Notes of Life

… and this week I’m reading Taken by the Others by Jess Haines.

Shiarra Waynest is a New York P.I. who’s biggest problem used to be keeping her business afloat. These days her problems are much bigger… Two seductive and dangerous vampires who have been enemies for centuries now both want Shia. One wants to kill her, while the other’s interest is a lot more personal. Throw in Shia’s werewolf boyfriend and the White Hats (a powerful group of anti-Others), and there’s a recipe for trouble!

Taken by the Others is the 2nd book in the H&W Investigations series and it’s due out for release in January 2011 (I won my advanced copy in a competition run by Jess, the author). So, if you haven’t already read the 1st book in the series, Hunted by the Others, then you’ve got time to read it before Taken by the Others is released!

Read my review of Hunted by the Others here.

Check back here soon for my review of Taken by the Others!

So what book will I be reading once I’ve finished Taken by the Others? I’m not sure! I have a whole pile of books to get through, so I’ve no shortage of choice. As it’s Halloween next month, I may just continue the vampire/fantasy theme… There’s certainly a few of those books in my to-read pile.

I’m not sure how much reading I’ll get done next week, because I’ve got a 3 day trip to London (including seeing John Barrowman at the Royal Albert Hall), as well as a hospital appointment. So I don’t think I’ll get much blogging done either!

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Taken during my trip to Scarborough Sea Life & Marine Sanctuary this summer.

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Author: Christopher Fowler
Publisher: Transworld Publishers
ISBN: 978-0385614665

Having read Bryant & May On the Loose by Christopher Fowler for the Transworld Summer Reading Challenge, I decided to give the next book in the series a go.

Bryant & May Off the Rails follows the aging, octogenarian detectives as they search for a killer who has escaped their clutches and they only have one week to do it in, otherwise the Peculiar Crimes Unit will be shut down. While they search for one murderer it seems like another may be on the loose as a young mother falls down a tube station staircase during the rush-hour, in full view of the CCTV and other commuters. Something leads Bryant & May to think that she didn’t simply fall and the investigation takes them into the depths of the London Underground.

In the course of the investigation, Off the Rails treats us to strange goings-on in the London Underground, with stories of ghosts and forgotten stations, and trivial clues (Christopher Fowler has done his research!). Has the detectives’ missing killer gone underground and is he responsible for more deaths?

Bryant & May can be described as golden age detectives due to the way they conduct their investigations. They’re lovable, if not a bit quirky. As I said in my review of On the Loose, Bryant & May remind me of the BBC TV programme New Tricks, except they are older and have younger colleagues.

I loved the quote “Fowler, eh? Sounds dodgy.” when Bryant & May were discussing a London Underground engineer (It made me chuckle because Fowler is the author’s surname, in case you weren’t paying attention!).

Another note I made while reading this book was about the Lutine Bell at Lloyd’s Bank. I’d never heard of it before reading Off The Rails, but on that very same evening it was mentioned on The Antiques Roadshow. What a co-incidence!

Anyway, the books in the Bryant & May series seem to be self-contained (in that you can pick up a book without reading the previous books in the series). This can also be said for Off the Rails, however I think it’s a much better read if you’ve read the previous book, On the Loose.

Off The Rails is another good “whodunnit” by Christopher Fowler. There are twists and turns and the book goes at a good pace. There’s even a bit of comedy thrown in for good measure. It’s certainly an enjoyable read and one I’d recommend (along with Bryant & May On the Loose).

(Currently available in Hardback and Ebook).

Buy Bryant & May Off the Rails from The Book Depository.

Visit Christopher Fowler’s blog.

Read my review of Bryant & May On the Loose by Christopher Fowler.

Side Jobs is a compliation of Dresden Files short stories written by Jim Butcher. Some of the stories have already been published in other books, but Side Jobs brings them all together in one book, along with a post-Changes  (Book 12) novellette from Murphy’s point-of-view (exclusive to Side Jobs!).

I can’t wait!

Side Jobs is due out in hardback on 26th October 2010 and in paperback in April 2011. I’ll be purchasing the hardback edition, but I’ve heard the UK won’t be getting the hardback edition (which may acount for Amazon UK’s “Currently Unavailable – We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock” notice). The Book Depository are allowing pre-orders from the UK for the hardback, but it’s at £19.46 which is a little more than what I usually pay for my books! However, what choice do I have? I know I could wait, but I like to have my Dresden Files books on the release day!

Oh, there is one other edition due out on 11th November 2010 – the audio-book edition read by the wonderful James Marsters. Yes, I want that too! It was James Marsters reading the first book in the series, Storm Front, that got me into The Dresden Files in the first place.

Another book I’m waiting on is Ghost Story – the 13th book in The Dresden Files. However, I’ve got a while to wait yet as it’s not due out until 29th March 2011. I really can’t wait for this one what with the cliffhanger at the end of the previous book, Changes!

If you haven’t already gathered, I’m a big fan of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files and have already got a few of my friends into reading the books too. If you’ve not read the books, why not check them out? The books follow Harry Dresden, a Private Investigator who just happens to be a wizard. Jim injects some humour into the stories, as well as some mystery, suspense and action. There’s sometimes some romance too, even if it’s just a hint! The series of books starts with Storm Front, which I really enjoyed. I’ve found the series to get better and better and I can never wait to get my hands on the next book in the series.

On a slightly different subject (but still about books)… A phone box in the village of Marton cum Grafton in North Yorkshire  is now being used as a tiny library! The parish council bought the phone box from BT for the sum of £1 (a bargain!) and now the villagers are using it to exchange books. For more information visit the BBC News website. However, this isn’t the first village to come up with the idea… Villagers in Westbury-sub-Mendip in Somerset also use their phone box as a library, as do villagers in Blagdon, North Somerset. Hmmm… Maybe that would be an idea for our village phone box – I never see anyone using it and I probably have enough books here to fill it from top to bottom!

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… and I’m still reading the same book I was reading last week.

The reason? Well, it was my friend Sharon’s wedding on Saturday, so I’ve been helping out. On Wednesday I spent the evening making up the favour boxes (see below). Sharon designed the wrap around the boxes, as well as the tags, and ordered the ribbon from London and the boxes from a website. Don’t they look great?! Each favour box contained 2 chocolate hearts.

On Friday evening, after work, I went to the wedding venue with Sharon to sort a few things out (take the favours, table plan, photo collage etc) and by the time I got home it was time for bed!

Then on Saturday it was the big day! The bride was beautiful, as were the bridesmaids, and the groom and best-man looked smart. Everything looked wonderful and the day was perfect!

The Bride’s Bouquet

The bride & groom are now on their honeymoon and I have a quiet week ahead of me (apart from work!).

I’m planning on catching up on my reading, e.g. finishing Bryant & May Off The Rails by Christopher Fowler and then starting another book. I think one book will be jumping the queue though! Robbie Williams‘ book You Know Me was released today and is being sold exclusively by Tesco – It can be bought in-store or online from Tesco UK or Tesco International. The hardback book is a journey through Robbie’s 20 year career in the mustic industry. It’s mainly photographic with Robbie’s own words along-side. I’ve already had a flick through and can’t wait to get stuck into it. A limited delux edition of the book will be available shortly, but I’m guessing it’s going to be way out of my price range!

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