The Bookworm Chronicles

Sherlock (2012)

jessicabookworm — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:00:52 +0000

I know! I listed I would be reviewing Neverland (2011) next but I just couldn’t contain myself about Sherlock any longer, and seeing as it is more recent I thought I would discuss while it is still a hot topic. It has been a long wait for the second series, as Sherlock fans will sympathise with. The first series of this ground-breaking fresh take on the classic Conan Doyle stories was first shown waaaay back in 2010! Sherlock is the brain child of Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat; and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock, Martin Freeman as Dr Watson, Mark Gatiss as Mycroft, and Andrew Scott as Moriarty.

As before the series consisted of three episodes:

A Scandal in Belgravia - After escaping a bizarre stand-off with master criminal Moriarty. Sherlock starts investigating a rural slaying when he and Dr Watson are summoned to Buckingham Palace. Dominatrix and escort Irene Adler has incriminating photos of a female member of the royal family which Sherlock is engaged to retrieve. However, having engineered a meeting with Irene, Sherlock realizes that she has far more dangerous evidence in her possession.

The Hounds of Baskerville - Twenty years earlier, aged seven young Henry Knight saw his father torn to pieces by a monstrous creature at Dewer’s Hollow near their Dartmoor home. Now Henry has seen the footprints of a huge beast and suspecting that the nearby Baskerville government research station is breeding mutant animals calls in the help of Sherlock and Watson.

The Reichenbach Fall - Moriarty comes close to stealing the Crown Jewels to prove it might be done but is real goal is Sherlock. When Sherlock rescues two children abducted by his enemy, his brilliantly accurate deductions that lead him to the children, are now leading the police to believe that he may have been an accomplice in the kidnapping. The more Sherlock tries to fight the tighter the noose of Moriarty’s trap tightens.

Now I loved the new film Sherlock Holmes: A Games of Shadows (2011) which also looked at Conan Doyle’s tale The Final Problem, but it was not a patch on this series! What I love about this series is just how fresh it is, however this show seems to have the marmite effect on people (you either love it or hate it). Some people I know don’t like the move away from the traditional approach, but in fact that is what I love about it. For example in the new episode of The Hounds of the Baskerville there is reference to mind altering drugs which cause people to see a monster hound. Of course back when these stories were written there would be no such thing. However Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock lives in the 21st century so the solutions to the problems have to be 21st century to. Personally I think the updating of these stories has been done so well and so cleverly, hats off to Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (he has been a favourite of mine for a while though!).

Sherlock is bold, it is edgy, laugh out loud, bang up-to-date, and thoroughly enjoyable to watch. If you are a staunch traditionalist bookworm though I feel it won’t be for you, this is more suited to the adventurous bookworm who is always craving something a bit different!

See also:

Other Reviews:

The Book Jotter
(You?)

Review Copy: The Unfinished Song: Initiate – Tara Maya

jessicabookworm — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:00:07 +0000

I must apologise to poor Tara Maya as she sent me this book quite a while ago but I have been so busy with so many other posts that it has taken me awhile to get round to presenting this book to you, so here goes:

The Unfinished Song: Initiate - Tara Maya

‘A DETERMINED GIRL…

Dindi can’t do anything right, maybe because she spends more time dancing with pixies than doing her chores. Her clan hopes to marry her off and settle her down, but she dreams of becoming a Tavaedi, one of the powerful warrior-dancers whose secret magics are revealed only to those who pass a mysterious Test during the Initiation ceremony. The problem? No-one in Dindi’s clan has ever passed the Test. Her grandmother died trying. But Dindi has a plan.

AN EXILED WARRIOR…

Kavio is the most powerful warrior-dancer in Faearth, but when he is exiled from the tribehold for a crime he didn’t commit, he decides to shed his old life. If roving cannibals and hexers don’t kill him first, this is his chance to escape the shadow of his father’s wars and his mother’s curse. But when he rescues a young Initiate girl, he finds himself drawn into as deadly a plot as any he left behind. He must decide whether to walk away or fight for her… assuming she would even accept the help of an exile.’

Initiate is just the first book in The Unfinished Song series, of which there will be up to twelve instalments when it is complete, at the moment there are four. Tara has kindly sent me three of those four instalments but I thought it best to concentrate on the first one initially. If I enjoy it though I have more on hand to continue with

Have any of you read this? Please let me know what you thought of it if you have.

See also:

Hammer of Thor – S. Evan Townsend

jessicabookworm — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:00:09 +0000

Hammer of Thor was a review copy that was brought to my attention by the author himself near the end of 2011. I was at the time just finishing off the Read-A-Myth reading challenge and so the norse mythology element of this book really attracted me to it. I believe this book is Townsend’s debut novel but since its release he has also written another book in this series, which is called Agent of Artifice. To find out more about Townsend and his work why not check out his website.

Imagine a world almost identical to our own, except here those things we believe to be myth like witches, warlocks, fairy godmothers, and the Gods of ancient times are all real. They are all in fact human beings but with the added bonus of supernatural powers, and they call themselves ‘adepts’. Being an adept is no easy business. They are shunned by ‘lessers’ which are normal folk like you and I, which means they tend to group together in guilds of their own but guild life is fraught with political intrigue, power struggles, talisman theft, and guild wars. Talismans are used by ‘adepts’ to increase their powers, the more you have the more powerful you are, but everyone is always on the look out for a more powerful talisman. The most powerful talisman in the entire world is the ‘Hammer of Thor’ which has been stolen by Hitler and the Nazi party ‘adepts’ from its rightful owners the ‘Valkyrie’. With its power Hitler could not only rule Europe but the entire world. American ‘adept’ Francis Kader and the ‘Valkyries’ must work uneasily together to stop Hitler before it’s too late.

This is one of the hardest reviews I’ve written in a long time, I just find I still have such mixed opinions of this book. There was much to like about Hammer of Thor; magic, history, myth, and well written description. However there was also war, military detail, travel, many locations around the world, lost love (twice), fights, cars, weapons, flying carpets, planes, and several time periods as well…to be honest there was just too much going on for me for most of the time.

I originally accepted the book because of the norse mythology element of the book, and when Townsend focused on that I loved it but for me he didn’t focus on it enough. The storyline of the last of the Valkyrie, an empty Valhalla, the awakening of Thor, and the theft of the hammer by the Nazis was I thought genius. But it was only a subplot to what was essentially a running commentary of Francis Kader’s life. Not that Kader’s life is not interesting it is chock full of guild war, fights, and military action however none of these are really anything I know much about and/or am that interested in.

I hate not having a more positive opinion of this book because it wasn’t a bad book, it was well written and researched, but it just wasn’t for me I’m afraid. I recommend Hammer of Thor to bookworms with a love of supernatural powers but also war/military detail, plus you need to be able to take a lot of information in.

See also:

A Year of Feminist Classics – Reading Challenge 2012

jessicabookworm — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:00:24 +0000

I have been keeping my eyes open for new and interesting reading challenges over this month and came upon this one on Ana’s blog Things Mean A Lot.

A Year of Feminist Classics

‘Over the past few weeks, the new team tried to come up with a diverse, well-rounded reading list that addresses some of the gaps and blind spots we found in the texts we read last year. Some of our choices are more recent than the ones from the first year’s list, but we believe they’re all more than important and influential enough to be called classics.

Without further ado, here’s our reading list for the New Year:

February – Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks (Amy)

March – The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine De Pizan (Jean)

April – Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano (Cass)

May – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë read alongside Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (Iris)

June – Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (Emily)

July – Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Nancy)

August – The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Lauren)

September – Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua (Melissa)

October – The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (Jodie)

November – Beyond the Veil by Fatema Mernissi (Ana)

December – Women, Race, and Class by Angela Davis (Emily Jane)

January – Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practising Solidarity by Chandra Talpade Mohanty (Eva)

We invite you all to think of this project as an informal feminist reading group. You don’t have to commit to joining the discussion every month, but we’d love to hear your thoughts whenever you’re able to. We’re very excited to read these books together, and we hope we’ll have the opportunity to continue to learn from each other and from you.’

This challenge will be running February 2012 to February 2013, and as Ana says people are very welcome to dip in and out each month depending how much time you have. One of my own personal goals is to read more Classics but thinking about it I would love to try some Feminist literature as well, as I have not consciously tried to before. At the moment I can definitely commit to May as I already have Jane Eyre on my TBR shelf, would be great to get hold of Wide Sargasso Sea to read alongside it. Would also love to get hold of Little Women as it is a book I have wanted to read for quite a long time. I know I won’t be able to have a reading role every month but will eagerly look forward to reading the reviews and discussions each month. Anyone else taking part in this challenge?

See Also:

Great Expectations (2011)

jessicabookworm — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 06:00:56 +0000

Here is another adaptation I watched over the holiday period. Great Expectations was the BBC’s offering over the Christmas holiday, adapted by Sarah Phelps and shown in three parts. If you have read this blog regularly you will know I love a good BBC adaptation. This one has an all-star cast, including Ray Winstone, David Suchet, Shaun Dooley, Gillian Anderson, and Mark Addy with the relatively new faces of Douglas Booth and Vanessa Kirby. Interestingly I’ve heard rumours of a hollywood adaptation of Great Expectations will be released this year, which will star Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter. Look forward to doing a little comparison.

Young Philip Pirrup simply known as Pip is a poor orphan who has grown up with his snobbish sister and her blacksmith husband Joe. Pip and Joe have a close relationship and it has always been agreed that Pip will do an apprenticeship to become a blacksmith too. But Pip’s sister is always out to better their standing, so when she hears that the local landowner Miss Havisham wants a young boy to visit her home, she now see’s Pip as a vehicle to better things. At Miss Havisham’s Pip falls in love with her adopted daughter Estella and for the first time starts to dream of a better life for himself, only to be heartlessly sent away by Miss Havisham. Years later Pip is visited by Mr Jaggers a lawyer from London who informs him that he has a secret benefactor who wishes to pay for Pip to become a gentlemen. Pip moves to London to start his new life, and with high hopes he will finally see Estella again, and be her equal. However all is not as it seems.

I loved this show, I could hardly wait for the next instalment to come out! The costumes were authentic, the sets were sumptuous in their detail, and the mood was both eerie and dark in equal parts. You moved with ease following Pip from place to place; starting with the small but comfortable blacksmith cottage, to the decrepit grandeur of Miss Havisham’s hall, to the bustling streets of London, and the extravagant town houses of the gentle class. While many of these sets were quite colourful and extravagant all of it was filmed with a sort of grimy grey film to it which really kept your uneasiness high. On top of that some of the camera work used was wonderful, long sweeping shots of landscape, and scenes of movement. Plus some really interesting close-ups and focuses in scenes of drama.

One of the characters that had some of the best scenes and also the best performance was Miss Havisham, which was played by Gillian Anderson. Some have argued that Anderson was too young to play the part, nearly all performances of this character have been played very old. However I don’t agree. If you do the maths of when Miss Havisham was jilted and adopted Estella she can’t really now be much older than her forties, making a Anderson a perfect choice. And she was! Anderson played Miss Havisham as woman driven out of her mind by unrequited love rather than because she is old. Her being younger actually made it a lot creepier. I must also comment on the performances of the two youngest parts/actors. Douglas Booth as Pip is handsome, naive, foolish, but ultimately well-intentioned, while Vanessa Kirby was cold, calculated, vulnerable, but she also such a captivating beauty, the contrast between her looks and character was sometimes very surreal.

I highly recommend Great Expectations to all bookworms with a love of Dickens, adaptations, and haunting period dramas.

Sunday Reflection #49: Anniversary and Birthdays

jessicabookworm — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:00:01 +0000

Hello my fellow bookworms! Hope you are all well. I have been a very busy bee, both on this blog and in my day-to-day life recently. Over the Christmas and New Year holiday I have watched a lot of adaptations if you hadn’t noticed, still trying to catch up on all those reviews, hopefully you’re not sick of them?! On top of that January is a busy month for me; it was my one year anniversary with my boyfriend on the 10th (it seems to have flown by), it was my uncle’s birthday on the 13th, I turned 24 on the 17th, and still to come my boyfriend will also turn 24 on the 24th. All a lot of fun but has been a very expensive month for me so far. Definitely no book buying for a while!

My boyfriend got the day off for my birthday which was nice so we could spend a chilled out day together, and then on the evening we all went out for a family meal. Got a real mixture of presents including toiletries, chocolate, a mug and matching candle holder, clothing, and my dad has promised to get me a food processor. The only book I got was from my boyfriend as I asked him to get me somethings so I could start doing yoga again. He picked out a yoga mat and to accompany it was a copy of Yoga Made Easy. So will hopefully get back into this soon, as I am feeling so unfit after all this eating and celebrating I’ve been doing over the last month and a bit, so look out for updates on my progress.

I haven’t really had much work recently, did a few days back at the theme park over the New Year holiday. Other than that I have been throwing myself into my volunteer job with Shoebox Theatre company. I do have some exciting news though, and that is about the workshop for children I help to run for Shoebox. The director has let me know that they feel I contribute so much that session that from now on I will be paid for it. So not only am I doing a volunteer job doing what I love but I will get a bit of pay for it which is just perfect. I have gone a bit theatre mad recently as I have also volunteered to help get the Church pantomime on its feet for the first week of March. Busy, busy, busy!

But enough about me, what about you? What have you been doing/watching/reading?

Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage – M C Beaton

jessicabookworm — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:00:30 +0000

This book really doesn’t need much of an introduction. Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage is the fifth instalment of M C Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series which was published in 1996. For my reviews of previous instalments please check out the links at the bottom of this review. After this I have the next instalment Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist on my tbr shelf, plus there are another sixteen instalments of the feisty Agatha left to go. After all that I could also move on to Beaton’s other crime series following a sleuth by the name of Hamish Macbeth, so almost a lifetime supply of cosy crime to look forward to.

Agatha Raisin a stylish, successful and independent fifty something woman has thrown in the cut throat business world to live her childhood dream of dwelling in a little stone cottage in the blissful Cotswold’s countryside. However the transition from PR manager of her own company in London to retirement in a country village is anything but blissful for our Agatha.

Agatha believes that all her dreams are about to come true as she is finally about to tie the knot with her handsome neighbour James Lacey, but in true Agatha style there is a shock to come. The ceremony comes to a crashing halt with the appearance of Jimmy Raisin….Agatha’s husband! Unlike Agatha had presumed alcoholic Jimmy is annoyingly alive and kicking. Agatha is shocked, and poor James is heartbroken. But a final shock is to come when Jimmy is found strangled to death in a ditch only a day later, and both Agatha and James are prime suspects for his murder. Can Agatha and James find the real murderer? And save their broken relationship in the process?

Another perfect slice of coziness! The cold weather has really closed in around us here during this month, and this really was the best pick-me-up read I could have had ask for. Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage was full of everything I’ve come to love from these books a couple of grisly murders, shocks, thrills, laughs, mystery, community, and of course Agatha! What was lovely to see in this book was the personal change we see in Agatha. When she is faced with someone who reminds her what she used to be, a mental fight begins, where Agatha questions whether she is living a lie or that she has truly changed. The extra element of a deeper look into our already well-loved character was very welcome addition.

As always, I highly recommend this book whether you’re an Agatha virgin or if you are a stalwart fan.

More of my reviews: Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death , Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet , Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener , Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley

Other’s reviews: The Book Jotter

(Have you also reviewed this? Let me know so I can link to you)

The Sir Terry Pratchett Reading Challenge 2012

jessicabookworm — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:00:40 +0000

Yes my fellow bookworms I have ‘ummed’ and ‘ahhed’ about this one long enough and have decided I should give it a go. The Sir Terry Pratchett Reading Challenge is hosted by Hannah on her lovely blog Once Upon A Time, and here is how Hannah describes her challenge:

The Sir Terry Pratchett Reading Challenge

‘I have been thinking about this challenge for a few months now and it seems that this is the perfect time to get it out there. You see, I need to read more Pratchett. I adore the man, I adore Discworld, yet everytime it comes up in conversation, “I’ve only read as far as Guards, Guards and I can’t even remember what happened, I definitely need to read more.” So I have been dutifully collecting Pratchett books when I’ve spotted them in the charity shop in the hopes that I’ll finally live up to that. But I haven’t. Thus the Pratchett reading challenge 2012 is born.

Any format, any book, so long as it’s Pratchett. Re-reads are also perfectly acceptable! Books need to be started and finished between January 1st 2012 and December 31st 2012. You can set your own goals, whether you want to read 5 books or go for the whole Discworld series, that is entirely up to you. Be realistic or go crazy, there are no penalties if you don’t meet your goal, in fact the only real goal is to read some Pratchett.’

Both my nan and dad are huge fans of Pratchett’s work, and what I have read I have also loved but I do feel I haven’t read enough. Just like Hannah herself if asked what I’ve read all I can name is The Colour Magic, The Light Fantastic, and Wyrd Sisters all of which if I’m honest I don’t remember a lot about as it was so long ago. Last year I did read the joint effort of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens, that reminded that I really do need to read more Pratchett (I’m afraid I could take or leave Gaiman to be honest).

As I am allowed to set my own goals, my goal is simple and that is to read one Pratchett book which is:

The Last Hero

Why only one do I hear you shout? Because shock horror I already own this book, it is right now sitting on my book shelf…but not on the tbr shelf, no instead it is languishing in with my other long-forgotten large hardback books! So I would be happy this year if I managed to get around to reading it. However if I get that done relatively quickly than here is the list of books I could get my hands on if I go pilfering my nan and dad’s bookcases too:

Carpe Jugulum
Equal Rites
Pyramids
The Colour of Magic (re-read)
The Light Fantastic (re-read)
Unseen Academicals
Wintersmith
Wyrd Sisters (re-read)

I think this could be a really interesting reading challenge. Are any of you taking part? What other challenges have you signed up for?

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

jessicabookworm — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 06:00:17 +0000

I doubt this film needs much of an introduction, but here goes anyway. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is the 2011 blockbuster film from director Guy Ritchie, with Robert Downey Jnr returning as the infamous Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as his dogged side-kick Dr Watson. This is the second film this successful trio have made, the first was back in 2009 simply titled Sherlock Holmes. This new edition also sees Stephen Fry joining the cast as Sherlock’s older brother Mycroft Holmes. The film was released about a week before Christmas; and bless his cotton socks my boyfriend faithfully waited till I got back from my mother’s house so we could go see it together just before New Year. I have only just got round to the review because there has been so many adaptations about, both on the big and small screen.

Sherlock Holmes is beside himself at the thought of Dr John Watson’s imminent marriage which will end their partnership for good. To console himself Sherlock occupies his time investigating the schemes of his arch-enemy, Professor James Moriarty. However it appears that Sherlock gets too close for comfort to one of Moriarty’s plans. Moriarty warns Sherlock that he considers Dr Watson and his future wife as legitimate targets for his retaliation against the detective, Holmes must save them and to do so he must enlist John in one last case. Their first task is to join the fortune-teller Madam Simza Heron’s quest to find her missing brother, Renee, who may be the key to defeating Moriarty. Together, the trio find themselves involved in a dangerous international conspiracy led by the Napoleon of Crime in which the fate of all of Europe hangs in the balance.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was a rip-roaring, laugh-out-loud riot from start to finish. I don’t believe I’ve laughed so much in a long time. Without giving too much away there was one scene involving a Shetland pony which just had me in stitches, I laughed so much at it that there were tears! If you’ve seen the film you will know what scene I am on about. If you haven’t seen the film then you must do so immediately! Again Robert Downey Jnr was an amazing Sherlock Holmes with a heady combination of good looks, intelligence, eccentric behaviour, and some of the funniest lines of the whole film. Good old Jude Law was also again brilliant as the poor put upon Dr Watson who couldn’t even enjoy his honeymoon away from Holmes. And then throw one of my ultimate favourites Stephen Fry into the mix as the just as intelligent, eccentric and funny Mycroft, and you have one winning film for me.

On top of all that there is the wonderful Victorian setting, special effects, fight scenes, the ultimate bad guy Moriarty, and two beautiful heroines. I could bang on about this film forever, if you hadn’t noticed. So I will cut myself short and just simply say you must go see this film. Now! If you have already seen this film, well done, and what did you think?

Review Copy: Pool of Souls – Cheryl Landmark

jessicabookworm — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:00:41 +0000

A new year my fellow bookworms and new review requests have been flying in. This book pretty much had an acceptance straight away as I recognised the author Cheryl Landmark from a previous book I reviewed for her, Wind and Fire. If I remember correctly I thought Cheryl had a great imagination and potential, so I am very interested to see how her work has progressed. Her new novel is Pool of Souls, and here is what it is all about:

‘On the world called Regalis, the domains are ruled by kings and queens and mages wield great power. Queen Saranor, ruler of the Janix domain, is no longer content with reigning solely over her own queendom. She has become insanely greedy and ambitious and, with the help of the powerful mage, Nostrimus, and a soul-killing talisman called the Pool of Souls, she sets out on a brutal, bloody campaign to rule all of Regalis. Her bid for world dominance, however, is challenged by a rebellion led by General Darnellis Viadon, the former commander of her troops.

After her brother leaves their small hometown to join the general’s rebellion, twenty-two year old Cazlina Narzin decides to follow in his footsteps and enlist in the army as well. But, once away from the safety and isolation of Rothtown in the company of her loyal companion, Miris, Cazlina soon discovers that the battle zeal and passion she harbors to help rid the world of the renegade queen may not be enough to protect her from the danger and evil threatening her world.’

I accepted a pdf copy of this book but you can get a kindle copy on Amazon. For once I was glad not to have to tell poor Cheryl that it may take me a long time to read this on my laptop, because of course now I have my kindle to read this on!