Book reviews #1

On holiday, I read 3 books while sitting on the beach. Considering we didn't spend that much time sitting around, I surprised myself at finishing 3 actual books!

Here are my reviews that I will add to Amazon for the first time:

I Left My Tent in San Francisco by Emma Kennedy (2 out of 5 from me, 4 out of 5 from Pete)

Pete loved this book and laughed out loud on many occasions. I found it a bit annoying and far too obvious, but did laugh enough to say that it's worth a read.

Supposedly based on true experiences of 3 months in America following graduation from Oxford University. I am sure that no person would be so naive and stupid (despite being a brainy graduate) and also unlucky.

I cant believe that the situations that the author found herself in were real. This style can work if put across purely as fiction, but silly setting after silly setting was a bit much for me.

If you want an easy quick read that is humorous, then this book is for you. If storylines where you can see the story coming for a light year away, then read with caution.


11 minutes by Paulo Coelho (2 out of 5)

I was surprised to find this book was written in such contrasting styles and lacked any natural flow. There was far too much "she said this, then she did that, then she went here" etc. It sounded like an A Level student's story. The book then introduced an alternate approach with whole chapters that made little or no sense - in both the writing style and content.

I was confused at the rants about love and suffering and it meant that the limited enjoyment I had experienced, soon disappeared. By this point in fact, I cared little for the main character.

I was disappointed with this book both the style and the storyline, especially considering that it was written by such a renowned author.


Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver (4 out of 5)

This latest James Bond book, written in the style of Ian Fleming, ticked all of the boxes... Action, intrigued, gadgets, locations, humour, sex, style etc.  The book licked along at a perfect pace and the plot just implausible enough to work.

Although set in modern times, I found myself picturing a young Sean Connery rather than Daniel Craig as Bond. Having a history of watching Bond films, this added to the enjoyment.

I think that Jeffery Deaver should write the next few Bond films as the current script writers are missing the the humour and storylines that the best Bond films have.

I read a book

I don't read much these days.  When I used to commute, I read lots of books and studied too. I just cant sit at home and read, there are too many distractions and there is Pete...

But, I heard a brief review of a book nominated for the Man Booker prize in 2008 and I just had to buy it.  Amazon says that it's "a witty 700-page romp that has cult written all over it".

The book I have just finished is called A Fraction Of The Whole by Steve Toltz and it's his first novel and it is excellent.  Now for me to read a 700 page book is unheard of but this is something very different.  I cant quite recall something written in this style.  Although the word "witty" is used in many reviews, it's actually more of a black comedy that follows the lives of several generations of a family in Australia (and beyond).

I give it 8 out of 10. It would have been more, but it was a little laboured in the last quarter.  I recommend it as a read for the whole holiday at 700 pages!  Here is the Amazon spiel.

Martin Dean spent his entire life analysing absolutely everything; from the benefits of suicide to the virtues of strip clubs  and passing on his self-taught knowledge to his son, Jasper.  Jasper reflects on the man who raised him in intellectual captivity, and the irony is this: theirs was a great adventure. As he recollects the extraordinary events that led to his father's demise, Jasper recounts a boyhood of outrageous schemes and shocking discoveries about his infamous criminal uncle, his mysteriously absent mother, and Martin's constant battle to leave his mark on the world.