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World Without End

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Ken Follett

October 02, 2008
I have been waiting for this book for years.... and now when I have read it, I hope it was never written. IT does not at all live up the the Pillars of earth. Neither does it compare to some of the other good books Ken Follet has written. 150 pages less and it might have been ok. I try to end all the books I start, but this was heavy. The story line was light, some of the "histories" within the story are totally out of scope (like nuns in french war). I read 6 books in my vacation. This was the worst.

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Seven Troop

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Andy McNab

September 12, 2008
After reading Bravo Two Zero and Immediate Action a long time ago as a young soldier, I still cannot bring myself to read a fiction book from Andy McNab; not because they might not be good but because of the first two books being non-fiction. However, as soon as I discovered that he had created a new book of his personal stories I broke my pledge of "no more war stories" and bought it.

The book does build upon Immediate Action but it has an underlying and consistent message, one that I unfortunately witnessed in some ex-Falkland paras. Without telling the lay of the book and thereby removing the enjoyment for other readers, what I will say is that the story follows a young trooper meeting "brothers in arms" and what can result ... Read More:

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The Believers

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Zoe Heller

September 25, 2008
There was such an enormous amount of expectation surrounding the arrival of this book for me - five years on, could anything come close to the assured masterpiece that is Notes on a Scandal? The answer is absolutely yes.

It's a very different book to Notes - ostensibly an `American novel' while Notes was so solidly British. It's about a dysfunctional Jewish family (the Litvinoffs) in New York who are trying, in the light of a family emergency and the consequent uncovering of a devastating secret, to work out what (and who) they believe in.

Darkly funny, subtle and deliciously written, The Believers is, by a long shot, one of the best literary novels I have read in years. And Audrey Litvinoff, the mother hen in the book, ... Read More:

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Watchmen

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons

September 25, 2008
I bought this comic based partly on the positive feedback it has received and the hype surrounding it; however such hype can create unrealistic expectations. That isn't to say Watchmen isn't a fantastic work of fiction, simply it wasn't what I expected.

The story begins with an intriguing murder mystery that helps to introduce one the books greatest characters, Rorschach. After this promising start the story slows down considerably with the majority of the book dedicated more to the development of the main characters rather than the story itself. The deliberate slow pacing and exploration of the inner landscape can make reading Watchmen difficult as developments in the main story take an age to develop.

Some of the characters in ... Read More:

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Silks

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Dick Francis, Felix Francis

September 04, 2008
Fear and gross inhumanity gain the edge in this new story by father & son writers Dick and Felix Francis. Previously they wrote "Dead Heat" together; Felix has also sleuthed much background material over the years. In "SILKS" they build on a successful pattern that had been enhanced by the sensitive touch of Dick Francis' late wife Mary.

The familiar locales, racetracks, pubs, roundabouts, flowered countryside form a background for an informative under-story woven throughout this narrative: a history of the English system of courts & law. It is a satisfyingly palatable way to understand some of the differences between 'their ways' and ours in the USA. And how about staying the night in that fascinating Oxford hotel transformed from local ... Read More:

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No Time For Goodbye

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Linwood Barclay

June 12, 2008
I really enjoyed this novel. A fascinating concept - that a teenage girl wakes up one morning to find her entire family has gone. Just disappeared without a trace...And then she has to wait 25 years and to the making of a documentary about her life to find out the truth.
Fast paced, with excellent three-dimensional characters, I raced through this book in no time - it is truly unputdownable! I've heard a lot said that it's 'far-fetched' and has 'unecessary twists' and though this may be true, it is still great story-telling. I do feel that it's believable enough to hold your interest and the outcome, though given away a little easily, is worth the wait.
Highly recommended...

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Anathem

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Neal Stephenson

September 01, 2008
Stephenson is probably my favourite author so I waited with bated breath for his latest, Anathem, and have just finished reading it for the first time.

The story is set on a fictional world which is divided in basically 'doers' and 'thinkers'. An event occurs which upsets the whole stability of this world.

It is not as accessible as his other titles, using as it does a fictional language to describe many ordinary things and does not rattle along like many of his other books. There is a large amount of philosophical discussion which can be rather dense, particularly when using the made-up language. I've also a feeling that you'll learn a lot about orbital mechanics while reading it. However, by the end of it, I think I understand what he was talking ... Read More:

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The House at Riverton

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Kate Morton

June 15, 2007
This book takes place in the beggining of the 1900s. It is ideal for those who like rich English family novels full of intrigues. The book is told on first person by the servant of the house that is now on her late 90s. Thus, the author keeps going back and fowards in time. During her years as a servant, a man kills himself and the only witnesses are two sisters, who after that will never talk to each other again. The story unravells the mystery.
the only aspect I didn't like of this book is that the author keeps on revealling what will happen before it actually does. In spite of this, the ending still came as a total surprise to me.

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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Stieg Larsson

July 24, 2008
For someone who normally reads one chapter of a book each night before bed, I found myself reading chapter after chapter with this one - it was so riveting I could not put it down.
Once the characters are developed in the first few chapters, the story takes on a pace which gets more and more exciting as it heads towards it's crescendo. Excactly as all good stories should be.

I can't wait for the next installment!

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The Outcast

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Sadie Jones

June 16, 2008
I didn't like Lewis when I started to read but found that as he got older I became sympathethic towards his delicate mental state.
The loss of his mother and the way that was handled by his father and the rest of the society had a dramatic impact on his adult personality which developed throughout the book.
The 1950s society is shown in a very negative way with the stiff upper lip and no acknowledgement of any type of mental frailty.
All the way through the book I just wanted to hug Lewis but still felt that it wouldn't have made me like him any more. That said, his character was very believeable and totally real.
The book cleverly tackles many subjects which are talked about more openly in today's society but in the 50s were hidden and shameful. It is a scarey ... Read More: