Stephen King - Insomnia

This book has been gathering dust on my bookcase for longer than I can remember. I don't even remember buying it. I can only guess that I purchased it from some charity shop or book sale at some point. Probably one of the reasons I never got to reading it is because like a lot of King books it is pretty much a brick at 760 pages.


What is worth it? Well I'd say absolutely. Is it my favourite Stephen King book? Nope. It has a long way to go to reach the likes of The Stand, Bag Of bones, Misery, The Long Walk and maybe The Shining. But I'd say it is a typical run of the mill King book all the same. It had all the elements I'd expect. I liked the main characters and I enjoyed the slow build up to the climactic ending which was pretty much a Stephen King ending. When all is said and done big books can take over your life more than a smaller book as long as they are not boring. This wasn't boring. It kept my interest all the way and it has to sit alongside most other books that I have read by Stephen King. I liked the unique twist and hook of this book and the story and it's characters will stay with me for a while and that says a lot.



4/5

K-ON! by Kakifly

Location = Kyoto region of Japan



Well I did say I wanted to travel to lots of places with my reading and I don't think books have taken me to Japan for a good while if ever.

So I've read a Manga! Another first! A Manga is a Japanese comic book and apparently this is a Seinen Manga. Which means it is aimed at young men. And I can see why as it's main characters are tarty looking schoolgirls. In fact there is an argument to be had that all Manga books are aimed at young men with a liking for young girls but that argument is for another time and another place. So what did I think?

It was quite fun to try something different and you can't get much different than Manga. It was a bit of a headache trying to work out how to read it because not only are Manga books read backwards but you also have to work out in which order to read the comic strips. The story is about a group of school friends who form their own rock band to stop the local school music group from closing down. There isn't much more to it than that. It is funny in parts and it kept my interest and I'd just say the story was okay. Or maybe I am a bit old and the story isn't exactly aimed at an old bugger like me. This is volume 1 of the K-ON! story and I'm not sure if I will ever want to read the other volumes but it was cool to read something different and I'd like to read more manga in future just to get to know the genre a bit better. So I don't really know if this is one of the better ones or one of the worst yet.




3/5

Key To Living The Law Of Attraction by Jack Canfield

Location - No location but listened to this as an Audio Book on You Tube.



I probably wouldn't say that I learned anything new from this audio book but I did find it very helpful and inspiring.I really love the idea of the law of attraction and I would say I am a believer and this book includes every you need to know about it. If you are a believer then this would probably make a good read maybe once every few months. If you are new to the subject I wold be surprised if it didn't spark your interest.


It was narrated well (which isn't always the case with audio books) and the background music was soothing and helped. It did get a bit promotional towards the end but I will forgive that because on the whole this is a great listen or read, whatever way you look at it.





4/5

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

Location - Syracuse, a City in New York State. North East USA.



I picked this up at Preston's uclan library as a way to take my mind off my studies. It was just hanging on a shelf as some kind of library promotion and I felt drawn to it. And I must say it's pretty good too.

It is the story of a young girl with a secret that has to cope with the pressures of growing up and surviving life as a 9th grade student. She is awkward. She has no friends and she feels very different. This book is funny in the right places and dark and thought provoking in others. It is easy to read and quite compelling. It keeps the interest right up to the explosive ending.



It has to be a 5/5 for me.

Skellig - David Almond

Borrowed this from work and so pleased I did. It's probably the perfect book for young teenagers. It has everything. Imagination, sadness, mystery but more than anything it is a damn good story.


Enjoyed


10/10



First person.

Storylines

Boy finds strange creature in attic and helps to make it better.
Baby sister is ill, will she get better?

Educational bits - Persephone underground during winter. Owl regurgitating pellets. Blackbird leaving the nest. Bits about human anatomy.

Final climax? Baby gets better after op. Skellig meets Michael and Mina in the attic for the last time and lifts them up and later leaves them a message.

Overall theme of book - Not sure really about that. Love and protection? Looking after people when they are vulnerable? Care of others?

I'm A Stranger Here Myself - Deric Longden

This is the second book I've read by Deric and it is just as good as the other.


He had a knack of writing about everyday things and making them hilarious. I really want to read everything he wrote. This is an easy to read, lighthearted and overall entertaining book. I don't always find funny books funny but this is!

Black Sheep by Susan Hill

'Brother and sister, Ted and Rose Howker, grew up in Mount Of zeal. a mining village blackened by coal. They knew nothing of the outside world. though both of them yearn for escape.'




Things I liked about this book -


I really liked the historical detail. It's like I was actually there. In a coal town in our distant past. I could almost smell the coal dust on my clothes. I also like the characters and how drew me in and helped to make me feel like we I was there.


Things I didn't like -


There was just too much going on for a short novella like this. It's almost as if Susan Hill decided to throw everything, including the kitchen sink, into the story line. What with a missing person, a mining disaster, a murder and a failed marriage, not too mention the ending, it was too much and became a little bit comical and unrealistic. I was almost waiting for a landslide or a plague of locusts to appear.


It started off well and I loved the historical details but as a story I felt like it was trying to cram too much into too few pages.



6/10