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spooky_missI'm going to review the poetry I've read in a separate post, so thats why the book numbers are out of sequence!
Book Fourteen - Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Source: Library
Challenges? 1001
Decade published? 2000s
Rating: 6 / 10
This is the third book I've read by Sarah Waters - I disliked Tipping the Velvet, but enjoyed The Little Stranger, so I was hoping that this one would be like the latter rather than the former! Unluckily it wasn't really like either of them, but it still wasn't thatr great. It was about a girl named Sue who lived with a group of thieves and other criminal people in Victorian London. They formulate a plan to allow one of them to get the money which is coming to an orphaned young lady who lives in a grand house with her uncle, away from London, by one of the group marrying her, then getting her put into a mental asylum. Sue went to the grand house to be this lady's maid, and then another of the gang was coming to do some work with her uncle, so got to know her and then they ran away to get married. Then the book got confusing, as Sue was then taken to the asylum, instead of the lady. Then the book gets *really* confusing - as it turns out that Sue is actually the daughter of the noble lady, and the young lady who lived in the grand house was the daughter of a member of the criminal gang. Sue escapes from the asylum and comes back to London to try to find out what happened - and it ends up with one of the gang getting killed and the mother of the lady getting hung for it! Overall I was disappointed as it was a confusing book in which not much happened. Sarah Waters writes exactly the sort of books that I like to read - historical fiction - but for some reason her books seem to be a bit disappointing. I've also got Night Watch which I think is also on the 1001 list so hopefully thats better than this one!
Book Twenty - Folk Devils and Moral Panics by Stanley Cohen
Source: The library my mum works at
Challenges? none
Decade published? originally 1970s - this edition 2000s
Rating: 8 / 10
The edition of this book I read was the 2002 edition, so it had some interesting updated bits about more modern "moral panics", which was good. The main part of the book concerns sociologist Stanley Cohen's work around the media coverage of the "Mods and Rockers" disturbances in the middle of the 1960s. He looks at how the media reported the fights compared to the actual events, which then led to the people involved being portrayed as "folk devils" and evil people. Its interesting to read how inaccurate many of the news reports were, and how they took certain incidents out of context to make them sound worse. I enjoyed this book, and it was very useful for my OU course (currently writing an essay on "disorderly behaviour") but I think I would like to also read more about how modern moral panics have developed as well - hopefully theres another book I can get on that!
Book Twenty One - Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Source: Library
Challenges? 1001
Decade published? 1920s
Rating: 7 / 10
This was a bit of a strange little book. It is about Paul Pennyfeather, who is "sent down" (I think thats the right phrase!) from Oxford, and then gets a job at a school, teaching subjects he doesn't even know anything about! Theres an account of a sports day, in which they don't have any of the equipment, and the overriding theme is that the headmaster is trying to impress the rich and posh families of the boys who go to the school. One of the other teachers is some kind of criminal or fraudster and he keeps turning up throughout the book. Pennyfeather leaves the school and is going to marry one of the mothers, when he gets put in prison, and doesn't end up marrying her. Its one of those books where none of the characters seem to have any kind of responsbilities, and none of them really *do* anything, which annoyed me a little, but it was ok. I preferred Vile Bodies and Brideshead Revisited - but its not all bad, its quite a short and easy read which is nice!
Book Twenty Two - Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson
Source: Library
Challenges? 1001
Decade published? 1930s
Rating: 9 / 10
This is a lovely little book! It tells the story of Miss Pettigrew, who is a failing governess and when she goes to her agency to find a new position, is sent to the home of Miss LaFosse, a beautiful young woman who doesn't immediately appear to have any children. Miss Pettigrew gets swept up in Miss LaFosse's life straight away, and has the most exciting day of her life! She is first involved in getting rid of one of Miss LaFosse's boyfriends, before her other boyfriend comes home! She then helps Miss LaFosse's friend get back together with her boyfriend, and then manages to persuade Miss LaFosse to marry someone else who wants to marry her but she's not sure about him. During the course of all of this, she gets a makeover, goes to a few parties, drinks more than she usually drinks, and has a wonderful day. Plus at the end of the day, while she's at a nightclub for the first time in her life, she manages to find a man who appears to want to spend time with her, for the first time in her life. Its lovely as all the way through Miss Pettigrew is so excited about what is happening to her, and is so different to all the other people in the story, she is "sensible" on while they are all young and flighty! So its a good mix of characters. I'd definitely recommend it! :)
17 / 120 books. 14% done!
Currently watching the Australian Open Final...Murray will probably lose, but if he could just have one set that would be nice!! :)
Book Fourteen - Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Source: Library
Challenges? 1001
Decade published? 2000s
Rating: 6 / 10
This is the third book I've read by Sarah Waters - I disliked Tipping the Velvet, but enjoyed The Little Stranger, so I was hoping that this one would be like the latter rather than the former! Unluckily it wasn't really like either of them, but it still wasn't thatr great. It was about a girl named Sue who lived with a group of thieves and other criminal people in Victorian London. They formulate a plan to allow one of them to get the money which is coming to an orphaned young lady who lives in a grand house with her uncle, away from London, by one of the group marrying her, then getting her put into a mental asylum. Sue went to the grand house to be this lady's maid, and then another of the gang was coming to do some work with her uncle, so got to know her and then they ran away to get married. Then the book got confusing, as Sue was then taken to the asylum, instead of the lady. Then the book gets *really* confusing - as it turns out that Sue is actually the daughter of the noble lady, and the young lady who lived in the grand house was the daughter of a member of the criminal gang. Sue escapes from the asylum and comes back to London to try to find out what happened - and it ends up with one of the gang getting killed and the mother of the lady getting hung for it! Overall I was disappointed as it was a confusing book in which not much happened. Sarah Waters writes exactly the sort of books that I like to read - historical fiction - but for some reason her books seem to be a bit disappointing. I've also got Night Watch which I think is also on the 1001 list so hopefully thats better than this one!
Book Twenty - Folk Devils and Moral Panics by Stanley Cohen
Source: The library my mum works at
Challenges? none
Decade published? originally 1970s - this edition 2000s
Rating: 8 / 10
The edition of this book I read was the 2002 edition, so it had some interesting updated bits about more modern "moral panics", which was good. The main part of the book concerns sociologist Stanley Cohen's work around the media coverage of the "Mods and Rockers" disturbances in the middle of the 1960s. He looks at how the media reported the fights compared to the actual events, which then led to the people involved being portrayed as "folk devils" and evil people. Its interesting to read how inaccurate many of the news reports were, and how they took certain incidents out of context to make them sound worse. I enjoyed this book, and it was very useful for my OU course (currently writing an essay on "disorderly behaviour") but I think I would like to also read more about how modern moral panics have developed as well - hopefully theres another book I can get on that!
Book Twenty One - Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Source: Library
Challenges? 1001
Decade published? 1920s
Rating: 7 / 10
This was a bit of a strange little book. It is about Paul Pennyfeather, who is "sent down" (I think thats the right phrase!) from Oxford, and then gets a job at a school, teaching subjects he doesn't even know anything about! Theres an account of a sports day, in which they don't have any of the equipment, and the overriding theme is that the headmaster is trying to impress the rich and posh families of the boys who go to the school. One of the other teachers is some kind of criminal or fraudster and he keeps turning up throughout the book. Pennyfeather leaves the school and is going to marry one of the mothers, when he gets put in prison, and doesn't end up marrying her. Its one of those books where none of the characters seem to have any kind of responsbilities, and none of them really *do* anything, which annoyed me a little, but it was ok. I preferred Vile Bodies and Brideshead Revisited - but its not all bad, its quite a short and easy read which is nice!
Book Twenty Two - Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson
Source: Library
Challenges? 1001
Decade published? 1930s
Rating: 9 / 10
This is a lovely little book! It tells the story of Miss Pettigrew, who is a failing governess and when she goes to her agency to find a new position, is sent to the home of Miss LaFosse, a beautiful young woman who doesn't immediately appear to have any children. Miss Pettigrew gets swept up in Miss LaFosse's life straight away, and has the most exciting day of her life! She is first involved in getting rid of one of Miss LaFosse's boyfriends, before her other boyfriend comes home! She then helps Miss LaFosse's friend get back together with her boyfriend, and then manages to persuade Miss LaFosse to marry someone else who wants to marry her but she's not sure about him. During the course of all of this, she gets a makeover, goes to a few parties, drinks more than she usually drinks, and has a wonderful day. Plus at the end of the day, while she's at a nightclub for the first time in her life, she manages to find a man who appears to want to spend time with her, for the first time in her life. Its lovely as all the way through Miss Pettigrew is so excited about what is happening to her, and is so different to all the other people in the story, she is "sensible" on while they are all young and flighty! So its a good mix of characters. I'd definitely recommend it! :)
Currently watching the Australian Open Final...Murray will probably lose, but if he could just have one set that would be nice!! :)
