Skip to main content

The one you have been waiting all year for - The Big Review of the Year 2014!

Another year has gone racing past which for the book club means 13 more books have been read and reviewed (No we don’t exist in some different calendar world, we did a double bill in January). In a nutshell these are the ones we read starting with January 2014.

The Silent Wife by ASA Harrison. Score 5.5. This had the widest split of scores (10 to a 4) but in general we hated the lead character which effected our overall enjoyment.

Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James. Score 7.5. Very English, didn’t stray too far from the original which we liked but not a brilliant crime novel when you think who the author was.

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. Score 7.3 liked by all, funny but with interesting points to discuss.

The Cuckoos Calling by Robert Galbraith. Score 7.5. We said it would make a good TV show and low and behold its going to be one! A successful second venture into the non-wizarding world. Looking forward to reading Silkworm

The Hidden Child by Camilla Lackberg. Score 5.5. Most disappointed by this one. It had the most potential but too many elements and a too unbelievable husband and wife team got in the way of a good story.

Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach. Score 6.5. Most thought provoking dealing with very of the moment issues.

Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse. Score 5. Easy enough to read but very similar to other books on the market right now

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan. Score 5.5. Like an ice sculpture perfectly formed but lacking warmth

Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope 4.5. Introducing Marianne and Elinor to twitter was a step too far for us

The Goldfinch Donna Tartt. Score 7.66 recurring rounded up to an 8. The longest but in some ways the best.

Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer. Score 7.3. ‘Easy to read with good characters but it didn’t blow me away and I won’t remember it in 6 months’ time’

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. Score 5. Unanimously loved the beginning but thought it became more silly as it went on

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. Score a festive 9. Short, sweet and Christmassy.


Those were the books and these are the Cramlington Book Club Awards for 2014!;

Lowest Score – Sense and Sensibility

Highest Score – The Polar Express but if you take away festive cheer then it was The Goldfinch

Most Forgettable – Sweet Tooth. I had to read nearly all of my review before I remembered the storey.

Most Recommend – The Rosie Project. I look back with most fondness on this one.

Overall not as many standout books as last year and a few of them left me disappointed (Her Fearful Symmetry, The Hidden Child and The Silent Wife mostly). There were some definite talking points though (Kiss Me First) and as I got The Silkworm for Christmas there will definitely be a revisit to Comoran Strike, probably my favourite character of all year.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mount by Jilly Cooper #inbetweeny

I'll start this blog with a warning, this post does contain spoilers. So if you haven't read the book then please don't read this blog, yet. Of course you should read this post just wait a little while until you've read the latest installment of Rupert Campbell Black (RCB). Warnings out of the way I'll begin. I was massively looking forward to reading this book having hugely enjoyed the previous ones. RCB is my (not so) secret trashy pleasure and has been for many years. This book had all the ingredients of a classic, pages of wonderfully named characters, a few tortured souls and of course RCB with all his horses, dogs and now grandchildren. The book got off to a good start full of characters from old but also plenty of new ones to mix it up a bit. The horse's really played a starring role in this book but I also really loved Gav and at first Gala. Yep only at first as she went strongly down hill and I bet you can guess why. RCB. Here is where I fell o...

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

When telling people which book I was reading for the book club I was surprised by the number of people who had already read it. Kind of like when you book a holiday to somewhere you have never heard of and suddenly everyone as been. Nobody had a bad word to say about it which is pretty rare so I was really looking forward to reading it. My auntie very kindly gave me a copy so I didn't need to buy it however it was widely available in Asda , Sainsburys (I told you we didn't buy food only books in Cramlington supermarkets) and Amazon stocked it quite cheaply. It was quite a large book - 500 odd pages but was a paperback, with short paragraphs and relatively short chapters. It was one of three, the others being The Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who kicked the Hornets Nest known collectively as the Millennium Trilogy. I was intrigued to find out that Larsson died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2004. He lived an interesting life that can perhaps be said to be reflected...

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanthi

I expected to be emotionally drained after reading this one and to be honest (in a weird kind of way) I didn’t mind the thought that I would be. This was backed up by the introduction describing a brilliant young man whose writing was breath taking and whose story was devastating. Emotional rollercoaster of epic proportions was surely in store. I didn’t mind the beginning of the book although I was slightly surprised when we delved so deeply into Kalanthi's past in what was only a slim book. I was willing to gloss over the large number of references to his search as a youth to finding the meaning of life and what makes us, us as after all this was written by someone forced to ponder that very question. I also found the medical training he did vaguely interesting, I appreciated the reverence he placed in relation to the cadaver he was required to cut open as part of his medical training. However when it became apparent the actual portion of the book to do with him receiving hi...