The final book club book of the year was Delirium by Lauren Oliver.  Set in a world where love is considered a disease that the population can be cured of when they come of age, Lena is counting down the days to her operation.  But when Lena meets Alex things take a turn.

Overall most of the group seemed to enjoy the novel, pronouncing it interesting but at times a little superficial.  Certain aspects of the books didn’t seem to quite add up, particularly the timeline with Lena’s mother and the concept of passion amongst the regulators finding pleasure in their job.  But with reminders of 1984 and cold war communism this book seemed to tread the balance of science-fiction dystopia and a love story well.  The group really liked the way a teenage relationship was depicted from Lena acting silly and irrational, but being self-aware enough to know this.  In fact the group felt the whole depiction of being a teenager, even trapped in a dystopia, was accurate and the theme of growing up was well played.  Certain questions like why the regime exists and how big the compound they all live in were left unanswered, but being the first in a series of books it was thought they might be answered in later novels.  Overall an absorbing read.

Questions/aspects we discussed:

• How well did you find the portrayal of a love-cure?
• Did the book do a good job of explaining first love and did it feel relevant to modern day as well as the novel’s setting?
• Did the book explain how people could feel pleasure in their job like the regulators?
• What about the idea of unnaturalism, the idea that homosexuality can be cured in this regime – how did that make you feel, did you notice it (p.47/8 in our copies)?
• What about why the family unit still existed – do you think this was realistic in the world the book was set?
• Did it remind you of any other books/regimes?
• And the usual: did you like it, would you recommend it and if so to who?

From GoodReads:

It’s not really kidnapping, is it? He’d have to be alive for it to be proper kidnapping.’ Kenny, Sim and Blake are about to embark on a remarkable journey of friendship. Stealing the urn containing the ashes of their best friend Ross, they set out from Cleethorpes on the east coast to travel the 261 miles to the tiny hamlet of Ross in Dumfries and Galloway. After a depressing and dispiriting funeral they feel taking Ross to Ross will be a fitting memorial for a 15 year-old boy who changed all their lives through his friendship. Little do they realise just how much Ross can still affect life for them even though he’s now dead. Drawing on personal experience Keith Gray has written an extraordinary novel about friendship, loss and suicide, and about the good things that may be waiting just out of sight around the corner …

Review:

I’ve been meaning to read something by Keith Gray for a while now, so when earlier in the year I noticed the Rep in Birmingham was putting on a performance of Ostrich Boys I had to go – especially as the ticket was only £5.  This in turn made me want to read the novel it was based on before I went and I’m glad I did (the play was fab though).

The story centres around three boys dealing with the death of their friend Ross and decide to honour his wish to visit a town which shared his name so Ross would be in Ross.  Along the way they come to terms with the news Ross’s death might not have been an accident and their guilt towards how they each individually treated him in his last few days – from girlfriends, to bullies and lost things.

This really was a wonderful book.  It sounds so cliched but it dealt superbly with some really heavy subjects which sadly aren’t all that uncommon amongst teenagers.  The reaction to the news that Ross might have committed suicide, both anger and quiet understanding, is so well played out that at no point does it feel patronising which it could so easily have been.  The understanding and portrayal of how the nature of friendship groups change after a big event and the loss of one friend rings painfully true and the depiction of teenage boys feels entirely realistic – like hearing the story of a friend’s little brother.  This novel is wonderful -  I read it in less than a day and relished every minute of it.

My copy suggests this might not be suitable for younger readers, but I disagree.  I think this book does a fine job of showing how unaware and well hidden other peoples emotional states can be and explaining the confusion and anger of those left behind.  The main characters might all be boys, but I fail to believe that anyone wouldn’t be touched by this book.  Beautifully bittersweet.

Velvet is a laundress in a Victorian steam laundry. With both her mother and father dead, she is an orphan and has to rely upon her own wits to make a living. The laundry’s work is back-breaking and Velvet is desperate to create a better life for herself. Then Velvet is noticed by Madame Savoya, a famed medium, who asks Velvet to come to work for her. Velvet is dazzled at first by the young yet beautifully dressed and bejewelled Madame. But soon Velvet realises that Madame Savoya is not all that she says she is, and Velvet’s very life is in danger. (From Amazon.co.uk)

I’ve always thought I disliked historical fiction, but Velvet really changed my mind. Having won a set of Mary Hooper’s historical young adult novels from Wondrous Reads I figured I should at least give them a go and I’m glad I did.

The interweaving of historical fact with a fascinating fictional tale was superb. I hate unnecessary description and thankfully this book doesn’t suffer from it.  The author doesn’t dilute the story with boring unnecessary history, rather keeping everything relevant whilst still being descriptive enough to evoke a great tale of Victorian/Edwardian Britain.  There’s some informative notes at the back for readers wanting to know more about the history, with more details about one of the characters, Amelia Dyer, who was a real-life baby farmer during the time the novel was set.  Velvet’s level of scepticism about the ways of mediumship was also a real pleasure to read in a genre which seems to be a bit obsessed with the paranormal at the moment.  Not that I don’t like a bit of paranormal in my novels, but it was really refreshing to have a character that questioned what was going on.

The book is well paced and all of the characters are relatable, from the main characters to the peripheral ones visiting the Madame for spiritual guidance.  I really liked Velvet herself, whose growth from humdrum laundress to personal maid of a famous medium is handled well. Velvet’s childhood friend Charlie is also another fascinating character and Lizzie, a fellow worker from the laundry, provides a good level for the difference in Velvet’s situation.

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable book and one I might be recommending to the Birmingham Skeptics in the Pub!  I was pleasantly surprised by this novel and looking forward to reading more of Mary Hooper’s novels.

It’s not often that I enjoy being woken up before my alarm but when it’s the postman baring a parcel for me I make an exception.  Turns out it was a set of Mary Hooper’s historical fiction novels that I’d won as part of a giveaway Jenny over at WondrousReads.com ran last month.  Behold!

And what good timing – I finished reading Bumped by Megan McCafferty last night and need a new book to start.  Historical fiction has always been something that I’ve shied away from in the past and really wanted a reason to give it a go, so this seems as good a reason as any.  Now I’ve just got to decide which one to start with!

Thanks to Jenny and Bloomsbury UK!

The rumours of Waterstones stopping the ’3 for 2′ deal had been floating around since the sale of the company and the appointment of James Daunt as managing director, but it looks like they may have finally come to fruition if the article today on The Bookseller today is correct.

I’ve got mixed feelings about this.  Frequently I’ve been into Waterstones wanting one or maybe two books and come out with a third because, well, it’s free isn’t it?  But more recently the ’3 for 2′ deal has actually worked in Waterstones favour with me.

Incident one: I wanted to try out Ally Carter’s Gallagher Girls series.  Looking at the prices for the first three, Amazon online and Waterstones in-store ’3 for 2′ were about the same price.  Plus getting them from Waterstones meant I didn’t have to wait ages for them to arrive by post nor suffer the fear that they might use a courier company that I have had numerous incidents with (once I was on the phone to Amazon for an hour to try and get my books, due to some stubbornness on my part and an excellent customer services rep).  Waterstones won without a doubt.

Incident two: I’d just finished Delirum by Lauren Oliver and was in the mood for another young adult dystopian tale.  I asked for recommendations and rather than buy one book I came out with a ’3 for 2′ plus another one I picked up at the counter.  Waterstones got two more sales from me and I got a free book, win all round.

These aren’t the only instances, I’ve frequently end up buying more books that I would’ve because the ’3 for 2′ had enticed me in.  I can say without a doubt that had it not been there, Amazon would’ve been my pick for the Gallagher Girls books.

That said, when Boarders was open in Birmingham I frequently ended up with a third book I didn’t want because trying to tell the staff that you didn’t want a free third book seemed akin to telling them you killed puppies for pleasure.  It became easier to pick up a free third book and donate it to the charity shop or just not buy more than one book.  So I guess in those circumstances the books really were devalued.

Plus, there is, of course, always that issue that the tables of ’3 for 2′ books were always a bit obvious.  It stopped me looking through the shelves to find something published not quite so recently and not having the buying power behind it of whatever teenager-vampire-ghost-angel-love-story was being released that week.  If the tables of ’3 for 2′ no longer exist, then maybe other books will get a look in.

I’m really interested to see what Waterstones do in terms of promotions next, if the ’3 for 2′ really dies disappear.  Half price books sucker me in and I’ve been known to wander around a few stores on release day to take up this offer, so maybe that’s something that might stick around…but it’s not often than the books I tend to read (YA edging away from paranormal romance) get included in this offer.

Aside from the promotional elements, I’m hoping that this means Waterstones will start focusing on what it can offer above and beyond online algorithms – personal service.  I’ve had mixed experiences of going in and asking for recommendations; a couple of times I’ve come out with more books than I meant to because of the enthusiasm of the bookseller, other times I’ve wondered if they even read.

But hopefully if the tables of ’3 for 2′ really do disappear, it’ll mean a wider range of books get a look in, with more enticing tales that might not have the publishing powerhouse behind them, but rather a bookseller with a genuine love for that tale and wants others to see it.  Still, if it’s true then I’m going to miss being able to justify coming home with lots of books because they were part of a deal, but looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Delirium
by Lauren Oliver
Published in the UK in February 2011 (Hardback) and August 2011 (paperback)

Set in a world where love is considered a disease and the population are cured of it when they reach adulthood, Lena is counting down the days until she is cured and will forget the pain of her mother’s suicide.  That is until Alex comes along and everything changes.

I have to admit I’ve been waiting for this book to come out in paperback ever since I read the plot summary.  I adore dystopian fiction and I loved the idea of a world in which love is a curable disease.  Yes, the idea itself was fairly brilliant, but the way it was executed really was something.  Lena is a superb main character and to see her understand the beauty of love is truly heart-warming.

I was so gripped that about two thirds of the way through I had to put the book down for a few days because I just could not conceive of a way it would end well (unless the author was a real wimp and thankfully she isn’t) and I wasn’t sure I could face it.  This book will get to you in the heart-aching kind of way that makes you think you’ve read a truly great piece of fiction.  Read it, read it now.  Probably my favourite book of the year.

I’ve been reading Sarah Dessen books for a while, but for some reason Along for the Ride passed me by.  It’s pretty standard Dessen, in so far as a slightly awkward teenage girl who is a bit of an outsider spends a summer learning about herself and falls in love along the way.  But why mess around with a tried-and-tested formula that works?  That’s the beauty of Dessen’s novels, the charming way she shows the transformation of the main character coming of age and the undeniably sweet romance.

Along for the Ride is no different – studious Auden spends the summer with her father, his new wife and baby, where she learns about female friendships, experiencing life as a care-free teenager and crushes.  Throw in some insomnia, late night drives and a boy who is guilt-ridden over the loss of a friend.

And it’s delightful.  Auden is, like all of Dessen’s main characters, instantly likeable and easy to identify with.  The love interest Eli is initially mysterious but once Auden knows more the more likably he becomes – particularly as he helps Auden capture a sense of youthfulness she missed trying to be the perfect daughter to an academic mother.  The development from Auden as a solitary character to one who gets to know the girls who work at her stepmother’s store is well executed, particularly the move from grudgingly interacting with them to eventually appreciating that she had judged them on stereotypes.  But it really is the late night jaunts and the transformation of Auden, who moves from being unsure of herself and a bit lost, to someone who seems to find a place for herself amongst the chaos of her family.

A delightful uplifting read, particularly for anyone who ever felt like they just didn’t quite fit in enough.

EDIT: Talking of similarities of Dessen’s characters, I came across this brilliant flow chart of the boys in Dessen’s novels by Karen Healey (via The Sarah Dessen Diarist). Utterly brilliant!