Makita Brottman: The Solitary Vice-Against Reading

From the back of the book

Mikita Brottman wonders, Just why is reading so great? It's a solitary practice, one that takes away from time that could be spent developing important social networking skills. Reading is not required for health, happiness, or a loving family. And, if reading is so important, why are catch and juvenile slogans like "Reading Changes Lives" and "Champions Read" needed to hammer the point home?
Fearlessly tackling the notion that non-readers are doomed to lives of despair and mental decay, Brottman makes the case that the value of reading lies not in its ability to ward of Alzheimer's or that it's a pleasant hobby. Rather, she argues that like that other well-known solitary vice, masturbation, reading is ultimately not an act of pleasure but a tool for self-exploration, one that allows people to see the world through the eyes of others and lets them travel deep into the darkness of the human condition.

This book captured my attention right from the introduction with the combination of fascinating material and an easy going style. Sadly it was unable to hold my interest past chapter three.
The first third of the book contains a spookily familiar childhood reminiscence (and coincidentally reading list). Here the author also manages to articulate feelings about reading, specifically Literature, that I would never be able to express so succinctly. But sadly after this the book runs off at a tangent that I was unwilling to follow.
Chapter 4 sings the merits of celebrity tell-alls, and while I am uninterested in the subject (a situation the author believes impossible) I persevered in the hope of a return to the delight of the earlier pages. It wasn't to be. The beginning of chapter 5 offered little of interest. Skimming the rest of the book I simply found more of the same. Chapter after chapter devoted to various incarnations of 'gossip' pages. I would allow that the subject has a place in a book of this nature but I put it that it is unworthy of a book in its own right (which is what this book, to all intents and purposes, becomes). At the end of each chapter an attempt is made to relate the contents back to the original theme of the book. I believe these attempts to be singularly unsuccessful.
This is not a book I would recommend but if the opportunity arose to read the first three chapters I would say go ahead and have a look but be willing to do as the author suggests and put it aside as soon as you find yourself no longer engaged. I think you can guess where that point was for me.- Lynn

Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures - Vincent Lam

From the cover:

Dr. Vincent Lam's literary debut delivers an unflinching portrait of his profession, following a group of four ambitious young doctors as they move from the pressures of medical school into the intense world of emergency medicine, evacuation missions, and terrifying new viruses.
Through the eyes of Fitz, Ming, Chen, and Sri, Lam finds conflict - and humanity - in the most surprising moments. Together these doctors test the bounds of intimacy as they cope with exam pressure, weigh moral dilemmas as they dissect cadavers, confront police who assault their patients, and treat schizophrenics with pathologies similar to their own.

Subtitled Stories, this is a collection of interconnected short stories that combine to create a complex narrative whole greater than the sum of its parts. And the parts all sound completely up my alley - health care, the evolution of practitioners, exciting scenarios realistically portrayed, ethico-moral decision making, and even interaction with the dead (my current research focus).
Sadly, I was unable to enjoy the panoply of the whole, because I found the trek into Lam's literary debut entirely too arduous a journey to complete, stopping at page 69, roughly half way through the third story. I therefore can't render a review of the whole, but will quite happily discuss the parts I managed:
The first story, "How to Get into Medical School, part 1" is about Ming and Fitz. He's American, she's the daughter of Chinese migrants who have very traditional beliefs which don't include their daughter either distracting herself from her pre-med studies or her dating a white boy. Though Ming pretends to herself that she's only spending time with Fitz to improve her study, she's really attracted to him, and knows he is to her. what Fitz doesn't know - what nobody knows - is that Ming is dirty, and her academic success rides on the back of sexual abuse.
"Take All of Murphy" picks up when Ming, Chen and Sri are partnered together in the cadaver lab. They're cautioned to treat their cadaver, who they name Murphy, with respect; they're also expected to dissect him with care and according to the text book. But the text book doesn't include an ornate and clearly symbolically important tattoo right over an intended dissection site. The students have to decide whether respect for Murphy trumps their academic requirements.
"How to Get into Medical School, part 2" picks up Fitz's narrative - he didn't get into medical school with Ming, and since she started they barely speak. He feels as driven by his need to see her as by his desire to study medicine/be a doctor, until a chance accident gives him the first peace he's known in months. I have no idea how that ends or him, though, as I put Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures down at that point and just couldn't bring myself to pick it back up.
This was for two reasons. The first is that I didn't connect with any of the characters, and so I just didn't care at all what happened to them. I found Lam's creations self-oriented, relatively two-dimensional, with tragic histories included not as extra depth but in lieu of character development (Ming's aforementioned abuse, Fitz's motherlessness). This might have been alright if there was an emphasis on plot, but Bloodletting is Literature, so (at least in the part I read) plot isn't a huge narrative driver.
The second issue is that I was frequently snapped out of the book by the writing. Fitz in particular is overly analytical, self-conscious and introspective, his every move accompanied by an exploration of its deeper meaning and possible interpretations:

Fitz picked up a shrimp chip by its edge, dipped it in the peanut sauce with red pepper flakes, and crunched. His face became sweaty and bloomed red as he chewed, the n coughed. He grasped the water glass and took a quick gulp...
He coughed to his right side, and had difficulty stopping. He reminded himself to sit up straight while coughing, realized he wasn't covering his mouth, was embarrassed that his fair skin burned hot and red, wondered in a panicky blur if this redness would be seen to portray most keenly his injured emotional state, his physical vulnerability in choking, his Anglocentric intolerance to chili, his embarrassment at not initially covering his mouth, his obvious infatuation with Ming, or - worst of all - could be interpreted as a feeble attempt to mask or distract from his discomfort at her pre-emptive romantic rejection.

A couple of page later, after Ming has gone and Fitz begins to drown his sorrows,

The pain of rejection was a significant shade different from the longing of desire, he noted, though drawn from the same palette. This somber phase could generally be gotten through withal few more, and therefore justified the third drink. A washroom break. With the third pint came the brink between anger and the careless release that could sometimes be attained and was the goal of the drinking. Fitz tired to will himself into this easy release, to tip over the meniscus of anger that grew like water perched higher than the rim of a glass, but it didn't work today.

Really, a 'meniscus of anger'? I found the writing style pretentious, the characters flat, and felt that insufficient use was made out of potentially strong scenarios. Of course, this is a literary work, and these elements aren't exactly out of place in this genre.
It probably didn't help that my expectations going in were more in line with a House of God type work, perhaps without the awful first chapter of that classic work, and I anticipated the lucid writing of some of my favourite medical authors (like Gawande, Groopman or, if we're going for the purely literary fiction, Klass). This is my own fault, and not that of the author, for whom my expectations were raised by the reviews favourable and plentiful.
And I'm clearly in the minority - Bloodletting has not only been compared with medical television dramas like ER, Grey's Anatomy and House, it's been optioned as a similar series itself. With, I can only assume, significant changes. - Alex

Show No Fear - Marliss Melton

Ten months after an intelligence mission in the Middle East went bad, CIA operative Lucy Donovan is delighted to be assigned to rescue hostages held by Colombian rebels. She's undaunted by the risk and the threat of harm; the only thing that troubles Lucy about the mission is her co-operative, Gus Atwater. Then known as James, he was the only man she ever loved, but Lucy left him when the aftermath of a bomb explosion left her unable to reconcile her terror with the promise of happiness.
Now a very buff Navy SEAL, and going by his abbreviated middle name of Angus, Gus rescued her from her most recent mission, searching for vital information in an elite Guard warehouse after freeing herself from restraints. Though convinced she'd have managed to rescue herself, thank you very much, her boss is wedded to the idea of a joint operation, and the insulting notion that she needs assistance - and that she and James need to play a married couple as their cover. Or something. I quit at the top of page 28, so I have no idea how the story played out. The plot is clearly far-fetched, but I'm prepared to suspend my disbelief quite high if the writing and characterisation promise a worthwhile payoff. And perhaps the brief insights into Gus and Lucy's personalities fail to do them justice - certainly the SmartBitches forum recommendation brought me to it, and those bitches are usually on the money. On the other hand, it was multiple recommendations there than caused me to read Naked in Death, so I knew going in that I don't see eye to eye with every member of the community (or even great swathes of members - do people come in swathes?).
My point is that the plot, or at least as much of it as I managed, was ridiculous but genre-appropriate. The characterisation was superficial, but again I didn't get very far. I warmed not at all to the heroine, who seemed mired in an unattractive combination of PTSD denial and unfocused shittyness, while the hero was something of a cipher.
what caused me to put the book down before I was 10% through, though, was the overblown, florid writing. In the first three pages, as 'seconds drain[ed] away like sand through an hourglass', Lucy is 'awash in a cold sweat' and then

Lucy's heart stopped.
It had to be the greasepaint that made him look exactly like her college boyfriend, James, The athletic body didn't jibe with her mental recollection. But as she took a curious step closer, his expression of horror confirmed her observation.

Okay, I've never been rescued from a terrorist warehouse, my cargo pants pockets stuffed with CD's full of important intel, by an old boyfriend. I have, however, been in an emergency situation and surprised by the appearance of an ex-lover. I'm not aware of a type of recollection that's not mental, but I'll ignore that tautology to point out that I, a non-combat trained person, responded with a brief nod, a frisson of surprise, and an immediate return to the emergency before me; Lucy, not quite so quick.
The writing's all tell, not show - not a facial expression nor a feeling goes unmentioned, from stabs of of suspicion to expressions "both guarded and disapproving.
As that brief extract demonstrated, the writing's a little... florid. As they're escaping, "thoughts shifted across [Gus's] face, too quickly for her to gauge." Really? Perhaps too quickly to decipher, or to read, but to gauge?
And, in common with poor writing, the characters rarely just say anything - in one scene alone Lucy amends, brazens, insists, quips with sarcasm and archly demands (in consecutive statements), explains, assures, protests, retorts twice, adds, cries in disbelief, counters, admits, answers and asks ("remembering with a pang the tenderness he used to show her"), while Gus counters, counters softly, quietly reminds twice, retorts, growls, grates, continues, repeats, articulates ("with a tremor in his voice") and actually both asks and says (the latter with a scathing look). He also "rake[s] her with another look, this one reflecting honest fear and concern." That's a lot to fit into four pages. In the interim, nobody looks - Lucy regards while Gus gazes. It was reading the line:

Lucy shook two Advil tablets into her hand and regarded them in her palm, lit up by the bright sunlight streaming through the airplane window...

that I decided I'd had enough. Next time I'll stick with Brockmann. - Alex

Tithe - Holly Black

Sixteen year old Kaye has grown up accustomed to a nomadic life - her mother's in a band, and not exactly the most maternal or protective of women. When circumstances compel them to return to her childhood home on the New Jersey shore, Kaye is reminded of the imaginary friends of her youth, vibrant characters who never fully left her. And she discovers they are real, they are faeries, and she is too.
For some reason I didn't connect with Tithe at all - I didn't even persist for very long, quitting before I hit the forty page mark. Black has a strong reputation, and Tithe - the first in a trilogy - has also been well received and reviewed; this leads me to suspect that the fault lies with me rather than the novel, and perhaps I'll give Tithe another try when I'm in a more amenable mood. - Alex

To read Lynn's more useful review, click here.

Michael Crichton - Pirate Latitudes

Privateer Captain Charles Hunter has been hired by Jamaica's governor to explore the Mantaceros, an island fortress, where a treasure-laden (apparently) galleon awaits protection for her journey home to Spain.
Set in the mid seventeenth century, Pirate Latitudes is a significant departure on many fronts from Crichton's usual work, which tends to explore intersections of two or more of modern culture, health care, contentious issues, and emerging technologies. The manuscript was found on a computer and was apparently completed before his death, along with another novel (to be published in 2012, which suggests a lack of completion). I certainly found it less satisfying or engrossing than his other works, which I generally found absorbing and well-written. Unfortunately I just couldn't get into Pirate Latitudes, which I abandoned about 100 pages. - Alex

Knight Errant – R Garcia Y Robertson

Robyn Stafford knew flying unannounced to the English Cotswolds from Hollywood to surprise her British lover on his birthday was the kind of move that would either cement or destroy their relationship – she just didn’t realise there was only one way it could go. Well, at least not until she realised the impossibly beautiful woman who answered the door of Greystone, Collin’s ancestral home, was his wife, and the mother of their three children.
The saving grace of an otherwise humiliating and heart-breaking act was meeting Collin’s sister, Jo. Lovely, gracious, warm and welcoming, Jo and her daughter Joy took her in to their far less grand home. Hiking along the Anglo-Welsh boarder the following day, Robyn crossed paths with a handsome youth astride a truly magnificent mount. Dressed, authentically as far as her untrained eye could tell, in a knight’s armour, Edward Plantagenet believes it to be 1459 and mistakes her pant-clad self for a lad. Certain that the poor, but assured and attractive, boy is deluded, Robyn is stunned when his pursuers emerge – three armoured men ready to do battle. When Edward first puts himself between them and Robyn, and then dispatches two or the men leaving the third to flee, Robyn is less certain that Edward is touched. He gives her the white rose from his cap, and leaves.
Returning to Jo, Robyn discovers her hostess is a witch and member in good standing of the local coven. As, it turns out, is Collin’s wife Bryn. The women agree to meet and try to help Robyn work out what happened. With an anchor to each world – her mobile phone and the rose Edward gave her – in each hand, the coven begin to cast their spell. Had Robyn turned off her phone the spell may have had a very different ending – as it rang, Bryn said tartly, “That will be for me,” and snatched the phone from Robyn’s hand. And, unanchored, Robyn was sent back to the Middle Ages.
Robyn is surprised to find versions of the family she left behind in the mid-1450’s – now Sir Collingwood Grey, her Collin is apparently unattached but has no knowledge of her. She meets him, though, after being thrown into a cell for witches, where she discovers nine-year-old Joy, daughter in this world as well as hers of Jo. Joy tells Robyn that witches are immortal – their bodies may die, and they have no memories of their old lives next time around, but they are guaranteed to be reborn, apparently in the same physical form and with the same familial ties.
As Robyn tries to return to her own time she also seeks Edward, whose youth decreasingly seems an obstacle. Fleeing one countryside setting for another, Robyn and her hosts are pursued by the forces of their political foes, and after Greystone is attacked and set afire in the middle of the night Collin and Robyn and separated from Jo and Joy. They head for a secret friend of Collin’s, over the boarder to Wales – to a woman Robyn has met before, or hence. Once again, Collin is wed to Bryn, though this time secretly.
There were many things I liked about Knight Errant – Robyn is not only navigating the differences between her modern sensibilities and life five hundred years earlier but also the contrast between American and British traditions. The political turbulence of her new here and now (a phrase used with irritating frequency) makes it an interesting, in the Chinese sense, time to live, and Robyn finds herself and her allies on the under dog’s side. Robertson described the deprivations of the time vividly, and overcomes difficulties in the evolution of language by including an understanding of fifteenth century Saxon, French, Latin and Welsh in the spell.
But after an engrossing and interesting first third I found myself less and less engaged with the characters and the text. I’ve tried to work out why this is, and have not yet had success. There were certainly a couple of details that jarred, like Jo’s coin-operated shower taking shillings in decimalised England, and Robyn’s electronic journal retaining battery power a month after her last charge. These were so few and niggly, though, that I suspect I’d barely have noticed had I been more involved in the narrative.
I read about two thirds of my way into Knight Errant, long enough for Robyn to be reunited with Edward but not yet able to see how the tale ends. There are, of course, only two ways it could go – either Robyn returns to the twenty-first century (where she may leave Edward behind, somehow bring him with her, or he’s unexpectedly a witch and she meets up with his modern day incarnation), or she stays in the past, dead or alone or with Edward. I’m sorry I so completely lost interest that I care not at all which of these it is, because I did really enjoy the first third of Knight Errant very much, and may try Robertson’s other works, but not before a breather. – Alex

In Cold Pursuit - Sarah Andrews

Valena Walker has wanted for as long as she can remember to go to Antarctica. Her lifelong devotion is finally paying off – after much hard work, and more than a little wheedling, Valena is doing her geology master’s fieldwork under glaciologist Dr Emmett Vanderzee. But on her arrival at McMurdo base she discovers that Dr Vanderzee has been arrested for murder – the year-old death, formerly believed to be due to altitude sickness, of a journalist and Vanderzee critic. The only way Valena can avoid being returned to the US on the next ship is to turn her talents to investigation, and clear the name of her esteemed supervisor.

I came across Andrews by chance walking along the library shelves, and was interested in the number of hardback volumes in a series I’d not heard of. Apparently *In Cold Pursuit is something of a spinoff from her well known (though not to me) Em Hansen series, about a forensic geologist. Always up for a new twist on forensic science, and interested in learning more about disciplies I know little about, I found the idea intriguing. Sadly the first Hansen novel wasn’t available, so I picked up the first Walker one instead.

Which I sadly found drier than the continent on which it’s set. I didn’t care about Valena, Emmett, the random folk at McMurdo, the project, the journalist or the murderer. In fact, I didn’t even make it past page 50, which, considering the book goes for another three hundred odd pages, is something of a record. Perhaps I just wasn’t in the right head space, or perhaps I got off on the wrong foot with In Cold Pursuit, but whatever the reason I suspect the next Andrews mystery I pick up will be by Donna rather than Sarah. – Alex

Pride/Prejudice - Ann Herendeen

Charles always knew he'd one day need to take a wife, but he never dreamed he'd find a woman who would catch first his eye and then his heart, until he met Jane. This distresses Fitz, had never been attracted to a woman, intellectually or sexually, until he met Elizabeth. And Elizabeth enjoys her intimate romps with Charlotte more than anything she could imagine doing with a man, though glimpsing Charles and Fitz together makes her feel curiously faint and flushed.
As the title indicates, Pride/Prejudice is a slashy reworking of Jane Austen's most loved novel, that incorporates much of the original plot, characters, dialogue and events, but adds a new and significant dimension. Taking place before and between the scenes of Austen's novel, Pride/Prejudice seeks to uncover a truth universally ignored - that the two male leads of this most well read of literary classics has a clear but unseen subtext. In Herendeen's reimagining, Charles Bingley and Fitzwilliam Darcy are enthusiastic lovers, the latter more so than the former, who's ready to move forward into a more adult (ie heterosexual) relationship.
When Lizzie goes to Netherland Park to tend to her incapacitated sister she not only falls out with Darcy but also spies a rigorous tryst between him and her sister's love interest. The scene distresses her, for she loves Jane and wants her to be happy, an outcome Lizzie considers unlikely given Bingley's otherwise directed interest. But Lizzie is also a little captivated by what she sees...
And that's where I left Pride/Prejudice. Perhaps it was just that I read it a little to soon after Phyllida, perhaps I'm just over the obsessive love of Pride & Prejudice, or perhaps I just wasn't in the right head space for it. Whatever the reason, I had the strong sense that, like Phyllida, the action would in all senses focus on the men, that the male relationships would be more complex and rewarding that those with and between the women, and that Lizzie's main role would be to support Mr Darcy doing as he desired while she was content with the scraps of their relationship. I may well have been wrong - that, after all, is the down side to halting only part way through a book. But I'm not unhappy with my decision. - Alex

Fade - Robert Cormier

The only mystery Paul Moreaux knows of is a family photograph, taken just before the first World War, before the family moved from Quebec to New England - where his uncle Adelard ought to be was an empty space, which Paul found thought-provoking even if his father thinks Adelard just ducked. Other than that his life seems ordinary enough - he shares a bed with his older and younger brothers and the room with his sisters, his father works at the nearby comb factory and smells always of the flexible but combustible celluloid they use, and his greatest interests are performing and spending time with his Pete.
That is until the summer Paul turns thirteen, when everything starts to change. It begins with the return of his aunt Rosanna - his beautiful, flirtatious, mysterious aunt, who has an intoxicating effect of the young boy. It continues with union activity and industrial action at the Monument Comb Shop. But Paul's life really changes when his uncle Adelard returns home, and explains that Paul has inherited the Moreaux family trait, passed from uncle to nephew as far back as they can trace, and kept secret from everyone else - Paul has the ability to become invisible at will, to fade. And though this seemed at first a gift, as Paul begins to see, hear and learn things better kept secret, he wonders if the fade is instead a curse.
I really liked, in particular, the idea that something which seems so perfect as controllable invisibility being a bad thing. It all sounds like a great premise, though the concept reminded me more of a William Sleator novel than something by Cormier (better known for edgy but realistic young adult novels). Unfortunately I just couldn't engage with the narrative or Paul. I suspect, as the opening section is titled 'Paul,' that there's at least one other voice in the novel, but I stopped reading just after Adelard reveals the fade, so I can't say for certain. I don't know if this was because the writing seemed laboured, if it's because there's a strong hindsight aspect ("I didn't know it at the time but that was the first time I faded"), if it's because it took about a third of the novel before Paul learned of his ability... whatever it was, for the second time already this week I just couldn't be bothered reading on. And that's a shame given the prestige of the author (whose work I very much enjoyed when I was at school) and the promise of the premise. - Alex

The Birthday Present - Barbara Vine

Married Tory MP Ivor Tesham is a rising star in the dying days of the Thatcher government. He also has a keen taste for bondage, and a long-standing affair with Hebe Furnal, the married mother of a young boy. To celebrate Hebe's birthday, in addition to the string of pearls her unaware husband won't be able to distinguish from the costume variety, Ivor sets the scene for the fulfillment of an elaborate fantasy - he hires two men to abduct and bind Hebe then transport her to his cousin's country home for a weekend of adventurous, role-playing sex. What could possibly go wrong?
The Birthday Present is narrated through a combination of Ivor's cousin Rob Delgado's reflections almost two decades later, and diary entries from Hebe's friend Jane, who often provided alibis for the affair. I read a review of the novel soon after its 2008 release, and it's been on my To Read list ever since.
It's significantly disappointing, therefore, that I found The Birthday Present so politically dense that I didn't even make it to the abduction, or even the first mention of it (which is only on page 32 in the copy I had). I didn't like Rob's voice, and that got in the way of my engagement with the text. The unheralded switch from his voice to Jane's diary was obvious by tone but not signalled, and I found that annoying, too. I'm hoping this isn't a sign of the month to come but just an indication of the depth of enjoyment the Seafort saga has provided, and the difficulty other novels will have in comparison. Watch this space! - Alex

The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes - Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer & Anne Stuart

Dee, Lizzie and Mare Fortune have been dubiously blessed with magical powers - powers that are unschooled, poorly controlled and unpredictable, particularly when attractive men are around. So it's particularly problematic that, through what seems like a strange confluence of coincidences but is actually the meddling of their estranged aunt Xan, each of them will encounter the right man for them, at just the wrong time.
The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes sounds promising - a more grown up Charmed perhaps, written by two authors I've enjoyed (Crusie and Dreyer) plus an unknown (to me) third). The combination of proven writing ability, romance, magic, a little zaniness and a plotting relative - what could go wrong?
Perhaps it's just that I was fresh from the great Shinn, and anxious to return to her world. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right head space. Or perhaps it just wasn't that engaging.This was so disappointing, as I had good expectations, though somewhat ameliorated by my previous, mixed, experiences of the Little Black Dress imprint. Whatever the reason, I limped through it, finding the dialogue, premise and intrigue less convincing by the page until, at chapter four, I abandoned the Misses Fortune to their fates. - Alex

Double Vision - Fiona Brand

Rita Morrell lost her sightwhen she was young, in the car accident that killed her mother. Almost twenty years later she still suffers from psychosomatic blindness, until a series of accidents restore not only her vision but a second sight. This, along with the realisation that her husband is not only an integral part of a South American crime syndicate but also responsible for the fatal car 'accident,' cause her to turn to the CIA. But not even a false identity can protect her from the man she once loved.
Apparently. And I'm guessing, based on the prologue set in 1944 Germany, that the heart of the whole thing is a Nazi scandal plus or minus a treasure or secret weapon. Because, though I was intrigued by the admittedly-familiar premise, I just couldn't make my way past the end of chapter three - the florid and breathless writing style annoyed me, and the characters didn't grip me. Above all, which I only realised when writing this review, the first 51 pages (which is all I read) were chock full of tell, with almost nothing shown. So for me, this was a pass. - Alex

This Charming Man - Marian Keyes

When charming Irish politician Paddy de Courcy's engagement is announced, five women are particularly affected - his long-time girlfriend Lola, journalist Grace, Grace's sister Marnie (whose first lover was Paddy), and fiancée Alicia. Through these women we learn the secrets of Paddy's life, and the dark secret that binds them.
But I have no idea what that dark secret may be, because I couldn't make it more than half way though Lola's section, let alone to Alicia. This was partly because of the deeply angsty diary entries that comprise Lola's perspective (oh! the tragedy! he's engaged to another and won't return my calls! even if I make over a hundred a day! everything is life is terrible! and I would take him back in a moment even though he's a cheating bastard who would never be seen in public with me and who told me she was just a friend). And it was partly because of the annoyance of having Lola leave out sentence parts when reporting speech, like

"Could make you a little sandwich. Will see what's in fridge." or:

"Not!" Bridie dismissed it with a flourish of her hand. "I know all that goes on. Situation in Milan doesn't require his presence. I suspect he has his eye on an Italian lady. Will not facilitate his philandering."

This habit became increasingly grating as I read on, and finally undid me to the point where I pout this Charming Man to one side and just couldn't pick it back up. - Alex

The Philosophy of Death - Steven Luper

I have an academic interest in death and deathwork studies, and have only myself to blame for my unmet expectations of this comprehensive introduction to the philosophical issues that underpin the topic.
Divided into two sections, dying and killing, Professor Luper explores the topic from a hard philosophical perspective. He opens by exploring what it means to be alive, then questions about whether death is harmful to the individual, before moving on to more applied aspects - killing, suicide and assisted suicide, and abortion. Throughout the tone is that of theoretical philosopher, incorporating hypothetical scenarios and argument theory, and drawing on the work of philosophers past and present, from Epicurus, Socrates and Plato, through Kant, Rawls and Schopenhauer, to Nagel, Nozick and Feinburg.
This is, for the most part, familiar ground for me - I have a background in applied and theoretical ethical philosophy, and considerable applied and theoretical experience with death and dying. I saw the book on the library's recommended stand and jumped on it without examining the content at all. This lead me to expect a more applied, social science-based approach.
The Philosophy of Death is, as its cover blurb announces, instead a "discussion of the basic philosophical issues concerning death, and a critical introduction tot he relevant contemporary literature." For anyone interested in, but new to the field, curious about how this richly explored subject has been approached over the ages, or keen to see argument theory applied, this is the book for you. I must admit that I flicked through it after the first chapter, and sadly found it more theoretical that my current interest allows. - Alex

Slow Burn: Burn Fat Faster by Exercising Slower - Stu Mittleman

I found this tome, by "a much sought-after fitness educator whose secrets of endurance have helped people from all walks of life" by accident while looking on the fitness shelves of my local library. The cover, front and back, gave me the impression that it was about improving the quality and results of exercise by working out smarter rather than harder - the training program promises to provide information on creating a work out plan that's flexible and comfortable, with nutritional information and advice on finding "your fat-burning zone" so that "the movement - not the outcome - is the reward."
I have never liked exercise but have vowed to this year embrace a more active, less chocolatey lifestyle. I was really drawn to the possibility of finding enjoyment in the exertion as an ends in itself, and the idea of getting better result in the process was an added bonus.
The cover includes a red-hued photo of a woman running, which perhaps should have warned me - Stu's program is about running. His basic premise is that you get better results focusing on how you feel when you run and then tailoring your style to fit the exertion where you feel energised and at one with your environment will get you better results that focusing on moving as quickly as you can.
Listen to your body, says Stu, and it will tell you what it needs. I'm not a runner - the last time I ran anywhere for longer than a couple of seconds I fell and fractured two bones in my dominant hand, a memory that becomes vivid whenever I use my right hand, which is often. I was, however, moving above this dislike of the sport. I could not, sadly, move past Mittleman's advice on how to chose the most energy-giving foods, which involves

Enter[ing] the food into the "circuitry of the system" by holding the food (against the jaw, of over the thymus gland, about where the second button of a shirt would be), tasting, smelling, or even thinking about the food. Place the first two fingers of the tester's free hand around the back of the subject's neck, just off the spine, under the base of the skull. (This asks the body if any system in the body will be stressed by the consumption of this particular food.)
This approach builds on similar bio-feedback testing designed to check if muscles are blocked, if supplements will be useful, which workout shoes are most appropriate, how well a piece of sports equipment suits the athlete, and what kinds of topical applications (from sunscreen to cosmetics) works with the body.

It's also where I decide enough pseudoscience was enough. I will take from Slow Burn the idea of focusing more on how I feel during exercise than on my destination, and aim for that zone of environmental awareness that sounds akin to meditation, but pick my food (and equipment and toiletries) based on non-Mittleman approved approaches. - Alex

Small Eternities - Michael Lawrence

In this sequel to A Crack in the Line, Naia and Alaric are still living in one another's worlds - Alaric is bereft, and Naia is still thrilled every day to see the mother she thought was lost to her forever.
Unfortunately, despite my best intentions, I just could not get in to this second of a three-part novel. Out one day, having brought only Small Eternities with me (to force myself to read it), I found myself taking a supermarket catalogue off the tram seat beside me as an alternative, and gave up on what other reviewers have called ambitious, thought-provoking and uniquely unpredictable. - Alex

The Accidental Werewolf – Dakota Cassidy

Marty Andrews has made it to lavender, the first rung on the Bobbie-Sue cosmetics hierarchy, and has her gaze firmly set on sky blue. Her two newest recruits are disappointing – neither seems to have the dedication required to progress in the organization – but that’s nothing compared to the changes she’s noticed since that run in between her darling teacup poodle Muffin and a giant dog in a dark alley last week – while saving her beloved pet Marty got a tiny bite from the beast, and though there can’t possibly be a connection between the two events she’s become more emotionally erratic, is somehow no longer a summer on the Bobbie-Sue color wheel, and she’s noticed a disturbing increase in her body hair. The handsome guy telling her he’s a werewolf who accidentally nipped her, thereby making her one, too, is just icing on the cake.
I so liked the review I read somewhere and the premise for this series (three women accidentally turned into supernatural creatures and finding love in the process) that I reserved this and the next one before my library had even bought them. I cannot say how glad I am I didn’t buy them.
From the first page I was unhooked:

Well, it was official.
Lavender was soooooo not in her color wheel any more. Not looking like this, anyway.
It clashed with her hair and made her skin look sallow.
Marty Andrews was now an autumn. Thus, fall colors would best suit her new pallor. Greens, gold, and a couple of shades of yellow were currently her complexion’s new friends.
But the color lavender? Not so much.
That was once the color she’d been so suited to. A spring color. Or was it winter?
Spring, winter, spring, winter?
Sweet mother, she couldn’t even remember
her seasons of color. Where were her color-wheel-of-life skills? Each season had colors it represented. Any woman worth her salt knew that. Didn’t they?

This is what’s going through her head as the tall, dark, wolfishly handsome man is breaking the news to her. Now, I believe you can be intelligent and a cosmetics company rep, that being career focused regardless of the career can be important. But Marty is both shallow and unable to prioritise anything beyond her Bobbie-Sue trajectory. Shallowness is one of my pet peeves about chick lit as a genre – though by no means a requirement, many authors write as though it were, and Cassidy is no exception. In addition, and the two do often go hand in hand, Marty’s self-absorbed well past the line of narcissism, a trait I find unattractive in life and particularly in my heroine. If I can’t connect with the protagonist I feel little impetus to continue reading, and I not only disliked Marty but I had no interest in seeing how (or if) her transformation changes her character or life.
The writing wasn’t bad, but it didn’t appeal to me, with lines like “he had the thickest, most fabulous hair, with the kind of volume only a Nine Inch Nails concert had.” I quibble with the way Cassidy uses dichotomy: “he was a complete dichotomy” because he cradled her poodle tenderly but fills the room with his dominant power. But mostly I abandoned The Accidental Werewolf at the end of chapter four because I didn’t connect with anything in the novel at all. - Alex

Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer

After the events of New Moon Bella and Edward are back in Forks, under the watchful eye of her distrustful father. The sheriff is adamant that she must see people other than Edward, as he is increasingly concerned about the relationship. Bella is living in the future - after graduation Carlisle has promised to turn her, and Edward has not only agreed but will do it himself if she agrees to marry him. She's torn, though, by her friendship for Jacob, and by the enmity between his kind and the family she plans to join.
That's about all I can say about the plot - I made it to page 95 and just couldn't take any more of the fervent, fevered emotion and blind adoration. What tipped me over the edge was a note from Edward to Bella that ended "Look after my heart - I've left it with you" in an elegant cursive script. But there was no shortage of similarly sugary and overwrought sentiment ("black eyes, wild with their craving for my death") leading up to this point, and the writing is predominantly tell over show.
As with my previous experiences of the series, I found the naked adoration disquieting to read, particularly:

My eyes traced over his pale white features: the hard square of his jaw, the softer curve of his full lips - twisted up into a smile now, the straight line of his nose, the sharp angle of his cheekbones, the smooth marble span of his forehead - partially obscured by a tangle of rain-darkened bronze hair...
I saved his eyes for last, knowing that when I looked in them I was likely to loose my train of thought. They were wide, warm with liquid gold, and framed by a thick fringe of dark lashes. Staring into his eyes always made me feel extraordinary - sort of like my bones were turning spongy. I was also a little light-headed, but that could have been because I'd forgotten to keep breathing. Again.

I appreciate this series has a vast and appreciative audience. I don't get it myself, and unquestionably think there's better work in the genre available, but if we all thought alike the world would be a far duller place. I do finally feel as though I've taken enough of a silver bullet for the team, so don't expect to be reading a review of the final installment - Alex

Roses are Dead - Loren D Estleman

Peter Macklin likes to go about his day minding his own business - okay, he's a contract killer, but he keeps a low profile. When someone puts a hit out on him, Macklin's life gets complicated, particularly when he can't find out who wants him dead. And to add to the mess, his wife's hired a divorce lawyer and his son's decided to follow in his father's footsteps.
I often discover fiction authors new to me through references in other novels; in We Have to Talk About Kevin, Eva mentions that Franklin always liked Estleman's books so I decided to check him out. If you like your crime noir then Estleman's your man - though the setting is contemporary the mood and style are decidedly thirties, and the plot zipped along. I, unfortunately, have an aversion to the genreand was unable to separate this central aspect from the rest of the writing, and therefore had to set Roses are Dead aside early on. - Alex

Change the Way You See Everything through Asset-Based Thinking - Kathryn D Cramer & Hank Wasiak

If you change the way you see the world, particularly how things affect you and how you interact with it, then you can change your life. The authors of Change the Way You See Everything have created a technique they call Asset-Based Thinking (ABT) which, unlike Deficit-Based Thinking (DBT) focuses the individual on success, achievement and possibility. With this, they say, anything is possible.
I agree, but only to a point. I'm not averse to self help books in principle, and believe that NLP can change the way you think. I’m also not opposed to the principles Cramer and Wasiak present, so there’s clearly something else I’m reacting to. There are exercises and success stories, but though I really, really tried I just couldn't get further than half way in. When I say I tried - I extended my library loan twice, paid a late fee, and reborrowed it, which is dedication. And I got nowhere. It seemed more saccharin and new age fluffy each time I picked it up again. On substantial reflection, I think think I would have been more convincingly swayed that they had something new to offer if the book wasn't laid out like a combination of inspirational posters and the kind of letters my friends and I would write in year ten. The book has a strong "inspirational poster” feel, complete with pithy but abstract slogans, combined with style over substance and the notion that they’re presenting a wholly new concept to the world.
The third photo, for example (after an arty black and white hazy mountain range, and an iris) is of an arm extending from the ocean with a glass angled so a rainbow appears to end in it, and it just goes on from there. The prose has selective colour highlighting particularly inspirational sections (that'd be the "year ten" part).
Opening at random I find: a glossy pastoral photo of a cow (no horns) on the left facing a business-suit-clad man holding what looks like a red curtain still attached to its rod but is supposed to be an oversized matador-style cape. The text reads:

Get a Charge Out of Conflict
Make Opposition Matter
Conflict magnifies and illuminates who you are. It seizes and startles you into seeing what makes you uncomfortable. It pushes your boundaries – intellectual, emotional, and physical. Conflict, if treated properly, offers the chance to change your mind altogether.
When faced with conflict, explore the possibility that opposing forces can both be true simultaneously. Taking this perspective immediately dissolves animosity and piques curiosity. You find yourself wondering, “What’s their truth? Where is the value on their side?” When you finally give up the belief that yours is the only truth, it changes the game forever. Now you’re in a position to see what new truth you can create together. (pp. 72-73)

As I said - useful but nothing new or significant. I’ve discussed this book several times with long-suffering Lynn, who hears “acid-based” every time I said “Asset-Based.” That lends a quite different, and not unpleasant or inappropriate, flavour to the text. – Alex