Summer reading 4: The Explorer + rereads
Book: The Explorer by Katherine Rundell
Amount read: All of it - this was an actual physical book so I feel percentages are inappropriate :)
Thoughts: I really liked this. It's a kids book - I would say aimed at 10-13 year olds probably, so not even what I would call YA. It's got a good sense of realism about what it might actually be like to be stranded in the Amazon - it doesn't romanticise it as much as this type of book often do. I found the explorer himself a little more unlikely as a character but not enough to give me a real problem with the narrative. It clips along well and I found the ending affecting, in a good way.
Overall: Nothing of any great depth, but a pleasure to read.
Book: Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
Re-reading because: I re-read Night Watch and remembered how much I like Pratchett!
Thoughts: I love this one very much because I feel like it's Pratchett's observation of human nature at it's sharpest, particularly when it comes to the description of the different financiers who take over the Grand Trunk. I love Reacher Gilt as a villain but also the fact that Moist is confronted with his crimes and forced to acknowledge that there are actual victims, even if he doesn't know who they are.
Overall: I have read this one many times now, but I still love reading it!
Book: Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett
Re-reading because: Same as above - this is my favourite Watch book, I think.
Thoughts: Yeah, I still love this one. My particular favourite moment is at the end, where Red Dragon, hearing Dorfl speak for the first time, says "You gave one of them a voice? That's blasphemy!" and Vimes replies "That's what people say when the voiceless speak." I also love when Dorfl faces down the assembled clerics at the end.
Overall: Yeah, Pratchett is basically my favourite writer. The way he describes people feels so right to me.
Book: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L Sayers
Re-reading because: I've been re-reading all my Sayers in the order they appear in my e-reader because I just really enjoy her detective fiction.
Thoughts: Actually, this one is rather less interesting to re-read than some of the others because it is more focused on the crime and you get less of Peter as a character, although I do quite like what we see of his relationship with Parker. It turned out that I'd only remembered the first half of the crime plot though, so it was quite fun to re-discover the rest.
Overall: Great if you haven't read it, not so much worth the re-reading as some others.
Book: Unnatural Death by Dorothy L Sayers
Re-reading because: Same as above - this was the last one on my list.
Thoughts: I remembered the motive for this one but had forgotten the method, which was most of the story here, so that was fine. I did find that this one, like the previous one, is quite focused on the mechanics of things rather than developing the characters as much as some of the later ones, but it's an intricate enough puzzle to be pleasing in it's own right.
Overall: Not the best style of plot for re-reading unless you've forgotten some of the details, I'd say.
Amount read: All of it - this was an actual physical book so I feel percentages are inappropriate :)
Thoughts: I really liked this. It's a kids book - I would say aimed at 10-13 year olds probably, so not even what I would call YA. It's got a good sense of realism about what it might actually be like to be stranded in the Amazon - it doesn't romanticise it as much as this type of book often do. I found the explorer himself a little more unlikely as a character but not enough to give me a real problem with the narrative. It clips along well and I found the ending affecting, in a good way.
Overall: Nothing of any great depth, but a pleasure to read.
Book: Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
Re-reading because: I re-read Night Watch and remembered how much I like Pratchett!
Thoughts: I love this one very much because I feel like it's Pratchett's observation of human nature at it's sharpest, particularly when it comes to the description of the different financiers who take over the Grand Trunk. I love Reacher Gilt as a villain but also the fact that Moist is confronted with his crimes and forced to acknowledge that there are actual victims, even if he doesn't know who they are.
Overall: I have read this one many times now, but I still love reading it!
Book: Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett
Re-reading because: Same as above - this is my favourite Watch book, I think.
Thoughts: Yeah, I still love this one. My particular favourite moment is at the end, where Red Dragon, hearing Dorfl speak for the first time, says "You gave one of them a voice? That's blasphemy!" and Vimes replies "That's what people say when the voiceless speak." I also love when Dorfl faces down the assembled clerics at the end.
Overall: Yeah, Pratchett is basically my favourite writer. The way he describes people feels so right to me.
Book: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L Sayers
Re-reading because: I've been re-reading all my Sayers in the order they appear in my e-reader because I just really enjoy her detective fiction.
Thoughts: Actually, this one is rather less interesting to re-read than some of the others because it is more focused on the crime and you get less of Peter as a character, although I do quite like what we see of his relationship with Parker. It turned out that I'd only remembered the first half of the crime plot though, so it was quite fun to re-discover the rest.
Overall: Great if you haven't read it, not so much worth the re-reading as some others.
Book: Unnatural Death by Dorothy L Sayers
Re-reading because: Same as above - this was the last one on my list.
Thoughts: I remembered the motive for this one but had forgotten the method, which was most of the story here, so that was fine. I did find that this one, like the previous one, is quite focused on the mechanics of things rather than developing the characters as much as some of the later ones, but it's an intricate enough puzzle to be pleasing in it's own right.
Overall: Not the best style of plot for re-reading unless you've forgotten some of the details, I'd say.