other sailors did not give him an easy time and a couple of them even tried to take advantage of him. Arthur was upset that they treated him like dirt.

When the ship stopped at Alexandria, another sailor, Donagan, took Arthur to buy some new clothes. After that, he brought the boy to a brothel where he lost his virginity. The experience horrified him but later, he was determined to visit the same place and girl again!

When Boy was published, people thought it was too obscene and vulgar. About a hundred copies of Boy were burnt up, too! Hanley and his family suffered emotionally as well.

It’s definitely an interesting story of a young, poor boy who runs away from home, hoping to find a better life. He had an ambition and that was to be a chemist but his parents would not hear a word of it. This book is unquestionably an eye-opener.

Buy Boy (Oneworld Classics)

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Posted in Authors H, Classics, Titles B at 12:02 pm | Comment (0)



20th February, 2007

Roots by Alex Haley

Roots, which is written by Alex Haley is undoubtedly the best, heart-warming book I have ever read. It is the story of Kunta Kinte, who is from Africa. He is an extremely brave, loyal young man from a small village, Juffure, in The Gambia.

He has turned 17 and was very excited because he has become a man. But unfortunately, things did not turn out the way he would like it to be. One day, while he was out chopping wood to make a drum, he was abducted and sent on a slave ship to the New World to become a slave.

In America, a John Waller, who treated him like dirt, bought him. Kunta tried to escape 4 times but he was caught and finally, the slave-catchers cut off his right foot. He was then sold to John Waller’s brother, a doctor who treated his slaves better.

Kunta got married and had a daughter, Kizzy. She was taken from her parents to become a slave to another master. He used her for his own pleasure and she had a mulatto baby, George. George grew up to be fighting cock trainer. He got married and had kids, too. So, the story goes on until Alex Haley was born.

When he was a young boy, he would hear stories of Kunta Kinte, who claimed he was from Africa and was also very proud of his homeland. Then, Alex Haley set out to find out the true story of Kunta and his history. It took him 12 years to complete the book.

Really, read it for yourself and you will learn a lot. It made me appreciate that I have my family with me now and I have no one torturing me till I bleed, half-dead, and practically losing hope of ever getting the chance to be free again. This book deserves 5 out of 5 stars!

I read this book in 2004. One of my teachers recommended this book to me in 2000 but I put off reading it as it’s such a thick book! Anyway, it took me 3 whole weeks to finish it.

Buy Roots: The Saga of an American Family

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Posted in Authors H, Biography/Autobiography, Nonfiction, Titles R at 6:57 am | Comments (6)



11th December, 2006

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

This is the second time I’ve read this particularly hilarious book about a 15-year-old boy, Christopher who has Asperger’s Syndrome or autism. He lives in Swindon with his father and attends a special school. Christopher is brilliant at Maths and Physics and he aims to sit for the A Level Maths exam. He dreams of taking more A Level exams and then getting a degree to eventually become a scientist.

The story begins with the death of a neighbour’s dog, Wellington. Someone had intentionally stuck a garden fork through the poor dog and since Christopher had been quite fond of the dog, he is determined to find out who killed the dog. Thus, he writes a book with interesting illustrations to tell his story.

As he goes on his journey to find out the dog’s killer, Christopher finds out some secrets, which his father had hid from him. He has also started talking to strangers, something he never does because to him, strangers could be dangerous. Christopher finds comfort in familiarity.

This is a different kind of book and written in an unusual but likeable style. Definitely worth reading again!

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: Amanda, Bibliolatry

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Posted in Authors H, Humour, Mystery/Thriller, Titles C at 4:03 am | Comment (1)


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