A Holiday of Reading

I've just come back from a 10 day holibob in Egypt and while I was there I read a whopping total of 9 books. So, I thought I would share with you all my thoughts on these books - especially as one of them was a real corker! 

1. The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen - the story of Louis Drax is very intriguing and, narratively, is told from 2 perspectives. This took a little while to get used to especially as the voice of Louis is quite erratic, but it is definitely worth sticking with. Not a great book, but a solid one.
2. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - this is the 3rd book by Neil Gaiman that I have read (after The Graveyard Book and Stardust) and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It was such a quick and easy read. By this I mean that Neil Gaiman's "voice" is so easy to follow and pulls you into the story that you just HAVE to read the next page and before you know it, you've finished the book! I was engrossed, both in the characters and the story, from pretty much the first page. Highly recommend.
3. Life Of Pi by Yann Martel - I was really looking forward to this book and I'm sorry to say, I was really disappointed. The characters and the storyline were very interesting, but the constant talk of religion, I personally found too much. I am sure that if I were in a book club or studying this book in depth, I would find many layers that I missed on the first read. I also found the "twist" ending really annoying. After putting so much faith into the book, it was a bit of a slap in the face.

   

   Taken from: http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/books/Divergent-Veronica-Roth/?isbn13=9780062024022&tctid=100

4. Divergent by Veronica Roth - This is the first book in a trilogy. As a fan of the Hunger Games and the fact that Jai Courtney (Varro in Spartacus) is going to be in the movie (me? Shallow?!), I decided to give this book a go. I'm really pleased I did. I like the main character and it has definitely sparked my interest enough to get the other books in the series. I'm really looking forward to seeing where the series goes in the aftermath of the ending of this book. Definitely recommend this.
5. A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick - this was my first Philip K Dick book so I was looking forward to it. It was a tough read as the style of writing reflects the minds of the characters - messed up. It is an extremely honest story of drug taking. It is definitely worth sticking with though. I found the author's note extremely poignant and added a reality to the story.
6. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch - this is the first book in a series and I thoroughly enjoyed it (I've already got books 2 and 3 ready to go). The main character is fantastic and I was really pleased to see a British fantasy series and one in which the main character is mixed race. I was recommended this series due to my love of the Dresden Files series, and although they are very different there are similarities. Definitely recommend this series. 
7. The Extinction Club by Jeffrey Moore - an excellent book, again told from two different voices, but much easier to follow than Louis Drax. It is set in Canada and covers the topic of hunting, but it is impossibly for me to assign a genre. It is quite graphic in a few places but this adds a definite passion and reality to the book. Highly recommend.
8. Blood Hunt by Christopher Buecheler - this book was a lovely surprise. It is the second in a vampire series. The first book was good - quite erotic in places - but this second book really takes the story on to so much more than the first book hinted at. Thoroughly enjoyed and can't wait to get the next book to see where it goes.

   

   Taken from: http://www.ernestcline.com/books/rpo/

9. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - And now for the corker! What a fantastic book. I cannot praise this enough. As a child of the 80's, there is so much in this book, even though it is a future dystopia! Please read it as soon as you can. I actually cried happy tears at the end of the book!

So overall an excellent and eclectic literary feast!

Spartacus. Just Spartacus.

I mentioned last week that I have recently started watching Spartacus. Well, we finished it yesterday. I am in pieces. I can't think of another show that has hit me as hard as this one has. Even Buffy. Spartacus has completely blown me away. It is supreme television - the kind of series that doesn't come along very often.

But, I'll admit, I didn't really want to watch it at first. The main reason I did watch it was because MANY twitter friends were heaping Olympus sized praise on the show. I also wanted to watch because of the creator, Steven S DeKnight. He has written and produced many of my favourite shows, including Buffy and Angel, and I like to support writers/producers from these favourite shows. But when the programme began airing in the UK, we missed it starting and decided that we would wait until it had finished completely and watch it in one hit - which is what we did.

But why am I blogging about it? BECAUSE I WANT EVERYONE IN THE WORLD TO WATCH THIS SHOW! And I will tell you why (no spoilers in this post but some of the links I've included may contain spoilers).

image from: http://spartacus.wikia.com/wiki/File:Spartacus-blood-sand-kill-them-all.jpg

1. Let's get the obvious out of the way. This is a show for adults. There is glorious, technicolour violence. There are sensual and bawdy sex scenes. There is a full vocabulary of language from the sublime to the vulgar (By Jupiter's Cock!). This is one of the reasons I love it. It has not been distilled down for teenagers, as so much is nowadays. 

It is for adults.


2. The sex scenes. I know this was mentioned already but the sex scenes in the show serve more than the obvious purpose. As with the demons in Buffy representing Buffy's real life issues, the sex in Spartacus symbolises other aspects of the storyline.

3. The cast. The cast is perfect. From Andy Whitfield and Liam Mcintyre as Spartacus; to Manu Bennett as Crixus; Peter Mensah as Oenomaus: John Hannah as Batiatus; Dustin Clare as Gannicus; and on and on and on. For me, there is not a single mis-step in any of the casting.

4. The baddies. From Batiatus to Glaber to Crassus, the baddies are each different and driven by their individual motives, with none falling to the moustache twirling baddie tropes. My particular favourite is Ashur, played by the wonderful Nick Tarabay. What a bastard!

Image from: http://images.wikia.com/spartacus/images/1/13/Bscap0011.jpg

5. The friendships. The Brotherhood of the Gladiators has some of the most interesting and layered friendships on TV, but the standout has to be Spartacus and Crixus (although my personal favourite is between Spartacus and Varro).


6. The sexuality. Honestly, I'm not obsessed! In the show, all types of relationships are shown, but one of the most loving is between 2 of the rebels. They are both men. And it doesn't matter a jot. Where the new Battlestar Galactica created roles that could be played by either men or women (they wrote people not genders), Spartacus has characters that have relationships. Not GAY relationships, or STRAIGHT relationships. Just relationships. No fuss, no muss. So refreshing.

7.  The central idea of what Spartacus stands for. Freedom. Freedom to choose. Even if that choice leads to pain, it is still a choice.

"I have done this thing because it is just. Blood demands blood. We have lived and lost at the whims of our masters for too long. I would not have it so. I would not see the passing of a brother, for the purpose of sport. I would not see another heart ripped from chest, or breath forfeit for no cause. I know not all of you wish this, yet it is done. It is done. Your lives are your own. Forge your own path, or join with us, and together 

WE SHALL SEE ROME TREMBLE."

And there we have it. I'm sure that as soon as I publish this I will think of another lost of reasons that will wish I had included. The trouble is, how do you define what makes something as good as this and not miss something out? If you would like to comment, please do so but PLEASE no spoilers.

If you do watch the show please come back and let me know what you think.