Review: Transcription

Transcription by Kate Atkinson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A realistic spy novel if they're can be such a thing. As a spy, Juliet encounters barely any high drama. Just an awful lot of mundane transcription (if only the Fascists would learn to speak up!). What, or rather who, she does encounter is a vast array of believable characters. I think "Godfrey" and "Perry" are much more typical of the type of men you would find in M15 rather than James Bond (or does he work for MI6).

A really good book.

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Review: Doctor Who: The Stealers of Dreams

Doctor Who: The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A quick, easy read. After reading In Cold Blood, I needed something lighthearted where I could guarantee the good guys would save the day and this fitted the bill perfectly.

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Review: In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A deserved true crime classic. Capote's masterstroke is to make you feel sympathy for one of the murderers (Smith) while never shying away from the horror of his crime or the fact he didn't express remorse. Hitchcock (the other murderer) is portrayed less sympathetically - generally because, unlike Smith, he never really accepts responsibility for his actions.

David Wilson, in his book about the Victorian serial killer Mary Ann Cotton, says that murderers are often caught because they make a mistake rather than because of the skills of those trying to apprehend them. This is certainly true of Hitchcock and Smith. Although they left few clues at the crime scene itself, they practically left a trail of breadcrumbs to themselves afterwards. It's their arrogance and inability to consider the consequences of their actions that are the cause of their undoing - the exact same traits that led them to kill in the first place.

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Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An engaging tale of what it is to be an "icon" - how much you have change about yourself, hide about your life, and what you're prepared to do to stay an icon. Think the concept would have worked just as well had it been the "five husbands" of Evelyn Hugo rather than seven (at least two of the husbands could have been amalgamated into one). Plus, it's bad timing for Jenkins Reid to have her book on the market when Stuart Turton has released "The Seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" - it's very easy to confuse the two books even though they're completely different plot wise

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Review: Coming Up Trumps: A Memoir

Coming Up Trumps: A Memoir by Jean Trumpington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On the surface, you'd think there wasn't much to enjoy about a posh die-hard Tory (Thatcher was a hero of hers) looking back at very privileged life. But, there's actually an awful lot to enjoy. It provides an insight into a different world. One where you hop from job to job, party to party, where you can always find a gaggle of friends no mater where you end up - basically because you're rich and have the right connections. In fairness to Trumpington, she never denies she was privileged; she just embraced the opportunities that came her way. Still, it is an eye-opener to how the "other half" live.

Interestingly while she shameless name drops throughout the book, she downplays her own achievements. She implies she was at Bletchley because she had the right accent (which may well be true) but you suspect it's also because she was a very bright woman.

Overall, you get the impression that while she probably wasn't the most empathetic of people, she was honest. You might not like what she had to say but at least you could guarantee she'd say it to you rather than behind your back.

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Review: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this years and years ago when I was about 10 or 11 (I might have been even younger), so I decided to re-read it on the suspicion that I hadn't got most of the jokes the first time round. Needless to say, I was right - there are many, many jokes you don't pick up until you're adult (and have gone through being 13 3/4 yourself...).

The biggest surprise is that Adrian isn't as big of a pillock as I thought. Obviously, he's an idiot but no more so that your average socially inept teenager. Plus, most of the characters are pillocks - even the beloved Pandora says some cringeworthy things.

There are some digs about Thatcher and other events of the time that I just about get the reference to (I was one at the time that the book is set to be fair). But, it's surprising (and disturbing) how many parallels we can draw with our current political climate.

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Review: Little

Little by Edward Carey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Although this fictional biography of Marie Tussaud (the Madame of Madame Tussauds) is well written and compelling, it's frustrating. Tussaud is often portrayed as a victim. If she's not being downtrodden by a harridan of a stepmother (though, technically, her landlady), she's being neglected by her boss/pseudo father. Tussaud went through some turbulent times to become the founder of a now world-famous museum. If there was one thing she wasn't, it was a victim. She was a survivor. Therefore, I would have preferred Carey to focus less on how awful things were for Tussaud and instead look at how gritty and determined she must have been. Plus, there's countless references to how ugly she was (sigh). Why do male authors get so fixated by the appearance of their female characters. Could they not write a female character who was plain but so charismatic that it didn't matter? Oh I forgot, my bad, it's only men who get to be plain but charismatic isn't it?


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