The Man Who Was Thursday- Reviewed

So, sometimes I judge books by their cover- only in the positive sense though- I may see a cover I really like and buy the book regardless of it’s content. I really like the recent Penguin English Library editions that came out a couple of years ago. I don’t have many, but I do have this edition of G.K. Chesterton’s The Man Who was Thursday. I finally got round to reading it. Synopsis and review after the jump.

Allies and Assasins; Reviewed

 Allies and Assassins. So here's the review.
I am sometimes lucky enough to get myself on a list of the American Book Center in Amsterdam to receive advanced readers copies of novels with the purpose of reviewing them and having that review posted on their blog. I had missed a few but was able over to summer to get hold of an ARC of Justin Somper's

As many of you know from previous rants, Fantasy is not my cup of tea. That being said I tried not to let that have any bearing on my reading of Justin Somper’s Allies and Assassins, because I want to remain as objective as possible in my reviews, regardless of genre.

Allies and Assassins follows the story of Jared- a prince in the fictional realm of Archenfeld, who is thrust into the leaders position of the princedom when his older brother Anders is poisoned. The story focuses both on finding Anders’ killer as well as Jared becoming used to his late brother’s duties to the court and the people of Archenfeld, It soon becomes clear though, that Jared is as much in danger as his brother was, and it falls upon him, as well as a few trusted companions to find out who is after him and perhaps more importantly, the throne.

The novel has a somewhat Game of Thrones vibe, which I enjoyed. I am not a big fan of Fantasy novels- I’m much more of a Sci-Fi geek. Many a time have I heard people say that Sci-Fi and Fantasy are the same thing. It’s one of my pet peeves and I usually take it upon myself to get up from where I’m sitting, insert myself into their conversation, and while they’re dumbstruck by this complete stranger suddenly sitting next to them, I proceed to explain that there really is a difference between the two; but enough about my dysfunctional social life and back to the story. And while this story didn’t really sway me into liking the genre more, I do have to say that I enjoyed it. There is an air of politics and ceremony that add very much to the narrative. Though many of the chractsters are not very animated, some seem downright shoddy, the story progresses fairly smoothly so it helps where the lack of character growth does not. It’s an okay read, though I’m not sure I’d read a sequel, but I never say never. 

You can buy Allies and Assassins here

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Whose Finger is This? A review of Agatha Christie’s The Moving Finger

I haven’t read much Agatha Christie. It’s not because I dislike her work, as many people I know do, but it’s probably because I’ve never really felt like reading about her. I alays presumed her midlife crisis was much more interesting than anything she actually wrote about. The books I have read were good enough that I should really pay more attention to her canon. I read The Moving Finger, more than two years ago, and it was the second Agatha Christie book I’d ever read- the first being And Then There Were none, the book which number of title changes could give Snoop Lion a run for his money-  but before I stray to far, read a summary and review after the jump.

These are my confessions... The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner Reviewed.

I bought this during one of the bookdepository sales and I’ll be honest. I had never heard of James Hogg or the novel (not entirely blasphemous for an English student seeing as how it is Scottish, but scandalous nonetheless).  I bought it because it belonged to the number of books the Penguin English Library brought out last year in fantastic new covers- my goal is to own all of them at some point. So I bought the book and to my surprise it was right up my alley with features like murder, supernatural and crazy people. Short summary and review after the jump

Secret Agent Man. A review of The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad

I had to read this book for a course on the adaptation of literature into film. I didn’t get around to reading all the required texts- The sheer annoyance I felt at the end of Wuthering Heights had a lot to do with it- but I was able to read Conrads The Secret Agent. Read on for a short summary and review after the jump.