Category: Review (Page 115 of 133)

The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory by John Seabrook
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The music industry is a strange beast. Not only is it fickle and flighty, but it has changed dramatically from even twenty years ago. Gone are the A&R men finding that individual with the perfect voice that they can sign and promote with the hope of getting the hits. Now we have a machine that can almost produce hits to order, almost being the key word… There are producers out there who have the ability to write songs that have what they describe as ‘hooks’, those little parts of a track that are so catchy, so addictive, that they stick in your head. These men, and it still is almost exclusively men, are still rare, but that ability to turn a song from one that would have only sold thousands to one that sells millions makes them worth a fortune.

Earworm: a catchy song or tune that runs continually through someone’s mind.

Seabrook has written an interesting book, smearing away some of the gloss and glamour from the music industry, to reveal details of its inner workings. He describes just how these talented individuals pull together a song, finding those hook’s that make people want to listen more and the bridge moment when they divert from the original melody and rhythm and slot something else in. I have known that they manufactured music in the same way that they create groups, for ages, but I didn’t realise quite how strong the Swedish influence was in the global music industry. There were some interesting chapters on how Napster wreaked havoc with the business model of the music industry, how streaming has changed how they operate, how they use topliners and that the only way that a star can now make any money is to be continually touring because of the grip that the music industry has on them. It was an interesting book overall on a global industry that has as many secrets as glitterballs.

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Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters by Annie Dillard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In this collection of fourteen essays Dillard brings her almost forensic observation of natural world as well as a keen perception of the smallest detail to a wide variety of subjects. Starting with her thoughts on a solar eclipse that she travels to see in Yakima, we accompany her on her a journey to the Appalachian Mountains and all the way to the Galapagos Islands. With her we see the world through the eyes of a weasel and take a walk from her home. We also meet the man who inspired the title of the book, who is Teaching a stone to speak; most will think this a futile gesture, but as Dillard explains, it is his way of communing with the natural world at the pace he desires.

The silence is all there is. It is the alpha and the omega.

There is a strong spiritual dimension to her sparse but eloquent prose. It is beyond me how she manages to pack so much meaning into so few words. Her childlike fascination with the world around is evident in the book and she manages to deftly entwine this with themes of exploration and discovery and how we can use it to watch and observe the things that happen around us. I particularly liked the essay on lenses, how it is something that you have to master before you can use it to see the far away and the near. Until now I have never read any of her books before, now will be working my way through her non-fiction back catalogue.

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Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

David and Adele are the perfect couple. He is the level-headed psychiatrist; she is the beautiful and glamorous wife who loves him deeply. But behind this perfect fragile marriage there are secrets; dark disturbing secrets. David’s new secretary, Louise, is drawn into their surreal, controlling world, though neither are aware that she knows both of them. Little by little she discovers their secrets and it slowly dawns on her that there is something in this relationship that is very, very wrong. Louise doesn’t know what it is, nor just how far that the person will go to keep that secret safe.

I loved the pace of the story, it was enough to keep me turning the pages fairly rapidly. The build up through the book with the narrative coming from first Louise and then Adele with flashbacks to an earlier time and events was done really well. As for the ending; I won’t tell you… It is a very different ending to what I thought was going to happen, I was expecting something much more dramatic.

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Adventures in Stationery: A Journey Through Your Pencil Case by James Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some people see stationary as a necessary evil, as long as the pen works and the end of it has not been chewed too much, then all is good. Then there are those who covert the clean piece of paper, the curl of wood from a freshly sharpened pencil, the cellophane covering the new pack of Post-It’s or the possibilities that a pristine cover of a Moleskine holds. If you are in the latter group; this book is for you. Each and every one of us uses stationary in some form or other, though that has fallen with the advent of smart phones and devices.

Ward has an obsession with stationary bordering on the unnatural, but that obsession has driven him to ask the questions that no one else would ask, such as: What are the 1000’s of uses for blue tack? How many pencils do Ikea supply each year? Who pays $43 for a pencil? Is there a risk when licking a gummed envelope? And where has the sellotape gone again?

He tells us just how the highlighter came into being, the evolution of the pen from quill to gel, Why the staples never fit your stapler and why one bank stopped chaining its pens to the desk. Sadly we seem to be losing the art of writing, as tapping things out on your phone seems to have more appeal. I have always liked stationary; as I look around me I have two of the black and yellow waspish coloured Staedtler pencils, one un branded pen, a Uni-ball pen (my favourite), a plastic eraser and one of those double pencil sharpeners that have a standard and a large hole. In all my years I have never used the large hole to sharpen a pencil…

This is a brilliantly quirky book about those things that we never really consider in any depth. Ward has uncovered the history behind the most mundane of objects and tells the stories of some of the characters who made the brands that we know and love today. Great stuff.

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Spring: An Anthology for the Changing Seasons by Melissa Harrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Spring is that time of year where we shrug off the dark nights and sullen weather and celebrate the light and the warmth of the sun as it floods through the gothic formwork of trees. Plants are waking up too, buds swell and then burst with fresh green leaves, the wanderers return from afar and there is the frantic race to find a mate. Those that have spent the winter gestating, are born, bring new life into the world. It is the season where change is most noticeable and for a lot of people most welcomed.

Harrison has once again drawn together some of the finest new writing from established authors and exciting new ones and scoured the classic texts to gather them in this book. She has selected a good mix of prose and poetry too, each with the essence of the season distilled within. Most exciting are the new authors that are here for the first time in print, people like Jo Sinclair, Alice Hunter, Vijay Medtia, Elliot Dowding and Chris Foster. All have the potential to add to the natural history lexicography.

It is full of the wonders of nature, acute observation of the landscape around and writers celebrating the joy of the season. It is a lovely book too, the stunning foil blocked cover by Lynn Hatzius captures the energy and zest of spring perfectly. For those of you that love your nature writing, this collection is a perfect distillation of the moment.

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Death’s Mistress by Terry Goodkind
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

She has been called Sister of the Light, and even Sister of the Dark; Nicci has been the lieutenant of a tyrant and pledged to destroy a man who she then fell in love with. But that was in the past. It is a new and safer world out there, and Nicci’s new role is telling the people of how Lord Rahl’s rule will bring peace and prosperity to their world. But the first job is keeping the wizard and prophet Nathan out of trouble… Nathan wants to visit the witch called Red, whom he wishes to get to tell him his life story.

She does, but issues a cryptic message to him; He must seek the place Kol Adair, where the answers and solution to his fading magic will be answered. It is a place that no one has heard of, and its name appears on no chart. They make haste their preparations to travel south and whilst getting provisions, Nicci saves the life of a traveller called Bannon who is being robbed. He is so grateful that he recommends the ship he is sailing south on and pledges his services to her. So begins their perilous journey south to find this mystery place. They will face threats from the sea, the land, bargain with dragons and face the greatest threats to the world that they know.

I do read some fantasy every now and again. It is a genre that can either be excellent, full of intrigue and political shenanigans or can fall a bit flat as it is broadly similar to other stuff that you have come across. This is the first of Terry Goodkind’s books that I have read, and overall it wasn’t too bad. There was plenty of pace to the story, with a mix of dramatic events and the standard tropes from the fantasy genre. It did suffer from being a bit formulaic, though, but that is the problem that I have with a lot of the quest style fantasy. Not bad, though, might even read the sequel!

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The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

The Roanoke Girls are all mysterious. They are rich and all have a certain captivating beauty. Everyone wants to be a Roanoke girl; but if they knew the truth, they might just change their mind.
Lane’s mother killed herself in their New York flat when she was just fifteen. Not really knowing that she had anyone or any family she is surprised to hear that her grandparents are still alive and would be more than happy to look after her at their Kansas home. Arriving at the startling looking house, she is welcomed by her folks and her cousin Allegra. They hit it off right away and she starts to discover the wilder side of life in the town. She settles into life and enjoys being doted on by her grandfather, but Lane starts to hear rumours and snippets about the family, and slowly she begins to understand the truth.

To be a Roanoke Girl; you run, or you die.

This is a dark and very disturbing family saga with a subtle twist at the end. It is one of those car crash type books that is compelling enough to keep you reading until the end. I liked the way it skipped back and forwards in time, each secret from the Lane’s story in the past became a clue revealed in the modern day story. But it did have its faults… There was a fairly unsubtle hint about the nature of the secret given away far too early in the book for my liking. Almost all the characters were flawed in one way or another, not necessarily a problem, as the flaws that we have make us human, but these characters seem to not help themselves in any way. 2.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy

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The January Man: A Year of Walking Britain by Christopher Somerville
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Late in 2015, Christopher Somerville lost his father after a short battle with cancer. He had had a tempestuous relationship with him as a teenager, partly because of the teenage angst, but also because of his father’s job. They tried to bond by undertaking longer walks through the countryside, but it didn’t always work. As they both grew older and a little wiser the relationship strengthened and the walks that they undertook brought them back together.

Undertaking a walk in a different part of the country for each month, Somerville weaves together a mix of personal recollection of his father, the countryside he is wandering through, and the natural wonders he sees around him. He walks in the floods in the West country, the tiny Isle of Foula near Shetland, round Sherwood Forest and along the Lancashire coast and heads to Lyme Regis for a family gathering. He uses these walks to look at the man his father was and to try to comprehend him. He worked at GCHQ, and could not say a word about his work to anyone and that led to many frustrating moments in their relationship.

This is no fair weather walking book, he is not scared to venture out in the rain to follow his route. It is quite readable and at certain points he shows his class as a writer. He can be quite reflective as he muses about his father and the things that will forever remain secret. I really liked the verses from the song ‘The January man’ by Dave Goulder that accompany a beautiful sketch at the beginning of each chapter, they added a nice touch to the book. Worth reading I think, but it didn’t quite soar for me.

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Kapp To Cape: Never Look Back: Race to the End of the Earth by Reza Pakravan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Reza Pakravan was settled in his comfortable life in London working as a financial analyst, but he wasn’t happy. He had started to work with the Azafady charity to raise money for those in most need in Madagascar. After cycling across the Sahara, and setting a world record in the process, he wanted something to get his teeth into. A plan was conceived and in August 2013, he embarked with his cycling buddy Steven Pawley on an 18,000 kilometre journey from Nordkapp to Cape Town with two aims in mind; To set a world record and to raise money to build two schools in Madagascar.

Arriving at Nordkapp, they turn almost immediately, grasp hands and cycle away together on their epic journey. 100 days later they were hoping to arrive in Cape Town, so they were going to have to set a fairly punishing schedule. Their chosen route would take in 21 different countries from the relaxed Finland to the potentially dangerous situation in Egypt and the troubled Republic of Dagestan. They had a film team at the beginning of the journey, but most of their route they were doing this unsupported, finding places to stay or camp on the way, relying on the generosity of strangers and friends from the past.

It was a tough journey too. Not only did they have to make a minimum mileage each day to stand any chance of claiming the record, but they had to do it over a variety of road surfaces and across punishing landscapes. It is a refreshingly honest and personal travel book; not only does Pakravan wear his heart on his sleeve, he shares all the emotions of the journey. From the elation as they reach significant milestones but the low moments of illness and differing opinions that they suffered on their race to the very south of Africa. Well worth reading for a travel book that pulls no punches.

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