Monthly Archives: January 2012
Up to 80% off – 24hs, 24 offers, 24 books – Book Depository
**ATTENTION ALL BOOK LOVERS**
The Book Depository is running a 24 hour campaign with discounts up to 80% off RRPs.
The campaign will be launched on Thursday the 2nd of February at noon GMT.
They have a limited quantity of 24 great books and each hour they will be offering one of these at a superb price, for one hour only, or until the stock runs out.
Don’t miss out, and remember: they offer free delivery all over the world!
For more information, visit their website.
The Angel’s Game
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Using the same universe of The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel’s Game takes us to Barcelona in the 1920’s. Although it is not a proper prequel, because the story is very different and has no connection to that of the first book, we again see the Cemetery of the Forgotten Books and the Sempere & Sons Bookshop.
This time, David Martin, a young writer disappointed with his love and professional life, accepts the offer of a mysterious editor to write a book that could “change the world” – but not for a cheap price.
The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Set in Germany during World War II, this could be another book amongst millions that explore the war period with a dramatic story on top. Huge mistake. The Book Thief is simply a masterpiece and should be in the bookshelves of every person in the world. So what makes it so special?
A Song of Ice and Fire – A Feast for Crows (book 4)
Author: George R.R. Martin
**CAUTION: IT DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE PREVIOUS BOOKS**
After the slaughter of several important characters in the previous book, one had to wonder who was left to tell the story and how the author was going to keep it up. The answer is plain and simple: a whole bunch of new POVs. 6 they are: The Prophet / The Drowned Man (Aeron “Damphair” Greyjoy); The Captain of the Guards (Areo Hotah); The Princess in the Tower / The Queenmaker (Aryanne Martell); The Kraken’s Daughter (Asha Greyjoy); The Soiled Knight (Ser Arys Oakheart) and The Iron Captain / The Reaver (Victarion Greyjoy). Additionally to them, there’s also 6 POVs already known to us from the previous books (thankfully, otherwise I would not follow it so eagerly): Cersei and Jaime Lannister; Samwell Tarly; Brienne of Tarth; Arya Stark / Cat of the Canals and Sansa Stark / Alayne Stone. All the above with a slash between names mean that character has chapters of his own with two different names – confusing, if you are not paying too much attention on the new characters. Also, the prologue is told by a novice of the Citadel.
Said that, I found the first two hundred pages a bit boring and struggled to get past it, but persistence paid off – once the story caught up, I couldn’t stop reading.
The Silent Girl
Author: Tess Gerritsen
First of all, I like Tess Gerritsen’s books very much, in particular the ones with Detective Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles, a forensic pathologist whom I usually compare and put at the same level as Kay Scarpeta (Patricia Cornwell’s character).
The Silent Girl, though, disappointed me. I read the book until the end, but only because I don’t like to leave a story unfinished, and also because I was hoping it would get better, which it didn’t.
A body is found in Boston’s Chinatown, which brings Rizzoli to the investigation and Maura Isles to do the autopsy – and she finds two non-human hair strands in the clothes of the victim. This murder is soon connected to a tragedy that occurred 17 years ago, also there in Chinatown. Read the rest of this entry
The Shadow of the Wind
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
I’m not someone who sheds tears for a book, at least not very easily, and only a few books have made me cry – The Shadow of the Wind is one of them.
Daniel Sempere is taken by his father to a secret place called Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library full of old and rare titles, where he must choose a book (or perhaps be chosen by one), and take care and protect it for the rest of his life. He picks up “The Shadow of the Wind”, written by Julián Carax.
The Library of Shadows
Author: Mikkel Birkegaard
When Luca Campelli, the owner of a second-hand bookshop called Libri di Luca, in Copenhagen, oddly dies, his son Jon inherits the bookshop, even not wanting it initially. Days after his father’s death, with whom he had not had contact from more than 20 years, someone tries to burn the shop, so Jon decides to take a better look into his family’s past, discovering that Libri di Luca was not just a regular bookshop, but a place of meeting for a secret society of booklovers with powers to manipulate and induce people’s feelings and actions while a book was being read. Now Jon and those helping him are in danger and must fight for their survival.
It has been a long time since I read this book, but I remember I was not that impressed after finishing it. The idea of touching people’s feelings in a particular way through a book is very interesting (when not used for bad purposes, of course), but there are too many cliches and some things are simply too much and overrated.
Buy The Library of Shadows from: The Book Depository or Amazon.
Filth
Author: Irvine Welsh
Filth is, by far, my favorite Irvine Welsh’s novel. It is hilarious, depressive, revolting and disgusting, but a page-turner all the same.
Detective-Sargeant Bruce Robertson is a corrupt and sociopath “polis”, cocaine addicted, who hates everyone and plays these foul games of his with people (especially his workmates) to see them disgraced and out of his way – “how does it make you feel?” is a common question is his mind.
He is designated to investigate and solve the murder of a young black guy, which, by the way, happens in the prologue but doesn’t develop too much along the book, as the main plot is about Bruce and his sick behavior.
The Broken Window (A Lyncoln Rhyme Novel)
Author: Jeffery Deaver
Lincoln Rhyme, the famous quadriplegic forensic criminalist from “The Bone Collector”, is asked to take a look at his cousin’s case – Arthur was convicted of murder but vehemently denies having committed it – and it turns out the crime scene and all details are way too perfect, as if someone had planted the evidences to incriminate his cousin. From here, Rhyme and his team come across a series of crimes with the same characteristics, and a big data-mining company comes to light and is sort of involved.
