Sunday 4 October 2015

What I've Been Reading | September 2015


September 2015 was a good reading month for me, as I had a week off and was able to get my teeth into the above beauties, plus an audiobook. Read below for details.


Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

I'm not always keen on YA books these days as they are sometimes written in a way that I find quite dull (I'm looking at you, The Maze Runner). However, having heard multiple book tubers raving about this series I decided to pick a copy up. The story follows Celaena, a notorious young assassin who was captured and forced into slavery in a salt mine. At the start of this book she is whisked away from her miserable slavery existence to compete in a deadly competition to become the chief assassin for the odious King of the country. However, in the midst of this fight to the death against other criminals, assassins and warriors, Calaena stumbles on a more dangerous magic hidden inside the royal court itself.

The book's plot is quite fast paced and whilst the characters themselves remain slightly one dimensional, it is absorbing enough to be forgiven that. I was intrigued enough to purchase the next book in the series.


Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis

This is another book from the Marcus Didius Falco series, following Falco, an informer in Ancient Rome. Following directly on from the previous book I read, Falco returns to Rome to find his apartment has been abused by squatters and his mother is hosting one of his older, war hero brother's friends. This friend, however, is not what he seems and is seeking repayment of an old debt - and things become even more complicated when this friend is found dead and Falco is the chief murder suspect. 

I really enjoyed this novel as the story gave us an opportunity to explore Falco's family a bit more, particularly his absent father. Whilst keeping with the historical setting, Davis never fails to make these characters seem incredibly human. There are a couple of twists in the tale towards the end which really make this book an enjoyable and touching read. 


Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

Following on from Throne of Glass above, I was pleased to find that the world building and character development, some of which had been missing a little from the first book, were improved and expanded here. Without going into too much detail, this book had some good plot twists and some important set up, I suspect, for the next books (of which there are currently 2). A decent read and entertaining.


Victoria: A Life by A N Wilson

I really enjoyed this one and offered a review of it to a history blog I guest review for. That review can be checked out here. Readable biography which didn't feel as long as it appears.


The Inspector and Mrs Jeffries by Emily Brightwell

This little Victorian mystery follows a young Police Inspector, who is not very good at solving crimes and is secretly assisted by his housekeeper, Mrs Jeffries. The plot of this book centred around the poisoning of a local doctor and follows the usual collection of 6-8 suspects. There was some amusement to be had from the premise and the story was reasonable. I enjoyed this for what it was but I won't be reaching for any of the sequels any time soon.


The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Recently having subscribed to Audible, one of my first selections was this novel, which has been referred to as the new Gone Girl. Having read Gone Girl and found it mildly disappointing, I was hoping for more from this one.

I was not disappointed and I would say that this was much better than Gone Girl. The story centres around Rachel, a woman who commutes every day on the train past the same sets of houses. She watches the residents out of the windows and becomes interested in one couple in particular, until the woman in the house is reported missing in the newspapers. What follows is a rollercoaster of a story, as you soon discover that all is not what it seems and you begin to question whether Rachel is as reliable a narrator as you thought.

I enjoyed this one a lot and found it particularly stimulating to have it as an audiobook. The novel has 3 narrators and so the change in narrative voices on the audiobook made it easy to follow and powerful. I would recommend this one - if you're savvy you'll work out the conclusion before the end, but it's still well worth reading.

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