An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth - Chris Hadfield

Before leaving for Europe for four months I received this Christmas present in the mail and just cracked the prologue. I was hooked but had a hunch it would be a book I would want to maintain in my collection, and not want to carry around a continent. Thus it was with great difficulty that I left it behind. When I was back I went beyond the prologue and it was all that I wanted, perhaps more. An inspirational and practical book that really had good lessons and values to instill. How perfect that the examples given to help drive the points home were drawn from time in space or preparing for that almost unreal experience. A true pleasure to read!

August 2014

8.5

A Walk in the Woods - Bill Bryson

I know that every review of Bill's books says "he could make reading the history of the phone book entertaining!" but it's true that somehow he took a literal walk in the woods and had me urgently reading along. An entertaining twist was the old 'friend' who tagged along with him for the beginning of the journey. However it's his ability to dig out the ridiculous history of a small place or a forgotten endeavour and present it in such an engaging and funny manner that makes him my writing idol. With this book I began a list of page numbers for things that I found extremely satisfying (usually due to snorting laughter) and will continue that with any of his subsequent reads.

July 2013 (yes 2013, it's late!)

7

Slam - Nick Hornby

I forget how much I enjoy Hornby until I pick up another and drink it in. The subject matter and likely target audience was probably teenage boys so it was an easy and fast read but I'm not going to let that take away from it - I laughed out loud repeatedly. Although it required some suspension of belief the way it was handled in such a logical manner made it unique. The kind of book that can get me back into relishing the thought of picking up my novel at any free point in the day.

July 2014
8

The Incredible Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera

When I first picked this book up I was wary of the philosophy but once I was past that I began to burn through, devouring the remarkably honest, frank and realistic views expressed by the characters. Unfortunately this was just before joining a group tour of Europe where downtime was negligible and then the book went missing and months passed before I returned to it back on home soil. During the middling middle it started to meander as I realized it wasn't going to be a linear story with a driving storyline or ending. And although this turned out to be true there were more than enough striking quotes, messages and analogies that I ended up sharing around to make it a worthwhile read. I could see myself returning to it in the future, perhaps not in full but at least for reference to specific thoughts.

March - June 2014 (Eurotrip)
7

Choke - Chuck Palahniuk

Yes, the first chapter warned me that I wouldn't like the book but it also drew me in to wanting to prove it wrong. That was the way the whole read went and It wasn't until I was passed the point of no return that I decided I didn't like it. Hoping the ending would salvage it I carried on but besides the odd gem of a thought our paragraph most chapters went into have detail about ridiculous things that are trying to be passed off as normal, presumably for the shock value. The conclusion let much to be desired and I kind of want my time back.

Feb - Mar 2014 (Eurotrip 1)
2

I Love You, Beth Cooper - Larry Doyle

I chortled a number of times right off the top and was pleasantly surprised by a book I was hesitant about. No wonder this guy used to write for the Simpsons. Realising it was a one night romp I settled in for the ride and enjoyed all the bumps the protagonist took along the way. There were some truly great chaotic scenes that were easily imagined (I hear there's a movie) but the best parts for me were the geeky internal deliberations, especially when they took scientific detours. Pure enjoyment for what it was.

October 2013

7.5

The Juvie Three - Gordan Korman

Off the top it seemed to blister through all sorts of aspects which I thought were going to be the story and I remained curious as to why these ample opportunities were being passed up and what was coming up. Even once the premise was finally settled on it got turned on its head with yet another big turn. Mind you since this is a young adult novel all of this whizzed by in a handful of easy read, moderately sized font pages. It relied on a fairly shallow glimpse of the past to bring things in to play now but that's what you get for rushing the set up. The conclusion was explosive and fun, exactly what a teenager would enjoy and I'm not going to pretend I didn't get a kick from this throwback to my childhood.

Sept 2013
5.5