Reading

Native English for Nederlanders

2008-07-18T09:58:56Z

A gift from Jeannette, Native English for Nederlanders is pitched as "A personal, cultural and grammatical guide", written by Ronald van de Krol - an American of Dutch descent with a Dutch wife and family and who has lived and worked in The Netherlands for decades. His book highlights the perils and pitfalls of the English language for native Dutch speakers, and is as a native English speaker, it offers a fascinating perspective on my own language, and insight into the words, phrases and styles that can cause problems for my Dutch colleagues. Topics range from Deference, hierarchy and humour, American or British? to English as a code.

Native English for Nederlanders - Ronald van de Krol

Sovereign - C J Sansom

2008-07-15T23:12:22Z

The third Elizabethan novel featuring London lawyer Matthew Shardlake, now joined by sidekick Barak, a familiar face from Dark Fire, this book's predecessor.

Sovereign is set in Tudor England in 1541, with Shardlake and Barak destined to cross the path of The Royal Progress, which sees King Henry VIII and No 4 Queen, Catherine Howard, the Court and and their vast entourage making a slow journey through the unruly Midlands and The North. The purpose of the progress is to demonstrate royal power and to quench once and for all the flames of rebellion ignited in the Pilgrimage of Grace five years earlier. Shardlake meets the King at York, which is the setting for the murders and mystery that form the focus of this excellent plot.

Amazon.co.uk: Sovereign - C J Sansom

Death in a Strange Country - Donna Leon

2008-07-09T07:25:31Z

An American from the military base at Vincenza is found floating in the Venice lagoon, and Commissario Guido Brunetti's instincts tell him that it's no accidental death or mugging gone wrong. Calling upon informants ranging from his aristocratic father-in-law to a local petty criminal and his Sicilian mother, Guido finds himself delving into the murky waters of international corporate crime....

Death in a Strange Country has rewhetted my appetite for Donna Leon, if only the Barbican Library can oblige...

Oh - I've just read on the dust jacket that this is the second in the Brunetti series, which explains why some of the more familiar faces are missing, including the excellent Signorina Elettra.

Amazon.co.uk: Death in a Strange Country - Donna Leon
Leon's Brunetti books in Order

The Scarlet Lion - Elizabeth Chadwick

2008-07-04T07:52:25Z

The Scarlet Lion of the title is William Marshall, and this novel covers the second half of his life and offers an equal focus on his wife, Isabelle de Clare.

We follow William and Isabelle through the growth of their family, their travels through their lands in on continental Europe, England and Ireland, and the difficulties of staying loyal and honourable during the reign of King John, a corrupt court and the chaos and collapse of the Angevin Empire.

Amazon.co.uk: The Scarlet Lion - Elizabeth Chadwick

Book of the Dead - Patricia Cornwell

2008-06-25T22:23:08Z

The latest Scarpetta novel, and written in a much briefer sentence style which took me a bit of getting used to. The other odd feature which takes some getting used to is Marino's character change - whilst I don't think it's a sudden shift (but I'd need to have read Blow Fly/Trace/Predator more recently to be sure of the gradual build), but this is the first book where he is clearly so unpleasant and bent on destroying his relationship with Kay (and Benton and Lucy).

As one Amazon reviewer put it "Everything is so dark and bleak" - and that applies to the main characters just as much as the criminal storyline, so much so that having only finished the book a few days ago I can't even remember the plot - just the sadness I felt for the characters I've followed for years.

amazon.co.uk link: Book of the Dead - Patricia Cornwell

amazon.co.uk list: Kay Scarpetta Collection (in order)

Sharpe's Tiger - Bernard Cornwell

2008-06-22T22:50:37Z

Subtitled Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Seringapatam 1799 the novel deals with the battles between the British Army and the troops of the Tippoo of Mysore, culminating in the siege of the Tippoo's city fortress at Seringapatam.

From Sharpe's perspective, it is the first instalment and deals with the early years of his career; we learn how he first makes the move from the ranks to sergeant and how he meets Colonel McCandless, the history behind his 200 lashes and the origins of mutual loathing between Sharpe and Obidiah Hakeswill.

As ever, a rollicking great read!

Now I need to lay my hand on the next in the (chronological) series: Sharpe's Triumph

Sharpe's Tiger - Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe Novels: an Amazon Listmania list, giving the Sharpe series in order of event rather than publication.

News from Tartary - Peter Fleming

2008-06-12T22:33:48Z

A two stage read, but one I'm glad I persevered with - especially once Peter Fleming and Eva Maillart's journey reached the far west of China, and headed over into the Hunza valley and into what is now Pakistan, what was then British India.

It's a fascinating account of China and the North West Frontier in the mid 1930s, complete with what now read as antiquated spellings and opinions/perspectives. The book tell of the seven months Fleming and Kini spent on the 3500 mile journey from Peking to Kashmir, travelling by camel, donkey, horse and foot during a wartorn time for the far flung provinces of the Chinese world - and with the final rumblings of the Great Game still sounding loudly in this remote part of the world where Russian, British and Chinese empires met. As the intrepid explorers travel further west, they travel through a desert region populated mainly by nomads and warlords who view themselves as having more in common with their fellow Tatar tribes of Central Asia than the Chinese holding power in Peking.

Next: tracking down Forbidden Journey for Ella Maillart's version! Maybe a read for this autumn's Central Asia Overland trip.....

Amazon.co.uk link: News from Tartary - Peter Fleming

Dark Fire - C J Sansom

2008-05-31T22:39:07Z

I read a lot of Ellis Peters as a teenager, but this is the first historical crime fiction I've picked up for a while. There were a bunch of good reviews of the latest Matthew Shardlake novel, Revelation and when I spotted this in the most recent book sale in St Giles church, it was a obvious purchase.

Set in Tudor London in the latter years of Henry VIII's reign our hero, hunchback lawyer Matthew Shardlake, is called upon once more by Thomas Cromwell, this time to track down a recently unearthed barrel of Greek Fire. In return, Cromwell gives a fortnight's reprieve to Elizabeth Wentworth, the neice of a former client of Shardlake who stands accused of murdering her cousin. Accompanied by one of Cromwell's thugs for hire, the plot takes us through the murky streets and waterways of London in a race against time - if Shardlake cannot establish Elizabeth's innocence she will be pressed to death, and if Cromwell cannot demonstrate Greek Fire to the King his period as the second most powerful man in the land will end - and the balance of power will swing back to the Catholic Howard clan.

A very enjoyable read, with plenty of period detail particularly in the religious upheaval wrought by Reformation and the uncertainty that prevailed as a result.

Amazon.co.uk link: Dark Fire - C J Sansom

The Far Pavilions - M M Kaye

2008-05-25T23:41:36Z

I first read The Far Pavilions as a teenager and had totally forgotten that it is largely set in what is now Pakistan, and over the border in Afghanistan, which would have made it a good book for my Hindu Kush Adventure. My memory of the novel was that it was an overwhelming love story, but this aspect didn't really grab me in this recent second reading; rather it was the historically accurate narrative, with insights into the Great Game and the lack of understanding that led to the Second Afghan War. Published in 1978, the book's theme of the West not understanding the Rest still holds true. When will we ever learn?

Amazon.co.uk link: The Far Pavilions - M M Kaye

The Other Side of You - Salley Vickers

2008-05-04T18:46:07Z

A lovely book - the kind where when you get to the last page you return to the start again and read everything with fresh insight. As with other Salley Vickers' novels, art comes to into play, ending up centre stage - I really enjoy the vicarious art education I get from her books. And if you're reading the hardback, take note of the dust jacket.

I had not realised that Salley Vickers had a former 'life' as an analyst; I presume she has drawn upon her experiences from that time in writing The Other Side of You, particularly in capturing the characters, their stories and inner thoughts and self analysis. It's not a happy book, but I found it a real page turner - given the opportunity I would have read it in one sitting. Instead it was evenings and a train/replacement rail journey between St Pancras and Milton Keynes.

Amazon.co.uk link: The Other Side of You - Salley Vickers

Sharpe's Havoc - Bernard Cornwell

2008-04-30T02:13:22Z

1809, Portugal: Richard Sharpe and his riflemen are separated from the British Army, and under orders to locate and protect Miss Kate Savage, only daughter of one of the wealthy English Oporto wine merchants. A ripping yarn, featuring battles against overwhelming odds, where base born soldiering skills outwit French mortars and Dragoons, and horrific violence of victor over vanquished. The action culminates in the battle to liberate Oporto, and a route march through the mountains, as British and Portuguese armies and partizans try to cut off the fleeing French Army's only escape.

Amazon.co.uk: Sharpe's Havoc - Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe Novels: an Amazon Listmania list, giving the Sharpe series in order of event rather than publication.

Tales from Nowhere - Don George (Ed)

2008-04-26T10:38:42Z

A lovely anthology of short stories on the theme of "nowhere", published by Lonely Planet.

Lovely though the collection is, I do have a couple of gripes:

Most of the pieces are written by professional travel writers, which was a bit disappointing as I'm sure most travellers have tales to tell of their own personal visits to nowhere. And the resounding theme was that one person's nowhere is the centre of another person's universe: not exactly an earth shattering conclusion.
Why are most of the travelogues written by Americans? Not that I have anything against Americans travelling - in my book, travel can only broaden the mind - but reading the biographies almost all of the contributors were born and/or based in the States, and I know the Americans can't hold the monopoly on independent travel. Perhaps they do have a monopoly on travel magazine article writing, or self conscious self discovery.

Still, a highly readable collection - here's my list of the most memorable six:

The most disheartening: On the trail

The one that won in the wanderlust stakes: A picture of a village

And one that didn't: Postcard from the Edge

The one that made me well up: Meeting Echo

The one that triggered nostalgia: North of Perth

The one I'll remember the most: A visit to Kanasankatan - you need to be reading aloud to appreciate it, and perhaps save that approach for a rapid reread.

Amazon.co.uk: Tales from Nowhere - Don George (Ed)

The Rose of Sebastopol - Katherine McMahon

2008-04-19T10:15:56Z

A good read, featuring a variety of journeys - emotional, physical and geographical. Dual plotlines lie at the heart of the novel which revolve around cousins Rosa Barr and Mariella Lingwood whose stories unfold as events take them from rural and suburban Victorian England to the frontline of the Crimean War. Plotline one starts in 1844 with Mariella's account of the first summer she and her mother spent with Rosa and Rosa's mother and stepfather in Stukely Hall, and remerges as plotline two ten years later with the unexpected arrival of Rosa and her mother in the Lingwood's Clapham house. These two plot stands entwine themselves throughout the course of the book.

There is plenty of historical detail, covering medical and military developments, the growth of female emancipation and Victorian morals, and an engaging range of characters with feisty Rosa and reserved Mariella at opposite ends of many a spectrum.

Amazon.co.uk: The Rose of Sebastopol

City of Bones - Michael Connelly

2008-04-12T22:55:32Z

One of Michael Connolly's best crime novels featuring Harry Bosch.

In City of Bones Harry seems a much younger version of the grizzled, cynical, persistent and effective LAPD homicide detective than he must be in terms of when the book is written/set. He's still the jazz loving cop, with sidekicks Jerry Edgar and Kiz Rider, but there's no mention of his ex wife and child and instead the love interest focus is on rookie cop Julia Brasher who he meets investigating the murder of a child whose bones are unearthed in the Hollywood Hills.

Amazon.co.uk: City of Bones - Michael Connelly

Shadows and Strongholds - Elizabeth Chadwick

2008-03-30T11:28:35Z

The perfect read for the long journey home from Bhutan via Kolkata. Shadows and Strongholds tells of the childhood friendship and subsequent marriage between Fulke FitzWarin and Hawise de Dinan - characters I'd first met in Lords of the White Castle and which I now feel the need to go back and read again!

The novel also shows the friendship between their fathers - minor noble Fulke FitzWarin (senior) and former mercenary, Joscelin de Dinan, whose sensible wife Sybilla had inherited Ludlow castle - and the ever present threat to their power posed by rival claimants and the Welsh. I felt that I'd me these characters too - but can't work out where.

The novel spans 12th century decades from the waning of the civil war between Empress Matilda and King Stephen and Matilda's son Henry II, firmly taking control of the crown and the country.

One of Elizabeth Chadwick's best, with the powerful female characters underlining the limits of female freedoms and corresponding male attitudes.

Amazon.co.uk link: Shadows and Strongholds - Elizabeth Chadwick