Rivers of London

Author:  Ben Aaronovitch

Year published: 2011
Series: Rivers of London 1

Pages: 432

Time It Took To Read: A few days, could've been quicker if I hadn't taken my time

Imagine if Harry Potter didn't go to Hogwarts, and 12 years later, he was working for the police when someone said 'yer a wizard, Harry'. That's how I described the pretext of this book to my sister. I don't think I can improve it.

Peter Grant is a fairly rubbish Met copper, who just before he finishes his preliminary training, has a chat to a ghost at a crime scene. From there, his career path wildly deviates from the path he wasn't really looking forward to. Not only is something possessing people to commit awful crimes, there's gang warfare breaking out between the rivers. No spoilers.

I loved it. I don't even want to write a proper review because I want to go and start the second one right now. I SAVOURED this book. I read it slowly (not one for reading things slowly, me), I thought about it, re-read bits if I didn't 'get' them the first time. London is lovingly, perfectly described, and the people are believable and solid. Except when they're ghosts, and then they're just malevolent. 

It's perfect for those who like their supernatural fiction to be actually believable, and not too romantic. 

I'm also reading The Odyssey at the moment. Which is quite the different tack. 

Book count: 22/50

Stormbird

Author:  Conn Iggulden

Year published: 2013
Series: War of the Roses, books 1
Pages: 512

Time It Took To Read: A couple of days

You may have sensed a theme in my recent reading. Historical fiction (plus some fantasy), are really the only fiction books I like. And recently, I've been reading buckets of them. I am AGGRIEVED that once again, I have started a series of books that isn't even close to being finished yet. Truly, this makes me cross. My patience is thin, but I only need to wait for September for the next one.

So, the Wars of the Roses. A horrible, bloody struggle between the descendants of Edward III, which ended up in Henry VII - who had the weakest claim to the throne - taking the crown after the Battle of Bosworth Field. This series takes a rather different view of the political machinations that led to it (notably the surrendering of French land in exchange for a French bride), using an invented spymaster as the go-between amongst the factions, plotting and trying to keep the increasingly unwell Henry VI on the throne. There are bloody battles, people die without warning (shadows of A Song of Ice and Fire with this), and it's fascinating. There is real grit.

Most of the historical fiction I read of this period is framed in the eyes of women, and their historical powerlessness.  Much as I love a bit of romantic historical fiction (Alison Weir/Philippa Gregor), women do tend to lack nuance - either weak innocents, or megalomaniac monsters. This book, however, I loved because Margaret d'Anjou is amazing. She cries a lot, but she holds the power of the throne for her incapacitated husband. She's frightened, but doesn't show it. She takes the initiative. 

The historical notes at the end are lengthy, because Mr Iggulden (GREAT NAME) has taken a lot of liberties with the time scale, but I don't mind that. The only thing I have against this book is that I have to wait for more of them. 

Happy news! If I pass my exams, I'm buying myself a Kindle. Until then, I have about 20 books I've garnered and not read yet. BOOKS! THERE WILL ONLY BE BOOKS!

Book count: 21/50

The Constant Princess and The Boleyn Inheritance

Author:  Philippa Gregory

Year published: 2005 and 2006
Series: The Tudors, books 1 and 3 (chronologically)

Pages: 490 and 528

Time It Took To Read: A day each

I read The Other Boleyn YEARS ago, which was Philippa Gregory's first Tudor novel (although the second, chronologically) and decided to read these as something light while revising. Which was a mistake, because these books are bloody addictive. They're not in the same ballpark as Mantel, but still enjoyable, and interesting. 

The Constant Princess covers the life of Katherine of Aragon, my favourite wife of Henry VIII. It tells the story of her first years in England, and her first marriage as well as her second. Katherine, if you didn't know, was married first to Henry's older brother, Arthur. That was his grounds for trying to divorce her years later when she didn't give him a healthy son. God was punishing him for shagging his brother's wife. Except that the Bible actually states you SHOULD shag your brother's widow if he dies heirless. But that's by the by: the crux is that Katherine claimed her first marriage was never consummated, and since Arthur died not long after their marriage, nobody could prove it either way. This book attempts to explain why she stood her ground over the virginity/divorce matter, and also portrays her as a young woman instead of the fat, barren, old hag that hangs in the background of other Tudor fiction as though she was always that way. The glaring historical inaccuracies are annoying if you know your Tudor onions, but it's still a good read.

The Boleyn Inheritance springs forward thirty years to the fourth and fifth marriages of Henry VIII. Anne of Cleves was divorced because of non-consummation, Katherine Howard was beheaded for sleeping with other men. The book speaks through Jane Rochford, who was the sister in law of Anne Boleyn, and narrowly escaped with her head after that due to giving evidence against both Anne and her husband George. She then returned to court, as Anne of Cleves lady in waiting and Katherine Howard's after her. She was complicit in Katherine Howard's adultery, and lost her head for it. That's the historical element: the book weaves a tale of Jane Rochford being an instrument of the Duke of Norfolk, and either really foolish or really evil. I enjoyed this one, as these wives of Henry VIII tend to get overlooked as ugly and slutty, when they were somewhat more complex than that.

Now...I have finished my exams (OH THANK GOD) and reading can commence once more! I have a pile of unread books like you wouldn't believe...

Book count: 20/50

Tudors

Author: Peter Ackroyd

Year published: 2012
Series: A History of England, vol. II

Pages: 528

Time It Took To Read: A week or so, intermittently

I love the Tudor period of history. It's the soap opera tangle, with far more death, sex, and personality than is usually considered decent in history. It makes history seem real, and present in a way that other periods don't (although the Plantagenets are finally getting an airing). It took me by surprise when Peter Ackroyd devoted an ENTIRE BOOK of his history of England to them, when the first book managed to take in several thousand years. However, Ackroyd is a hell of a history writer, with an almost deranged prolixity. 

Anyway, I haven't read the first in the series, and was surprised to find this book on the Tudors misses out the very first, Henry VII. I found this a bit of a disappointment, as you can't really understand much about them without knowing that Henry VIII's older brother Arthur was both married to his first wife (Katherine of Aragon), and supposed to be king before dying in late adolescence. 

It's a good read, though can feel a bit aimless and loose at times. It's also difficult to keep track of what years he's talking about. I think David Starkey has pretty much written the definitive Tudor books for non-expert readers, but it was nice to read an alternate historiography. 

Book count: 18/50

It's nearly exam time, so reading is seriously limited at the moment, but come June I SHALL READ ALL THE THINGS!

Eat

Author: Nigel Slater

Year published: 2013

Pages: 464

Time It Took To Read: About a week

I cook for two adults, and two young children. My fiancé doesn't get home until 6pm most nights, so whatever we eat has to be able to feed me and the boys around 5pm, and stay 'fresh' til 6, when he can reheat his. Souffles are out. I think most families tend to fall into something of a cooking rut, moreso when children are young and picky. My eldest son is on the autistic spectrum, and will occasionally decide not to eat something because he doesn't like the look or texture of it. I do the majority of the cooking, and tend to have about ten 'favourites' that I do on rotation, notably something-and-chips, enchiladas, sausage/mince casserole, sausage and mash, chicken curry, roast chicken, chicken noodle soup, a parade of pasta bakes, and chilli con carne. These are things I know everyone likes and will eat. But it gets boring, and I am a greedy food fanatic. 

I love Nigel Slater. His recipes are always totally reliable, and delicious. I have only cooked one recipe from this so far, and that was sausage and tomato lasagne. It involved mushing sausage meat up, and making a simple sauce from cream and mustard, and was delicious. I can't wait to cook more. The recipes are ordered into sections such as handheld food, stews, bakes. There's a tiny pudding section. There are two indexes: one at the front by main ingredients, and one at the back by other ingredients. Everything sounds gorgeous, and most recipes fit on one page, so no missing half the instructions because they're over the page. Recipes feed one, two or four and are easily multiplied. Nothing takes long to cook, or prepare. I love it.

Book count: 17/50

The Crow Road

Author: Iain Banks

Year published: 1992

Pages: 512

Time It Took To Read: Two days

My fiancé suggested I read this when I claimed I didn't want to read any of my ENORMOUS COLLECTION OF UNREAD BOOKS. I go through phases of this. Anyway, it's one of his favourite books of all time, so I obliged.

It concerns Prentice McHoan, the somewhat deadbeat middle child of the younger generation of the McHoan clan. He has escaped the family town of Gallanach, where it seems everyone is related to everyone, to study (badly) at Glasgow. He likes drink, drugs, music, trying to get laid, and trying to avoid his family. He doesn't speak to his dad because they differ in religious view, and his grandmother's just died, so back he must go. There's also the mystery of why his Uncle Rory known to be a unreliable, hasn't been back to Gallanach for years. He doesn't even come back for his mother's funeral. 

This book is a catalogue of death. Indeed, it seems Prentice only comes of age because of the deaths of so many of his friends and family. And the deaths reveal slowly the secrets of Gallanach.

I enjoyed it. Iain Banks was a hell of a writer, and this book is full of languorous prose, like having a warm bath in description. The cultural references place it inextricably in 1990, which is a time I vaguely remember as one of starting school and hating chips and being steadily outflanked by younger siblings. It was simultaneously vaguely recognisable and terribly dated. Everyone is believable, and pretty much everyone who has ever attempted to escape a village or small-town life will recognise themselves in Prentice. 

Book count:  16/50

Roseanna, The Man Who Went Up In Smoke, The Man On The Balcony

 

Author: Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo
Year: 1965, 1966, 1967
Series: Martin Beck books 1 - 3

Pages: Approx 300 pages each

Time It Took To Read: A few hours each

My love of detective stories has been rekindled by the amazing Cuckoo's Calling, and I've had the Martin Beck stories lying in wait on my ebook since October. So I read the first three over the Easter weekend.
In Roseanna, a body is found. Nobody is missing, nobody knows who she is, so how are they supposed to find her killer?
In The Man Who Went Up In Smoke, a journalist has been missing for a couple of weeks, but for some reason the foreign office are involved and want it investigated....quietly.
In The Man On The Balcony, children are being raped and murdered, the city is in uproar, and the police cannot find the killer - every policeman's worst nightmare, I expect.
I love these books. I plan to read the rest over summer. You see the crime and investigation almost solely through the investigator's eyes. There are no first-person murderer narratives jarring into view. If the police don't know, the reader doesn't know (this is slightly deviated from in The Man In The Balcony, but not by much). And I love that, I love seeing it unfold, and trying to guess whodunnit. Unlike a lot of detective stories, the murderer isn't one of a number of suspects dangled before your eyes from page 1. Also, unusually, these books are mostly unconcerned with motive, or justice. Once the criminal is caught, the story ends, pretty abruptly. It is refreshing, and stark. It is pre-DNA, so the forensic examination is generally fingerprints and notes, and waiting for analysis, rather than UV lit sperm at the crime scene.
The Martin Beck stories revolutionised crime writing, and they're quite unlike most modern crime books. But they haven't aged, and have a realism and freshness that I adore.

Book count: 15/50