Karl's Reading List

Published by Century/Random House: London, 2016. This is the first ever James Patterson book I've read, and I have some mixed thoughts. Firstly, the book is very easy to read. The chapters are short, the sentences are simple, and as a result, I flew through the book at pace. If this is what other Patterson books are like, then I can see why he would be a popular author to read. Secondly, being a co-written book, I am unsure how much of the plot and writing  is Patterson and how much is his collaborator. Apparently, Patterson has written over 200 books, but as many of them are co-written, it is likely that many of his co-writers do the heavy lifting. Thirdly, although the book is easy to read, I'm not sure I would call it 'well-written.' With the chapters being short - and with a lot of plot to get through - the book doesn't dwell very long on any given scene, meaning that the reader doesn't have a lot of time to emotionally invest in anything that is going on. W...

Published by Everyman’s Library/David Campbell Publishers, Ltd: London, 1993. First published 1939. Congratulations to The Grapes of Wrath on becoming my first unfinished Pulitzer Prize winner. There were moments I thought TheAge of Innocence would be it, but Grapes pushed on in by dint of its slow pace, casual blasphemy and coarse characters. Innocence at least had pace, suspense, and clean language. Grapes was long, slow, and often felt grubby. One of the main characters was also a preacher who gave up on being a preacher because he couldn’t stop sleeping with young women who joined his congregation. I persevered with it longer than I should have, due to it being quite well known, but in the end decided to give up on it officially after about 100 pages – out of a 500-plus-page book. In making this entry I have also made a decision, which I plan to apply to both Booker and Pulitzer books from this point on. If I have tried one of those books and given up on it, I will still...

Published by Hicks Smith & Sons Ltd: Wellington, Auckland, revised edition 1954. First published 1947. We three had a few days in a friend’s bach this week, and as is the case when in a new location, the first thing I did was check out the bookshelf (especially as I was struggling with The Grapes of Wrath, which I gave up on soon afterwards). Anyway, out of the fairly meager offerings available, I chose this book on the basis of it being a) not too long, b) not too dark, and c) not a hunting or fishing guidebook. I didn’t really know what I was getting into – particularly as the dust-jacket was missing - but it turned out to be quite unique, and fairly enjoyable. From N to Z is a slightly satirical look at New Zealand, by an author writing in the late 1940s (and revised in the early 1950s). He begins by telling us that “No attempt was made to make it a truthful description of New Zealand and therefore it qualifies as a Guide Book.” (pg 9). This gives the author leeway to ex...

Published as an audiobook by Hodder Children's Books/Hachette Children's Books, 2013. Narrated by Jan Francis. Book 10 in the 'Famous Five' series. Preceded by ' Five Fall Into Adventure. ' Followed by 'Five Have a Wonderful Time.' First published 1951. Some of the tropes of this series are becoming more noticeable as we finally reach Book 10 and enter the double-digits. This entry includes the five going on a journey without adults (as happened in Five Go Off in a Caravan and Five Get Into Trouble , and effectively happened in Five Go Off to Camp ), the mystery unfolds partially because one of the five are involved in a case of mistaken identity (as happened in Five Get Into Trouble and Five Fall Into Adventure ), and adults are side-lined for various reasons that probably wouldn't happen in real life (in this instance, the five decide to report their findings to the police but are dismissed as ragamuffins making things up!). This is not to say th...

Published by Penguin Books: London, England, 1992. Sacred Hunger has an interesting topic, an interesting theme, and interesting characters.  The majority of the narrative takes place aboard a slave-ship as it leaves England, travels to Africa, and begins 'trading' for slaves. Our main protagonist in this section of the ship is doctor Matthew Paris, the nephew of the ship's owner, who has come on the voyage to atone - or punish himself - for actions in his past that he believes led to the death of his wife and unborn child. Paris dislikes the whole venture, but is still willing to be a part of it... this will impact events as they unfold. This part of the book is powerful, fairly graphic in patches, far too coarse for my liking but with enough interest that I decided to give it a bit more time than I normally would have. Scattered throughout this narrative, we also get chapters focussed on Eramus Kemp, the son of the ship's owner, who has a strong and fairly irrational ...

Published as an audiobook by Librivox, read via Fabuly. Narrated by Brenda Dayne. First published 1920. Whoa. This book is intense! And not in the usual way you might think of. The Age of Innocence is the third Pulitzer Prize -winning novel I have read, and is the most unexpected so far. I wasn't expecting a novel written in 1920 and set in the 1870s to be so heavily about the main character considering an affair... but there you go! It is very emotionally charged, with our main character, Newland Archer, growing obsessed with the married-but-separated Madame Ellen Olenska even as he pursues an engagement with the more traditional and (in Newland's eyes) almost ignorantly 'innocence' May Welland. It is apparent from the start that it is not only that Newland finds Ellen 'fascinating', but that he is thrilled and tempted by the very fact that Ellen is unconventional, perhaps a little bit dangerous, and therefore - to him - more 'exciting' than his convent...

Published by Agatha Christie Ltd/Planet Three Publishing: London. No date. First published 1935. Mystery novels are fun, but re-reading them can be less exciting. Well-written ones can still hold interest, but a lot of the fun is trying to figure out, along with the detective, just "whodunnit?" If you know whodunnit, it changes the game a bit. On the other hand, examples like Murder on the Orient Express and (I would suspect) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd might still be interesting on a second read, knowing the outcome, and looking for the clues that point in that direction. Perhaps, however, the way to enjoy re-reading a mystery is to leave long enough between reading and re-reading it. I first read Death in the Clouds in 2017, and in the nine years(!) since then, I seem to have forgotten enough of the plot to get sucked back in. In fact, I even became convinced that I remembered what happened, and ended up wrongly suspecting another character because of my faulty memory. Per...