QUARTERLY ROUND UP: Jan-March 2016

I have read far, far more books than usual this quarter (because I was laid up in bed for much of it), so it's been harder than usual to choose just ten for the 'highlights' out of the 45-ish I've read or started to read. I've been fortunate to find a high percentage of gems over the past three months, too, so all those in my top ten are those to which I've given either 5 stars or my extra special 5 GOLD stars.  They range from a classic, to the traditionally published, to a couple from small independent presses, to self-published. 

I've also read lots of great books to which I've given 4.5* which you can find HERE, and all the 4* are HERE .

A click on the title will take you to the review, and I've also written a quick line to say how I discovered the book, as I think this is interesting for both readers and writers alike.  I've listed them in the order I read them.

I've linked most of the authors' Twitter handles so you can follow them if you wish, too.

1. DO NOT WASH HANDS IN PLATES by Barb Taub

Non-fiction/Humorous travel memoir/India

 

I bought this after reading Barb's extremely funny blog @barbtaub on Twitter 

2. THE HERETIC HEIR by Gemma Lawrence

Tudor historical fiction

I got to know the author via Twitter @TudorTweep because of our mutual interest in the Tudors

3. LEAVING THE BEACH  by Mary Rowen

Quirky contemporary drama about eating disorders and music

I read the author's other book after reading a guest post by her on a book blog, and thought she sounded interesting; liked this one even more. @maryjrowen  on Twitter.


4. THE FABRIC OF MURDER by William Savage 

18th Century Murder Mystery

I read the author's first book in my capacity as a member of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team.
I liked it so much I've read and reviewed both his others; this is my favourite. @penandpension on Twitter.


5. OCTOBER RAIN by Dylan Morgan  

Dystopian/Sci-Fi Novella

A Rosie Amber's Review Team choice
 @dylanjmorgan on Twitter


6. THE ART OF STAYING DEAD by Joel Hames  

Conspiracy thriller 

I read Mr Hames's first book (discovered via a promotional tweet); didn't like the subject matter but loved the way he writes, so thought I'd give this one a go.
@BankersTown on Twitter


7.  BLACKWATER by Alison Williams

17th century witch hunts, novella
 

Discovered the sequel via Twitter ages ago, and for some reason had never got round to reading this, too - glad I did!
@Alison_Williams on Twitter


8. FIVE BOOKS  by Jon Krakauer

Non-fiction: adventure/religion/injustice/mountaineering

I discovered the books of Jon Krakauer earlier in the year and decided to lump them all together as they're all brilliant!  Above is the link to Under The Banner of Heaven, with links to my reviews of the others.


9.  THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London  

Classic; 19th goldrush century adventure

I read about this in one of Jon Krakauer's books, so thought I'd give it a whirl.   


10. JASPER: Book Two of the Tudor Trilogy by Tony Riches 

Plantagenet/Tudor historical fiction

A Rosie Amber Review Team choice.  Author is @tonyriches
on Twitter 

   

Hope there's something there that interests you!

 

LEAVING THE BEACH by Mary Rowen

5 GOLD stars

Contemporary drama ~ psychological ~ music

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

I read Mary Rowen's other novel, Living By Ear, about a year ago and liked it very much indeed, but hadn't got round to reading this as I knew it centred round a woman's struggle with bulimia, not a subject in which I have much interest.  Then I decided to give it a go - and I'm so glad I did.  It's nothing like the serious, emotional drama I expected.  Yes, of course it centres around this eating disorder, but the story's about so much more; Erin Reardon's bulimia is only one element of her bizarre, chaotic life.  Whether it is a symptom or the cause of the all the problems, it may be up to the reader to decide (or maybe Mary Rowen knows best of all).

'A novel of obsession and music' ~ lots of music.  Great to read about the rock stars and songs of my younger days (and yes, I agree, Erin, Station to Station was totally Bowie's best album, and the title track one of his best five ever).  It's about college, loneliness, growing up and feeling fat, ugly, isolated and wanting to impress, sex, delusion and obsession.  Lots of obsession, too.  The younger Erin lives in a cloud of serious erotomania with an ever changing cast of targets: her friend Colin (who's engaged to her friend Suzanne), rock star Lenny Weir, Jim Morrisson, David Bowie ~ and don't forget Elvis Costello...  She tries to blot out her loneliness with music, alcohol, and the endless cycle of junk food bingeing and purging.

The books alternates between the past, starting in Erin's mid teens in 1978 then moving onto her college days, and later chapters that take place when she's aged 28-30.  Although the subject of the novel is no laughing matter, it's often funny, in a dark sort of way, and there are some brilliant side characters: her boss and casual sex partner Salon Don, ghastly college friend Toni, and her mixed up, lonely mother.  I loathe the word 'quirky', but it's the best one I can think of to describe it.  It reminds me a bit of Catcher in the Rye, a bit of Alex Garland's The Beach ... I haven't read anything quite like it before, it's very unusual, different, and fabulously well written ~ Mary Rowen has talent oozing from her fingers!

Life changes for Erin after Elvis Costello, and again when she hitches a lift with a man called Luke ... there's a brilliant twist near the end that I didn't guess at all, very skillfully done indeed.

Loved it :) 

ps: Mary, I've had 'TVC15' playing in my head ever since I read it....

Living By Ear by Mary Rowen reviewed HERE 

LIVING BY EAR by Mary Rowen

5 out of 5 stars 

Contemporary drama, romance, music 

On Amazon UK HERE

On Amazon.com HERE

I'd never come across Mary Rowen before but I read a very interesting interview with her on A Woman's Wisdom blog, which you can see HERE , thought this book looked good and downloaded it straight away.  I had a quick look at it to see what it was like, thinking I'd get to it at some point over the next couple of months - but I just kept reading it!

Ms Rowen is a terrific writer, so talented.  I loved every bit of this, there were no boring bits to skip read, no sections that sounded a bit contrived or unfeasible, and it all just flowed, so smoothly.  I love books about the music industry by people who know what they're talking about, and I was certainly not disappointed by this.  Chris Daley is a rainbow haired, freedom loving busker in the early 1990s who ends up married to a successful Boston lawyer, Jon, along with the whole suburbia and two kids bit.  She still hankers after her old life, though, and her old musician boyfriend, Curt.  We first meet her during her divorce from Jon, and the story is built up by flicking back and forth from present to past, a structure that always works for me.  Another thing I liked about this book was that it wasn't predictable; there were a couple of plot developments I guessed but more I didn't, and even at 80% I still hadn't got a clue how it was going to end up!

Don't know who this is, but she made me think a bit of Chris!

Chris Daley is a very 'real' character - very occasionally she got on my nerves (she seemed to be under the impression that it was all about HER at some points, and I felt sympathy for Jon), and at times I wanted to shake her because she couldn't get a grip and do the best thing for herself, but on the whole I liked her and felt I would have got on with her.

I'm so glad I found this, by a chance read of a blog post!  I shall certainly be getting Ms Rowen's other novel at some point in the not too distant future.  I'd recommend it to anyone who likes to read about musicians, but you don't need to have any knowledge of or interest in music to enjoy it as much as I did; essentially, it's just a contemporary drama about family, love, disappointments, hopes and dreams.  Well done, Mary, I hope you're really proud of this - and nice one, too, for the two mentions of Aerosmith, but I suppose in a music orientated novel set in Boston this is bound to occur!