Wish List: Books

With so many books sitting on my shelves unread, I try not to give in immediately every time I see a book I like. However, that doesn't stop my wish list from growing to considerable lengths. Here are five books, new and old, that I wouldn't mind having sitting-pretty on my bookshelf.

Battle Royale - Koushun Takami

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. Published by Haika Soru, 2012.

With the anticipation of the new Hunger Games film, I decided to go and read Battle Royale by Koushun Takami (written in Japanese in 1999, first translated to English in 2003). Around the time when the popularity of the books was at its height and the first Hunger Games film came out, I encountered a lot of comments on the internet saying that the book was surprisingly like this Japanese novel. (There are indeed some similarities between the books, but I don’t think it’s intentional and Hunger Games really isn’t a blatant rip-off from Battle Royale.) So with the Hunger Games trilogy long read, I sunk my teeth into this big book to hopefully satisfy some of my anticipation. The book does deal with some similar themes and it also has lots of teens killing each other off, but it doesn’t quite read as smooth as Suzanne Collins’ books.

Professor Munakata's British Museum Adventure - Hoshino Yukinobu

Professor Munakata's British Museum Adventure by Hoshino Yukinobu. Published by the British Museum Press, 2011.

Professor Munakata's British Museum Adventure is a manga by Hoshino Yukinobu created in collaboration with the British Museum. The British Museum hosted an exhibition of Yukinobu's work in 2009 and invited the author to come and visit. This visit inspired several drawings of Professor Munakata (one of Yukinobu's reoccurring characters), which led to another visit to the British Museum and eventually this book. Although I've hardly ever read manga (I read the first two volumes of Full Metal Alchemist in high school a long time ago, and that's it), the idea of a manga set in the British Museum really appealed to me and I decided to give it a go. I was not disappointed.

Sphinx - T.S. Learner

Spinx by T.S. Learner. Published by Sphere / Little Brown, 2010.

I'd never heard of T.S. Learner, but when I spotted her book Sphinx on sale at a bookstore, I decided to give it a go. The bookflap promises intrigue and a race against time in Egypt set in the seventies, as Oliver Warnock must protect a powerful ancient artefact excaved by his late wife, and it recommends this book to lovers of Dan Brown and Kate Mosse. Whilst I've never read a book by Kate Mosse, I do love a bit of Dan Brown (secretly, I'm always very excited when a new Robert Langdon book comes out). And after having read Sphinx, I will stick to Dan Brown rather than T.S. Learner.

Cook with a Book: Jamie's Reizen (Jamie does... Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece, France)

Jamie's Reizen (Jamie Does... Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece, France) by Jamie Oliver. Published by Kosmos Uitgevers, 2011. Translation by Jaromir Schneider.

I love looking through cookbooks. Not only do they contain delicious recipes, they are always full of beautiful photographs. There's one name most people will have in their cookbook collection: Jamie Oliver. I recently picked up my first Jamie Oliver book, namely the Dutch version of Jamie Does.... Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece, France, named Jamie's Reizen (I find with cookbooks, it's best to stick to your own language). As the title already gives away, this book is filled with recipes from these six countries, and each chapter is introduced by a short text on Jamie's stays in these countries and his experiences with that country's cuisine. The beautiful photography (done by David Loftus) just makes you want to start cooking, and that's what I did.

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories - Susanna Clarke

The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke. Published by Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007.

Even though I bought Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke ages ago, I still haven't gotten around to reading it. Probably because it's quite a big book. Not that I mind that, I actually love it, but for some reason it always takes me a bit longer to start in a big book. So when I came across The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Clarke, I decided this would be an easier way to start reading Clarke's work, of which I've only heard positive things. And it most certainly did not disappoint.

Bits and bobs #2

Woops... Haven't really kept up with this blog in a while. So to ease my way back into the writing, a little bits and bobs.

• With autumn finally arriving, I've  been a real homebody, cozying it up on the coach with television shows to keep me company. I'm currently head-over-heels in love with The Great British Bake Off; I don't know why, but I just love that show so much. Everything they make looks scrumptious and all the contestants are a bit weird, but o-so loveable! Won't lie, I was a bit upset that Howard had to leave last week. With a cup of tea and maybe a biscuit (or two), this is the perfect show to relax with. I've also been trying to keep up with all the new shows premiering in America at the moment, but failing miserably. Did see Sleepy Hollow, and I have to say, the first episode looked very promising!

The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Published by Orion books, 2008.

As you  might have read, I've been busy reading Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind. And now, after what feels like forever, I finally finished it! Don't worry, it didn't take me this long because the book is boring and hard to get through. It took me this long because this is a Big Book, with more than 600 pages. And when you're busy with work and what not, that's a lot to get through. However, it's totally worth it.

The Name of the Wind is the first part of The Kingkiller Chronicle trilogy. The story is about Kvothe, an infamous adventurer, musician and arcanist (sort of wizard but not really), who has retreated from this life and now lives as an innkeeper named Kote in a small village with his apprentice Bast. When Devan Lochees, known as Chronicler because of his profession, discovers Kvothe's true identity, he persuades him to tell his life story so he can write it down. Kvothe agrees, telling Chronicler it will take three days to tell it. The Name of the Wind is the first day of telling and it covers the period from Kvothe's youth until he's a young man at the University.

The Order of Odd-Fish - James Kennedy

The Order of Odd-Fish by James Kennedy. Published by Laurel-Leaf / Random House, 2008.

The Order of Odd-Fish by James Kennedy is about a thirteen-year-old girl named Jo Larouche. Jo lives with her aunt Lily in the Californian desert, where she was left as a baby with the following note: "This is Jo. Please take care of her. But beware. This is a dangerous baby." When a series of events takes Jo and Lily to the magical place of Eldritch City, it slowly becomes clear why Jo is so dangerous.

It took me a while to really get into this book. Jo is a likeable character and easy to identify with, but the story makes weird little jumps and when they are still in California, it is all a bit unclear as to what exactly is going on. Once they are in Eldritch City, however, it all started to make more sense and the writing style seemed to fit this environment much better and became more engaging. The environment of Eldritch City really saved the story and I loved all the descriptions of this weird and wonderful place. All the bits about the customs and history of this place are so much fun to read because they are so incredibly random.

To me, the Order of Odd-Fish, where Jo stays, is one of the best things about the book. The Order's mission is to make an appendix filled with pointless and 'properly dubious' information. All the knights of the Order have their own specialty, like dithering, absurd animals, improbable botany, and ludicrous weaponry. They pursue knowledge for knowledge and no other reason. I think this attitude is great; even though you know it will never be useful, random things are the most fun to learn about and to amaze your friends with.

Eldritch City is a great place to read about, and I wish I could visit it. It is the place to go to if you want to have an adventure, and Jo constantly falls from one adventure into the other. Besides adventure, the place is filled with wonderfully weird characters who are a joy to read about. Despite its slow start, I've become incredibly fond of this book and was sad to turn the last page. I hope James Kennedy will bring out another book soon, preferably set in this magical place again.

Ratings: 4 out of 5 stars 

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Published by Arrow Books / Random House

Let's start by saying that Ready Player One is a very geeky book. It is a science fiction novel chuck full of references to eighties popular culture, and every page is filled with names of video games, films and obscure bands from that decade. Whilst it might seem odd that a story set in the future is so focused on the past, it does a beautiful job of highlighting one of the main reasons why people read (and enjoy other narrative media): escapism. And this book is sure to provide you with some nice hours away from the real world.

Ready Player One is set in a dystopian future, where earth is incredibly polluted and the majority of the people live in dangerous campervans camps, known as the Stacks because of the towers of campervans just waiting to collapse. To escape this depressing reality, people log in to the OASIS, a virtual world made up of thousands of different planets that combines elements from Second Life with World of Warcraft, and spend their lives there. Most people have lost all hope, but there is one thing that keeps people going: the quest for Halliday's Easter Egg. James Halliday is the creator of the OASIS with no living heirs. After his death, a video is released in which he explains that he has hidden easter eggs throughout the OASIS in the shape of keys and portals, and that whoever manages to find all three keys and to go through all three portals will inherit his fortune and controlling stake in GSS, the company that owns the OASIS. To help people Halliday has put Anorak's Almanac online, a diary in which he has written down all his thoughts and which is the largest reference book to eighties pop culture. The book begins five years after the start of the Hunt, and so far, no one has managed to find the first key.

Our protagonist, Wade Owen Watts or Parzival, as his OASIS character is called, is a gunter, an egg hunter. Like most people in this world, he is dissilliusioned by reality. In the real world, he is an orphan who lives with an aunt who hates him and he has no real friends. He spends most of his time in the OASIS, and even goes to school there. Wade has no money, and therefore he can't afford any special features or even transportation to other planets inside the OASIS. Because of this, the odds are very small that he will find any of the eggs. But, as a true underdog, he eventually solves the first riddle and manages to be the first to collect the Copper Key. From this point onwards, the race is on!

I cannot begin to say how much I enjoyed reading this book. Wade is a very likeable character with a great sense of humour, and as a reader, you want him to win the Hunt. The other characters are great fun to read about as well, and Cline provides some great sidekicks and enemies for Wade to interact with. Cline's writing style pulled me in right from the start; at times I was so invested in the story and the race for the keys that I had to calm myself down before I read on. Besides this, all the eighties references are a great aspect of the book; even though I hardly recognized half of the names being thrown at me, it just adds a great atmosphere to the book because you associate a certain feeling and vibe with the eighties.

There was one point in the story where it slightly lost me; the point after Wade has cleared the first portal and sort of moves on from the underdog position. Part of his charm is that he finds the first key against all odds. After finding the first key, he makes money by signing sponsorship deals and with this money, Wade buys all this state of the art equipment. At this point, it felt like he was no longer an underdog and he had become a bit more arrogant. Luckily, once the Hunt continues, this feeling went away and I found myself rooting for Wade again.

This book has it all; not only is it great escapism, it also provides a critical view on the role technology plays in our everyday lives. I was surprised to find out that Ready Player One is Cline's debut novel, as it is such a good read and written in such an amazing voice. I would highly recommend this book to everyone, whether you like sci-fi or not. That's because this book is not about spaceships or virtual realities, it's not even about eighties references; it is about great characters you come to love and who you want to cheer on throughout the entire book.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars