Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

- A Discworld Novel -

It's the night before Hogswatch and it's not Hogfather himself who delivers the presents but Death! Why? Well, it's because Hogfather has disappeared and someone has got to do the job. Susan, a governess with special abilities and relations, is drawn into the mystery and realises that she has to solve it by morning or there won't be a morning...

It's clearly a story about Christmas and Santa Claus (or Father Christmas) but instead of Santa he is known as Hogfather and Hogfather doesn't use reindeers - he has pigs (or hogs) and they're not necessarily as well behaved as Santa's reindeers, nor as cute but I love the image it portrays. The cleverness of Pratchett's storytelling and references to "our" world and traditions are nothing but ingenious and so true. This is what our traditions and world must seem to an outsider and it's really good fun to look at it that way.

I was first introduced to Terry Pratchett when Swedish telly showed an animated series called Discworld - and I fell in love. Finally there was something for me! I love animations and cartoons and this one also contained other things than the sweet stuff that Disney makes. So I went on to read a few of his books. And then something must have happened because I stopped. I don't know why and I don't really care because I have found my way back by reading Hogfather. Brilliant, funny and the words! I love the way Pratchett writes. It's on a level that is really beyond me but By. God. I. Love. It!

My only problem now is that I have to pick another Discworld book and there is quite a few to choose from...

(Hogfather is also available on DVD, I haven't seen it myself - yet - but am in the process of ordering it)

Books All Around

I walked into town today on my lunchbreak - other people (millions and billions) of them were rushing around for the perfect bargain. Not me. I walked into a book shop. And came out with 7 new books. A little excessive perhaps but darn it! I fancied something new and I deserved new books the way I've been hanging out in 2nd hand book stores for the past year. I wanted the smell of new books.

This is what I bought:

• The Leaving of Liverpool by Maureen Lee (I've never read anything by her before - or heard of her - and I'm going to try books that are different to what i normally pick out.)
• Queen Camilla by Sue Townsend (never liked Adrian Mole but am loving her 'The Queen and I' + I'm a sucker for the Royal family.)
• The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (Books II and III of His Dark Materials. Liked the first one so...)
• Heaven Sent by Christina Jones (There's always room for some more chick-lit.)
• Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (It just sounded fantastic and I think it might be...)
• Blood River by Tim Butcher (Again, it sounded to good to miss out on)

Now I just need to finish the other ones I'm currently reading and have a clear-out of the ones under my bed. There are loads of books that I won't read again and as we live in a flat with minimum storage (but oh-so-lovely) I've decided that for every new book I buy, an old will have to go.

Sea Fever by Sarah Mason

Erica 'Inky' has but one dream and that is to sail in the America's Cup for Britain. This is something that is most definitely easier said than done as she has to compete against old superstitions and prejudices about women on boats etc. And her fellow dreamers also need to battle against people determined to see them all fail. People sharing your world are not always the friendliest.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

I was so excited when I got my hands on this one as I had been so totally won over by the previous ones by Sarah Mason (this and this). But. Sea Fever is quite different to the other 2 and not in a bad way - not at all. Whereas they others are very laugh out loud funny and charming this is more thought out and you can tell there are hours and hours of research behind it. The characters are so nicely captured and I loved every single page of it.

If you don't know anything about sailing, then you will by the end of it. It's not "in your face" information, you want to know more about this different world as the story moves along and you just suck it all up. It's not just about Inky but about everyone who has the same dream as her and they're all fighting on more than one front - they're outsiders and a joke to many but their determination takes them closer to their goal, one step at a time.

In ways it reminds me of Jilly Cooper*, Sarah Mason has chosen a surrounding that is not every reader's familiar milieu but it becomes something you want to be a part of. Albeit Sarah Mason is a bit lighter on the rude-ish language...

Like I said, it's a really good book and my dream of learning how to sail is stronger than ever before!



*Riders - showjumping world, Appassionata - classical music/orchestra world etc etc

Lucy in the Sky by Paige Toon

I picked up this book to read on the flight to Cape Verde and my motivation for making it a "flight book"? Well, the story kinda starts when the main character gets on a flight...

Lucy is on her way back home to Australia for the first time in 9 years and the reason is that her 2 best friends from her childhood are getting married - to each other. Just as she's about to turn off her phone on the airplane - she reads a text message sent from her boyfriend's phone and that's when all hell breaks loose.

The long flight forces Lucy to think about her relationship and even if she thought she knew it all she has to re-evaluate it as soon as she steps off the plane and.... the story continues.

It's supposed to be funny and don't get me wrong, it is, but it is also a book that tells you the perhaps not so good story about a relationship that's been going on for a while. It made me think about my relationship and I realised that mine isn't that bad at all, although I already knew it but it's nice to have it confirmed!

It's written in a way that it gets you involved. I kept on telling Lucy to "do this" and "don't do that" and "he's obviously a tosser" but also "what are you getting at?" (obviously quietly as I was on a plane myself and didn't want to be seen as a nutter - which is one of my ultimate fears). So it's not just a read and forget kind of book.

I enjoyed it but just as much as I think it's ok - someone else is going to dislike it. It's very much a book that feeds of your current state of mind so it could go either way. I read it on a good day so I liked it.

An explanation -

I have not stopped reading - that'll only happen the day I die - and then I'll hopefully be able to speak to loads of the already dead authors until I annoy them so much that they all get together to have me evicted from whatever place I am at. And then I'll be able to continue reading as many books as I like.

I've just been busy and to be honest - haven't really fancied writing about the books I've read, which sadly isn't as many as I would have liked it to be... Here are a few of them.

Better Than A Rest by Pauline McLynn

I thought it would be a fun book to read. It sounded promising. A [female] P.I and it was supposed to be "hilarious". I'll just stick to Janet Evanovich from now on.

"...cheeky and chirpy crime..." - My arse!

It's sloooow. I don't get it. It's badly written. I cried when I read it but not for the right reasons. There's nothing funny about it. At all. I gave up after reaching the "half-way" mark.

Run! Run for your lives!!

More Mischief by Kate Thompson

Apparently a sequel but you don't have to have read the other one (Thank God).

Actress in a daily soap and her life.

What?! All they seemed to do in this book was to eat mussels, watch a pair of otters and "fuck"...

I don't know what Marian Keyes was on about (see cover).

Not worth the time.

Perfect Strangers by Robyn Sisman

2 people - 1 man and 1 woman change workplaces for a month. He goes to London and lives in her flat. She goes to NYC and takes up residence in his flat. He is being outmanoeuvred from his regular job by a nasty bitch colleague and stand-in girl finds out the truth and decides to help boy.

It wasn't a bad book but quite slow and even though I knew what would happen before I started, there was not a single twist. I didn't really feel for either of the 2 people and it never won me over.

A lukewarm kind of feeling about this one. Neither good nor super-bad.

Playing James by Sarah Mason

Holly Colshannon is a hot shot journalist at the Bristol Gazette, covering 'pet deaths' with an aptitude for injuring herself which means she's a regular at the casualty department. She feels very unlucky when she is made the new crime correspondent as the relationship between the newspaper and police department is anything but healthy. There is, however, a new PR officer and she thinks that it'd be "absolutely brilliant" if Holly were to shadow an officer and write a diary in the newspaper, for a 6 week period. And this is where green-eyed, handsome but grumpy Det. James Sabine comes in. He is not at all happy with his assignment and lets everyone, especially Holly, know about it and they don't get along at all. The readers love her diary and they think that something is up between the handsome detective and Holly and even her own family thinks that there is something going on but how can it be? Det. James Sabine is getting married in just a few weeks.

So, another book by the same author read in quick succession which is what I tend to do if I like the first one. "The Party Season" was funny but Playing James is so much funnier. I laughed out loud almost the whole way through and sometimes even putting the book down for a second to compose myself. It's not very easy to read when you're crying as the tears have a tendency to slightly blur my vision. I recognised myself in Holly as I too am very prone to accidents although I have (knock on wood) not got a 'loyalty card' at the casualty department... It's just hilarious and a book I most certainly will read again. Well, after I've read the next Sarah Mason, of course. I'm saving that for my holiday but I might not be able to stay away...

The Party Season by Sarah Mason

Cute, energetic Isabel Serranti works as a party planner for a big company and has somewhat not too happy memories from her childhood as her then best friend Simon Monkwell started bullying her and since moving away after a year or so, has not seen him since. But. Simon has worked himself up into a position as a very respected entrepreneur and from what Isabel has heard about him, he's still his old bullying self. As of a fluke she is drawn in to plan a charity ball that is to be held at the Monkwell estate and has to go there although seriously hoping that Simon will be too busy sacking people and not have time to come and bully her again. When she gets to her childhood grounds she's starting to remember things she had forgotten and even comes to realise that not all memories are what they seem.

This is my first Sarah Mason book and certainly not my last. I laughed out loud as Isabel and her friends made a mess of things and felt for her in moments that were not kind to them. As always there's a love story/triangle/drama and this book is no different. They guy you think is Mr Right for our heroine is not necessarily so and obviously the guy she loathes has his nice and loving moments, which doesn't make things any easier. Well, I knew which one I would have chosen but sadly he's gay.

Seriously, if you're looking for a book with a whole new concept and a story line with more twist and turns than Britney Spear's knickers (when she wears them) then this is not the book for you. If you want a book that makes you; 1. laugh 2. thinking of calling in sick so you can stay in bed reading and 3. makes you want more from the same author - then, this is the one for you. I've bought my 3rd Sarah Mason book today but I'll be saving that for my holiday next week!

Nadia Knows Best by Jill Mansell

(The charity shop I scavenge for books seemed to have had a donation from a massive Jill Mansell fan and at 69 pence/book and buy 1 get 1 free, I thought I might as well...)

Nadia just happens to get stuck in a tiny village during a blizzard and has to share a room and bed with good looking guy Jay. She is, however, dating a guy called Laurie so the attraction between her and Jay has to be ignored. Laurie is a model and they only see each other for a few days with long gaps in between which leads to Laurie wanting to take a break leaving Nadia heartbroken. A year or so after the blizzard, Nadia and Jay meet up again and the attraction is still there. Jay employs Nadia to design and create a graden for a hosue he's selling so they tend to see one another very often... and Laurie wants to get back into Nadia's life. What will she do?

Indeed, what will she do? It seems a pretty straight forward plot but there are little secrets hiding in Nadia's family and all these little thing affects Nadia and her decision.

It's not as good as the other Mansell books I've read and sometimes it felt as if it wasn't very well thought out and finished quite quickly. The other Mansell books may follow the same pattern but they have that little bit extra that "Nadia Knows best" lacks. And it's shame but now I think I'll have to take a break from Jill Mansell or at least re-read a good one such as "The One You Really Want....".

Mixed Doubles by Jill Mansell

3 best friends are getting ready for their New Year's resolutions. Liza has never managed to stay with a guy for longer than a month as she is easily bored. She's gorgeous and her resolution is that she wants to get married before the end of the year.

Dulcie is impulsive and she thinks it's dull to be married to Patric. She loves him but he's boring so she decides she wants a divorce to find some excitement in her life.

Pru is also married but to a man who can't keep his hands off other women. She is determined to keep her marriage intact as she can't imagine a life without him.

And just as my annual New Year's resolution is to get fit and attend the gym 4 times a week, things don't exactly go to plan. There are circumstances no one can foresee and you'll just have to deal with things as they come. "Mixed Doubles" is funny as is most of Jill Mansell's books. I just find it interesting that she always manages to get the "different point of views" into the same book. Here we have 1. the one who wants to marry but is unable to find someone that interests her for more than a month, 2. The one who is married but wants to get out despite thefact that her husband is lovely, and 3. the other one who's married to a prize-winning jerk but doesn't want to live without him.... It sort of enables more readers to recognize themselves or...? Anyway, it's another Mansell book and it delivers what it promises.

The 'negative' thing is that the cute dog on the front cover is clearly just on the cover. There's no cute puppy in the story line...

The One You Really Want by Jill Mansell

"The One You Really Want ...could be closer than you think" is the whole title, I think.

Nancy has been married for a few years but decides that enough is enough when her husband idea of a perfect x-mas present is a lawnmower and spends a lot of money on diamonds to someone else. She takes off to spend time in London with her best friend Carmen, whose a widow after a really famous singer, and her equally famous brother-in-law who stays with Carmen whenever he's in town.

Carmen has a new neighbour and his daughter, Mia, movies in but dislikes her dad's new girlfriend so she decided to do a bit of matchmaking as so many seems to be in need of love. Needless to say but things get a bit chaotic from then on...

I've read several books by Jill Mansell before and I think that this is clearly one of the better. The characters are likeable and it just strikes home with the everyday monotony that you yourself can turn around if only you have the guts and support to do so. As a reader you want them to find what it is they so desperately are looking for but at the same time you don't want it to be to sappy and full of clichés and it isn't. It's nicely written and with the right amount of sadness and happiness.

A book to cuddle up on the sofa with a cup of hot tea and a snug blanket - and make sure you won't be interrupted!

Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

Emma is a normal girl. She has a few secrets that she doesn't really want anyone to know i.e. that she's told her boyfriend she's a size 8 whereas in fact she is a size 12. She's lied about her Maths grade on her CV and she lost her virginity in the spare bedroom while her parents were downstairs watching Ben Hur...

Emma is on her way home from a business meeting in Scotland when she finds herself on a plane that's going through some severe turbulence. Having had a horrible day she filled up on drinks in the lounge and is therefore not quite sober. Terrified that she's on her way to die with all her secrets she spills them all to the man sitting next to her. This is a man she'll never see again - or so she thought...

I read this book while travelling and I was laughing out loud which made the other passengers look at me strangely before boarding - was I a nutter? Would I perhaps do something weird on the flight? Well, no I'm not a nutter and I had no plans of doing anything strange while flying. This book was just so perfectly funny and I had to bite my lip to try and stifle the tummy roaring laugh that was trying to escape through my lips... I had sore tummy muscles once I'd finished it. But it's not just funny ha ha, you also feel with Emma as she struggles with co-workers and a cousin who's always trying to put her down. You feel for her in her weak and sad moments as well as you laugh with/at her in the hilarious parts. She's a great person and one you wouldn't mind knowing because she is just like you and me, the only thing is that she goes through all the stuff we pray won't happen to us....

I love it!

Pest Control by Bill Fitzhugh

Professional Exterminator - fifteen years of experience! Lethal new concept! Leaves no trace!

Well, that's the ad Bob Dillon put in the newspaper after he'd quit his job as a pest controller for a firm whose ethics he disagrees with. Dillon wants to use a natural way to control the bugs and he is passionate about it. The only thing is that his ad is misinterpreted by people who want to get rid of inconvenient people. They think Bob Dillon is a top assassin and despite his reassurances that he is not he becomes the focus of an investigation as well as "proper" assassins who want to check out the new competition. And, when his supposed targets actually die, then they all are certain that Dillon is the new master assassin, leaving to trace behind. A family member of one of those "targets" puts a price on Dillon's head and the hunt is on.

It was hilariously funny and I really enjoyed reading it. The book doesn't just give you an entertaining story, it also gives you lessons on various bugs and their traits which in any other book would have been boring but it works really well here. You do get attached to Bob Dillon as he's a normal guy who just happens to be misinterpreted and he's got a big portion of good luck on his side which is needed when you're up against the top assassins of the world as well as the CIA. I found the book in a 2nd hand book store and I'm really glad I picked it up, it was a bargain at £1.50!

Death Dance by Linda Fairstein

Natalya Galinova is a prima ballerina and has a temper to match it. She is also at the end of her career as ballet is ruthless on bodies and most lead parts are really supposed to be young women which Galinova isn't anymore. She disappears during a performance and is later found dead at the same theather and it's clearly a result of foul play.

Alexandra Cooper, Assistant DA, gets involved with the investigation together with her friend and NYPD detective Mike Chapman. They both have their demons to fight and have to do so while trying to solve the case.

I liked reading this book as Cooper had to juggle other cases at the same time which is something that you'd have to do in real life. A lot of crime novels seem to forget that very few people have the luxury to spend all their working time on one case only and putting everything else on hold. This is the first book by Fairstein and I will read the others if I come across them but I won't go out of my way to find them, if you know what I mean. The language is not different from any other crime novel and there's nothing that really sets it apart from books in the same genre. It's not bad at all but I see a risk of it being just another, fairly anonymous, book on the "Crime" shelf.

Driving Force by Dick Francis

Ex jockey Freddie Croft has not entirely left the racing scene as he now owns and operates a transport company that takes horses from their stables to various races. He's a fair guy and that's how he wants his drivers to be as well. One day two of his drivers break one of the fundamental rule - they pick up a hitch-hiker. This could have been uneventful if it wasn't for the fact that the guy dies during the ride. That's no good and whether he wants to or not Freddie gets involved in the murkier side of racing and being as stubborn as you have to be as a jockey means that he won't back off until he's figured out what's going on and comes up as a winner. But his opponents are not in the mood for losing and will not stop at murder to get their own way.

I'm a sucker for horses and crime and imagine the joy when I finally discovered the likes of Dick Francis, John Francome etc! Dick Francis is the master and it seems as if he's got an endless supply of books as everytime I go to a 2nd hand book store I always manage to find yet another Francis' Book! Bliss on a shelf!

Driving Force is one of the better books by Francis' and as always brilliantly executed and not without surprises which is always nice as a lot of times the "twists" no longer "twists" but expected if you've read several books in the same genre... I'd definitely recommend Driving Force to anyone who'd fancy a go at a Dick Francis' book!

A Tangled Summer by Caroline Kington

It's about a farming family struggling to keep their farm after the oh so early death of their skirt-chasing father. Well, the eldest son is mostly thinking about motorcycles and women rather than farming - although he he's a better tractor driver than his brother. The brother is a shy 30-something virgin, the sister is a typical teenager sneaking out in the middle of the night, the mother is being eyed up by the vet while the grandmother is the only one with a sex life. Granny decides to give the boys an ultimatum, they'll either find themselves a wife (each, obviously) before the year is up or she'll sell the farm and their [nasty] neighbours are trying to buy their land to start a stud so they can get into one of the glossy country home magazines...

Yup, there you have it. Struggling friendly village people against the nasty city-cum-country-folks-with-shed loads-of-money. How on earth will they ever find a way out? *sarcasm*

Could have been fun. Could have been charming with the country life etc. but there's no life in the characters and if they're built on real life events - well, then I'm happy not to know such horrifically dull and unimaginative people!

I looked it up on amazon.com and was surprised with the voting as it got 5 stars (!?) but then I noticed that only 7 people had voted... You really should be able to return books if they are of "unsatisfactory quality"!

Don't bother.

Relentless by Simon Kernick

It's a normal weekend and you're in the garden when an old friend call you. He's in distress, telling you he's in deep trouble and you've got to help him. All of a sudden he's interrupted by some people and you hear your friend reveal your name and address before being killed. What do you do? Well, you toss the kids into the car to take them to a safe place. But it's really too late. The baddies know where you live, they know how to get to you and since they, in their pursuit, make you a suspect for murdering your wife's colleague you have little chance but to try and sort it out yourself.

It's summertime so it's inevitable that book stores have filled shelf upon shelf with crime-novels. I'd not heard of this book before picking it up and to be honest I only did it to get up to three books in the "3 for 2" deal that was on. But it was definitely a winner! I have rarely connected so immediately with a character. Sure. I'm not a guy, I'm not married to a woman (I'm not married at all), I don't have kids, I doubt a friend would call me up to ask for help in the midst of being murdered. But still, I connected because the main guy is a normal guy and not some hot-shot cop who drink a wee bit too much, who's been hurt in a previous relationship and with acanningly accurate sense for crime and murder. This guy is an Everyday-Joe and it could be you!

Relentless is exactly what its title says - relentless in it's pace and the panic you feel as the character is trying everything to stay ahead of the bad guys, trying to protect his family and staying alive while doing so. The book never slows down, there's not a page that's not grabbing you by the hand to pull you along. You can't wait to find out what happens next but at the same time you don't want to in fear of finding something that makes the character having to struggle even more...

I'm definitely getting my hands on another of Kernick's books. The only bad thing is that my expectations are sky-high and that's not always a good position to start from...

Holding Out by Anne O. Faulk

Holding Out is a modern tale of Lysistrata, the woman who called for a ban of sex amongst the women who were tired of losing their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons in a war that never seemed to end. Obviously they won as the men got all confused and didn't know what to do when they couldn't get "some". Anyway, I'll quote the back on what it's about:

What do you suppose would happen if a bold, successful female executive called upon the nation's women to withhold sex until a politically prominent wife abuser was brought to justice? It would rock the country - and her life - that's what!

So, there you have it. That's what it's about. And it was actually pretty good - after about 250 pages. 250 pages out of 472 of mere thinking "get on with it for fug's sake!". On page 253 I was enjoying it. But a less patient person might not have lasted that long and to be fair I can skim-read better than most and I don't feel as if I missed out on much the first half of the book.

My conclusion is that it's a pretty ok book and cleverly thought out using Lysistrata as a starting point and the funny thing is that I'm sure it'd work if anyone got it started. I know for a fact that it works on a micro-society level i.e. in me and my Boyfriend's relationship although I don't ask for too much - only a lot of backscratching, and the occasional handbag. A girl has got to have priorities...

I just finished reading it. I'll think about it but it's not a book I'll want to read again. Read it if you want to. Skip the 1st half and live better for it.

Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen

Nature Girl is about a woman who doesn't take the adequate medicine and therefore tends to go off on one whatever it may be. In the beginning of the book we learn that Honey Santana has just lost her job for losing her temper with her fiddely boss and subsequently hit him in the family jewels with a wooden mallet (used for cracking stone-crab claws with). You can't help yourself from liking a woman who doesn't just turn around and bitch slap the jerk but she properly whacks him as if she had an ass-hard piñata in front of her. And as if that isn't enough she is later in the day called up by a telemarketer guy (and we know how horribly annoying they can be) and as he interrupts her dinner she decides to do a bit of revenge by flying him down to Florida in pretence of him winning a free trip and there take him out to the swamp and teach him a lesson. Obviously things won't be as straight forward as that as they encounter several characters on their way in the swamp such as Sammy Tigertail, a blue eyed Seminole, who is making himself scarce after a tourist dies on him (heart attack) and the college student who forces Tigertail to take her hostage after encountering him in the swamp and that's just to get away from her rotten boyfriend...

This isn't the first book I've read by Mr Hiaasen and every time I do read one I think to myself: "Am I going to get another one? No, probably not." And then I go out and buy another book by him.There's something I can't really put my finger on with Hiaasen's books. It's almost a love/hate kind of relationship. I find them funny but not in the same way as some critics do -apparently they're rolling around on the floor whilst reading. I don't do that but still I am fantastically intrigued by the characters and plots. I once watched an episode of CBS 60 minutes where they interviewed Hiaasen and apparently he rips out [and saves] tiny articles about people and their ongoings to put to use at some point in his writing. It's a brilliant idea and that's probably why the characters are so kooky but enchantingly real. I for one would be a perfect character in a Hiaasen book and that says it all.

I do recommend reading C. Hiaasen's books. You don't need to read them in a specific order but some characters appear in several books. I started with Skinny Dip and that was a great book and perhaps a bit better than Nature Girl.

Notice

I have read a lot more books than what will ever be mentioned here... I'll just start somewhere in the middle and hopefully continue all the way until the end 'cos I know I won't stop reading until I - well, stop and then it'll be f o r e v e r !