~Updates

Well let me see...

I've been a bit absent of late, blame it on the tonsilitis and the fact that work has been insane. If you've been reading then you'll know I've done a couple of book reviews recently but if you're more interested in what I've been reading the whole list from the last 18 months is here.  There is even a tab for you to give me some suggestions on what I should be reading in the future.

Creatively I've bitten a bullet and I've signed up to do a short course in October on creative writing.

The upside to the tonsilitis was that I caught up on a few bits and pieces. Firstly I mainlined season one of Nurse Jackie, it is one excellent show and I have enjoyed watching it muchly. I like that it is short and I love the level of insight into Jackie's character. I also adore the supporting cast with much love going to Merrit Weaver as Zoey and Stephen Wallem as Thor.

I've also been watching the BBC adaptations of the Jackson Brodie series of novels: Case Histories, When Will There be Good News and One Good Turn. All brilliantly adapted and starring Jason (Lucius Malfoy) Isaacs.  It has been Sunday night telly, but its been good sunday night telly.

We're catching up with Treme which is a great piece of television but not the easiest watch in the world.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand has also been part of the mix, have to admit a few weeks ago one of the episodes went too far for me. It went too far and I was actually tempted to drop it but after giving it a rest and letting it settle I've gone back and actually since that one off the scale gruesome episode, the rest have been much better experiences.

Haven is another series we're trying and yay. Love. It has elements of some shows I loved in the past. American Gothic and the X files and its a weird and fun little show.

I was less impressed with Bored to death, the central character is, if I'm honest a bit of a douche. The concept is good and it was beginning to improve so I'll probably stick with it.

I am mourning in my heart for the end of the first season of A Game of Thrones, I love this show so much I broke my book buying ban in a huge and not cheap way. I kind of want spring 2012 to be sooner please so that there will be more.  The show is too good. If you haven't seen it I urge you to give it a go, it is a very rewarding watch.

There is a little squee in my heart True Blood has returned and so has Dexter one of these shows I've waited paitently to be be on FX the other I haven't.

I'll try and do more regular posts. And to vary them a little bit more than I have been.

Book review: Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris

First my declaimer, I've read most of Joanne Harris' novels and there isn't one I haven't thoroughly enjoyed.  Blueeyedboy, is one of her finest works to date.

The theme of the novel is about the fluidity of identity and putting fingers to keyboard right now, its always been one of her signature themes.  This novel has a darker tone, it is still a playful novel, but there is a dark side to the psyches that are presented here.  As with her previous work language is used in both a skilful and playful way. The protagonist's voice, Blueeyed boy himself revels in the language that he uses. Meanings are layered and words are chopped up to subvert and enhance their meaning.

There are two narrators and the strands of story twist and knot and provide a non linear structure. The novel is also written in the form of journal entries like Live Journal and Dream Width and some of the many copies that are out there. The narrators contradict each other and as a reader you cannot trust that anything you are told is truth even in the 'private' entries. The ending is not big on closure and not everyone copes well with books like this and if you don't get on with this style of writing then move on you probably won't get much from this novel.

What I love about Blueeyedboy and Harris' work in general is her descriptive writing. Much of the narrators' ideas are explained in the language of colours and taste. I also love that as a reader you experience the same event multiple times throughout the novel from different perspectives so there isn't any one Truth but a plurality of truths.

I've seen reviewers complain that they have trouble keeping up with the changes in narrators and who don't like the fluidity of the narrative. To be honest I've got little time for these people, I don't like being spoon fed as a reader and enjoy the challenges of working things out and actively enjoy being surprised by an author.  I like that Joanne Harris is leading me up the garden path with parts of the narrative, she's so beguiling with her words that I'm happy to be lead.

The novel also resonates with me because I'm one of those users of  those journaling sites not the murky depths of  badguysrock but I understand these sites and her portrayal of them is refreshingly accurate and completely recognisable.

Awesome book.

 

Book: Succubus Blues By Richelle Mead

In some ways I hate starting a new series of novels, I get submerged into the rules of that universe and I get miffed when I then have to change the rules. Silly I know but there you are. It’s me being lazy.

So I was coming at Succubus Blues from a disadvantage. The good news is that by the end of the novel I’d been more won round the bad news was it took me a while.

The premise is that Georgina Kincaid is a Succubus; she is not the demon you would expect, she’s actually kind of good and a lot tired of seducing good men to get her fix. There is her crux, by setting her sights on morally dubious men she doesn’t get her fix or not to the same extent. Enter Seth, her favourite author and all round good egg. He’s a really nice stable guy and she likes him but there’s the whole OMG-I-CAN’T-SLEEP-WITH-HIM-LEST-I-KILL-HIM! Thing. There are also other interests, Roman for instance.

Coupled with her predicament there is also the mystery, someone is killing immortals but who.

I don’t do spoilers, so I’ll stop talking about the plot and get on with things. If I’m honest the set up is more than a little cheesy. Georgina is a little bit of a Mary-Sue. The thing that I think makes me roll my eyes is the whole supahspeshal thing. Sure she’s a succubus and with her current morality it makes it hard for her.

But she’s surrounded by men, all of whom fancy her a bit, even her vampire friends, which is a by product of being a succubus, there are very few women in the book, none of them are characterised fully apart from Georgina.

Don’t let it put you off, it’s a perfectly adequate novel which was enjoyable to read, its just I do get somewhat irked at things like this.

Well This could be considered a little embarassing

I started reading Laurell K Hamilton's Mistral's Kiss at some ungodly hour this morning because my stomach was whinging at me and not letting me sleep. I have occasional bouts of stomach trouble and I don't want to put you off so we'll leave it there. Suffice to say I was awake and grumpy.

I had finished the book I blogged earlier and made a start on this one.  Again enjoyable, as all the Merry Gentry books seem to be, this one was a good hundred pages shorter than the last one and I kind of just absorbed it.  The plot is that Merry is still trying to get with faerie baby and alongside that she beds her guards and fights those who would wish her harm.  There are many people who would wish her harm.  There are also random bursts of symbolic wild magic which make for interesting plot developments.  I'm not sure I'm doing a good job of selling the book here but it is good fun.

Also being part of very much an ongoing series its hard to discuss plot points because they refer to the other books and in my fragile state of mind I start to get confused.

The next one A lick of Frost will be started later and I'll see how I get on.

I will be posting about TV at some point, its just there seems to be a fallow patch for viewers such as me at the moment.  Am chomping at the bit for Outcasts though.

Happy New Year

Well Hello there people.  I hope you had a great festive season and a happy and safe new year.


My plans for the  year ahead is to write more. So I'm hoping to be a tad more prolific than I've managed to be last year.


One of my promises is to write more and to write better so that's what I'll do here and in other places.

I'm going to write up a small review to every book I read which I think will be one way to write more and hopefully do something you find interesting to read.  Of course I'll still be writing about TV and Theatre and films so I'm branching out a little.

Happy 2011