andintothetrees's reviews
570 reviews

The Roundabout Man by Clare Morrall

2.0

I didn’t think much of this one. My opinion isn’t even that it was such a bad book that I can get worked up and rant about it, more that it was just a bit “meh”, so apologies in advance is this is a bit of a “meh” review.

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/the-roundabout-man-by-clare-morrall/]

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

4.0

Once in a while I read a book so well-known that I wonder if I could possibly add anything to the discussion of it already out there, and this is certainly one of those books. Nevertheless I’ll continue as I am vain enough to think that my readers might be interested in hearing my take on it…

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/extremely-loud-and-incredibly-close-by-johnathan-safran-foer/]

Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher

4.0

Ketchup Clouds is ostensibly a “young adult” novel – but what does that mean, really? It does have a teenage protagonist, and she does pass comment on how annoying her family are and narrate her homework on occasion, but that made it no less relatable to me as a not-quite-so-young adult that I would find a novel with an elderly protagonist, or someone who lives in a faraway country. Annabel Pitcher has captured a young voice very well (if comparisons with my teenage journals are anything to go by), and in a manner which is endearing rather than irritating – probably because it isn’t lathered with “teenspeak”.

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/ketchup-clouds-by-annabel-pitcher/]

They F*** You Up: How To Survive Family Life by Oliver James

4.0

They F*** You Up takes its title from the Larkin poem This Be The Verse, and is an introductory thesis to the idea that our personalities, and level of mental health(-y-ness) are shaped by our childhood and not by genetics. Indeed, the earlier something happens in childhood the more crucial it is for our early development, as it lays down the brain’s basic pathways and shapes what we expect to happen in future. Often people discount the importance of events in babyhood/early childhood as they can’t be remembered, but Oliver James makes it blindingly obvious that these pre-memory times are actually what set the tone of our emotional development both in childhood and as adults. At times he labours his point a little too much – to the extent where his refusal to accept any influence/interference on the part of genetics feels almost bigoted – but overall this is an insightful and well-researched book, notwithstanding the author’s thankfully occasional bad attempts at humour.

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/they-f-you-up-by-oliver-james/]

The Daughter Game by Kate Long

3.0

The reality of this book was quite different to my expectations of it, which isn’t to say that it was bad, not at all, just quite a change from what I had anticipated. I had previously read Swallowing Grandma, The Bad Mother’s Handbook and Queen Mum by the same author, and enjoyed them all (particuarly the first two) as light, humourous reading. I picked this up during our house move expecting the same, but as I ploughed on through the novel I discovered that Kate Long has here ventured into darker territory. There is humour, just about, but there is also a huge undercurrent of dissatisfaction and laughs are supplementary to the plot rather than at its core.

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/the-daughter-game-by-kate-long/]

Fifty Shades Trilogy by E.L. James

1.0

Yes, I read the whole lot. Why, you may ask, when I am about to dig into them and when it was surely obvious from the opening instalment that they were terrible books (it was, in fact I was initially surprised at just how bad they were)? Well, firstly because I like to be able to rant with knowledge of what I am verbally annihilating; secondly because I got some weird enjoyment from reading something so utterly rubbish and picking faults in it (this wore off by the third book though, by which point I was eager for it all to end, and took to skipping most of the sex scenes in order to speed up getting the book over and done with*). And thirdly, though it pains me to admit it, some pathetic part of me wanted to know how the story ended, and to come to that end “properly” rather than through reading a spoiler online (I didn’t bother reading the final final section though, which is some weird rehashing of events from Christian’s perspective. That would have been a step too far and crossed a “hard limit” for me).
* I truly struggled through that one. The chance to read would present itself to me and instead of reading the book I would find myself messing around online, reading random blogs and news articles for up to an hour on end in order to avoid picking up the dreaded tome.

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/the-fifty-shades-trilogy-by-el-james/]

Friendly Fire by Patrick Gale

4.0

My friend Fanny, who is a huge Patrick Gale fan (and who I interviewed here) gave me a copy of this several birthdays ago but for some reason I never got around to reading it until now, despite thinking that it sounded excellent from the synopsis. I think it was one of those cases of “saving” a book indefinitely and not wanting to be without the option of picking up something that I knew was a good read. Anyway, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I need to read more books by Patrick Gale. He is excellent, and if his books were people they would be witty, slightly neurotic and rather creative introverts, with whom I would like to be friends.

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/09/21/friendly-fire-by-patrick-gale/]

Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson

5.0

That rare thing – a book set in Dundee! It was a joy to read a novel with a familiar setting, mentioning the names of streets I have walked down and even locations within the university I attended. Admittedly this may have biased me somewhat, but I’m sure this would have been at least a 4 star book anyway – it’s bloody genius!

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/09/28/emotionally-weird-by-kate-atkinson/]

The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen

2.0

I was about to open this by saying “Liz Jensen is one of the best authors I’ve discovered in 2012″, but let’s be honest, she’s not. Yes, I’ve also read The Rapture and My Dirty Little Book Of Stolen Time this year, and gave them 4 and 3 star reviews respectively, and yes, she does consistently deliver quirky plots and intriguing main characters, but Liz Jensen’s novels are sadly not up there with the likes of Kate Atkinson – certainly my best discovery of 2012 (and yes, I realise I’m very late to the party with finding her work!). I do still intend to read through Liz Jensen’s entire back catologue as there are aspects of her work I relish, and I wish more authors dared to be as original and wide-ranging in their narratives/subject matter, but all three of her books that I have read have fallen shy of being truly special.

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/the-ninth-life-of-louis-drax-by-liz-jensen/]

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

4.0

I had been meaning to read this book for quite some time, and admittedly, it took me quite some time to read it once I started – three weeks in fact. I wouldn’t say that it is not a readable book, however I would say it is perhaps not the easiest book to read when your reading time is limited to short fits and bursts as it takes time to reassemble the arguments in your head before you can pick up from where you left off. Anyway, Richard Dawkins was, if you’ll excuse the phrase, preaching to the choir when I read this as I already identified as an atheist, albeit a bit closer to an agnostic than I felt once I’d finished the book. Whether or not this strengthening of my opinion was directly due to the book’s content or because it lead me to concentrate on thinking about the issue far more than I normally would is anyone’s guess.

... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/the-god-delusion-by-richard-dawkins/]