The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

" It dawned on him - as it hadn't before; he was dense, he was slow - that his parents were five hundred miles away. They could make him come home, they could refuse to pay the portion of his tuition, they'd agreed to pay, but they couldn't see his jeans."

If someone had told me that a book about baseball would make me cry, I would have laughed in their face. Baseball? Seriously? I've been to one interminable game in my life and enjoyed two aspects - the fireworks and the seventh inning stretch.

This novel, proved me wrong. Firstly, while baseball is front and centre at the outset and spattered throughout the story, it is not all the novel has to offer. This is a moving story about difficult relationships, a love of Herman Melville, love, loss, and sporting contracts.

If like me, your interest in baseball is minuscule at best, I'd urge you to pick up a copy and give it a chance. It is a beautifully executed, moving story with strangely named characters. Happily,  the novel is another tick on the 1001 books list - gotta love progress!  5 out of 5 - take me out to the ballgame. 

Briar Rose by Jane Yolen

"Gemma's story never ended happily ever after except for the princess Briar Rose and her own little girl."

More than a simple re-imagining of a classic fairytale, Briar Rose makes for a compelling read. Traditionally fairy tale characters exemplify purity and pure evil and here the author deftly crafts a tale of holocaust horrors through the medium of fantasy.

Mysterious yet accessible, Becca's journey to discover her grandmother's life story will have the pages turning at an accelerated pace. This amazingly delivered story was recommended to me by a friend with great literary taste and she has uncovered yet another winner. 5 out of 5 thorny but terrific.

Innocent Blood - P.D. James

"And now he moved with a mounting sense of excitement away from his settled routine at Pimlico and into a new world, their world. And the act itself was no longer hidden in an unknown future; the time had come to prepare himself physically and mentally for the deed."

This is the 3rd P.D. James novel I've read recently and stands out as far superior to the other 2 I've delved into. Its inclusion on abebooks Fear itself list was the catalyst I needed to check it out. Nothing like a bit of a scary read.

This novel wasn't scary in the traditional sense, it had an impending sense of psychological drama that was developed in a particularly interesting way. It probably works best if the plot is left as a surprise to the reader, so I will remain silent on plot points. 

Without giving too much away, an adopted child grows to adulthood and finds she can discover her parentage after a new act of parliament is passed. What she discover beggars belief. Prepare for a trip to the dark regions of the human condition. I was happy to finish this disturbing read, yet impressed by its execution. That's a  5 out of 5  from me.

American Rust - Philipp Meyer

"On one hand she loved her brother for it, his curiosity, he was always teaching himself things, but she was beginning to worry about him. He was getting isolated and eccentric."

Every now and then you read a book that really stays with you. You embark on a journey with characters that resonate. This is such a novel. It's raw, visceral style introduces beautifully flawed characters trapped by their actions and the actions of those around them. Bleak occurrences are mixed with an underlying feeling of optimism which is stamped out as the novel continues.

Intelligence and sporting prowess, the traditional pathways out of a small town, are not the saviours that they could be for protagonists Isaac and Poe. Even Lee, who as left town with a college education and a well to do marriage, cannot escape her origins.

The jacket cover of the edition I read was covered in some effusive praise that is well deserved. High drama beautifully realised and another item ticked off the 1001 books to read before you die list. 5 out of 5 - gut-wrenchingly good.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

"She shoved back from the desk, her scowl landing first on a lifeless android that sat squat on her worktable and then on the man behind it."

 

A decidedly novel approach to the Cinderella story. A cyborg mechanic who is 36.28% not human  could hold the key to a horrendous disease which has infected her step sister and the Emperor. A chance encounter with the devastatingly handsome Prince Kai leads to all manner of adventures, and of course, there's a ball and an unpleasant step-mother.

 

Throw in the threat of inter-stellar war with Queen Levana and you have a strange cacophony of genres that kind of works. The novel is aimed at teens and perhaps that is where it lost me, it was likable, easy to read and somewhat endearing, there just seemed to be something missing. So, and just to mix things up a little bit, its a 3 out of 5 robot slippers from me.

 

Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey

"All around us the world rose and fell, people went hungry, the days were hard, kings fled, nobles fretted, but we had, until now, occupied a tea-sweet backwater."

 

I managed to digest most of this morsel on a lengthy 3.5 hour train ride and to a great extent the journeys of Parrot and Olivier mimicked the endless array of characters on said train. When the world is turned Topsy-turvy, a French aristocrat leaves the bedlam of post revolutionary France for the very different surrounds of America while an aspiring English artist becomes his servant and joins in his journeys, with adventures of his own.

 



Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2010, this novel appears to have garnered some quite impressive reviews. While I found it to be a pleasant distraction from my train trip and the lush language held my interest, there was just something missing that kept it from being  a 5 pointer for me.

My version of the book will soon be undertaking its own little journey back to its owner in Melbourne who generously loaned it to me. 4 out of 5.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

"I saw again all the shabby detail and, even more than on my first visit, I had an impression of the house being held in some sort of balance. One could see so painfully, I thought, both the glorious thing it had recently been, and the ruin it was on its way to becoming."

Dr Faraday returns to the house where, as a youth, his mother worked as a servant. The cause of his visit is an unexpected house call to see to a sick, young, maid. Her illness, taking the form of dissatisfaction with her surrounds, sets the tone of life within the decrepit mansion.

The Ayres family - Roderick, Caroline and Mrs Ayres - hold a particular fascination for the village doctor, as their lives begin to intermingle and the question of whether the power of the house over the family is a psychological or supernatural influence keeps the hair on the reader's neck at full attention.

The atmosphere of threat and suspense had me hanging on every word and greedily completing the novel before turning in, eager to avoid going to bed under the aura of suspense and terror. 

Brilliantly written, always engaging and more than a little bit creepy, The Little Stranger is a fantastic read and in my opinion, well deserving of a 5 out of 5 bumps in the night.