REVIEW: Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher

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Ketchup Clouds by Annabel PitcherTitle: Ketchup Clouds

Author: Annabel Pitcher

How I Got This Book: Waterstones

Publisher/Date Published: Indigo, 27 December 2012

Rating: starstarstarstar

Fifteen-year-old Zoe Collins is like every other teenage girl, but with one difference; she has a dark secret that she can’t tell anyone. The only way she can cope with the guilt of what she’s done is to hide away from the world in her garden shed and write letter after letter to a man on the other side of the world who she’s never met – Stuart Harris, a death-row inmate serving time for murdering his wife. This unlikely pair have one thing in common and with a jam sandwich in one hand and a pen in the other, Zoe gradually reveals, both to her pen pal and to us, a story of young love, betrayal and murder.

The premise of this book is very sensational – a teenage murderer racked by guilt, a love triangle gone wrong. Take page one at face value before starting to read and it appears that the book is literally blood stained (blood, jam, same difference). It promises a lot and I’m not really sure if it really delivers. We struggle to decide whether to feel sorry for Zoe or to vilify her – her behavior throughout the book is often short sighted and a little self centered – and the narrative builds up to a big dramatic reveal that felt to me a little anticlimactic. If you are expecting high octane drama, then you will probably need to look elsewhere, because a lot of the story is surprisingly mundane. Despite this, there is a lot to love about Ketchup Clouds, such as believable, well crafted characters (like a lot of readers, I really liked Zoe’s little sister, Dot) and a thought provoking exploration of innocence, guilt and the lessons we have to sometimes learn the hard way as we navigate our way through the world. While I would personally never have made the choices that Zoe made, it is easy to appreciate that we may all behave differently in scenarios with the benefit of hindsight.

Annabel Pitcher is clearly a gifted writer with a talent for writing characters that teens can identify with and deftly weaving emotionally heightened scenarios that are not too far removed from issues that young adults face when navigating the perils and pitfalls of growing up. Ketchup Clouds it is easy to devour in a single sitting and if you enjoyed her debut novel, My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece, this one is a must read.

REVIEW: Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson

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Before I Go to Sleep by SJ WatsonTitle: Before I Go to Sleep

Author: SJ Watson

How I Got This Book: Lent by a friend while I was in hospital

Publisher/Date Published: Doubleday, April 2011

Rating: starstarstarstar

Imagine waking up every morning with no memory of the day before. Or the 30 years before. This is the life of Christine Lucas, a woman with severe amnesia following an accident in her twenties. Every morning she wakes up to see a husband she doesn’t know and a face she doesn’t recognise looking back at her in the mirror and she has to piece her life back together using a few photographs  and the information her husband gives her. As her day progresses she discovers a diary, that she keeps at the request of a doctor, and through it the life she has been living. As she reads through, however, it becomes clear that her life may not be everything it appears.

I find this book hard to make comment on, with regard to the language, as it appeared to pass in the blink of an eye. I finished this book within 5 hours of starting it. The story itself was faced paced without you feeling that you had missed anything. The bulk of the story is told through Christine’s diary not only gives you the feeling of emotional attachment to this character, but the nature of her condition allows you to spot the patterns she is missing.

Throughout this book, I kept trying to guess the ending, and I even came close a few times, but nothing quite prepared me for the end. All the clues are there and it has the kind of ending where you kick yourself for not thinking sooner. It was one of those books where once you are finished, you just have to sit quietly and think.

My there are some small plot holes, things that one assumes would be very unlikely to happen in the modern world. These however go unnoticed when compared with the overall plot and pacing of the book.

This is not the most intellectual book I have ever read, the story telling is fairly straightforward and it is not poetic in nature. This is a book I would recommend to fill an evening, those looking for an exciting introduction to reading or the thriller genre. Even the seasoned reader will enjoy the twists and turns, but it is not one for bed time reading. You might not be able to stop.

REVIEW: The Beach Diaries 2012 by Stuart Millard

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The Beach Diaries 2012 by Stuart MillardTitle: The Beach Diaries 2012

Author: Stuart Millard

How I Got This Book: Sent a copy by the author

Publisher/Date Published: Amazon eBook, March 2013

Rating: starstarstarstarstar

“A bloke sits on a beach and writes about what he sees.” This is quite an accurate description of Stuart Millard’s Beach Diaries, and, if you’re like me, you can think that the book could go one of two ways – it will either be painfully unfunny, like watching that dickhead we all know try to crack jokes about seemingly ordinary life events in an attempt to get a laugh (almost like Peter Kay – GARLIC BREAD! BEING NORTHERN!), or it could be hilarious. Mercifully, the Beach Diaries goes the way of the latter, rather than the former.

I have seen books in Waterstones which seem to essentially be a funny blog turned into a paperback and I usually dismiss them out of hand as “trying to make money out of stuff that was funny once but really there isn’t any point to them being in a book,” however the Beach Diaries, whilst it is also blog, seems to work as a book. It does follow the (mis)adventures of Stuart Millard as he sits on, and wanders around, the beach at Littlehampton (which Google reliably informs me is actually a real place where real people live), and it is him making observations about the people he sees, but it doesn’t feel like the dickhead trying to crack jokes. Not in the slightest. The Beach Diaries is hilarious.

Millard reminds me of me. That probably isn’t a compliment, in fact, thinking about it, it really isn’t a compliment, but even so, the reminder makes the book even more enjoyable. It contains his inner monologues as he observes people going about their beach-business. My favourite parts are whenever someone approaches him and asks for a light – he describes the internal struggle that he goes through every time someone asks, and how this changes depending on the person who is asking for it, but inevitably how the result is always the same. It cracks me up every time I read it, and it’s something that I can relate to.

The references that litter the pages of The Beach Diaries are also another highlight. Millard unashamedly celebrates his geekery, with references ranging from the odd (Shadrach Dingle from Emmerdale), to the more recent and celebrated Game of Thrones references. I also enjoy how the book seems to be Stuart having a lot of fun, and putting his heart and soul into it, unafraid at laying himself bare. I initially wasn’t convinced about how much of his own personality that Stuart was using, or how much of it he was faking for the blog when I used to read it. However, his prologue where he explains his struggles of the past year make me think that the Beach Diaries are entirely his actual thoughts and feelings, and he genuinely does sit on the beach all day and observe the people who walk around.

The author doesn’t try to be cool. He doesn’t try to be something he isn’t. He is happy to show his own personality. The line which best encompasses the pathetic hopelessness that he sometimes feels is “I win. As she walks away forever, leaving me sat alone, I have won.” He hasn’t actually won, and usually that is the sort of line that you would pity someone for, yet the way in which it is delivered within the text doesn’t actually make you pity Stuart Millard. It makes you admire him. He is a funny guy, and I am now going to look up the rest of his books on Amazon and read them. He talks about his manuscript that he’s been sending to publishers, and if The Beach Diaries are anything to go by, I hope that someone does realise what a talent he has, and picks up his books.

The book is funny throughout, and the humour doesn’t just appeal to one audience. There are witty observations about people, amusing references to different cultures, and even juvenile and puerile humour, with plenty of willy jokes to make even the most childish of reader smile. It doesn’t pretend to be a highbrow book, yet the sharp observations of the author means that you can forgive the juvenility if that isn’t your cup of tea. None of it feels forced, it just genuinely feels like a man describing what he sees.

REVIEW: I Am The Secret Footballer by The Secret Footballer

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I Am the Secret FootballerTitle: I Am The Secret Footballer – Lifting the Lid on the Beautiful Game

Author: The Secret Footballer

How I Got This Book: Waterstones

Publisher/Date Published: Guardian Books,August 2012

Rating: starstarstarstar

Warning: Expect platitudes.

I Am The Secret Footballer is a great book for someone who is a football fan. It’d make a good Christmas present for your brother, your father, your sister, your aunt, mother, friend or anyone else who you know who likes football. The book is a chronicle of the world of football behind what you see on TV and what you read in the media. It’s written by the eponymous Secret Footballer, the identity of whom is a closely guarded secret. We know that it is a male, who has played for at least two Premiership clubs, and who is British and married. There is plenty of speculation as to who he is, with names such as Joey Barton, Andy Johnson and Dave Kitson being bandied about. At this precise moment, it is still unknown who he is, although we are getting closer and closer to the truth.

The book shows the highs and the lows of the life of a professional footballer. The Secret Footballer started in the lower leagues, on naff all money a week, before making a big money move (a transfer record fee for the club) to the Premiership. He’s battled with depression, travelled across the land, lost almost all his money and turned down a number of post-game jobs, yet he still remains cautiously optimistic. He bares his soul, telling the reader about managers he has played under, the money he has made, how fans affect the players, how the media acts, how to win (or lose) a dressing room full of players, and the sorts of shenanigans that he and his colleagues got up to.

It’s a brutally honest discussion of what the life of a footballer is. He wasn’t untouchable. He suffered public humiliation at the hands of one of his former managers, he’s had terrible depression and contemplated suicide, and he’s come out the other side. There are plenty of anecdotes which make the book even more interesting, and it’s a great read. To be honest, the book could interest you if you weren’t a football fan, but you were interested in whether or not your opinions are based on reality, I would recommend it. I would also suggest you check out the Secret Footballer’s posts on the Guardian. It is a good book, though.

Five Favourites of 2012 Redux

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I wasn’t quite as successful as Lisa in the reading stakes for 2012 – I set myself the rather ambitious target of 100 books, having managed 50 in 2011, but I was unable to hit the target. I did, however, manage 44 books, so I’m going to pick my Top Five of 2012.

Ready Player One by Ernest ClineReady Player One by Ernest Cline
I read this book on the recommendation of Lisa, and I was not disappointed! It’s the first time in ages that I can remember staying up to finish a book (I think I finally got to bed around 3 or 4 am). You can find Lisa’s review here if you’re interested. The book is essentially a geek’s paradise, and as well as all the different cultural references, it had a good plot. It also appealed to me because it had the ultimate in geek fantasy – a full immersible video game world, where you get to run around being the hero by using your own movements. It captured my imagination and made me yearn to be a part of it.

 

 

Up Pohnpei by Paul WatsonUp Pohnpei – A Quest to Reclaim the Soul of Football by Leading the World’s Ultimate Underdogs to Glory by Paul Watson

The longest titled book of my list, I reviewed it here. The book probably won’t interest you if you hate football, but I don’t, and the story behind Paul’s journey to Pohnpei reminded me so much of the way me and some of my friends used to be during university with regards to football that it’s impossible for me not to have enjoyed the book. It’s a memoir of a man’s journey to a tiny island and his attempt to form a professional football team. Funny, interesting and filled with ups and downs, Up Pohnpei easily makes it into my Top Five.

 

Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski

Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski 
Yes, I have got a Top Five list with two football-related books on it. I didn’t really read a variety of genres in 2012, but that isn’t the sole reason for Soccernomics making it onto my list. It’s the ultimate in football-nerdery. It contains so much information which it uses to explain why England are bad at football, why Spain are so good, and how Lyon became such a good side. If you aren’t interested in football then you really should stay away from this book. If you are, read it. Now.

 

 

 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
Much of my own opinion has been said by Lisa, both in her favourites from 2012 piece and her review of it. The book is one of the few books that has made me tear up (one other being John Green’s wonderful Looking for Alaska), and as a result it has a special place in my memory. I have my own personal experiences of cancer, and the story is so well written that you feel connected to Hazel and Augustus. It’s a funny, heart-wrenching book that everyone should read.

 

 

 

Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian by Eoin ColferArtemis Fowl and the Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer

I feel like I’m cheating somewhat, having chosen yet another book that I’ve already reviewed, but the Artemis Fowl series has been such a big part of my life, it’s only fitting that I pay tribute to the final book of the series. It isn’t the best of the series, but it is a nice end to a fantastic group of books by a very talented author.