Breaking The Book Ban Again

This is not my fault, I blame Oxfam for having a day where all books were 49p, I mean really its most selfish. I am naturally just going to buy more books that way and really thats not fair on me. I must write about some very interesting thoughts have been hearing around second hand books at some point, for now will just enlighten you to my purchases.

Two Adolescents - Alberto Moravia

One of Italy's best writers. I have the Woman of Rome in one of my TBR boxes and they are quite difficult to get hold of in general so had to snap this up, must read one as my friend Giorgia recommended him to me over a year ago.

Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

I am so cross with myself admitting this... never read it, and I think out of them all bar of course P&P this will be my favourite because of the Gothic undertones, should this be read before or after Udolpho? I have had that ages. and know it needs to be read, there really are too many books in the world.

The Visible World - Mark Slouka

Have seen this somany times in second hand bookshops and always been tempted so today recklessly just added to my selection.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie O'Farrell

One of my favourite books of last year as another Polly must read gift. Wonderful tale of a lost relative who turns out to be living in a mental institution, absolutely brilliant, very understated and just superb. Must read.

What Was Lost - Catherine O'Flynn

For my Gran as its her book group book a favourite of mine this year, review somewhere below.

The Keep - Jennifer Egan

I bought this for the blurb, I couldnt decide whether the line "then in steps Danny a damaged, cynical, 36-year old New Yorkerwho rarely goes anywhere that isn't wi-fi compatable" made me think this would be one of the most dire (its the word wi-fi) or brilliant modern ghost story, time will tell this has gone quite high on the TBR pile.

Lucia Rising - E. F. Benson

Sometimes you are just meant to walk into somewhere and see something. I have been trying to get this on readitswapit but its like gold dust, I almost settled on one with a really horridly creased cover and then I see this. Will be doing this with Dom at some point, all the first three in the series for 49p, no it doesn't constitute me buying nine books today, and two arent for me anyway.

What Was Lost

Despite the frankly hideous cover, and these can serioulsy put a reader off, I loved this book. Seriously 100% loved this book. Catherine O’Flynn’s debut ‘What Was Lost’ is frankly a wonderful book. The Guardian awarded it debut of the year and it was long listed for both the Orange Prize and the Man Booker Prize. This and the praise from several authors such as Susan Hill and bloggers like Dovegreyreader means that when you start it you either know you are on to a good thing or you are going to be heavily disappointed. I must join the queue of people who will be raving about this book for a long time to come.

The book is set in Green Oaks Shopping Centre in two separate times, the first in 1984 when ‘young detective’ Kate Meaney and her sidekick Mickey a craft kit cuddly toy hide around the centre looking for people who might be criminals on every corner. She then goes missing. In 2003 we join Lisa, an unhappy music store manager and Kurt an unhappy security guard in Green Oaks. How do the two intertwine? Who is the mystery girl seen wandering on the security footage at night? Will anyone ever know what happened to Kate?

I loved the character of Kate so much; I thought O’Flynn got into the mind of a ten year old perfectly. At first I didn’t realise that she was a young girl until on the way to a stake out she buys a copy of ‘the Beano’. O’Flynn writes with humour and in such a way I couldn’t stop reading Kate’s part of the story for lines such as “Kate ate the burger and perused the first Beano of the new year, while Mickey kept a steady eye on some suspicious teenagers below”. She's one of my favourite characters to read in a long time, and I was saddened when I knew that her part of the book had ended.

Another thing that I loved about this book was both its humour and its serious sides. You could read lines like ‘anyone who asked for chocolate limes was a killer’ and yet this book also deals with a missing girl, depression and even suicide. While you are not taken into the mind of a killer which stops this book short of being a crime novel, it is still a mystery novel.

Some people have said the ends tie up too nicely, and in some ways they do but with a point and a purpose. I won’t spoil it; you need to read this book first hand to experience it yourselves. Catherine O’Flynn has created a world that is believable, she was a market researcher and worked in retail so there is a slight consumerism side to the novel, and crafted some wonderful characters. I cannot wait for her next novel she is a voice to be watched.