In Praise of Mr B's

As some of you may know, today marks the end of Independent Booksellers Week. It's great to see support for independent shops, as so many people (I'm guilty too!) will opt for the easiest way out, and just buy something from Amazon. And even in terms of bookshops, Waterstones and Blackwells have a pretty good monopoly of the market...

HOWEVER. The independent booksellers are biting back! There may not be thousands of them, but I'm sure you'll agree with me that there is absolutely nothing like a small bookshop. The level of service, the intimate feeling of being with books, the personal recommendations, that feeling you get that you're in on a wonderful secret...

Well, I'll share my 'secret.'

I've talked plenty about Mr B's already, but I just want to sing their praises again. They are a wonderful independent bookshop in Wells, tucked away but quite near the centre. It's deceptively big! There are just so many books inside! Two stories, floor to wall with books. I have done a Reading Year with Mr B's (see all my reviews!), and I did a Reading Spa this year. I am slowly-slowly making my way through these books - I'm eking them out as much as my patience will allow me too, as the thought of not having them is too painful to consider!

A Reading Spa means paying to have a 'bibliotherapist' sit down and talk to you (tea and cake available!) for half and hour or so, and then they go off and find books they'll think you'll like. It's magical! And a Reading Year is most definitely the best present I have ever had. You get to know your bibliotherapist, and then they will send you - beautifully hand wrapped in brown paper and string, with Mr B's seal - a book through the post every month. It is so exciting!


My bibliotherapist is Emma, and she has been fantastic. We've continued to correspond intermittently, and it's just amazing to have someone in tune with my reading tastes.

Mr B's also host talks and signings from authors!! I haven't been lucky enough to go to one, but they have sounded exciting; they're even going to have Louis de Berniere later in the summer, as well as Justin Cartwright! So, some really big names.

Here is a little Q&A from Emma, the best bibliotherapist out there!

How long have you been working with Mr B's? Just over two years now!

What's the best thing about working there? Getting to talk about books all day and meeting such wonderful book-loving people. I particularly love being a ‘bibliotherapist’ and doing the Reading Spas with people, or choosing books each month to post out to people as part of the Mr B’s Reading Year. Both are great ways of introducing people to books and authors they may never have come across before.

Who is the favourite author you've met? My favourite author I’ve met would be China Mieville. I used to work as a bookseller at the Cheltenham Literature Festival and so I’ve met a fair few authors in my time, but none had impressed me quite as much as China who took the time to recommend me loads of SF authors as I was just getting into the genre at the time. As for recent fave author meetings… I would definitely have to say Kirsty logan (The Gracekeepers). She was just super lovely and it felt like I had met my book twin because we had such similar reading tastes!!

What books are you looking forward to this summer? So many and it’s hard to narrow it down. I will cherry-pick a few for you: ‘The Last Pilot’ by Benjamin Johncock, ‘The Seed Collector’s by Scarlett Thomas, ‘A Little Life’ by Hanya Yanagihara, and of course ‘Three Moments of an Explosion’ by China Mieville!

Top 5 books of the year so far? Oooo…again there have been quite a few already! In no particular order: ‘The Honours’ by Tim Clare, ‘The Gracekeepers’ by Kirsty Logan, ‘Villa America’ by Liza Klaussmann, ‘The Buried Giant’ by Kazuo Ishiguro, and ‘Weathering’ by Lucy Wood.  

I would just like to celebrate Mr B's and all other bookshops like them. (Particularly them. But I'm biased.) Think about where you shop.

(I wasn't asked to write this post - I did it spontaneously because I love them so much!)

Some of my favourite Mr B's books:
Prep by Curtis Sittenfield
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon 
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent <= Best one!

The Last Ever Mr B's Reading Year

Well, the day had to come some time - and I certainly put it off for a long time... this is the end of my reading year.

So, here was my last (11th) book:

Which turned out to be Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld.

Prep tells the story of Lee Fiora, navigating her way through high school. It's about fitting in, class, race, money, boys, crushes, fitting in, grades, families, embarrassment - essentially, it's a coming of age book. What I really liked about Curtis' novel was the characters - I particularly liked Sin Jun. But all of her characters - likeable or detestable - had one thing in common. They were all believable. I could recognise them from my own classes, the quiet ones, the loud ones. They were real.

One thing that I've noticed about the Mr B's reading year is that I have read more American novels than I usually read. It's not a particularly conscious decision, but I tend to opt for European authors. It's really opened my eyes - definitely enjoying them, although I still internally find some of the names a bit funny!

Overall, a very gentle book - good, although not stunning. Well worth reading.

And that's it! Book eleven of my reading year. Thank you so so much to Emma, my bibliotherapist, for making this such a wonderful year. There has been such a wonderful mixture of books, some I've liked more than others, but I've enjoyed being exposed to every one. It's fantastic to have my reading tastes expanded and challenged. Very sad that it's over.

But me and Emma did a reading spa last week, and now I have whole new pile of books to get through! What fun!

Here is me and Emma with my fifteen (fifteen!) new books to read:

Just a huge thank you to Emma and Mr B's for this reading year.

We will soon be posting the beginning of our 26 books for 2015; just needing to be a bit more organised between the 3 of us!

Happy Woman's Day! E xx

Mr B's Reading Year - Hideous Creatures

In Hideous Creatures, Lister tells the story of Arthur Hallingham who is on the run from his aristocratic family in England, where he had to leave because of some dark occurence – we don't find out the truth until near the end of the novel. He starts out for Africa, before travelling on a slave ship to America, hoping to lose himself in the New World. What transpires goes entirely beyond his worst nightmares, lost in the destructiveness of a native medicine man, Shelo, and another companion, Flora, daughter of an outlaw. The trio journey through the wilderness, as Shelo's true intentions come to the fore...

There are two interlinking stories: one starting from Arthur's passage on the ship, moving to the present, and the other starting in the present and moving forward. This could have been confusing, but Lister handled the change of time effectively without having to resort to dates etc, which is quite refreshing. Despite this, I did find the plot a little hard to follow at times, but I believe this was intentional: Lister wants the reader to be as in the dark as Arthur is.

The prose is beautiful and well constructed, but my main problem was that I just didn't really like Arthur very much! I'm not sure that we are meant to like him exactly, but his cowardice and general uselessness really grated on me! Flora, I liked, and Shelo was scary, as I'm sure was intended.

Overall, a promising début from Lister, and nice to read something a bit different from a young author – not just another apocalyptic teen novel! Thank you Mr B's and Emma!

Mr B's Reading Year - The Bone Season

The Bone Season – Samantha Shannon

This is my fourth (?) Mr B's book, and I really wanted to enjoy it. As Emma, my bibliotherapist said, it's a debut written by a very talented young women (and I mean really young – I'm very jealous of her for managing to be so committed, as she's my age!) and it has been highly received by lots of readers. It was originally published last summer, there are going to be six (SIX!) more, and the film rights have already been sold to Andy Serkis's Studio (yep, that's Gollum to you and me!). On top of that it has already been translated into 28 different languages! So, basically, a lot people think there's a lot of positive things going for it.

The Bone Season is set in 2059, and is a dystopian future where clairvoyants (people with special magic-type abilities) are singled out, and scape-goated for all problems in the new world. It begins in London (quite fun, as there are recognisable landmarks) and continues in Oxford (fun, for the same reasons!). Paige Mahoney, nineteen, is the main character: a clairvoyant whose special ability is to be capable of moving in and out of the minds of others people, known as a dreamwalker. She is part of a gang of sorts, working underground, although Paige's father is a key part of the non-clairvoyant government. It involves magic, steam-punk elements, a sort-of vampire-mortal style relationship and a feisty heroine. What could go wrong?

Well, for me, it didn't work. The first section is a bit of an information-dump, lots of telling and not a lot of showing. We certainly need to glean a lot of information about Shannon's world, but there are more effective ways of doing it. There was too much stated, and, for me, there was too much in one go. I wonder whether this says something about me as a reader, rather than Shannon as a writer: maybe I'm just too stupid or lazy a reader to appreciate her work? I'd like to think not, but you never know... The convolution got worse progressively throughout the novel. There are some really good moments, but there are some plot holes and graunchy scenes that just ruined it for me. I couldn't keep up with the information flow, and didn't warm to some of the other characters; again, there were too many for me to keep track of. (Although I loved Liss and Julian).

I was really disappointed with this book: not only because I didn't enjoy it, but because it was one of my Mr B's books that Emma had chosen for me personally, so I want to like these books even more (like I did for Burial Rites.) Ah well – not every book chosen is going to be perfect. Sorry Emma, but I hope I like the next one!

Mime Order, the second in the septet, is coming out later this year, but I don't think that I'll be reading it, sadly.

Mr B's Reading Year - Burial Rites

 source

My third Mr B's book, and what a winner! After being a little bit disappointed (but only a bit) with The Testament of Jesse Lamb, this was completely the opposite. Thank you to my bibliotherapist, Emma, for such a brilliant choice! H had actually been given this by A for Christmas, and they read it in their book group a few months ago, so it came with more good recommendations. I wasn't disappointed - from the first chapter I knew I was in good hands.

Firstly, I'd like to say that Iceland is pretty much number one on my want-to-travel-to destinations in the whole world. Has been since I was about... twelve or thirteen? For lots of reasons – but mostly just because of the harsh beauty of the landscape. So, this book was intrinsically attractive to me before I started.

Burial Rites is the story of Agnes, the last woman to be executed in Iceland in the 1800s. It is Kent's debut novel, and the meticulous research gone into it (it was part of her PhD) is apparent from the onset. The atmosphere is hard, harsh, and cold; the setting is more than just a backdrop, as Iceland seems almost a character in its own right. This book could not have been set anywhere else, the setting is integral to the story

At the start of each chapter are official documents, and I think they may be real from Kent's extensive research, which contribute to telling the story of Agnes, Frederick and Natan, the men who were killed. This dual method of story telling was very effective; the juxtaposition of official language to the flowing, beautiful prose gave differing perspectives. I enjoyed being shown alternative viewpoints on this woman.

At the end of the novel, there was an article by Hannah Kent, and some FAQs, which really added to it for me. It was evident how thorough she had been just by reading it, and it was fascinating to learn more about her writing process (she would sit down and write 1,000 words every day, come what may!) and how much of the novel was fantasy and what was historical fact.

Overall, a brilliant, beautifully haunting book. I'd be fascinated to see what Hannah Kent writes next!

Thank you to Emma at Mr B's - one of the best books I've read this year!

What does anyone else think? Tempted to read it? Already read it? Excited for her next novel? Leave a comment and let me know!

Mr B's Reading Year - The Testament of Jessie Lamb

A little late - but here is my review (I've been snowed under with things to read!)

My next Mr B's Reading Year book arrived in the post, looking as wonderful as always...

This is the most exciting part - beautifully wrapped, with their distinctive seal, trying hard not to rip the nice paper in my eagerness to see what book Emma (my bibliotherapist) has sent me...

This month was The Testament of Jessie Lamb. I had never actually heard of it, or of Jane Rogers, the author, although it has been longlisted for the Man Booker! And I thought I was aware of books that on the Booker list! It was a little while ago (2011), so there is my excuse...

Because of this, I had expected it to be an adult book: as far as I know, the Man Booker doesn't branch out into young adult literature. Now, to me, The Testament of Jessie Lamb felt very much like young adult literature, and possibly young-ish young adult at that! Since I was expecting to read quite a different book than the one it turned out to be, this could have been why I didn't get on with it as well as I was expecting. Don't get me wrong - I love YA - but I had been looking forward to a really meaty adult book. YA can be meaty as well, but this didn't quite reach that for me.

Anyway, let me move on. The Testament of Jessie Lamb is another apocalyptic saga. It moves between two time periods in Jessie's life: her present and her recent past. In this dystopian future, a virus has been unleashed that effectively kills women who are pregnant. All of the women pregnant at the time died, along with their babies, and it seems as though human life is doomed to extinction.

But, no! There is an experimental solution: women can opt to be 'sleeping beauties.' They will be artificially inseminated, and put into a coma from which they will never give up, but the babies may survive. It is the ultimate sacrifice: giving your life for the human race, through a virgin birth. Of course, the parallels to Jessie Lamb are blindingly obvious (Jessie, Jesus; Lamb, lamb of God) and she volunteers to be one.

I won't give away any more of the story, but this is the central dilemna. There is also a lot of the 'normal' things that appear in dystopian novels: male supremacy, people believing that it is some sort of punishment, cults and sects appearing, children rejecting their parents, riots, looters, rape... That's quite a list!

I didn't quite warm to Jessie. As a narrator, she didn't feel quite real enough for me. I wanted to enjoy this book a lot more than I did, unfortunately. It has such an interesting premise, but has been sort of filed in my head as 'another dystopian futuristic novel.' The other characters seemed more rounded than she did, but essentially the novel was a little flat for me. Bit of a shame, but not the end of the world!

Thank you Mr B's and Emma for my latest installment!

Mr B's Reading Year - Daughter of Smoke and Bone

I love trilogies. Are trilogies a genre in their own right? I guess not, but there's something about this medium that just intrinsically appeals to me. So many YA books are trilogies now that I suppose I'm not alone in thinking that. What do other people think? What is it about trilogies that appeals so much?

Anyway, before I get started I have to say: I love this book. I've seen it around on Good Reads before and it's vaguely filtered through that it might be my kind of book, but I haven't gone  out of my way to read it. Do you know how big my to-read list is?

And that's only about a quarter of it! But this one got the VIB (Very Important Book) upgrade to the top of the pile.

Anyway, I was really pleased when Emma, my bibliotherapist, sent me Taylor's novel. Here is what Emma said:

Welcome to your Mr B's Reading Year! I'm Emma and I will be your bibliotherapist for the next 11 months. With arch book you will receive a book mark where you can collect your thoughts and share them with me if you like either by post or by email. For your first book I'm sending you the first part of one of my favourite new fantasy trilogies? It is incredibly imaginative and has a very mythological feel to it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Isn't that such a nice note to receive? She picked out this book especially for me! I can't quite believe it. It was so exciting receiving the beautiful parcel with Mr B's seal on it. The whole set-up of the reading year is fantastic, it quite makes me want to be a bibliotherapist! It's fun picking books for people, particularly if their tastes are similar to yours. I doubt it's as amazing as I think; it probably doesn't involve going to work and reading from 9-5 every day...

Am I rambling? Yes. Let's get back to the book.

Emma was right about how imaginative it is; I personally haven't come across a book quite like this, although it has different elements that are similar to other novels. It has a bold start, effectively introducing you to our central protagonist, Karou, her best friend, and ex boyfriend in one go. Although a very 'every day' occurrence (a class at college), Taylor is able to make it interesting and really quite fun. We are also introduced early to the idea that Karou is different...

Although she acts like a normal college girl within her classes, she is secretly living a double life. She lives with chimera, entities who are part animal, part human in Elsewhere, another

world. She never knew her parents and these people are her family: Brimstone, particularly is like a stern father to her.

It is a very engaging, well paced novel, and I loved the nods to mythology throughout. There were a couple of points I was dubious about (for instance, Karou's best friend barely batting an eyelid when she discovers the truth about Karou) but mostly Taylor's characters were very believable. I care about them, I care what happens to them. 

Although there's some pretty heavy and difficult things going on for the characters, Taylor also manage to create humour, and some of the ordinary trials of teenager, so it never got too dark. I have a sense that the next book is going to be a lot darker than this one... What a way to end it! Complete cliffhanger, holding on the rock face and slowly slipping down... I need to read the next one soon!

Thank you very much, Emma - 4 star review.

Introducing Mr B's

This year I am the proud recipient of a Mr B's Reading Year! Both A and J have had this in previous years and now it's my turn. I haven't read the book yet (my to-read list is dangerously out of hand) but doesn't it look so exciting wrapped up? And a personal note from my bibliotherapist; what a wonderful parcel to receive. Can't wait to get started!