Author: Michael @ Knowledge Lost

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Posted January 8, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Fantasy / 0 Comments

Title: Rivers of London (Goodreads)
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Series: Peter Grant #1
Narrator: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Published: Orion, 2011
Pages: 400
Genres: Fantasy
My Copy: Audiobook

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Probationary Constable Peter Grant has big dreams to become a real detective in the London police but has found himself as part of the Case Progression Unit, doing paperwork while his friend Lesley May has landed her dream job. But one unexpected encounter finds him being recruited into a small branch that deals with the supernatural.

At first glance this urban fantasy novel sounds very much like the Dresden Files series and it is; but there is a bigger injection of humour in this series that makes it very enjoyable. The humour is really what makes this novel, it’s funny and at times unexpected; for example the desire to motorboat a river goddess doesn’t occur to everyone does it? Constable Grant is a great character at times, he isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed but what do you expect? Becoming the first apprentice wizard in fifty years doesn’t happen every day and it really helps drive him.

Unlike Harry Dresden, Peter Grant is still very new to wizardry and being a detective so he doesn’t have the years of experience and cynicism behind him, which at times can be a little disappointing but for the humour element, it seems to work best. The case that this book is centred around isn’t too well explained so I felt a little lost at times and often questioned the character’s ability to draw conclusions without any information at all. But in the end this is just a fun read.

I will admit when I finished reading this book I immediately wanted to start reading book two which is a good sign of how much I enjoyed this book. I even wanted to read some more from the Dresden Files series but as always I moved onto something completely different. The desire to read the next book is still there and I’m really looking forward to immersing myself into this world again. It was a fun, pleasurable read and I think might make for some good comic relief after reading a dense novel.

The Engagement by Chloe Hooper

Posted January 6, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Gothic, Literary Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Engagement (Goodreads)
Author: Chloe Hooper
Published: Penguin, 2012
Pages: 256
Genres: Literary Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Liese Campbell is an English architect working in real estate trying to make ends meet, but she is in a financial crisis. Enters Alexander Colquhoun, the heir to a pastoral dynasty who is looking for a city apartment; or maybe something more. The two enter into an erotic game that includes sex for money. This leads to a weekend away in luxury, in what is known as the girlfriend experience. But is this just a fun game or is this a disaster waiting to happen?

I’ve not read a book like this, at one point I thought it was Indecent Proposal and at other times I thought it was going to turn into a Pretty Woman scenario. There is an air of mystery and or something much more sinister with the situation and I couldn’t put my finger on the real motivation of both Liese and Alexander.

I really got emotional at this book; at some points I thought it was exciting, at times I thought it was disturbing. Then there were the times I wanted to throw the book across the room and yell at the characters to ‘sort their shit out’. I guess this emotional investment is what made this book so enjoyable. I like a book that makes me rage and keep me coming back for more and Chloe Hooper’s The Engagement did just that.

There was this quote going around that called this the literary version of Fifty Shades of Grey which really bothers me; for one this isn’t an erotic book this is more a story of a disturbing situation. More like a modern take of a gothic novel. There were even elements of this book that reminded me of Rebecca; not the plot but the idea that the protagonist has someone acting to take her down.

Emotionally thrilling novel, The Engagement was not something I would normally read but I’m really glad to pick it up because it really was worth reading. It’s a dark psychological tale that is sure to be enjoyed by many people. I do like that hint of erotic thriller within the novel, while it wasn’t arousing it has the whole sex and power element that really helped this novel. This is a quick exciting read for anyone looking for a deliciously cynical novel.

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

Posted January 4, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Science Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: The Last Policeman (Goodreads)
Author: Ben H. Winters
Series: Last Policeman #1
Published: Quirk, 2012
Pages: 316
Genres: Science Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

If a huge asteroid was heading towards earth threating to destroy all mankind, what would you do? Would you even bother to continue working? Would you worry about solving a crime? Detective Hank Palace is determined to solve a suspicious suicide even when the rest of the world doesn’t care in this apocalyptic whodunit, making him The Last Policeman.

I love the idea of blending apocalyptic fiction with a pulp type crime novel. The world is in decline and Hank Palace has only just made detective. So without anyone else caring about this crime, why would he spend so much time trying to prove himself as a homicide detective? This really is the driving force of this book; you are always questioning the motivation of Palace when the rest of the world wants to live life to its fullest.

Personally I would have liked to see Hank to be a bit more hard-boiled but the idea of being a newbie to the force wanting to prove himself was pretty enjoyable. He was a little unsure and sometimes too timid but he never gave up. I would have loved to see more depth to the character but as this is a planned trilogy I think the author is saving some more for the next two books. Unfortunately all the others are just background characters and they never had the development they deserved. I think this might have been just a lack of experience from author Ben H. Winters; best known for his mash up novels Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and Android Karenina.

The crime itself was pretty straight forward and even predictable but the problems with solving the case was trying to do it without any forensic or police help, so I feel like I can forgive Winters for this. Then there is the subplot which forces more on the apocalyptic struggle to try and survive aspects. I felt like this was the biggest let down of the book, I know he wanted to help his sister but as a reader I felt like it was just fleshing out the novel and trying to make sure it’s at least 300 pages long.

I’m interested to see what author Ben H. Winters does with this trilogy; I’m hoping he grows as a writer and incorporates more pulp elements in the next two books. Detective Palace has real potential as a protagonist; he has some appeal to him already but with some development he could be great. I like the Science-Fiction pulp mash-up and I hope this continues, Winters has a great idea here and with some love and hard work this will turn out to be a great trilogy.

2013 Reading Goals

Posted January 3, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Literature / 0 Comments

Its 2013 which means time to talk reading plans and goals; for me I have a few planned. Firstly the Literary Exploration reading challenge, in which I plan to read books in 32 different genres. I’m so excited about this challenge and can’t wait to become a more well-rounded reader. I’ve also plan to become a better reader, I’m not sure how I’m going to do this, maybe with the books I read or maybe reading slower to digest the text. While I’m not too sure how to do this I’m determined to make this a year of learning how to read better.

I’m also planning a semi book buying ban for 2013; I say semi because I will still buy books but they would have to be books needed for my book clubs or absolute essentials; for everything else, I will try the library. The idea of the book buying ban is to focus more on the books on my bookshelf and to reduce my TBR list. I will still be accepting ARCs from publishers and via NetGalley but I do plan to be more selective with the books I take.

Finally I start off every year with one simple goal; 100 books, which I did increase to 150 books in August of 2012, simply because I was flying through the books last year. But when I hit 150 books in November I decided I wouldn’t increase my goal again but I would just take the time and read some bigger books and some non-fiction. This was such a liberating feeling because I wasn’t worrying about meeting targets; I was just reading what I wanted, when I wanted. Which doesn’t really make sense, I had nothing to worry about and I could have read what I wanted at any time during the year. Also I’ve noticed I’m still reading at the same pace and while they aren’t all larger books or non-fiction I think December turned into my favourite month for reading in 2012; not because of the books, but just because I had no goal and I was doing it for pleasure.

So in 2013 I’m wondering if I should throw this reading goal out the window and just have a year of reading for pleasure. On the down side, I do worry that I won’t read as much as I would like. So my other option is to have a reading goal of 100 books; a nice obtainable reading goal that I don’t really need to put much worry into. I’m not really sure so I thought I would ask my readers on some insight into my reading plans and their reading goals as well.

By the Book by Ramona Koval

Posted January 2, 2013 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Non-Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: By the Book (Goodreads)
Author: Ramona Koval
Published: Text, 2012
Pages: 239
Genres: Non-Fiction
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

Ramona Koval’s By the Book: A Reader’s Guide to Life is a memoir of the author’s reading journal. From her mother’s influences to her first library card all the way though to her career as a literary journalist. Ramona Koval writes this as a love story to the books that have influenced her life and career.

Not only is this book very easy to read, it might even offer some interesting titles for you to read. I know my ‘to read’ list suffered especially with the introduction to Richard Holmes; I’ve now added a heap of his books to my wish list. I almost read this in a sitting and I would’ve if I didn’t have to go to bed. I was drawn to Kaval’s literary journey and the reasoning behind reading some of the books.

It might be just me but I find people’s reading histories really interesting and give me a little confidence in my own journey. Personally I think I have an interesting journey and this book as inspired me to document it in better detail. I’ve started to build a slight obsession with memoirs about people’s reading history’s having recently read Books: A Memoir by Larry McMurtry and moving onto Through the Window by Julian Barnes after finishing this one. I have asked my readers for recommendations similar to these books in a recent blog post so I hope to read many more memoirs of bibliophiles.

By the Book is an entertaining read with some real gems; like borrowing Kafka from a library at a very young age and asking her mother to buy her a copy of the Kama Sutra. By the Book is not only an entertaining reading journey but hopefully it will inspire reader to share their own history with the world; I know I would like to read about them. It might be just my love of books and books about books but I really enjoyed this biography and recommend it to all serious readers.

Monthly Review – December 2012

Posted December 31, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Monthly Reading / 0 Comments

Now that 2012 has come to close, I find myself not reflecting on my year of reading but eagerly anticipating the books I get to read next year. All my reflections of 2012 seemed to have taken place in November. So now I want the Literary Exploration reading challenge to begin.

But as this is the end of December, let me quickly cover the important events of this month. Literary Exploration decided to read a travel/road trip book for the month; the book picked was the beat novel On the Road. This book had a lot of mixed reactions; even people thinking their own travel diaries would be more interesting. I’m now very concerned about what has happened when my wife goes travelling For me I thought it was an enjoyable look at the beat generation and their ideals. Check out the conversations on Goodreads to find out what people said about this book.

A reminder that in January we will be reading Shadow of the Wind; I love this book and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the discussions will be like. I still haven’t decided if I want to reread it yet or wait till the series has finished before rereading it in its entirety. Either way, I look forward to hearing people’s thoughts.

As for my personal reading, I focused on reading non-fiction this month; well I started off that way but I got distracted. I’ve read some great books this month including; By the Book, a Readers Guide to Life which was a fascinating look at the author’s reading journey. Also I tried some dirty realism with Factotum by Charles Bukowski, a raw and gritty semi autobiographical novel which I highly recommend. What were your highlights of this month? Did you read anything great?

Monthly Reading

By the Book, A Reader’s Guide to Life by Ramona Koval
Day of the Oprichnik by Vladimir Sorokin
Factotum by Charles Bukowski
Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Through the Window by Julian Barnes
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

On The Road by Jack Kerouac

Posted December 30, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Book of the Month, Classic / 0 Comments

Title: On The Road (Goodreads)
Author: Jack Kerouac
Published: Penguin, 1957
Pages: 307
Genres: Classic
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

On the Road is a semi autobiographical novel about Jack Kerouac’s travels through America. Set in 1947 the novel documents the travels of Sal Paradise with his friend Dean on a quest of self-knowledge and life experiences. This novel is often considered as the definitive ideal of the Beat generation and living life postwar. The Beat movement is a cultural movement which rejected a normal life for a bohemian lifestyle; this movement inspired jazz, poetry and literature. The non-conformity and spontaneous creativity as well as experimentation with drugs, alternative sexualities and interest in Eastern religions lead to the hippy movement in the 1960’s even though there are many differences.

On the Road is a novel of friendship, not just between Sal and Dean but the people that come and go from your life. Hitchhiking through America gives an opportunity to see this quickly; Sal meets new people all the time and just like that they are gone from his life; their impact on Sal may very but it really is a good way to show the effects people have without having to scratch a story over a few years. Then there is the friendship between Sal and Dean, it’s clear to me that Sal is idolising his friend and his need to be just like him is really not helping him to grow. Sal does grow through the book but it never feels like Dean has, this really changes the dynamic of their friendship as the book goes on.

This is also a book on the ideals of the beatniks; they are young and wanting to experience life, learn from their experiences. But underneath it all Sal feels unhappy. Either alone, in a relationship or just having casual hook-ups, Sal is never content. The only time I ever feel like Sal is enjoying himself is when he is having intellectual conversations, but he never really works out how to channel that passion to make his life mean something, I did think he would find contentment in writing but he never really does. The characters feel they should learn from life instead of books and this leads more to sex, substance abuse and even madness seem to be the end results of their experiences rather than knowledge.

While some might think this is a rather boring novel, I tend to think there is so much in the book worth exploring. I like the style and feel of this book, it reminds me of dirty realism and the quest for knowledge and satisfaction in life really hit home for me. My past experiences are nothing like those of Sal or Kerouac’s but there is something so real and raw about this book that I enjoyed. Overall it was interesting to read the book as a manifesto to the beat generation.

What Books Have Been Trending – October-December 2012

Posted December 29, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Book Trends / 0 Comments

As the year closes, let’s look at the books that have been trending for the past three months. I’ve been looking forward to doing this again; I’ve had so much fun with the other posts in this series. The only problem is, I tend to think it’s been a little slow over the past three months but let’s have a look anyway.

October

The Casual Vacancy was released at the end of September and continues strong this month. This novel sees J.K Rowling try her hand in adult fiction; When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Grimm Tales is a beautiful book of classic fairy tales. Author Philip Pullman has chosen his fifty favourite stories from the Brothers Grimm and retold them in his unique and brilliant voice. This retellings are apparently ‘clear as water’ and engaging.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan is a gleeful and exhilarating tale of global conspiracy, complex code-breaking, high-tech data visualization, young love, rollicking adventure, and the secret to eternal life—mostly set in a hole-in-the-wall San Francisco bookstore.

What are you reading? Will Schwalbe asks his mother, Mary Anne in The End of Your Life Book Club. Sitting in the waiting room of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Will and Mary Anne share their hopes and concerns with each other—and rediscover their lives—through their favourite books.

The epic story of The Passage continues with The Twelve by Justin Cronin. The two year wait had everyone wondering what happens next with the viral plague that had left a small group of survivors clinging to life amidst a world transformed into a nightmare.

November

Harry Dresden is alive (spoiler alert) in the 14^th book in the series; Cold Days. After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasn’t all that bad.

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a new way of living – Days of Blood and Starlight
continues the series after Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Karou must decide how far she’ll go to avenge her people. A YA novel filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices.

Set in the present day in the rural community of Feathertown, Tennessee, Flight Behaviour tells the story of Dellarobia Turnbow, a petite, razor-sharp 29-year-old who nurtured worldly ambitions before becoming pregnant and marrying at seventeen.

The first five stories in the Wool series have been put together in this omnibus. An epic story of life, love and survival at all odds and one of the most-talked and anticipated books of the year. In a ruined and hostile landscape, in a future few have been unlucky enough to survive, a community exists in a giant underground silo. Inside, men and women live an enclosed life full of rules and regulations, of secrets and lies.

December

The Darkest Minds finds Ruby waking up on her tenth birthday, something about her has changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.”

Either this is a planned Christmas gift or the perfect holiday reading but I’ve seen a lot of mentions of Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French. Who is in Coma Suite Number 5? A matchless lover? A supreme egotist? A selfless martyr? A bad mother? A cherished sister? A selfish wife? All of these. For this is Silvia Shute who has always done exactly what she wants. Until now, when her life suddenly, shockingly stops.

I thought it was a bit of a slow month for reading, I guess everyone is either busy or playing catch up with books missed though out the year. But then I noticed that there were a lot of classics being read. A Christmas Carol and for some weird reason Les Misérables and The Hobbit.

This year really has been a great year for books, not just for me but I’ve seen so many great books been talked about and read. I’m sure there are a lot of books coming out next year that are anticipated, so I would love to know what you are looking forward to as well as what hyped books I might have missed for the past three months.

My Top Five Reads of 2012

Posted December 27, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Top 5 / 0 Comments

I’ve already done a post about 2012 but I wanted to do another. The typical top five post of the best books you’ve read in 2012 but because I split my books into released in 2012 and all others, I think I need two top five lists here. So here are my top reads for the year;

Top Five Reads Released in 2012

5. Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan

4. Dare Me by Megan Abbott

3. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

2. The Fault in our Stars by John Green

1. Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

Honourable mentions need to be made to Colour of Milk, The Yellow Birds, The Cocktail Waitress, Tigers in Red Weather, The Dinner and The Age of Miracles.

Top Five Reads in 2012

5. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

4. Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

3. Swimming Home by Deborah Levy

2. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

1. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

With honourable mentions to When Gravity Fails, The Little Prince, Factotum, He Died With His Eyes Open, The Devil All the Time, The Master and Magarita and Ethan Frome.

Now it’s your turn to let me know of your favourite books, the new releases and the older books. It doesn’t matter; just what you discovered and loved.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Posted December 24, 2012 by Michael @ Knowledge Lost in Classic / 0 Comments

Title: Ethan Frome (Goodreads)
Author: Edith Wharton
Published: Penguin, 1911
Pages: 128
Genres: Classic
My Copy: Personal Copy

Buy: Amazon, Book Depository (or visit your local Indie bookstore)

An unnamed narrator from a fictional New England town tells us about his encounter with Ethan Frome; a man with dreams and desires but stuck in a loveless marriage. His wife, Zeena is a hypochondriac whom he married out of a sense of duty. When Ethan falls deeply in love with Zeena’s cousin and their maid Mattie things start truly falling apart.

I’m going to put this out there, this book really reminds me of a Russian novel; the love triangle reminds me of Doctor Zhivago mainly. Then there is the bleak, cold winter climate that makes the book as dismal as the current environment. These elements are what really appealed to me. When Stephanie (from Read in a Single Sitting) called this book the most depressing novel ever written, I was sold, I brought the book right away and spent the day reading it.

Ethan Frome is a working class man trying to make ends meet, he is really struggling financially and having to deal with a wife who is constantly ill isn’t helping him much. He lives with his secret desires but then slowly moves towards taking action, then quietly submitting to life’s circumstances, this seems to be the endless cycle for him. This struggle turned this into a novel of the forbidden, as well as one of morality and duty.

Ethan Frome is full of symbolism; the cat and the pickle dish I believe was a symbol of their failing marriage, the gold locket represents love and finding it in Ethan. Finally there was the most obvious one which was the colour red that I think was used to represent adultery, similar to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. There were some more in the book but I won’t go into all of them, I just found it an interesting literary device to express elements that the narrator left out.

I know this may be the cynic in me, but I felt like this novel was a romance; the passion between Ethan and Mattie was strong and powerful; that’s what made this book so devastating. Zeena was a cunning woman that held all the power and while at times I felt sorry for Ethan for being stuck in a terrible marriage there was a part of me that thought he was just making it harder for himself by putting himself in a situation and dragging Mattie into all this mess.

You will either love or hate this book. It is truly depressing but yet in the midst of all this disaster it remained elegant and beautiful. The words were like poetry, I got swept away with the prose only to find myself heading for a devastating crash. It’s like a horror novel of obligation and no matter which way Ethan or I looked at the situation there was no escape. For a book under 150 pages, I’m surprised just how much it said.