Bookshelved

A little blog about what I've been reading recently.

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A truly wonderful read; a love story to ash trees and the craft of woodwork. Peaceful, contemplative and inspiring.

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A charming, funny and engaging travel-book-that’s-not-really-a-travel-book-at-all. A perfect companion to a roadtrip around the south coast of Iceland!

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The Stephen King binge continues! Punchy and simple, ‘The Mist’ is a short read with a great premise. Character development is a little thinner than his other work, but this is a much shorter read than most of his books. This feels like classic horror told in a very Stephen King way.

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Fantastic promise and a great concept. The first of the three parts was compelling, wonderfully imaginative and completely engaging. Unfortunately this book isn’t a quick read and it began to wear thin through the second part. I held on up to the final act but ultimately gave up with the book. Maybe one to try again another time, but on a first read it felt like it tried to accomplish too much and fell slightly short. Part one is still an exceptional sci-fi read, and highly recommended.

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Intense, confusing and compelling. In many ways, the book and the film are quite different, but both are excellent. Follows the classic Stephen King format of long intense build punctuated with moments of action, followed by the crescendo in the final act. I’m not entirely sure how King manages to make inanimate objects so unsettling but he succeeds again here. Great book, well with the page count.

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A little trashy but a fun holiday read. Can’t say it was brilliant (nor all that memorable - I was confused when I found it on my bookshelf after I’d read it!), but just okay. Delves into some interesting questions. A quick read.

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A classic for a reason. Tense, self-aware, funny, sad; a brilliantly written and crafted story. King plays cleverly with vampire cliché and movie lore to create something all the more terrifying. A fantastic book.

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A strange and wonderful journey through the world of Norse myth and legend - the perfect accompaniment to a road trip across Iceland. Gaiman has updated these tales well, and his storytelling is modern but sympathetic to their sources.

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Snappy and brilliant. If you’re interested in sci-if but don’t know where to start, this is an excellent (and likely familiar) story. Dick has shaped our sci-fi cinematic landscape and for good reason.

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If you’re a living, breathing human who loves a good conspiracy theory mixed with a bit of a treasure hunt and a secret society, this series is for you. Think Nicholas Cage’s finest moment, National Treasure, meets Dan Brown at his most paranoid, meets Oliver Stone’s JFK. Bad meets good in the best possible way.

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Robert Galbraith - Career of Evil

A long but satisfying whodunnit, Rowling manages to expand on her Cormoran Strike universe well. I enjoyed the character development and subplots in this novel, although there were times at which I felt that the book could have kept things moving a bit more quickly and efficiently. Ultimately, I’m looking forward to the next instalment in this series.