God, No!, by Penn Jillette
In the interest of full disclosure, I am both a staunch atheist and an ardent fan of Penn and Teller. As such, there was an extremely high likelihood of my enjoying God, No! In this book, Penn Jillette (the louder, larger half of the world-renowned magic/comedy/skeptic duo), provides his own non-theistic version of the Ten Commandments, illustrated, often very loosely, with tales from Penn’s life as a performer, family man and public figure over the last few decades.
As Penn acknowledges, greater minds than he have had a crack at the Decalogue. His friend Christopher Hitchens ran off a characteristically lucid evisceration of them for Vanity Fair some time ago, and the late George Carlin created one of the greater comedy routines of all time with his own effort. As such, Penn keeps it light and humble, and even refrains from using the word “commandments” to describe his own ten point plan. His are merely “suggestions,” and take the form of friendly, humanist advice. The first, for example, is as follows -
The highest ideals are human intelligence, creativity, and love. Respect these above all. Read more
The Traitor’s Wife, by Kathleen Kent
I do love to indulge in the English language of the time period covered in historical novels. The descriptions are expressed so explicitly and the colloquialisms usually endearing and enchanting. Not only this but you benefit from a wealth of research characterised in an absorbing tale. Kathleen Kent’s second novel, a prequel novel to The Heretic’s Daughter, draws heavily upon her family history to enrich the story. Given that she is a direct descendant of Martha Carrier, the first woman to be hanged during the Salem witch trials, and her husband Thomas, believed to be the executioner of Charles I, there is a concentrated authentic ancestral bank to draw upon.
The Traitor’s Wife is set in 17th century New England. Martha Allen a 23-year-old spinster moves into her cousin’s home, essentially as a servant, to support the more delicate and querulous Patience run the somewhat neglected household, help supervise Patience’s two children and support her during her pregnancy. This in recognition of Patience’s husband Daniel needing to travel to attend to business and Martha’s penance for her unwillingness to agree to marry, despite her age. Martha being a severe and strong-willed woman, takes no prisoners and quickly establishes herself in the home. Having no intention of being subservient, she essentially takes the helm. Not without a battle of wills, but after some storming and norming, things do settle and she and Martha find some equilibrium. Read more
The Walking Dead: Book Seven, by Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard
A continuing story of survival horror indeed; The Walking Dead: Book Seven collects issues 73 to 84 [also available as trade paperbacks #13 and #14] of Robert Kirkman’s excellent post-zombiepocalypse comic series.
The first half of The Walking Dead: Book Seven contains the ‘Too Far Gone’ storyline and follows Sheriff Rick and his group as they begin to settle in to life behind the walls of the community. Despite the need to be ever vigilant to zombie swarms attempting to break into the ‘burb, life is about as tranquil as can be expected in a world where death is quite literally walking the streets. However, the new arrivals find it hard to settle and integrate into the relative normalcy of life in their new safe haven. Rick in particular is a man on the edge.
Eva Braun: Life with Hitler, by Heike B Görtemaker
Despite the passage of nearly seventy years since his death, there remains a taboo around Adolf Hitler’s personal life. Some commentators are still more comfortable seeing Hitler as a monolithic monster, devoid of humanity. For them, Eva Braun presents a problem. A young, attractive and apparently vivacious woman who enjoyed an unremarkable childhood, she was drawn intensely to one of history’s most evil men. Their relationship, whatever bizarre form it took, was strong enough to endure from Braun’s teens until her suicide at 33.
It is not just moral philosophers who are troubled by Braun, however. Her existence was kept a closely guarded secret from the German people during the years of the Third Reich, and post-war memoirs in which Braun features are often characterised by exculpatory revisionism. As such, much “knowledge” of Braun is built on conjecture, rumour, and misinformation. Eva Braun: Life with Hitler represents the first attempt by a historian to tackle this problem, subjecting Braun and Hitler’s relationship to forensic scrutiny. Read more
It’s Fine By Me, by Per Petterson
Set in the 1970’s in Norway, this is the story of Audun Sletton. When the book starts Audun is 13 years old and facing his first day in a new school where he insists on keeping his sunglasses on all day and refuses to talk about where he came from and his past.
Five years later Audun is the only one of his siblings still living with his mother in a working-class district of Oslo. He is in his last year of school but not sure if that is the place for him. Audun has one good friend, Arvid and shares with him a love of reading and socialist political ideas.
Many Bloody Returns, edited by Charlaine Harris & Toni LP Kelner
Here’s yet another anthology of vampire stories, this time aiming to find a link between vampirism and birthdays. Not as easy as it seems, but quite an original subject.
Unfortunately, most of the thirteen tales included in the book exhibit quite serious flaws. Several contributors address the theme with either a kind of tongue-in-cheek attitude or the style of a TV sit-com, something which will profoundly irritate the usual readers of no-nonsense vampire fiction, where dark atmospheres and a sense of either disquiet or overt dread constitute the basic requirements for an effective tale about the undead. By contrast ,in the present anthology, too often vampirism is taken for granted as the normal condition of normal, medium class citizens who “live” just like other people (there’s even one story where to celebrate his birthday a vampire ends up eating pasta in a restaurant with his mate).
The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue
Emma Donoghue’s latest novel The Sealed Letter has been eagerly anticipated following the resounding success of her previous book Room which was nominated for both the Booker and Orange Prizes. However it may not be what the readers of Room are expecting- whilst Room has a contemporary setting, and deals with the story of a woman who has been imprisoned, raped and abused, told from the perspective of a young boy – in The Sealed Letter Donoghue uses a Victorian setting and bases the plot on two friends, the women’s movement and a scandalous divorce hearing. However there are similarities; both novels are based on true events, The Sealed Letter on the Codrington vs Codrington case, which may have had influence on changes in divorce law some years later.
The novel centres on the relationship between Emily (Fido) Faithful, a leading figure in the women’s movement and Helen Codrington, the accused adulteress. At the opening of the novel a chance meeting (which we later learn was engineered by Helen) brings the women back together after seven years. Helen has been in Malta where her husband Admiral Codrington was stationed, and suggests to Fido that all her letters were lost in the post, an excuse which Fido innocently accepts. We learn that the women were previously close friends, that they shared a bed when Helen stopped sleeping with her husband years before, and that Fido is much younger, and more naïve than Helen. Fido is also infatuated with Helen, and has never had feelings for a man.
The Quest, by Daniel Yergin
The Quest is Daniel Yergin’s presentation of energy’s geopolitical history over the last thirty years or so from a US and Western perspective. Its a superb book, unerringly capturing the key events, triggers and decisions of the times, cutting out the noise and distractions and pulling out the major themes and drivers in world affairs. It’s a short must read seven hundred page briefing note for senior execs and politicians. It’s easily readable, objective and observational in style and scrupulously avoids discussion of the national political issues or motivations of the key players. The devastating condemnations of some of the worlds leading politicians and business leaders are so faint as to be almost, but not quite, undetectable.
Yergin is very clear. Oil, gas and coal are not about to run out. That’s very good news because at least 80% of the energy we use comes from those three sources, oil delivering most of our transport fuel whilst gas and coal deliver electricity and heat. Running out is not an issue. The questions are where is it all (geographically, geologically and politically), how do we get at it (physically, technologically and logistically), what does it cost (financially, politically, and environmentally), and what other energy sources are there (alternatives, renewables, conservation)? The answers to those questions are, respectively, far far away, using technology that hasn’t even been invented yet, appallingly, cripplingly expensive, and plenty, if the economic drivers are right. Those four answers explain why energy has stayed at the top of the world’s agenda since the 1940s or even earlier.
Footprints #2, by Joey Esposito & Jonathan Moore
Footprints is a four-part comic by Joey Esposito [comics editor at IGN, Roscoe and Alice Find God] with art by Jonathan Moore [FUBAR] tracking Bigfoot and his posse of cryptozoological deviants as they attempt to solve a complex noir conspiracy. Originally self-published, Footprints has now been picked up by 215 Ink.
In Footprints #2, ominously entitled ‘Iced’, Bigfoot and the cryptids are hot on the trail [or should that be tail?] of those responsible for Yeti’s murder. The story begins though with a bit of the back-story hinted at in the previous issue. It’s 1945 and, as World War Two draws to a close, Bigfoot and Yeti are trading as downmarket private investigators The Foot Brothers when a dangerous dame lands on their doorstep. Motheresa may have an impressive wingspan but her request that the Foots track down the scientist she believes to be responsible for the disappearance of her friend is still destined to land the intrepid duo in a whole heap of trouble and recrimination.
Highly Inappropriate Tales For Young People, by Douglas Coupland and Graham Roumieu
When you hold this book you’re not just holding a book but holding seven very bizarre tales. Forget Grimm’s fairy tales, forget famous short stories, here are seven wonderfully sickly stories ranging from child shaking to cannibalism. Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People most defiantly takes strange stories to the next level.
The seven stories centre around seven very odd characters. Donald, the Highly Hostile Juice Box looks at the life of a destructive and murderous juice box. Sandra, the Truly Dreadful Babysitter centres around a wildly irresponsible babysitter. Hans, the Weird Exchange Student is a rather random tale about a boy who likes to collect half eaten pieces of food. Brandon, the Action Figure with Issues is an odd tale about an action figure’s revenge on his owner. Cindy, the Terrible Role Model is the story of a narcissistic doll who cooks up a deathly plan. Kevin, the Hobo Minivan with Extremely Low Morals is the strangest tale about a hobo who likes to lure children into his van and shake it so they vomit. And Mr. Fraser, the Undead Substitute Teacher is the darkest story about a Zombie teacher and his appetites. Read more
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The Bookgeeks Interview
Simon Kernick
Simon Kernick is one of Britain’s most exciting new thriller writers. He arrived on the crime writing scene with his highly acclaimed debut novel The Business of Dying, the story of a corrupt cop moonlighting as a hitman. However, Simon’s big breakthrough came with his novel Relentless which was selected by Richard and Judy for [...]
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Five copies of John le Carré’s Smiley vs Karla Trilogy to be won
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was one of the big film releases of 2011, and to celebrate its release on DVD we have five copies of John le Carré’s Smiley vs Karla Trilogy to be won – consisting of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley’s People.
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