Mr Stink - David Walliams

Chloe is an unhappy little girl; bullied in school, picked on by her little sister and nagged by my mum. She decides one day to overcome her shyness and speaks to Mr Stink, the local (smelly) tramp. That one decision will change her life forever.


This book made me love and appreciate Roald Dahl even more; not that this book isn't a well-written, funny, touching tale, but it just lacks some essential, mysertious Dahlness. The characters are good, the horrible mum who is truly repugnant in many ways and the ineffectial dad who lets her bully Chloe. The story bowls along and has some very funny moments and since there will be no more Dahl books this one will do!


"Mr Stink stank. He also stunk. And if it is correct English to say he stinked then he stinked as well. He was the stinkiest stinky stinker who ever lived.


A stink is the worse type of smell. A stink is worse that a stench. And a stence is worse than a pong. And a pong is worse than a whiff. And a whiff can be enough to make your nose wrinkle."

The Host - Stephenie Meyer

The earth has been invaded by aliens. Not little green men firing lasers or blowing up famous monumnets but Souls who take over your body and live your life. Melanie was a rebel, fighting to survive but captured and taken over by Wanderer. However nobody, not the Souls nor Mel's nearest and dearest ever predicted what will happen next.

This story is an interesting take on the invasion story - the point of view is from the alien and just as she is swept up by human emotions, we are swept up and swept along by the story. Wanda is a likable character and her dilemnas are dealt with with and there is something very appealing about a story where it is the human spirit that wins. (hey, I'm human it's bound to appeal to me!) However, my one real complaint is the the tinge of teenage melodrama that hangs over this; the idea that love conquers all is a bit naff to a cynic like me and I did find myself snorting at certain lines! (but like I said I am a cynic!)

Despite that it is a thought-provoking enjoyable read!

"Though there was no sound, there was a change. The atmosphere, which had gone tense at my accusation, relaxed. I wondered how I knew this. I had a strange sensation that I was somehow receiving more that my five senses were giving me - almost a feeling that there was another sense, on the fringes, not quite harnessed. Intuition? That was almost the right word. As if any creature needed more than five senses."

Read more;

+ http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/thehost.html

+ http://www.thehostnovel.com/

Lieutenant Culver is a US Marine reserve called up due to the Korean War. Having survived the horrors of WW2 he struggles with being back in the military life and this is compounded when he is ordered to go on a thirty six mile march.

This is a typical American novel; beautifully written almost poetic, terse and masculine writing and a sparsely written plot. It is a very interesting look at war, after the major conflict how people cope with the continuing horror and monotony of military life. Stryon explores two coping mechanisms through Culvert and Mannix and how men who grew up in a conformist world are finally being to rebel.



"It had all come much too soon and Culver had felt weirdly as if he had fallen asleep in some barracks in 1945 and had awakened in a half-dozen years or so to find that the intervening freedom, growth and serenity had been only a glorious if somewhat prolonged dream."

Read more;
+ http://www.enotes.com/short-story-criticism/styron-william

The Statement - Brian Moore

Pierre Brossard is a man on the run, condemned to death in his absence for his war crimes during the Vichy reign in Occupied France. He has been sheltered by the Catholic Church but finally, after forty years, his past is catching up with him.

This is a study of old men and how humans manage to survive - survive being on the run and also survive guilt of crimes committed. Brossard is a man not to be hated but pitied, the way he wriggles and contorts in order to stay on the run and also justify his existence; to himself and to his God. It is also a study of power and how people in power can manipulate events.
It is a calmly told story that underlies and emphasises the horror of what happened and what is unfolding in the story.

"Again he saw the stranger coming towards him lifting the briefcase, taking out the revolver. If I had let my guard down after all these years, if I had lost that sense of being followed? But God be thanked, He protected me in the past. I must give thanks tonight at Devotions. But no, I can't stay for Devotions. Some vineyard worker passing above that ravine will see the car. And the police will come here, for this road leads only to the abbey. Get up. Pack."

Read more;

+ http://members.optusnet.com.au/~waldrenm/moore.html

Auslander - Paul Dowswell

When Piotr's parents are killed by a tank and he is sent to a orphanage he has little idea of how lucky he is to have blond hair and German ancestry. He is adopted by the Kaltenbrauch and is taught how to be a good German. At first he enjoys being part of German, joining the Hitler Youth and dreams of being a Luftwaffe pilot, however he is soon exposed to the reality behind the propaganda and the decisions he makes will change his life forever.
You would think with a topic like World War Two every story has been told and every horror revealed but by telling the story through the eyes of a child Dowswell shows the true horror of what the Nazis did - how they corrupted and warped normal life. He shows how a normal boy can be seduced by the Nazis and the culture of fear and suspicion that permeated German life at that time. Yet this is not a preachy book that you feel you should read but a thrilling story that grips you from the first and only lets you go when you have finished.

"It was a sad, rotten business, not being able to trust people. Anna had always known that she and her family were different. Finding out who else was like them was a dangerous, treacherous game. The Gestapo, they had heard, sent agent provocateurs to catch people out. It was even whispered someone would tell an anti-Hitler joke, and then report you if you laughed, or even report you if you did not report them for telling the joke."

Read more;
+ http://www.pauldowswell.co.uk

The Incredible Adam Spark

Adam Spark isn't what you would call lucky. He is eighteen but going on eight and a half. He lives with his sister but she is about to move out and live in Glasgow with her girlfriend. However Adam believes that his luck is going to change when he comes round from an accident and thinks he has superpowers...is he the first McSuperhero?
Alan Bissett is a very Scottish writer (like Gordon Legge in fact) not just in his use of dialect but in his style and love for Scotland in all its (dis)glory. Adam Spark is a rollercoaster ride inside the head of the narrator - and you constantly have to stop and think about what is actually happening and often it is not what Adam thinks. Like Flowers for Algernon you feel a real sympathy for Adam as he struggles with life but there is also gallons of humour as he negotiates his way through growing up in Hallglen. Nobody, not Glasgow yooni students or the H-Glen animals, really escapes Bissett's wit.

"So how did it feel sparky when you were out there using your powers for good not evil? Well im just glad i could do a job for the manager and the rest of the boys. And do you think theres too much pressure on you as the teams star player? No not at all. Im just getting ma head down trying to use ma powers for the benefit of humanity. And if I can help a few friends along the way (shrug) all the better. Sparky you are a true champion. Thanks now if you dont mind im gonnay join the rest of the boys in the bath with the trophy. Absolutely sparky you deserve it. There goes a hero ladies and gentlemen. Away to was his tadger."

Read more;


+ http://www.alanbissett.com/


+ http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/alanbissett

Scat - Carl Hiaasen

Mrs Starch is the scariest teacher in Truman High School and Duane "Smoke" Scrod Jr is one of the most formidable students. Little does Nick realise that when he witnesses an encounter between the two of them that it will set in place a chain of events that will involve him, Mrs Starch the mysterious Twilly Spree and a panther cub.
Carl Hiassen's books always seems to seethe with anger about the stupidness of people and the unthinking (or sometimes thinking) cruelty to animals and the planet we are all living in and Scat is no different. However he also infuses his books with hope - that for every selfish eejit there is more people who care and who are prepared to help each other and others. Nick is a brilliant example of that, a ordinary boy who just happens to have it in his power to save an noble animal. Very enjoyable book

"The day before Mrs Starch vanished, her biology students trudged silently, as always, in the classroom. Their expressions reflected the usual mix of dread and melancholy, for Mrs Starch was the most feared teacher at the Truman School.
When the bell rang, she unfolded stiffly, like a crane, and rose to her full height of nearly six feet. In one hand she twirled a sharpened pencil, a sure sign of trouble to come."

Read More
+ http://www.carlhiassen.com/books/books-scat.html

26a - Diana Evans

Georgia and Bessi are twins and they live in the loft of their parents house, making decisions on the bean bag and surviving their father's rages and their mother's dreams of Africa. For one of the twins the journey into adulthood is not easy and they both have to struggle to find their own, separate, way into the world.
This book is like entering a magical kingdom, where imagination and joy seep into every page, until, like in the twins life reality seeps in. All characters have their own back story that brings them to life, and you feel real sypmathy for all the characters, especially Georgia and her fragile hold on life. Evans has a talent for depicting the descent into depression and it surrounds and envelopes you. 26a is not a depressing book, however - it crackles and fizzes with life throughout its 230 pages.
"She had developed a strong aversion to sugar. Sugar was like funfairs and love, music with words and lipstick with lipgloss, it was sudden movement glitter and carnival hotpants, flapjack empires that wasn't famous, wild fields and Hendrix in the forest, walking the clouds with Bessi, watching the sea with Toby, all of that, all of that outside. Sugar was alive. Sugar was an accusation"


Read more;
+ http://www.3ammagazine.com/liarchives/2005/apr/interview_diana_evans.html
+ http://www.dianaomoevans.com

The Hunger Games; Catching Fire - Stephanie Meyer

Set in a harsh and unforgiving future The Hunger Games (this is the second in a trilogy) tells the story of Katniss and how she becomes a symbol for the revolution against the brutal regime at the capital. In Catching Fire Katniss has survived The Hunger Games but is she able to survive the more subtle danger of revolution?
Suzanne Collins writes thrilling fiction, the true definition of a unputdownable book - like Katniss and the other player in The Hunger Games you are never quite sure what is happening next. The central character is well rounded and believable, with human flaws that make you like her even when you are annoyed with her. It is a depressing read, because it depicts the negative aspects of human beings so well but also the hope that one human being can inspire in others.

"All I was doing was trying to keep Peeta and myself alive. Any act of rebellion was purely coincidental. But when the Capitol decrees that only one tribute can live and you have the audacity to challenge it, I guess that's a rebellion in itself. My only defence was pretending that I was driven insane by a passionate love for Peeta. So we were both allowed to live. To be crowned victors. To go home and celebrate and wave goodbye to the cameras and be left alone. Until now."

Read more;
+ http://www.thehungergames.co.uk
+ http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com

A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore

Charlie is living a pretty normal life; he owns his own business, has a beautiful wife and a baby on the way. However tradegy strikes and when his wife dies he is left holding the baby and also having to cope with the fact that he is now the new Death.

Christopher Moore is adept at taking strange, surreal situations and making them seem well, almost normal. Like Tom Holt he uses fantasy elements to explore the failing and strengths of the average Beta Male in a funny touching way. Its been a while since I have read this book (forgot I hadn't reviewed it!) and still I can remember key scenes, most memorably the two huge guard dogs protecting Charlie's daughter, and eating everything in sight.

"No one was out on the streets tonight except the junkies, the hookers and the homeless. After the f***ed up day in the City, most everyone had decided that it was just a better idea to stay in, safer. To the Morrigan (for all they cared) they were safer in their homes the same way a tuna fish is safer in a can, but no one knew that yet."


Read More;
www.chrismoore.com

The Bride's Farewell

It is the night before Pell's wedding and unable to face the life of babies and drudgery she runs away from her home and everything she has ever known. In that one decision Pell changes her life forever and the life for everyone around her, including the mysterious hunter.
More than anything; the well-written simplicity of the plot, the believable and likable characters, the believable depicts of a past time, this novel shows exactly things have changed for women and what freedom meant in past times. Pell is remarkable because she chooses life over marriage and without sounding too preachy, should be read by every teen girl - particularly those who judge their worth by how much fake tan they use.
"The open road. What a trio of words. What a vision of blue sky and untouched hills and narrow trails heading God knew where and being free - free and hungry, free and cold, free and wet, free and lost - who could mourn such conditions, faced with the alternative"


Read more;
+ http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/video/2009/oct/22/meg-rosoff-brides-farewell
+ http://www.spinebreakers.co.uk/books/thebridesfarewell/Pages/BookDetail.aspx
+ http://www.megrosoff.co.uk

City of Ghosts - Bali Rai

Amritsar is a city on the brink of violence...tension is simmering and conflict is brewing between Indian nationalists and the British. Within this melting point we focus on individuals and the effects that political events can have on indivudal stories.
City of Ghosts is a powerful story that weaves elements of history, politics, fantasy and romance that like the city itself is all encompassing. The characters are believable and the love story between Bissen Singh and Lillian is touching and had me close to tears! Sometimes the research intrudes into the story and holds it back but overall it is a story that I would recomment to anyone who wants to find out more about India and Britain's imperial past.
"Instead, Gurdial turned his attention to the busy street. The myriad colours and sounds and smells made him smile. Amritsar was a wonderful city, constantly changing yet always familiar too. A city of tall, inward leaning buildings and narrow alleyways where the sun never shone; of wide open spaces too, bathed in sunshine and filled with numerous brightly coloured trees and plants and flowers."

Read more;
+ http://www.balirai.co.uk

Newes From The Dead - Mary Hooper

A body of a young girl, found guilty of murder and hung for her crime, is laid out on the dissection table. The students are ready, the doctors are prepared when a young student, Robert, notices that her eyes are moving. Anne is alive and it is her amazing story that is told here.
This is an engrossing tale beginning with Anne Green waking up; being enveloped in darkness and unable to move. You are eager to read on and discover why she was hanged and whether she will be discovered before the dissection happens. This novel is well researched but the research does not intrude into the story telling. All the characters are believable and you could imagine any of them having a real life behind the book. The scene in which Anne has her child is genuinely distressing and Mary Hooper shows how harsh life was.
"It is very dark when I wake. This isn't frightening in itself, because most of the year I rise in darkness, Sir Thomas insisiting that as much as possible of the house be put in order before any of the family are about. It is the quality of the darkness that is strange; blacker than black, soft and close about me.

Read more;
+ http://www.maryhooper.co.uk
+ http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2008/05/author-interview-mary-hooper-on-newes.html