Morvern Callar by Alan Warner

"Though he was dead I used the air freshener spray"

It is rare that I read something which really shocks me. This was that novel. A typical reaction to discovering your boyfriend has killed himself right next to you, might not be to go get drunk, get high, have random group sex and head off on the equivalent of a Contiki tour while laying claim to the boyfriend's magnum opus.

As dark as things appear there is something quite compelling about the text that will have you reading on.

It is haunting, disturbing and in eliciting such shock and dismay, quite brilliant in its delivery. Having said that it left a bad taste in my mouth, like a really horrid hangover.

4 out of 5  - christmas should not be like this.

The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis

"Noth­ing of the kind, need­less to say: just two jabs of peni­cillin up the bum and much hu­mil­i­a­tion at the local clinic."

There is something rather clever about this novel, it encapsulates that annoying self-obsessed insular world that we have all inhabited in our late teens and early twenties.Charles is the warts and all embodiment of that time. His quest to over-come the clap, competition from America in the form of DeForest to win over the Rachel of the title.

I enjoyed the humour inherent in the story. Charles' description of himself at the beginning as:

     "It's such a rangy, well-trav­elled, big-cocked name and, to look at, I am none of these."

His diaries and notes form the basis of this relatively short read and I think I only removed one point because I remember how horrid I was at that age, along with the aspects of Charles' character which are less than favourable.

4 out of 5 randy twenty year olds should be more careful

Much Obliged, Jeeves by P.G.Wodehouse

"When a man is an old friend and pretty bosom at that, it depresses you to hear that he's engaged to Florence Craye."

What isn't to love about an outing with Jeeves and Bertie Wooster? 

This one seemed familiar, however, that did nothing to diminish its enjoyment for me. A book kept by the butlers of the upper set containing all their escapades and foibles, has gone missing and spells trouble for all and sundry. Bertie and his friends are firmly ensconced in their usual dilemmas trying to get into or out of prospective marriages, add a soupcon of crazy aunts and queue the laughter.

If you are ever feeling a little bit blue, overwhelmed by the horrors of the 24 hour news cycle or just basically in need of a pick me up, Wodehouse never fails to deliver. He is literary prozac. In the words of Jeeves 'Very Good Sir'.

5 out of 5 butlers make a mean G & T.

Doomed Love By Virgil

"His tall body was left lying headless on the shore, and by it the head hacked from his shoulders: a corpse without a name"

Well, if you've read the quote above you might get the impression that this little book's inclusion in the Penguin Great Loves series might seem a little unlikely. I confess I've been trying to complete the collection because they look cute on my bookshelf and at around 100 pages each, make for a quick nibble of a read.

This particular volume represents an excerpt from the Aneneid which to be honest I thought I'd read before, however my Goodreads  list says otherwise. As a child I was a huge fan of ancient Greek and Roman tales, perhaps my tastes have changed with age. I found the prose of this translation hard going.Making 130 pages of text feel like 1030.

This was another effort to beat the NYE countdown and finish off my reading challenge and I guess it served that purpose.

2 out of 5 loves are doomed

Woman In The Dark by Dashiell Hammett

"She had on a pink wrap­per over a pink silk night­gown and green mules dec­o­rated with yel­low feath­ers."

This one was a last minute quick read to up my tally and meet my reading challenge goal of 120 books for 2015. Okay, I revised down my challenge when I realised 230 was impossible for me to achieve whilst holding down a job and being a functioning human.
A return to the noir world of Dashiell Hammett seemed a no-brainer and this one is a speedy read with some classic noir flourishes, dame on the run after getting mixed up with the wrong crowd... I think you know the drill.
Nowhere near as fun as The Thin Man  or as captivating as The Maltese Falcon. Apparently this work was also adapted into a movie in 1934 starring Fay Wray (from King Kong  fame).
For a more indepth review, I found a great one here at Tipping My Fedora.
3 out of 5 stone cold kissers in this one.

Varney the Vampire by Thomas Peckett Prest

"

"The eyes look like pol­ished tin; the lips are drawn back, and the prin­ci­pal fea­ture next to those dread­ful eyes is the teeth—the fear­ful look­ing teeth—pro­ject­ing like those of some wild an­i­mal, hideously, glar­ingly white, and fang-like."

I had no idea what a marathon i was embarking upon when I commenced reading this never-ending vampire tale. It took me over a year of sheer bloody minded perseverance and and impending new year deadline to finally knock this one over and the fireworks were warranted.

This is the penny dreadful vampire figure so ingrained in our popular culture. This is the kind of melodrama that would have been delightful for a small snippet and yet becomes fiercely tiresome after more than 500 pages and unbearable by the end.

Reading this makes for an interesting exploration of the history of the vampire in popular culture and that is about where the interest wanes. There are moments of entertainment that kept me going, but I continually lost interest, broke off, only to return much later, still confused about where  I was up to.

I have since discovered that the Gutenberg epub that I read missed the final few chapters. Well I won't be actively seeking them out at this stage. I'm calling this one read!

3 out of 5 Gothic moments won't make this worth the 

A Brief History of the Private Life of Elizabeth II by Michael Paterson

"They crowded to look at her at every opportunity and, when she discovered they were disappointed not to see her wearing more jewellery, she obliged by putting on in public every stone she had available"

A quick and easy read which gives an arms length view into the life and times of Elizabeth II. 

Clearly she is a switched on woman with a particularly demanding career. The book highlights the great divide between her need to remain popular, while maintaining the distance and mystique that her office demands.

4 out of 5 royal waves must get exhausting