Monthly Recap - June 2012

Here are the books I reviewed this past month:

1st: I Suck at Girls by Justin Halpern
2nd: Little Learners: Touch and Feel: Colours
3rd: Little Learners: Shaped Foam Book: Night Night
4th: Little Learners: Shaped Foam Book: Yum Yum

5th: Asterix and the Golden Sickle by Goscinny and Uderzo

6th: Asterix and the Goths by Goscinny and Uderzo

7th: Loose Connections by Rosemary Hayes

8th: Asterix Omnibus 1 by Goscinny and Uderzo

15th: The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend

19th: Now is the Time for Running by Michael Williams

25th: The Traitors by Tom Becker

26th: The Dinosaur Games by David Bedford

And here are the books that are on my reading list:

The Dinosaur Games by David Bedford

So there is an Olympics just about to start in London and a few books coming out with the Olympic theme, this being one of them. The Dinosaur Games follows Titus the T-Rex as he takes part in some of these dinosaur games. There’s even a meteor making an appearance meaning you can have a conversation with your child about whatever became of those dinosaurs.

I read it with my 5-year-old and my 1-year-old. My 1-year-old loved it as she loves all stories with bright pictures. She likened Titus’s big red nose (see cover) to an apple. My 5-year-old didn’t like it so much. She wanted more pink dinosaurs. 

The pictures were designed around four lines of text with only the second and fourth line rhyming. The rhyming was maybe a bit average with the number of syllables per line not matching up, and why does Titus wear socks (answer: to make a rhyme work), and the story was no better than average too. It didn’t really engage my 5-year-old. It felt a little like it was cashing in for the forthcoming Olympics. 

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed here.)

The Traitors by Tom Becker

This book is about a prison where traitors go called the Dial (so called because it resembles a clock with two walkways in the middle, like hands of a clock, and 12 wings which these hands connect to). Thus if a child betrays someone, e.g. Adam, the main character in the book, kisses his best friend’s girlfriend which gets his best friend expelled from school because he trashed a lab in anger, then they get taken to the Dial to spend an eternity in the prison – although because it is in no-time 100s of years pass there without any time passing here.

Life there is harsh and it is no wonder that Adam doesn’t like it. He wants out, but the only way out is through a warp-hole. But Mr Pitt, the evil guard will stop at nothing to prevent anyone ever leaving. And he has a mole to help him, but who is it? 

The characters are good and the story is full of suspense. A great book with a thrilling outcome.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed here.)

Now is the Time for Running by Michael Williams

This book is about recent problems that have engulfed Zimbabwe and recent xenophobia riots that happened in South Africa all with a little bit of football thrown into the mix.

The book follows Deo, who is 14 at the start of the book, as he flees his homeland. He and his elder brother, Innocent, who is disabled have to leave Zimbabwe, their home, after soldiers come to their village and kill everyone after the way the elections happened there. They have to escape the country, which is dangerous especially with Innocent, and once they reach South Africa will they find what they are looking for? Or will unrest there lead to xenophobic riots? Is there a way out – perhaps football can provide the release, or maybe substance abuse?

I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed Innocent as a character and liked the way he lived up to his name somewhat. There were harrowing scenes in the book based on things that have happened in real life. Although this is a work of fiction you can definitely imagine these things having happened in these places. 

The book is quite short and Deo's narration is quite simple but it is definitely worth a read especially if you like football or you want to find out more about the problems faced in Zimbabwe and South Africa in recent years.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed on Amazon here.)

The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year by Sue Townsend

I liked reading this book. It felt a lot like a sitcom to me in places, what with funny characters and a limited number of locations, e.g. the bedroom.

There were strong characters. They were funny the way they had contrasting features that went together. For example Brian, the husband of Eva who is the woman who went to bed for a year, is a boring, weedy-looking astronomer yet he has a couple of affairs, something you wouldn’t expect. 

And putting the characters into situations where they rub each other up in the wrong way worked well too – Eva taking to the bed for a year for instance seemed to annoy everyone. My favourite character was the melodramatic student Poppy who lies and makes up stories about everything and gets a reaction from everyone she comes into contact with. 

The story is like a sitcom too in that lots of funny different things are going on. That is until near the end where things become a bit more sombre and less fun. 

This is all fine, unless you like your books to have one narrative without lots of diversions. I think it worked and I could definitely see parts of it making a good TV show.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed here.)

Asterix Omnibus 1 by Goscinny and Uderzo

This book combines the first three Asterix adventures into one volume, thus it is the ideal place to start if you're new to his stories.

The first is Asterix the Gaul which introduces many of the themes that follow in the following 30-odd books: the premise of a Gaulish village resisting against the might of the Roman army; the Romans getting a good biffing from those villagers whenever they attempt to take it; Asterix's craftiness; the magic potion as produced by the druid, Getafix, that gives those who drink it great strength; Obelix who has permanently high levels of strength due to falling into the potion as a boy and he can never have it again as the consequences would be tragic, yet he does want it; Obelix's love of wild boar...

The story is good too. It tells the tale of the Romans sending a spy into the village to find out where their great strength comes from which leads to a kidnap plot on the druid, and Asterix gets involved too, but all ends happily with a great banquet to celebrate (another theme carried through into the other books).

The drawings themselves are a little cruder and less refined than the later books, which is understandable given this is the first.

The second is Asterix and the Golden Sickle. Getafix the druid breaks his golden sickle so Asterix and Obelix need to travel to get it from the only sickle maker Getafix considers worthy. That means a trip to faraway Lutetia (Paris). Trouble is that when they arrive the sickle maker can't be found and the only golden sickles they can buy are on the black market at over-inflated and unaffordable prices. This is all bad news because Getafix needs it urgently for the imminent annual druid conference.

The drawing style is still developing at this stage in the series, and the big village feast image at the end is not there (although the customary feast still takes place) but this is still a classic Asterix tale featuring barbarians, bandits, Romans and much more. What more do you need?

The third Asterix adventure is Asterix and the Goths. It starts with Getafix getting ready to leave the village for the annual druid conference (which is what he was getting ready for in the previous book, although both are still stand-alone). Unfortunately Getafix ends up getting kidnapped by the Goths who need a druid to help them invade the Roman-invaded France. It is down to Asterix and Obelix to rescue him.

A great story with the Goths talking in Gothic text, and lots of humour too what with all the running battles going on and such. The village feast scene returns at the end too. A classic Asterix tale to end this trio of stories. Trouble now is you'll be wanting to read the others.

(This book is listed on Amazon here.)

Loose Connections by Rosemary Hayes

This is a short book (took me just over 2 hours to read) about Jake who is about 12 who has been left at home with his Gran looking after him because his dad is away abroad and his mum is having a prolonged stay at hospital. Unfortunately his Gran is losing it and he’s struggling to take care of things considering he can’t bother mum and can’t call his dad back home.

The book seemed to me to be a bit repetitive with the same stuff happening as Jake spent his days looking after his Gran as she did the same loony things, except maybe a bit loonier (although not loony in a way that was humourous, this is a serious book). Also I didn’t like the way Jake seems to black out at one point in the story seemingly out of nowhere.

The book did have an excellent ending though, an emotional one too, where all the previous goings on get tied up and things finally work out for Jake.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed on Amazon here.)

Asterix and the Goths by Goscinny and Uderzo

This is the third Asterix adventure. It starts with Getafix getting ready to leave the village for the annual druid conference (which is what he was getting ready for in the previous book Asterix and the Golden Sickle, although both are still stand-alone). Unfortunately Getafix ends up getting kidnapped by the Goths who need a druid to help them invade the Roman-invaded France. It is down to Asterix and Obelix to rescue him.

A great story with the Goths talking in Gothic text, and lots of humour too what with all the running battles going on and such. The village feast scene returns at the end too. A classic Asterix tale.

(This book is listed on Amazon here.)

Asterix and the Golden Sickle by Goscinny and Uderzo

This is the second Asterix book after Asterix The Gaul. Getafix the druid breaks his golden sickle so Asterix and Obelix need to travel to get it from the only sickle maker Getafix considers worthy. That means a trip to faraway Lutetia. Trouble is that when they arrive the sickle maker can't be found and the only golden sickles they can buy are on the black market at over-inflated and unaffordable prices. This is all bad news because Getafix needs it urgently for the imminent annual druid conference.

The drawing style is still developing at this stage in the series, and the big village feast image at the end is not there (although the customary feast still takes place) but this is still a classic Asterix tale featuring barbarians, bandits, Romans and much more. What more do you need?

(This book is listed on Amazon here.)

Little Learners: Shaped Foam Book: Yum, Yum

This series of books are very small, not only in size but also in content. This particular one is based on the "yum, yum" theme, hence the monkey about to eat a banana on the cover. Inside there are eight pictures, and some of them aren't even that good.

Still the book is made of cardboard-covered foam so should be nice and safe for young babies, although the back cover suggests that the book shouldn't be used by babies below 1-year-old. I thought the foam-thickened pages would be good for teething babies but my daughter doesn't use it but maybe other teething babies might.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed here.)

Little Learners: Shaped Foam Book: Night, Night

This series of books are very small, not only in size but also in content. This particular one is based on the "night, night" theme, hence the teddy bear on the cover. Inside there are eight pictures, and the ones for blanket and towel aren't even that good.

Still the book is made of cardboard-covered foam so should be nice and safe for young babies, although the back cover suggests that the book shouldn't be used by babies below 1-year-old. I thought the foam-thickened pages would be good for teething babies but my daughter doesn't use it but maybe other teething babies might.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed here.)

Little Learners: Touch and Feel: Colours

There are lots of these "touch and feel" style books on the market, but this one must be one of the better ones. The cover has a really soft flower on it, and the inside is just as good with a bumpy orange being particularly good because it is quite like real life. It seems like a lot of thought has gone into this.

Also for each colour in the book there are two things pictured, one which is not "touch and feel" and one that isn't, leading to a consistency throughout. The book is also minus sharp corners so is good for accident-avoidance.

My daughter likes to point to the pictures and say what they are, caterpillar being her favourite. A really good book.

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is listed here.)

I Suck at Girls by Justin Halpern

This book is a series of anecdotes from the author’s (Justin Halpern's) life as he tries his luck with the ladies. As you can tell from the title of the book these attempts are not altogether successful leading to some embarrassing moments which are funny.

Other funny moments in the book obviously come from Justin’s dad’s off-the-wall and no-nonsense comments and advice, especially in the bits of the book where Justin is still living at home. At these times I could just imagine William Shatner delivering the lines deadpan just like he did in the TV series ($#*! My Dad Says).

Obviously this book is being marketed as the sequel to the very successful "**** My Dad Says" (it’s mentioned on the cover don’t you know) and having not read that I can’t comment on whether this one is better, or whether it repeats stuff, but in it’s own right I really enjoyed this book and it made me laugh on multiple occasions. It doesn’t suck. 

(I got this book through Amazon Vine. It is available to buy here.)