If you read my previous blog about Marian Keyes then you’ll know I like her, I like her a lot.  I was foaming at the mouth with excitement when The Brightest Star in the Sky was released.

Having read every one of Keyes’ books I know what I’m in for, tears of both laughter and sorrow.   However, a while after I’ve read each book I only ever remember the funny bits.  I hear women who have given birth say a similar thing, “Oh, you forget the pain.”  I’ve recently been watching Channel 4’s One Born Every Minute, a documentary set on a labour ward and quite frankly I don’t believe them.  I digress, back to the book – you know you’re in for a large smattering of darkness when the epigraph contains a quote from Leonard Cohen’s song Anthem;

‘There is a crack, a crack in everything,
It’s how the light gets in.’

This is preceded by the poem Little Red Riding Hood, containing some less than jovial words;

Once upon a time
I was you
Keeping secret
Being True

What happened child
Of golden hair
What happened then
I wasn’t there….

And now you stand
And stare at me
Your frock is stained
Your knees are green

How do I hold your hand and stay
How do I heal
That death
In May….*

‘Right then Ms Keyes, I see you’re playing hard ball this time.  Lets ‘ave it’ I say to myself, whilst rolling up my sleeves and taking a quick pull on the gas and air.

It is hard to tell who or what the narrator is, first thoughts drift towards it being a ghost, but is it good or bad?  All is revealed later on in the book, so for now we’ll call it the ‘Presence’ and forget all about who or why.

The Presence has been given the address of a large, red brick, Georgian house in Dublin 8.  Having found the property, the Presence is dismayed to find that the house has been divided into four flats, with lots of people buzzing in and out of the building.  It is now up to the Presence to find out which one of the occupants it is destined for.  Through this clever medium we are introduced to the book’s characters.

On the top floor lives Katie, late thirties, works in PR for a record company.  She has a rich, useless and unreliable boyfriend called Conall.  Her friends and family don’t like him, they don’t believe it will last and neither does she.

Lydia lives below, she is a Dublin City cab driver, all sharp edges and a tongue to match.  She shares the flat with two homesick Polish guys called Andrei and Jan.  They find her to be vile and obnoxious.  They call her ‘the evil pixi’ and even have a nickname for her boyfriend – ‘Poor F**ker.’  Lydia doesn’t help matters; since she moved in she has found it highly amusing to put ‘sk’ on the end of words and uses the names of Polish cities as often as possible.  Gdansk replaced ‘thanks’, she’s decided that Minsk makes you sound very peed off, and Irkutsk “you could scare the bejayzus out of someone if you said it right!”

Below them lives lovely, old and wise Jemima and Grudge the dog.  They have just received the news that her foster son, Grudge’s hated nemesis, Fionn is coming to stay for a couple of weeks.  I’m with Grudge on this one – Fionn is annoying and rather surplus to the book’s requirement.

Matt and Maeve, a handsome young married couple, live in the bottom of the house.  The Presence is immediately struck by the obvious love that this pair have for each other, and how happy they seem to be in their daily routine.  Which involves curling up on the sofa together, telling each other of their ‘Daily Act of Kindness’ and writing in their individual notebooks a list of reasons to be cheerful.   It is only after days of observation that the Presence senses that all may not be as well as it seemed.

This book races along at a quick pace, dipping in and out of the individuals’ lives, never getting too bogged down with one plot.  There is the mystery of what this Presence is and who it has been sent to visit.  There are also the threads and secrets of the relationships past and present to work out.  All these factors make this an easy read.

So…is the Marian Keyes super-fan within me satisfied with The Brightest Star in the Sky?  Not entirely.

I struggled to warm to the people in this book, probably due to there being so many of them.  The delicate subjects are broached with Keyes’ impeccable attention to detail and eagerness for “getting it right.”  Given the nature of the subjects covered (no plot ruining from this book reviewer) it’s not really surprising that there are only a few laughs to be had within these pages.  Most of the humour comes through Lydia’s feisty character – so ‘Gdansk’ for that Lydia.

In summary, this is a good read but I would rate all of her previous books far higher.

* to read Christina Reihill’s poem in full follow this link to Sparkle’s poetry group.

Now it’s that dreaded time of making resolutions, beating yourself up for doing so badly at last year’s lot. You’re promising yourself that you’ll do more of the ‘good’ things and hardly any ‘bad’ things. I don’t know about you, but I always find that New Year’s Resolutions are a bit like a child saying a prayer with one eye open – not really a committed to the cause but feeling that it is the right thing to do.

As we’re done with the ‘Noughties’ I thought I’d have a look at what The Times listed as “The 100Best Books of the Decade”. I hang my head in shame and reveal to you that I’ve only read FOUR, 4, IV…yes just four out of 100on The Times list.

Here’s the ones I have read:
No. 57 Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
No. 47 Collected Poems of Ted Hughes
No. 30 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
No. 20 White Teeth by Zadie Smith

In my defense (and I do feel defense is needed here), an awful lot of the books on the list are reference books or about various wars. Which I do plan to read…maybe when I’m very old or locked in a cell with them.

In 2010 I’m going to be starving myself thin and, worse luck, be sober, with that in mind I’ve decided to go easy with myself on the reading front. I’m going to read what the hell I want, even if that ends up being chick-lit-trash. I’m going to be thin and wonderful, so surely I don’t have to prove myself to be a master in literature too

The first few up and coming releases that tickle my fancy are:

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Winner of 2009’s Man Booker Prize. Based in Tudor times when Henry VIII was King. This book has had rave reviews and has definitely managed to sweep aside the snobbery in the literary world towards historical novels. Hilary Mantel has been described as “one of our greatest living writers”. Soon to be released in paperback, I’ll definitely be giving this book a whirl.

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
Based in the early 1950s, a young Irish girl emigrates to New York and finds herself lodging in a crowded house in Brooklyn. She’s lost and lonely at first, but then begins to make friends and eventuallyfinds love. This book is another to have been very favourably reviewed so I’ll buy it in paperback to see what all the fuss is about.

Three Weeks to Say Goodbye by C.J. Box
This author is a rising star on the American thriller writers’ scene. Some of the biggies in his field have said the following:
“In the crowded field of crime fiction, C.J. Box has quickly established himself as an original voice… Box is exploring new territory. He is fresh, captivating, and has something to say.” – Michael Connelly
“One of the best thrillers of the year. It kept me up most of the night, the way few books have ever done. C.J. Box owes me a night’s sleep!” – Tess Gerritsen
“One of today’s solid-gold A-list must-read writers” – Lee Child

Ah see, not a chic-lit novel in sight. I am going to also tackle a biography as promised in one of my earlier blogs. I’d love to hear what you Sparklers have in mind for future reads. Happy, happy New Year.

A Week In December is a beautifully busy book, and does a great job of portraying the diversity of the inhabitants of a huge city such as London. The 7 main characters we follow, across 7 days, are poles apart in their belief systems, wealth and professions. Without actually mentioning the subject, Faulks delves deep into the “six degrees of separation” – he has you fully believing in this theory.

To cleverly weave such a detailed web, without leaving the reader feeling bogged down or confused takes huge talent. Each character’s life is a fully rounded out story in its own merit; not a single one appears to be surplus to the requirements of the story. If this were a play you’d need a cast of 50+ people.

On one page you find yourself on a private jet to Geneva with the odious John Veals. He is a hugely successful hedge fund manager whose only drive in life is to make more money and is on the verge of making the biggest deal of his life.

Another page will find you on the Tube with train driver, Jenni Fortune. She loves her job because she finds being in the dark tunnels beneath the buzz of the city suits her need for escapism. When not in work Jenni spends her time either stuck deep into a book or on Parallax, an online virtual world. Here she takes on the form of a maquette, the out-going Miranda, who unlike Jenni is looking for love and enjoys online dating.

The rest are:

Hassan: a student who gets drawn into an Islamic fundamentalist group.

Gabriel: A young barrister who is struggling for work, is penniless and is nursing a broken heart.

RT: a bilious book reviewer who carries the burden of his own failed writing career like a badge that must be stamped on everything he reviews.

Fin: a school boy addicted to skunk, margherita pizzas and a reality TV show called It’s Madness. Here, in the blackest of humour, Faulks has created a set-up that exposes the farcical and futile world of programmes like Big Brother. Taking this voyeuristic concept a step further towards downright bad taste by describing the “Barking Bungalow” – a house/studio inhabited entirely with people with varying psychiatric problems, setting them ‘tasks’ such as going without their medication for a week.

Spike Borowski : a professional footballer recently arrived in London from Poland.

As ever, Faulks has taken no shortcuts in his research. The detail that goes into describing such things as FSA procedures and shortcuts (John Veals), The Koran and Islamic Law (Hassan), mental illness (within Gabriel & Fin’s stories) is fantastic and is told in such a way that is doesn’t bore the socks off the reader – always a bonus I think

This book could easily be called “The Signs of The Times” as it so accurately describes how the electronic age is slowly whittling away and changing what it means to be human. It shows how just one renegade act can wreak havoc on the lives of thousands. Also, how simply this can all be done without getting ones hands dirty due to the ‘advance’ and so-called sophistication of technology.

A Week In December builds to a gripping end that does not disappoint. The rich, thought-provoking story is one that will be ringing in your ears for a long time to come.

The 19th Wife is a book of two intertwined tales; one is a true story based in 19th century America at the time the Mormon Church was founded and the other is a fictional modern day murder mystery.

The controversial subject of polygamy is central to this book. I chose to read it for the same reasons that I like to watch documentaries on this subject…part voyeurism and partly because I wanted to learn more about something that is so far removed from everything I know.

Half of the book follows the true-life story of historical figure Ann Eliza Young. Her story from birth to death is told using facts from old books and documents and is blended in with a tad of creative writing where there are holes in the accounts of her life. Ann Eliza’s mother and father were close friends of Joseph Smith, the founder of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also known as Mormons.

We get an insight of the genuine love and happiness of her parents’ marriage, and how that was challenged when they we forced due to ‘the will of God’ to take another wife into the family.

Ann Eliza herself became one of the many wives of Joseph Smith’s successor – “The Prophet” Brigham Young. The description of how she came to marry this vile, all-powerful man is frustrating and upsetting, as is the account of the horrendous wagon train journey from the East to the West of America, in a quest to find Zion.

Partly thanks to Ann Eliza Young’s crusade, polygamy is now illegal in America. However, some fundamentalist sects still actively practice polygamy and still profess that it is God’s will.

The book’s other story introduces us to a young gay man, Jordan Scott. He is the son of a prominent member of a polygamist sect, based in the Utah desert. Thrown out of his family and community in his early teens, Jordan is left to fend for himself in a world he knows nothing about. When his father is shot and his mother arrested and charged with murder, Jordon returns to find out the truth.

The juxtaposition of these two stories is just what is needed to drive this book forward. One chapter adds light, where the previous one was dark.

I wasn’t quite prepared for how gritty this book would be, or for how angry I felt on behalf of the women and children (and some men) who suffered under such oppression.

One reviewer called this book “ambitious”, I couldn’t agree more. It’s an epic book in both story and size (605 pages) and I would recommend that you only approach it if you’re feeling ambitious too. All in all I really did enjoy this book. It is well written and has everything you could ask for: love, loss, jealousy, intrigue and family-life in the extremes.

The 19^th Wife has been hugely successful – it has its own beautifully done website and even a trailer. Even if you feel this book isn’t quite up your street, check these out by clicking on the links below…I think you’ll be impressed:

Website & video clip trailer

When I picked up this book I wondered whether its title was a statement about the book’s greatness!

Like A.M Homes’ This Book Will Save Your Life – which incidentally it didn’t, at least not that I’m aware of, although I’m not dead, so who knows!?! Oh I do bang on….

Sooo, The Book of Tomorrow turns out to be a book that our narrator, Tamara Goodwin, finds in a travelling library in rural Ireland. This ‘wonder-book’ doesn’t show its worth until half-way through the novel. The lead up to this tells us why Tamara and her Mother, formally the family of a successful millionaire, find themselves holed up in the middle of nowhere with some very odd relatives.

This kid (16) has had everything she could wish for all of her life, and you are deliberately led to dislike her. She’s an arrogant, rude and unlovable, which makes it really hard to bond with her. But, given her recent turmoil, I decided to stick with her.

Her mum seems to have lost the plot, completely consumed with grief. The only other people around are her Uncle Arthur and his wife Rosaleen. Arthur is a man of few words and Rosaleen…well she is, quite honestly, more than a bit weird. She started to remind me of Rebecca’s (Daphne Du Maurier) Mrs Danvers – never a good thing!

This book is for the most part based within the grounds of a ruined castle in Ireland. The scenery and atmosphere of this place is beautifully described and you really can picture yourself there.

Just as you begin to get a bit bored with the 4 people living in the castle’s gatehouse, in comes Sister Ignatius. She is warm, funny and cooler than you could ever wish a Nun to be! As the friendship between Tamara and the Nun grows you begin to warm towards this petulant teenager. Ssssshush…ok, I ended up really liking her.

The mystery and suspense in this book is not quite what I was prepared for – it is good and it made me want to read on. There is alsoplenty of love and humour. To tell you anymore would be to ruin the story.

I did enjoy The Book of Tomorrow, but it is not amazing and it won’t be in my Top 50 list. It is a good, non-demanding read and you won’t be disappointed with the ending. My only previous experience withCecelia Ahern is when I tried to read PS, I Love You and bottled out at around page 20 because found it too upsetting. I think it caught me at a wimpy stage!

I Capture the Castle

I read this book while away on holiday and actually banged my hand against the sun-lounger at one point because it made me laugh so much.

The focus of this book is a very eccentric, very poor family who, despite their poverty, live in a castle. Cassandra, the youngest daughter is the story’s narrator. She wants to be a writer (just like her father) and spends a lot of time finding her writing style and perfecting her talent by literally “capturing” the castle in her journal.

Cassandra’s father spends all of his time locked in the tower “writing” – his first book was a great hit, but since then he has been suffering from a bout of writer’s block that has lasted over 10 years! His wife is a quirky artists’ model, who is often found wandering the grounds of the castle wearing only a pair of waders! Rose, the eldest daughter, is an affected beauty who is desperate to be ‘saved’ from poverty by a rich, handsome man.

Things start looking up for Rose when a wealthy American family, with two unmarried sons, inherit nearby Scoatney Hall and become the family’s new landlords. For me this is when the comedy of the book really kicks in, with a hideously funny scene involving green arms, a tin bath and two rather bemused young gentlemen!

At times this book is bittersweet, but there is so much humor to be found is this dysfunctional set-up that I’m sure you will love this book. I really do.

Some famous fans of the book are quoted as saying the following:

“I know of few novels—except Pride and Prejudice—that inspire as much fierce lifelong affection in their readers.” – Joanna Trollope

“This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I’ve ever met.” – J. K. Rowling

“I think it is a book that will be very much lived in by many people; because you can live in it, like Dickens.” – Christopher Isherwood

Unfortunately, the film adaptation just didn’t manage to do the book justice – although due to abeautiful set andgreatcast (Billy Nighy & Tara Fitzgerald to name a couple) it is still entertaining in its own right.

I Capture the Castle – film trailer

The entertainment-media is currently buzzing with words like ‘V-Juice’ (slang for vampire blood) and ‘Fang Banger’ (someone who loves vampires). ‘Buffy’ has been around for years now, but this genre has been taken to whole new level with the likes of Twilight, The Vampire Diaries and True Blood. Apparently vampires are now very sexy – if you’ve watched True Blood (currently showing on C4) you’ll know what I mean ;o)

Urban Dictionary website

Stephenie Meyer’s books The Twilight Saga, targeted at the YA (young adult) audience (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse & Breaking Dawn) have had great success in their own right – followed by the phenomenal triumph of the film based on the first book. The highly anticipated sequel based on New Moon is released on 27 November 2009 in UK cinemas.

New Moon Official website

Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is riding on the crest of this wave because, and here I must tell you that reading this did cause a rather wry smile on my face – it is the favourite book of Twilight’s hero & heroin (Bella and Edward)! It has been cleverly repackaged to look very like The Twilight Saga books, and has actually been marketed as “Bella & Edward’s favourite book”!

The classics buyer for Waterstones, said “Wuthering Heights is of course a steady seller, but it’s usually Pride and Prejudice, or whichever classic has recently been adapted for film or TV that is at the top. I don’t think a vampire’s recommendation has ever sent a book to number one before.”

Below are some funny quotes from people who bought the book hoping for more vampire-falls-in-love-with-a-mortal kind of action as in Meyer’s books (oh and please note…the spelling mistakes and bad grammar are nothing to do with me, I’m just quoting):

“I was really disappointed when reading this book, its made to believe to be one of the greatest love stories ever told and I found only five pages out of the whole book about there love and the rest filled with bitterness and pain and other peoples stories through out.”

Thanks for that Sherlock!

“just a question to anyone who has read this book is it in old english or mordern understandable english? if so i want it but it sounds like it’s just the original version with a different cover”

Hee hee, pure glee from Sparkle Books upon reading this question to Waterstones, “mordern” English indeed, I wonder if this kid is related to Lloyd Grossman? )

Whilst we’re on the subject of spooky things – here’s some music that will get you in the Halloween mood!

If I were to ask you for a list of overly used clichés or truism, I think it is fair to say that ‘never judge a book by its cover’ is going to be up there in the top ten. We like it because it’s good advice and works for us on so many levels.

One of the few levels it doesn’t really work with though is with BOOKS. We do judge by the cover – we have to, it’s initially all we have to go on. Because to throw another cliché in ‘first impressions count’! Had I poured my heart, soul and time into a literary piece, you can bet your granny that I’m going to give my all into making sure the cover of my book shouts across the room at you, draws you in to buy and tells my story within those few seconds it takes for your mind’s eye to make a judgement.

Bearing all the above in mind – upon first seeing the cover of The Gargoyle my subconscious has already told me that I lurrrrrve this book! It has become a huge glass of Chateauneuf-du-pape, it’s curled up in a worn leather winged Chesterfield chair and it’s a warm glow on my face from a roaring log fire. Yes…all this is conjured up from the depth of rich red and golden colours on the cover, and the black-stained edges or the book’s leaves.

With a closer look I’m thrilled with the promise of depth and the possibility of a challenge. Strewn across a flame engulfed heart-shape are the words of Eckhart von Hochheim (German theologian, philosopher and mystic): “Love is as strong as death, as hard as hell”.
Not only is the heart one that is burning, it also contains a thunder bolt and the image of a gruesome gargoyle.

Oh yes please. Love, hell –fire and gruesomeness, I’m hooked already.

You already know that I’ve set myself up for a fall, don’t you?

Smack-bang-wallop my comfy chair is turned up-side-down, and my precious wine has been spilt. I’m rolling down a cliff side in a burning car…..

I initially just don’t ‘click’ with him. I must add that this has nothing to do with the hideous amount of ‘recreational’ toxins he has consumed before getting into his car, or the bottle of bourbon he’s swigging from as he’s driving.

The inevitable happens – he crashes his four wheel time-bomb. This is no minor bump, the vehicle is plummeting down a mountainside. It’s not looking good for our man. At this point I’m just really glad that some innocent, sober, bystander isn’t involved. (All this whilst despising myself for coming across like some do-gooder Esther Rantzen – Mrs Rantzen I am NOT).

The car catches fire and so does he, aided and abetted by the aforementioned bourbon! What follows is a graphic, almost scientific description of what happens to the human body when set alight. If this were on television I’d have my hands firmly placed over my eyes – with the odd gratifying peak through my fingers.

I have to read on now, because this book doesn’t seem to be doing ‘what it says on the tin.’ I was promised love – a “journey (that) will have you believing in the impossible.” But my ‘hero’ is toast!

Dear Sparkle Bookies, please read on – this book very quickly becomes everything you want it to be and more than you could have imagined. I can’t wait to discuss the in-and-outs of it with you.

It has everything from social misfits to medical drama, beautiful medieval fairytales to messed-up childhoods in modern social care. “The Gargoyle” doesn’t fit into any category, that’s what makes it so great. You’ll grow to like our ‘hero’ – but I like the ‘heroine’ more!

And finally (this is not a ‘spoiler’)….somewhere within this book you’ll get the early-promised love!