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bigbeardedbookseller's reviews
533 reviews
Cogheart by Peter Bunzl
4.0
Cogheart was Peter Bunzel’s debut novel, and what a debut. Cogheart was shortlisted for the Waterstones Book Prize 2017, and for the Branford Boase Award 2017. It was Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month for August 2016. It won the Dudley Teen Book Award and Sefton Super Reads Award 2017. It was also nominated for Haringey Children’s Book Award 2017, Hillingdon Primary Book of the Year 2017, Leeds Book Award 2017, Warwickshire Junior Book Award 2017, and the North East Book Award 2017.
Lily lives in an alternative Victorian era where clockwork animals and people are servants and, friends and pets. Lily is at boarding school as her mum is dead and her father is an inventor of clockwork mechanisms.
This book uses a lot of the steampunk tropes that we are used to; dirigibles, clockwork, Victoriana, and a strong female character; and it uses them well in telling a fast-paced adventure with a lot of suspense, mystery and laughs.
Peter’s writing is paced well and, I would say, for all ages. Though this book is aimed firmly at middle-grade readers, I thoroughly enjoyed it and a lot of adults I recommended it to loved it.
Peter’s follow-up, Moonlocket, is available now as well.
Lily lives in an alternative Victorian era where clockwork animals and people are servants and, friends and pets. Lily is at boarding school as her mum is dead and her father is an inventor of clockwork mechanisms.
This book uses a lot of the steampunk tropes that we are used to; dirigibles, clockwork, Victoriana, and a strong female character; and it uses them well in telling a fast-paced adventure with a lot of suspense, mystery and laughs.
Peter’s writing is paced well and, I would say, for all ages. Though this book is aimed firmly at middle-grade readers, I thoroughly enjoyed it and a lot of adults I recommended it to loved it.
Peter’s follow-up, Moonlocket, is available now as well.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
4.0
I found the point of view and voice that this was written in extremely difficult to get into, the first few chapters were hard going, but it was so worth the effort in perseverance.
Written from the view of a stranger talking to a stranger at a Lahore café, we explore causes, betrayal, the American dream, cultural expectation and more.
The voice of this novel is extremely distinct, with next to no dialogue between the strangers, the only real dialogue is in the stranger’s reminiscences.
As the evening progresses the story takes a darker turn as if in step with the darkening skies. There is a constant feeling of menace throughout the meeting, and this also progresses with the darkening.
A wonderful novel, worth keeping going through the difficult beginning, which has more to do with the reader than the writer.
Written from the view of a stranger talking to a stranger at a Lahore café, we explore causes, betrayal, the American dream, cultural expectation and more.
The voice of this novel is extremely distinct, with next to no dialogue between the strangers, the only real dialogue is in the stranger’s reminiscences.
As the evening progresses the story takes a darker turn as if in step with the darkening skies. There is a constant feeling of menace throughout the meeting, and this also progresses with the darkening.
A wonderful novel, worth keeping going through the difficult beginning, which has more to do with the reader than the writer.
The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson
4.0
Matthew is the last person to see Teddy before Teddy goes missing, can Matthew solve the mystery of the disappearance? Only one major difficulty stands in Matthew’s way to do this, Matthew has O.C.D. which makes it near impossible for him to leave his room and interact with people.
Lisa Thompson writes a compelling and thrilling mystery with great understanding and sympathy for Matthew whilst not writing a pathetic pastiche of a character.
The gradual unfolding of the two mysteries; the cause of Matthew’s O.C.D. and the disappearance of Teddy are intertwined and open at a pace that keeps you glued to the book until your’e finished.
The cast of supporting characters are strong and well-fleshed out without pulling you down multiple rabbit-holes of back stories and motivations.
As a debut novel this is wonderfully written and makes me anticipate Lisa’s second novel.
Lisa Thompson writes a compelling and thrilling mystery with great understanding and sympathy for Matthew whilst not writing a pathetic pastiche of a character.
The gradual unfolding of the two mysteries; the cause of Matthew’s O.C.D. and the disappearance of Teddy are intertwined and open at a pace that keeps you glued to the book until your’e finished.
The cast of supporting characters are strong and well-fleshed out without pulling you down multiple rabbit-holes of back stories and motivations.
As a debut novel this is wonderfully written and makes me anticipate Lisa’s second novel.
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
4.0
Three Dark Crowns is the start of a Y.A. fantasy series by Kendare Blake, and a good start at that. For once I never got the twist until the end of the book, which leaves us on a massive (almost literally) cliff-hanger of a revelation.
Kendare tells the story of Three Princesses, triplets that are born every generation to become the Queen of Fennbirn, the only problem is that the other two have to die for one to be crowned.
Each Princess is meant to be the master of a different type of magic; poison, elemental and natural and are given to their sixteenth year to develop their skills in their speciality.
Things do not go as planned (well if it all went as planned there wouldn’t be much of a novel really) and we follow the three princesses through these.
I enjoyed the premise and the execution was well done and am looking forward to the next book in the series.
Kendare tells the story of Three Princesses, triplets that are born every generation to become the Queen of Fennbirn, the only problem is that the other two have to die for one to be crowned.
Each Princess is meant to be the master of a different type of magic; poison, elemental and natural and are given to their sixteenth year to develop their skills in their speciality.
Things do not go as planned (well if it all went as planned there wouldn’t be much of a novel really) and we follow the three princesses through these.
I enjoyed the premise and the execution was well done and am looking forward to the next book in the series.
In the Beginning...Was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson
4.0
It’s been quite a while since I read this and I remember it being a book that helped me navigate the social phenomenon of the Internet and how it has developed.
Mainly humorous, definitely tongue-in-cheek, this book still makes points that are worth exploring today even though it is almost 20 years old.
An updated version would be appreciated.
Mainly humorous, definitely tongue-in-cheek, this book still makes points that are worth exploring today even though it is almost 20 years old.
An updated version would be appreciated.
In Praise of the Garrulous by Allan Cameron
4.0
A wonderfully, garrulous account of language and its development, but also a warning on where our language could go if we aren’t careful.
Love of words, sounds and the full gamut of the English language is sung out loud here, and that song is a rallying cry for those who also love the language as much.
Slang and common-tongue is not ridiculed but seen as a dark slope that can limit the use of words and expression by ‘streamlining’ our speech and thought processes.
As an object I found the book desirable, with a great cover and flyleaf that holds information and images.
Love of words, sounds and the full gamut of the English language is sung out loud here, and that song is a rallying cry for those who also love the language as much.
Slang and common-tongue is not ridiculed but seen as a dark slope that can limit the use of words and expression by ‘streamlining’ our speech and thought processes.
As an object I found the book desirable, with a great cover and flyleaf that holds information and images.
Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain by Barney Norris
4.0
Before I started working as a bookseller for Waterstones I would never have contemplated reading a book such as this.
I would have looked at the blurb and thought ‘why would I want to read a story about real lives intertwining?’ I was far more interested in magic, dragons, spaceships and lasers, quite a limited reading pool really.
This was one of our books of the month and I’m trying to read beyond my normal genres, so I opted to read this.
I was captivated, the rambling nature of the books echoed that of rivers and their tributaries, the simplicity and paucity of language used cut the experiences down to their essentials.
Before I knew it I had finished the book, but was pleased that I had found more genres to read and thank Barney Norris for introducing me to them.
I would have looked at the blurb and thought ‘why would I want to read a story about real lives intertwining?’ I was far more interested in magic, dragons, spaceships and lasers, quite a limited reading pool really.
This was one of our books of the month and I’m trying to read beyond my normal genres, so I opted to read this.
I was captivated, the rambling nature of the books echoed that of rivers and their tributaries, the simplicity and paucity of language used cut the experiences down to their essentials.
Before I knew it I had finished the book, but was pleased that I had found more genres to read and thank Barney Norris for introducing me to them.
Extreme Rambling: Walking Israels Separation Barrier - For Fun. by Mark Thomas, Mark Thomas
4.0
I bought this book after the show of Mark’s walk around the Israeli Barrier.
The show was highly entertaining and spiced with Mark’s wit and sense of outrage, all of this transferred well to the book.
In the book Mark could expand on the themes and ideas that he brought to the show and go more in-depth with his examples and verbal ramblings.
An important show and book, people should read this to get a personal feel of what is happening in Apartheid Israel and how they are treating the Palestinians.
The show was highly entertaining and spiced with Mark’s wit and sense of outrage, all of this transferred well to the book.
In the book Mark could expand on the themes and ideas that he brought to the show and go more in-depth with his examples and verbal ramblings.
An important show and book, people should read this to get a personal feel of what is happening in Apartheid Israel and how they are treating the Palestinians.
The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception by Emmanuel Carrère
4.0
The Adversary is an interpretation of the name Satan, and this is where the writer gets the title of the book from, as the acts and behaviour of Jean-Claude Romand could be interpreted as evil.
This is a hard read, but compelling, in the way that watching a car crash is compelling.
How Jean-Claude Romand was able to live such a life for so long is unimaginable, the lies he told and the lies others must have told themselves to compound his initial lies are beyond belief.
The translation gives the book an almost clinical tone, but it is suited to the subject matter.
This is a book that has to be read, if only to convince yourself that it is not a work of fiction.
This is a hard read, but compelling, in the way that watching a car crash is compelling.
How Jean-Claude Romand was able to live such a life for so long is unimaginable, the lies he told and the lies others must have told themselves to compound his initial lies are beyond belief.
The translation gives the book an almost clinical tone, but it is suited to the subject matter.
This is a book that has to be read, if only to convince yourself that it is not a work of fiction.
Pax by Sara Pennypacker
4.0
I will make this clear right from the start. This book had me in tears at several points, the whole of the first chapter was so sad I had to put the book away for a week before I went back to it, but once I went back to it I couldn’t put it down.
A story of a boy and his rescued, but then abandoned fox (beautifully illustrated by Jon Klassen). We follow the trials of Peter and Pax through alternating chapters.
We watch them develop and grow and become independent. This story touches on a lot of difficult subjects, such as; truth, love, anger, and guilt, all against the backdrop of an escalating war.
Though we are unsure of which war and which country, there is a feeling that this could be in small, town America but also European. This ambiguity serves to highlight the universality of the emotions that are being explored.
I had an unsettling feeling throughout that the end was going to be extremely sad, but though there was a sadness it was triumphed by the independence that both Peter and Pax had achieved and was the correct ending.
Loved the book throughout even though I had to put it down, made all the more special by Klassen’s wonderful illustrations.
A story of a boy and his rescued, but then abandoned fox (beautifully illustrated by Jon Klassen). We follow the trials of Peter and Pax through alternating chapters.
We watch them develop and grow and become independent. This story touches on a lot of difficult subjects, such as; truth, love, anger, and guilt, all against the backdrop of an escalating war.
Though we are unsure of which war and which country, there is a feeling that this could be in small, town America but also European. This ambiguity serves to highlight the universality of the emotions that are being explored.
I had an unsettling feeling throughout that the end was going to be extremely sad, but though there was a sadness it was triumphed by the independence that both Peter and Pax had achieved and was the correct ending.
Loved the book throughout even though I had to put it down, made all the more special by Klassen’s wonderful illustrations.