Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathon Safran Foer.

I found this book quite a hard read as it kept changing tenses and also changing who wrote it. so at one point it would be a boy and the next it would be his father or grandfather. The story was based just after the terrorist attack on the twin towers in 9/11. It starts off explaining about this boy who lost his father who worked there. It then goes on to say how this young child finds a key and travels around the whole of NewYork to find out what it unlocks. This book is very mooving as it shows how the boy deals with his loss. It also deals with the quite tricky subject of the actual events that takes place, including at the back of the book, a few pages of flicker pitures of a man jumping off one of the towers (real picture). I am giving this book 6/10.

MB

This is a fascinatingly compelling book.  The story deals with a young boy with learning difficulties who has lost his father during the 9/11 attck on the twin towers in New York.  His grandmother lives across the road from him and she carries her own loss.  Her husband left her when she was pregnant with the boys father and returned to Germany.  This is a very complex story with a huge amount of layers.  It is an emotional book and deals well with the issue of loss and bereavement. The formation of new friendships and relationships is also a large part of the storyas the boys mother has developed a friendship through her bereavement counselling.  It is difficult to read in places however and the text does not flow in a conventional way.  It can at times be difficult to understand who has said what when the text moves to a conversation between two or even three people.  Though saying all of that it is worth reading.  I give this a 5 out of 10.
JB

Overall, 5.5 out of 10.

The Amber Spyglass

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
Third book in His Dark Materials trilogy.

This final book in the trilogy was quite a hard book to get into. As this was one of the books that I read on my latest holiday in Germany, I managed to get through it in about a week which was quite good as it was 600 odd pages long. By this book there were so many characters  in different worlds with so many different problems to deal with all relating to one big element, Dust. It is then the mission of Lyra and Will to help prevent the church from winning the battle against the rebellion. This proves difficult as they have to deal with double agents and also many other species from different worlds. This final book was quite a sad ending to the three books as Lyra and Will were forced never to see each other. I enjoy the style of writing of Philip Pullman and he is in my top three favourite authors. I hope to read more books from him in the future. I am giving this 8/10.
MB

This is the third and final installment of Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy.  The story by now is incredibly complex with characters able to move at will through the thousands of holes from one world into another.  The children Lyra and Will attempt the most difficult of tasks which is to go into the world of the dead.  They get there and manage to understand what happens when people die and what becomes of their spirit.  The book is very intense and moves from one cliff hanger to another.  Pullman does pull it off however by the end I was exhausted.  The ending does leave one with a feeling of unfinished business but I won't spoil it by giving it away.  I recommend this and suggest that it is an excellent series.  It is clear what Pullmans thoughts are on religion and the affect of the church on the population. I will leave it to you to make up your own mind.  I give this an 8 out of 10
JB

Overall, our score is 8 out of 10.

The Girl who Played with Fire

The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

This is the second book by the deceased author Stieg Larsson.  It is an excellent story in its own right and I read this one before the first novel in the trilogy.  The story does continue from the first book however it can be read on its own and is an excellent crime/thriller novel.  The main characters are the publisher and reporter for the Millenium Magazine Mikeal Blomquist and the dysphunctional girl who he worked with in the first book.  this is an interesting story which deals with aspects of wedish life and the types of crimes that occur across the world.  This one is associted more with Lizabeth Salander's hunt for knowledge and her past and the father she has never known.  This books hold the reader captive and I found it very hard to put down at times.  I highly recommend it.  It is translated from the Swedish and again you would not know from the quality of the writing.  I give this a 9 out of 10.  I look forward to the concluding novel "The girl who kicked a hornets nest".

JB

The Girl with the Dragon tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson

This is another cracking read.  This was the second of the two that I read so I unfortunately read them out of sync.  This story revolves around a number of threads.  The first is the story of the publisher who is disgraced and sent to prison for writting an article which libeled a rich indutrialist and financier.  Our hero does not fight the court case to protect his sources.  He is offered a job to look into the disappearance of a girl almost 40 years previously.  The other thread is the introduction to the girl with the tattoo.  She is a very interesting and complex character who is emotionally vulnerable however more than capable of looking after herself. She is a Computer hacker and works for a security company and is hired to review the journalist.  I read this straight after a Mankell book and again the translation from the Swedish is excellent.  There is no where that one can believe that you are reading a translation other than some of the references for example to Swedish publications which must be well known but I had never heard of.  The tale is excellent and moves along at a swift pace.  I recommend this book and the second one.  (see review)

I give this a 9 out of 10.

JB