I failed singularly with the readalong of Wolf Hall, but have enjoyed what I have read so far and fully intend to finish it. I have also made a start on the following, all of which I am reading in fits and starts:

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – feel I should read this series as everyone else has and of course there is a major film version coming out this year
2. On Monsters by Stephen T Asma - one of my Xmas presents and a fascinating look at our worst fears
3. The Great Year by Nicholas Campion – I have had this for absolutely ages, I think I got it as part of a binge on books to do with the end of the world the last time that was a big topic (around Y2K) and having watched an interesting documentary on the alleged Mayan prophesy about the world ending this year last night, thought I would finally pick this up

I also have plans to read some science fiction as part of Carl’s Science Fiction Experience.

And finally two additional books made it chez Bride after the holidays:

• Hell Train by Christopher Fowler – one of my favourite authors and a stand-alone Hammer-themed novel which I have already started
• Spectrum 18 - a collection of the best fantasy and sci-fi art of 2011, a beautiful thing in its own right.

Just need to get cracking with a couple of these to get the year off to a good start!

As always I’m going to try to read as much sci-fi as I can between 1 January and 29 February, but also thought I would do something a little different this year. I asked the Book God, an afficionado of sci-fi since the year dot, to pick two books from his collection that he thought I should read and he came up with the following:

• A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge – “a space saga of awesome conception, and a rivetting novel of conflict, love, loss and survival“
• The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester – “in a world in which the police have telepathic powers, how do you get away with murder?”

That looks like a pretty good start to me.

But the run up to the holidays was a bit busy for various reasons (some of which will become clear in the New Year) and I haven’t been reading very much which is why it has been very quiet around here for a few weeks. But Santa was very generous this year and having drooled over everyone else’s prezzie-themed posts I thought I would do my own.

So here goes:

• On Monsters by Stephen T Asma
• Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth
• Swan Song by Edmund Crispin
• Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear
• The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
• 11.22.63 by Stephen King
• Keeping Up Appearances by Catherine Horwood
• The Golden Age of Couture by Claire Wilcox
• Locke & Key Volume 1 by Gabriel Rodriguez
• The Lights That Failed by Zara Steiner
• Two for Sorrow by Nicola Upson
• The Spy Game by Georgina Harding
• Ragnarok by AS Byatt
• The Last Pre-Raphaelite by Fiona McCarthy
• Rosa by Jonathan Rabb
• Philip of Spain: King of England by Harry Kelsey
• Good as Dead by Mark Billingham

Not a bad haul at all, some really good reads here but not to be touched until 2012!

So it is 1818, and we meet Billy, on the streets, ill, and turned into a pickpocket after running away from the chimney sweeper who treated him cruelly. He stumbles across an enormous man, apparently dead, lying in a  side street, but as he is about to rob the body he is accosted by members of a street gang. But before they can beat him, the mysterious body rises from the ground and does them serious damage. And so we meet Mister Creecher, and his relationship with Billy begins.

Mr C looks after Billy during his illness and they form something of a bond, though Billy is very aware of the strangeness of his new companion and in exchange for food, shelter and some assistance in frightening potential robbery victims into parting with their valuables, Billy simply has to follow one man around London. But that man happens to be Victor Frankenstein.

This is a wonderfully different telling of part of the Frankenstein story. The creature is a compelling character, a mix of intelligence, brawn and childish desires, especially for the mate that Frankenstein has promised him. His recognition of his otherness is both touching and sad, and his desire to not be the only one of his kind, while filling Billy with horror, is the driver that moves him on.

But it is Billy who is really the heart of the story, as he works his way from street urchin to more sophisticated criminal before the events that will turn him into a character that some of us will know from another famous 19th century novel. There are clues to Billy’s identity for those that want to see them, but I’m not going to give it away here as it is part of the impact of the novel.

There are some lovely literary references and in-jokes which I found really enjoyable, and some real historical figures popping up here and there, most notably the Shelleys. Priestley paints a really effective picture of London at the time and what it was like to be an outcast child with no hope other than the workhouse or the type of hard manual labour which we would consider abuse today.

I have to confess that I haven’t read either of the novels from which the main characters are drawn, a bit surprising in relation to Frankenstein given my love of things gothic but I tried once when I was a teenager, and found it really hard going in comparison to Dracula.

But this is an excellent, creepy, atmospheric story which has made me consider giving Frankenstein another chance.

Heartily recommended.

1. it’s very absorbing so I feel the need to set aside a decent period of reading time to really get into it, and this weekend was all about Christmas preparations (especially putting up the tree)
2. it is not the sort of book that is an easy read when you have a mild bout of insomnia as I did on Friday/Saturday, which is why
3. I got distracted by Mister Creecher instead (more of that in another post)

But so far I really like what I am reading. There’s lots of interesting background info on Cromwell himself, a lot of which I didn’t know. Luckily the fact that I studied this period at university meant that I already know who most of the characters were which is always an advantage. So far I am very much liking Cardinal Wolsey, a thing I thought I would never say.

Nothing I’ve read in the novel to date suggests that I will be changing my opinion of Henry VIII though.

A quieter weekend coming up so hopefully will get back on schedule. But so glad I decided to pick this up at last.

Our main cast (and I really should stop treating this as if it was a movie script, but I just can’t seem to) and as a reminder they are:

• flawed scientist hero
• lady scientist love interest
• scientist’s son
• old man with secret knowledge
• exterminator chappie

have not yet recovered from the shock at the end of book one which I won’t go into here, and are re-grouping to decide how they are going to deal with the big bad guy that they failed to stop and whose nefarious plan is coming to fruition. The Big Bad Plan is more extensive than anyone thought, and it becomes really, really, seriously important to discover how the vampires originally came into being, and so the search for this story’s McGuffin – an ancient text called the Occido Lumen – becomes the focus for a large portion of the book.

And that’s probably enough plot, because let’s face it, the main thing this novel has going for it is its plot, so not fair to give more away.

I’m not going to say that the writing is bad as such, but it is pretty workmanlike and totally  in the service of driving the story forward. There are huge chunks of exposition throughout which were on occasions a bit distracting, as were the flashbacks (some of which at least served to give some context) and various diversions, including one to the International Space Station which, unless I missed something, didn’t really serve any purpose apart from a bit of gosh-wow-this-is-really-serious-stuff.

Having said all that I did stay up late to read the last third of the story and I will be buying the final volume just to see how on earth (if at all) they all get out of this one. But if you are planning to read this (1) don’t start here and (2) expect a certain amount of middle book of trilogy syndrome. Would still love to see it as a mini-series.

This was on my master list for RIP VI but not read as part of that challenge.

But finish it I did and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

Charlotte Swenson is a model now in her early thirties, past the peak of her career but still getting catalogue and other work sufficient to maintain a certain lifestyle in Manhattan. The book begins with her back in her home town near Chicago, recovering from a terrible car crash, her injuries so severe that her face has had to be reconstructed. While there she visits the home of her estranged best friend from school while she believes everyone is out, and gets caught by Ellen’s teenage daughter, also called Charlotte. The novel alternates between their two stories from that point on.

This is a book about identity; older Charlotte’s face looks just different enough that many of the people she knew from her glamorous life simply don’t recognise her, and she struggles to regain her place, ending up taking part in an internet experiment where her life will become available for everyone to follow online. Young Charlotte is struggling with growing up, trying to work out who she is and what she wants from life, against a background of her younger brother’s recovery from cancer and the strain that’s put on her family.

This summary of the very bare bones of the plot makes it sound really glum but I thought it was a smart, engaging and thought-provoking story about how we present ourselves to the world, regardless of what’s going on inside our heads. One of older Charlotte’s gifts (if you can out it like that) is to be able to see the secret inner life of the people she comes across; this only happens when they think no-one is watching and their guard comes down. Older Charlotte almost can’t relax with a person until she has seen that secret self.

There are a number of other characters in the book who serve to illuminate the struggles of the two main characters, including the mysterious Z who seems to have his own agenda as he infiltrates older Charlotte’s world.  Indeed, it’s worth reading the author’s afterword where she talks about creating the character of Z well before 2001 and how differently the character appears after the events of 9/11.

My only quibble is that I felt the ending was in many ways rushed. Not badly written at all but I had become so attached to both Charlottes that I just wanted to know more about how things were finally resolved, though that may say more about me as a reader than the success of the novel.

After all, the sixteenth century is one of my things (my degree dissertation was on Philip II as King of England 1554-1558) so I should have leaped into reading this with some abandon.

Except I didn’t.

But now that I have a girl crush on Hilary Mantel and someone is telling me how much to read and when, surely, surely I should be able to do this?

The schedule is as follows:

• November 28: Reading commences on or before
• December 4: Progress post for Parts 1 & 2
• December 11: Progress post for Parts 3 & 4
• December 18: Final Progress post for Parts 5 & 6

Wish me luck!

I am currently reading The Fall (book two of The Strain trilogy) by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. This was on my RIP VI reading list and I’ve decided as part of my reading plan (such as it is) that I’ll finish off the RIP books before I start anything else. The exception to this rule may very well be Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel as Coffee and a Book Chick is hosting a readalong and I am seriously considering signing up for that.

Two new books came into the house this week:

• The Habitation of the Blessed by Catherynne M Valente – can’t remember who recommended this (sorry) but it is all about Prester John and sounds intriguing as well as having beautiful cover art
• Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek – pretty sure I picked up this because of Lizzy, don’t think I’ve read any German crime before (as opposed to crime set in Germany a la Philip Kerr) so looking forward to giving it a try

Other than that it has mostly been all about movies and coming up with a Christmas wish list…..

Have a good reading week!