Tooth & Nail by Ian Rankin

Inspector Rebus has been summoned from Edinburgh to London to help solve the case of the Wolfman; a serial killer so called because he leaves his teeth marks in his victims. He meets a young psychologist with new ideas on profiling the killer and makes new friends and enemies among his London colleagues. He also drops in on his ex-wife and daughter, Sammy and meets Sammy's new boyfriend who happens to find himself in a spot of bother just as Rebus comes to town. There's a lot more for Rebus to accomplish during his time in London than he thought.

I killed two first birds with one stone with this read. I had never read an Ian Rankin novel before and I had never tried having a book read to me by way of an audio book before. I enjoyed both experiences. The story was perfect for listening to while plodding along on the treadmill- absorbing and thrilling, a great whodunnit with a couple of plot twists that had me guessing to the end. Rebus was drawn quite well as a crotchety, older, married-to-the-job type of copper not afraid to take some risks to get the job done. The reader was an old bloke (James McPherson) who made quite a cringeworthy attempt at a young Canadian woman's voice but other than that his voice was clear and not at all annoying. I'll definitely a) try another in the Inspector Rebus series and b) more audiobooks for distracting me when I'm on the treadmill and breaking up the tedium of the dusting/ironing. Actually, I'm a bit annoyed I haven't thought of them before now.

The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve

Linda is a widow, catholic, mother of an acoholic gay son and celebrated poet invited to attend a literary event at which she meets Tom, childhood friend, old flame, fellow poet and grieving father, for the first time since a long, long time ago. Tom and Linda get together at the literary event and we discover, by turning the clock back, the trauma and tragedy Tom and Linda have gone through over the many years they have known each other. Oh and did I mention Linda is a catholic?

Having read reviews of this book, I have discovered there's a bit of a shocking twist to the ending. Sadly, I couldn't care less what happens to Tom and Linda since they're both so flamin' dreary. I can't remember the last time I read a book in which the main characters were quite so tedious (Actually, yes I can: Joanna Briscoe's Sleep With Me). I gave up about half way through; thankfully before I got to the catholic guilt which was threatening to bog down the melodrama even further. Life's just too short.

I picked up this book (along with two others) in a charity shop a while ago because I was curious as to the style of Anita Shreve. I'd read The Pilot's Wife years ago (on the recommendation of Oprah, of course) but couldn't remember much and I know of other readers who eschew chick lit but rave about Anita Shreve (and Jodi Picoult- and you know how I feel about her writing.) I'm not sure that Shreve is for me. I found what I read of this book affected (she describes a packet of crisps (I think) as trapezoidal- for crying out loud!) and a little too polished (some gesture "that swam through the years") and the endless passages of descriptive prose, which didn't add to the narrative, sent me to sleep. I'll give her another go though before I make a final decision on whether Ms Shreve and I will get along. *doubts it*

Naked by David Sedaris

I know! More Sedaris! This was a present for my birthday- my very own David Sedaris book to keep! Thank you Gomad!

Another collection of stories from my favourite story-teller, I tell you they don't get old. This time he covers some of his hitchhiking adventures through America, his childhood OCD tendencies, the death of his mother and a trip to a nudist camp. All brilliant, of course (gush, gush!) but naturally, some are more brilliant than others. One of my faves was Dinah: The Christmas Whore in which Lisa, David's sister, brings home a prostitute ("Like a heroin addict or a mass murderer, a prostitute was, to me, more exotic than any celebrity could ever hope to be.") on Christmas day:

Every gathering has its moment. As an adult, I distract myself by trying to identify it, dreading the inevitable downsizing that is sure to follow. The guests will repeat themselves one too many times, or you'll run out of dope or liquor and realize that it was all you ever had in common. At the time, though, I still believed that such a warm and heady feeling might last forever and that in embracing it fully, I might approximate the same wistful feeling adults found in their second round of drinks. I had hated Lisa, felt jealous of her secret life, and now, over my clotted mug of hot chocolate, I felt for her a great pride. Up and down our street the houses were decorated with plywood angels and mangers framed in colored bulbs. Over on Coronado, someone had lashed speakers to his trees, broadcasting carols over the candy-cane forest he'd planted beside his driveway. Our neighbors would rise early and visit the malls, snatching up gift-wrapped Dustbusters and the pom-pommed socks we used to protect the heads of golf clubs. Christmas would arrive and we, the people of this country, would gather around identical trees, voicing our pleasure with warm cliches. Turkeys would roast to a hard, shellacked finish. Hams would be crosshatched with x's and glazed with fruit - and it was fine by me. Were I to receive a riding vacuum cleaner or even a wizened proboscis monkey, it wouldn't please me half as much as knowing we were the only family in the neighborhood with a prostitute in our kitchen. From this moment on, the phrase "Ho, ho, ho" would take on a whole different meaning; and I, along with the rest of my family, could appreciate it in our own clannish way. It suddenly occured to me. Just like that.

Most excellent.

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

April and Frank Wheeler are a married couple with children living in Connecticut in the 50s. They think they are different from/better than all the other married couples living in Connecticut. Perhaps they are different since they both seem to hate their lives. After a disatrous evening spent watching his wife on stage in a dreadful amateur theatre production, Frank has a giant argument with April. This causes April to have a think about their life and how to change it. She proposes they move to France which brings the couple closer together until April falls pregnant for a third time. Oh dear. It doesn't take a genius to know that an unplanned pregnancy can scupper the best laid plans of any mice and/or men.

What a desperately sad story. While Frank and April were two quite dislikeable characters (can we say "up themselves"?) I couldn't help but feel for them. Who hasn't been in a rut that they wanted to free themselves from? The lack of communication between these two people who simply don't love each other, or themselves, any more was heart-breaking. Beautifully written but dreadfully sad, this was another compelling read and well worth my time. I'm already thinking of reading it again, it has stayed with me since I put it down a few weeks ago and it's been a while since that happened.

On another note, obviously, I wanted to read this before I see the film adaptation with my fave, Kate Winslet, in it. I'll be very interested to see what she can bring to April but even more, what Leonardo diCaprio can bring to Frank. And I love that clean, white, crisp cover with my favourite actress on it, too. I know some people actively avoid movie tie-in book covers. I don't mind them at all, really.

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

I am so lucky to have an entire collection of David Sedaris trickling out from the library of Gomad, book by book when I need it. This collection of funny stories from Mr Sedaris is chiefly about his family who I desperately want to see in a reality tv show. Brilliantly funny people even with all of their quirks and flaws, I wish I was friends with them all.

One of my favourite stories from this collection is called Put a Lid on It in which David makes a visit to his youngest sister, Lisa. His observations of his own reaction to Lisa's bizarre lifestye and his analysis of their relationship are typically self-deprecating and touching at the same time. In the last story of the collection, Nuit of the Living Dead, David is drowning a mouse in a bucket late at night when he is happened upon by a bus load of tourists who are looking for directions "I see that you have a little swimming mouse," the tourist remarks politely. "My wife and I have a dog." How wonderful is that?

The more I read David Sedaris, the funnier I find him. If you haven't read any of his stories yet, what's stopping you? Hop to it!

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

Bruno is a nine-year-old boy in Germany in the early 1940s. He lives in Berlin, has three best friends and an older sister who is a hopeless case. Bruno's father is a Kommandant in the army. One day, after a visit from a man he knows as "The Fury", Bruno and his family have to move to a place Bruno calls "Out-With." From his new bedroom Bruno can see a fence behind which are a lot of people who all wear the same stripey pyjamas. Bruno doesn't understand that his father is now Kommandant of Auschwitz. One day, while out exploring his new surrounds, Bruno comes across a little boy of exactly the same age as himself (they share their birthday,) Schmuel, who lives behind the fence and they make friends and learn about each other's lives.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. Ewan and I read it together which I am pleased about despite the fact that this is a very emotional read. The blurb on the back of the book states that while the book is about a nine-year-old boy, the story is not for nine-year-olds. I'm not sure what the targeted reading age is because the prose felt very childish to me and without the aspect of reading with Ewan, I don't think I would have kept going with this. Outside of the childishness of the prose, I found the characterisation of Bruno quite poor; the puns of "The Fury" (Hitler) and "Out-With" (Auschwitz) didn't help draw a picture of a little German boy and in fact added a very English aspect to Bruno. I even went to the bother of reading this translated into German to try and get a feel for how Bruno came across in German but it didn't help much.

Another aspect that troubled me was the poetic licence taken with the reality of Auschwitz and Nazi Germany. Can we really believe that a little boy in Auschwitz could find time and/or a place the guards wouldn't see him to enable him to make friends with Bruno? And is it possible that Bruno could be so naive that a) he wouldn't know who Hitler was? and b) he wouldn't understand the concept of prisoners behind that fence? The answer to these questions would have to be no. I have three boys, all of whom have been nine years old and none of them were quite so clueless. Not to mention that Bruno's father is a Nazi Kommandant who would have indoctrinated his children with Nazi propaganda. I'm afraid that for me, it's all simply unbelieveable.

It is mentioned in an interview with the author at the end of the book that this story is not to be taken literally, it is a fable from which we should learn and I am uncomfortable with that. I think that the brutal and ugly truth of what happened at Auschwitz was too important be made into "fable". The reality of Auschwitz is more than enough to teach us that what happened there is something that should never happen again.

When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro

Christopher Banks lived in Shanghai for the first few years of his life. He is good friends with a little Japanese boy who lives next door and he seems to enjoy his life in Colonial China. His parents go missing over the course of a short period of time and Christopher is sent back to England to live with his aunt. He makes a vow as a small child to become a detective when he grows up and go back to China to find his parents. As a successful detective, Christopher journeys back to Shanghai to do just that and revisits his childhood and the people who were important to him all those years ago.

I loved this book and raced through it. I loved being drawn into the world of Christopher Banks, as bizarre as it was and loved being absorbed into China of the early 20th century and then again 1930s China. Christopher's view of life makes you question everything he says. This is a great picture of a man for whom events in childhood has tainted every aspect of his psyche and leaves you wondering just what you should and shouldn't believe. This was another great read from Ishiguro who is fast becoming my favourite author- he takes me places I never knew I wanted to visit.

Broken by Daniel Clay

Three families live in a square in a town in Hampshire. Skunk, her brother and her father; the Oswalds, a vicious thug, widower and father to five anti-socially abhorrent daughters; the Buckleys- a mother father and their only son, Rick. The story is partly narrated by Skunk, an eleven year old girl who lies in a coma. The rest of the narration takes us through the events which lead to her being taken to hospital starting with a lie told by one of the Oswald girls which leads to the father beating up Rick Buckley and accusing him of rape. Rick Buckley is traumatised by the hand of Rick Buckley and humiliated at the hands of the police and withdraws into himself. He is soon known as a freak in the neighbourhood and becomes known by the nickname Broken Buckley. Further events unfold and we see a portrait of the ugliest side of "Broken Britain".

This was a book that was far more compelling than one could say enjoyable. I finished it in three sittings. The anguish of poor old Broken Buckley, thoroughly confused and traumatised by a random beating at the hands of a vicious thug was all too real and uncomfortable. The Oswalds and their constant disregard for acceptable social behaviours made me angry. Skunk (her mother was a fan of Skunk Anansie- no excuse, even for a fictional character.), lying in her hospital bed gave the book the feel of The Lovely Bones but without too much of the mawkishness that a dead/child narrator often brings. I'm glad I read this book- it brought out a lot of feeling, most of it negative but was well worth it.

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

A Mormon Fundamentalist husband with more than 20 wives is killed by his own gun in Utah. His 19th Wife, BeckyLynn, is arrested and awaiting trial for his murder. Her son, one of the fundamentalist sect's "Lost Boys" who was excommunicated from the sect and left to fend for himself at a young age realises his mother is innocent of her crime after visiting her in jail. He sets out to clear her name.

BeckyLynn's story is wrapped around a fictionalised account of the earliest days of the Mormon Church, its founder Joseph Smith and his successor, Brigham Young. Brigham Young's 19th Wife, Ann Eliza Webb has come to realise that polygamy is not the life for her and, she believes, for any other woman or child. The historical fiction follows Ann Eliza's battle against her church and journey to congress to have polygamy outlawed.

Blimey, where do I start? There's so much going on in this book that even writing a short synopsis was difficult. Obviously, there are two narratives in this book. The current day, peppered with pop culture references to the Killers (Brandon Flowers, singer, is one of the Mormon church's most famous faces these days), Wikipedia etc and narrated by Jordan Scott, a very modern young gay gent who has seen the ugly side of life on the streets after being excommunicated from the sect. Secondly, the historical voices from the past of Ann Eliza Webb, her mother, her father, her brother and even Brigham Young. Fictional newspaper reports, church archives and even a degree thesis add to all the voices and make for a very varies and interesting read. This book is much less about a murder and far more an exploration of the effects of polygamy and blind faith on women and children through the ages and into the present day.

I loved it. The Mormon church and all of its weird and wonderful ways is a bit of a pet interest of mine anyway so I found the fictionalised history of the church fascinating. The modern day murder mystery helped to stop the history lesson from becoming too dry and uninteresting but I'm afraid I have to say the twee Hollywood ending was a little too much. But, honestly I found the historical detail in Ann Eliza's story so absorbing, I could see the prairie dresses, the temple at Nauvoo and could practically feel the hostility towards Ann Eliza from her own people. A great read. Provided you're not a Mormon or a member of a fundamentalist polygamist Mormon sect. I woudn't imagine they would enjoy it too much. But I did. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Highly recommended.

The World According to Garp by John Irving

Jenny Fields is an asexual nurse in a military hospital. She has a desire for a baby but no desire whatsoever for a man. Soon she inseminates herself with the sperm of a soldier under her care by having sex with him. The soldier, who has regressed back to the mental age of a baby, is unaware of this and soon dies. Jenny falls pregnant and names her baby after his father, Technical Sergeant Garp, T.S. Garp.

Jenny brings Garp up in the Steering School, a private school for boys where Jenny is nurse and where Garp can recieve a free education. There he meets the love of his life, Helen and decides he will one day be a writer. We follow Garp through his unusual life while he fulfills his career, brings up his family and interacts with a host of strange characters who bring meaning to his life.

I loved this one. The similarities at first between Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meaney were slightly off-putting (strange child, private school, odd teachers, writing) but I'm glad I pushed through and read to the end. I enjoyed Garp's story thoroughly. Actually, I should say, I enjoyed Jenny's story thoroughly for Jenny was the best, most fascinating character from the very start. Following Garp's extended family's ups and downs through his life, I felt drawn into their inner circle and the hard times were hard and the good times were enjoyable. I even laughed out loud a couple of times. I admit, I found the meta-fiction aspect of the story a little tedious to start with but once in the swing of it, I began to look forward to reading Garp's stories.

One thing kept jumping out at me though through this book. It is stated quite categorically both in the subtext and in the author's note, that even though Garp's life reflects the authors, this book is not autobiographical at all which I accept. However, I couldn't help but feel a mood of self satisfaction while reading this book. A feeling of someone who has a very high opinion of him/herself. Still, after a week or so of having read the last page, I can't decide just who it is that thinks so highly of him/herself. Garp (or his many hangers-on) or the author. I'll have to ponder it some more another day.