Notes of Life

… and I’m currently reading Paranormalcy by Kiersten White.

Paranormalcy is about a girl called Evie who has always thought of herself as a normal teenager. However, what normal teenager has a best friend who is a mermaid and an ex-boyfriend who’s a faerie, works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency and is the only person who can see through paranormals’ glamours?! But now paranormals are dying and Evie suspects the deaths and her abilities are some how linked and that she’s at the centre of a dark prophecy.

I ordered it having read some raving reviews about it. I’m about 100 pages in at the moment. It’s not gripping me, but it’s an enjoying read, so far.

The previous book I read was Gone by Mo Hayder (see my review). It’s a fantastic thriller and one I’d thoroughly recommend. While it’s Mo’s fifth Jack Caffrey book, it does well as a stand-alone book too (It was my first Mo Hayder book). I’ll hopefully be reading more of Mo Hayder’s books very soon…

Following on from last year’s Summer Reading Challenge, the lovely Transworld Publishers have launched another reading challenge – The Great Transworld Crime Caper! Transworld say its an “… opportunity to go back to the beginning and revisit the scene of the original crimes that launched our most experienced villains.”. Mo Hayder’s Birdman (the first Jack Caffrey book) is one of the books to choose from, so of course I’ve chosen that as one of my three to read for the challenge. Look out for my challenge post tomorrow to see what other books I’ve picked!

I don’t usually do this, but as it’s the end of the month (and in case you missed them!), here are the books I’ve reviewed this month (click on the title to read the review):

1st January – Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
9th January – Darkside by Belinda Bauer
15th January – Tales from Acorn Wood: Fox’s Socks by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
18th January – The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
24th January – To Hell and Back: The Autobiography by Meat Loaf with David Dalton
30th January – Gone by Mo Hayder

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Author: Mo Hayder
Publisher: Transworld Publishers
ISBN: 978-0-553-82433-9

A woman has been attacked and her car taken by force, and on the back seat was an eleven-year-old girl. She’s still missing. Murder detective Jack Caffrey arrives to interview the distraught mother and he knows that as time goes on it gets less and less likely the child will be found alive.

However, before long the car jacker sends them a letter, a disgusting letter, and Caffrey believes he’s going to take another car and another child. It becomes clear that he won’t stop until he’s caught.

‘Gone’ is the fifth book in Mo Hayder’s Jack Caffrey series, but it also works well as a stand-alone book. It is the first Mo Hayder book I’ve read, but it certainly won’t be the last. If ‘Gone’ is anything to go by, Mo Hayder is a genius when it comes to crime & thriller novels. The story gathers pace and is fast-paced, exciting, gripping, dramatic and emotional, and you really don’t know what will come next, there’s so many twists and turns. The subject is an emotive one and the ending brought me to tears.

Due to the subject matter (little girls being kidnapped by a possible paedophile), you just know this isn’t going to be an easy read, and it isn’t. However, what it is is a real page-turner that keeps you wanting to read on and not put the book down. I was up until well past midnight one evening because I just couldn’t put it down.

I had an inkling of who the car jacker/kidnapper was around a third of the way through the book, but then the story took a whole new turn and a suspect was revealed… it wasn’t who I was thinking of. But, ‘Gone’ features one of those police investigations that keeps you on your toes, so just when you think you’re sure of who the kidnapper/car jacker is, something else comes into play.

Despite this novel being quite long at over 550 pages, it didn’t feel all that long and it certainly didn’t drag. You’ve got the main story of the car-jackings & kidnappings, but then there are a couple of underlying stories involving Jack Caffrey and other staff members too.

Having read ‘Gone’, I’ll definitely be picking up more of Mo Hayder’s books in the future, especially as her next book, ‘Hanging Hill’, is due out in April.

A highly recommended crime thriller!

Buy Gone by Mo Hayder at the Book Depository.

Mo Hayder is a British author of crime & thriller novels.

This book is the 2nd I’ve read for the British Books Challenge 2011.

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Please note: I received this book free from Transworld Publishers. However, this in no way influenced my opinion of the book.

Author: Meat Loaf with David Dalton
Publisher: Regan Books (HarperCollins)
ISBN: 0-06-039293-2

I finally got to see Meat Loaf in concert in December 2010 after years of wanting to see him live. I’d got tickets for a Meat Loaf concert a few years earlier, but the concert got cancelled just when the doors to the venue should have opened, then the rest of the tour was cancelled. Meat Loaf was ill. I was gutted, but the concert at Birmingham last December was brilliant and well worth the wait. The man really knows how to put on a stage show!

So what has this got to do with the book? It was at the concert’s merchandise stall that I saw his autobiography on sale, signed too. Well, I just couldn’t resist. I mean, what book-lover and Meat Loaf fan could? I can’t imagine I’ll ever get to meet the man, so a signed book is the next best thing.

‘To Hell and Back’ is an apt title for this book, in more ways than one. Not only is it a reference to his hit albums, but also to his life. He’s had numerous concussions, was picked on because of his size, nearly killed by his alcoholic father. He’s battled his own demons, as well as producers, record companies and managers, fallen out with creative partner Jim Steinman, and more. Of course, it’s not all bad.

To Hell and Back was first published in 1999, but the book focuses more on Meat Loaf’s childhood and life up to the 1980’s, with the 90’s being cover in just a few pages. An insight into Meat Loaf himself and about as close as some of us will get to the man. He’s led an interesting and varied life and has ended up with some great stories to tell…

Meat Loaf was at Parkland Hospital, Dallas when JFK was pronounced dead, he picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be Charles Manson, met Elvis Presley and John Lennon and didn’t know what to say to either of them. He’s been on stage, in films and conquered the music industry as well as many other things.

This book is full of photos and stories, some of which you just couldn’t make up! I read the book in three sittings, due to it being to the point with short chapters and hard to put down. Meat Loaf has led quite a life. He comes across as honest, hard-working (to the point of it being his downfall at times) and sincere.

I highly recommend this autobiography from one of America’s hardest working rock stars and would love to read an updated version.

To Hell and Back is currently available in paperback at the Book Depository.

Author: Katherine Howe
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 978-0-141-04755-3

Connie Goodwin is asked by her mother to spend her summer sorting out her grandmother’s old cottage and getting it ready to sell. When Connie and her friend finally find the house Connie realises the enormity of the task ahead of her and gets more than she bargained for. However, she is sidelined by a small parchment containing the name Deliverance Dane.

Who is Deliverance Dane? Connie sets out on a journey to uncover the woman behind the name. Her hunt takes her back to Salem in 1692, to the infamous Salem witch trials and uncovers the existence of Deliverance Dane’s book of spells… The Physick Book. What secrets does the book contain? Connie’s thirst for knowledge spurs her on, but she’s not the only one interested in the book.

I did find the book slow going at first, partially due to the highly descriptive narration. However,it wasn’t long before I got into the story and I was soon hooked. In fact, the descriptive nature of the story meant that it almost felt like I was there following those short periods in both Connie’s and Deliverance’s lives. You get a real feel for Connie’s grandmother’s cottage and for life in 1692’s Salem.

While the story is mainly based in 1991 with Connie, at various intervals the reader is treated to Deliverance’s life back in 1692, though maybe “treated” isn’t quite the right word as life was harsh back then especially with innocent people being accused of witchcraft. Due to these intervals, I felt one step ahead of Connie most of the time, but there were still twists and turns, nevertheless. I felt for poor Deliverance and her daughter Mercy who had to live during such a time. Part of their time brought tears to my eyes. Why should anyone have to go through that? I must point out though, the intervals actually slip in to the story seamlessly and I didn’t feel like the story was jumping back and forth.

I loved this book – I love history (including family history and not just my own), and I felt Connie’s need to research Deliverance Dane and to find the book, I’d have been compelled to do the research too if I’d have been her (although I’m not quite as highly educated as Connie or the author). I did, however, work out the villain of the piece around half way through the book, but I still enjoyed reading Connie’s journey of discovery and didn’t feel it had spoilt it for me.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane is more than just a story for the author, Katherine Howe, for research suggests that two of the so-called Salam witches are genealogically connected to her! In fact, Katherine has done her research well and many of the 1692 characters in the story actually existed and she tried to be true to their personalities as far as they are known. A postscript at the end of the book fills us in on the background to the book and the author.

So, if you enjoy witchcraft and/or historical fiction then I’d definitely recommend this book to you.

Please note: This book has also been published in the UK under the name ‘The Lost Book of Salam’.

Buy The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.

… and I’m inbetween books at the moment!

Last night, I stopped up late to finish reading The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. The story centres on the Salam Witch Trials and Harvard graduate student Connie’s search for information on Deliverance Dane after finding her name on parchment in a bible that had belonged to her grandmother, and then her subsequent quest for Deliverance’s Physick Book. It was an interesting read and my review will be up shortly.

So what book will I start next? I’m not sure, to be honest! I have a whole pile of books to be read, but I think my next book is going to be one of the following three:

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett (Signed by Sir Terry, complete with Ankh-Morpork postmark!)

Gone by Mo Hayder (won from Transworld Publishers)

To Hell and Back – An Autobiography by Meat Loaf with David Dalton (Signed by Meat Loaf!)

But which to choose?!

I’m leaning toward’s Meat Loaf’s autobiography, because it has been a while since I read an autobiography, so it would be a nice change.

So what are you reading?

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