Call the Midwife - Jennifer Worth

There's not must to say about this really apart from it gives a factual and hugely graphical insight into the lives of women living in 1950's London. Worth is a good story-teller and paints a good portrait of the women, their husbands, and what it must have been like to give birth at a time when a woman's job was considered that of homemaker and baby-maker. Some of the scenes are quite graphic and enough to put you off having kids forever! But remember that these were the days when most children were born at home and going to hospital was not something many cockney dockers wanted to do since many hospitals were converted workhouses. All in all it's a good book if you fancy reading a documentary.

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The only annoying part of the book is that Jenny Worth hints quite regularly about her life before she became a midwife and working with the nun's at Nonnatus House. The only bits I can gather were that she was deeply in love with a man who, for whatever reason, she had to leave behind and forget - but she never tells you this story!

Bluebirds - Margaret Mayhew

This is one of my other favorite books of all time although I've not read it for a fair few years now and I'd forgotten how much I love it - this is the third time I've read it (not including the time I read just the parts relating to my favorite character; Winnie Briggs).
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You could say this book has two parts to it. The characters and the plot which makes up the stories within, and then the historical aspect of it being set in the second world war. I admit that I'm not completely au fait with the ins and outs of WWII (one of my life regrets is not ever asking my grandfather what it must have been like for him and my Nan). But in reading Bluebirds I think you get a pretty good idea of what it must have been like - not just physically but emotionally too. To not know whether you will ever see your family, friends or husband again. Mayhew even manages to touch on the disappointment and feelings of inadequacy felt by those who were too old or too sick to volunteer to fight for Queen and Country. Whether the historical aspects of Bluebirds are accurate or not (although I strongly suspect they are...) Mayhew manages to give an engaging and endearing portrait of Britain in the early 1940's - full of patriotism. And then when the Yanks come to our aid she cleverly captures the social transitions that take place.
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I won't lie - this is a total woman's book. Full of romance, heroic women and men that are real men (but still managing to steer totally clear of the Mills & Boon genre!). The plot follows the lives of four women in Britain from the time they join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in 1939 as war breaks out in Europe. They come from all backgrounds and must work together in a new and alien environment where their presence is not welcome - especially not by Station Commander David Palmer who makes this clear from the beginning. Mayhew writes about their struggle to become accepted in the eyes of the men who think war is no place for a woman, their friendships with each other, the RAF crew and pilots they fall in love with and subsequently lose in the throes of war-time, and their need to prove to themselves and other that they really are valuable assets in the war against Hitler. The synopsis on the front describes the book as "heartbreaking and triumphant" and I really can't put it any better myself to be honest.
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Mayhew is a brilliant writer. Her characters are so alive and vibrant and she can plot a scene to perfection. She absolutely knows what she needs to put in to guide you in the right direction, and what to leave out to let your own imagination fill in the details important to you, making the story your own.
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It's nigh on impossible to find any biographic info on Mayhew save that she was born in London, lived through the Blitz as a child and is now married to Phillip Kaplan, an aviation author. I keep asking myself why I have never read any other of her books since I love Bluebirds so much. I can only think it's because when you find perfection you don't want anything else to spoil it :)

Lucky - Alice Sebold

This was a pretty hard book to read. Not because of the way it's written, but because of the story and it's unflinching honesty. Sebold did a fantastic job with this.

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Lucky is the autobiographic story of Alice Sebold, focusing in particular from the night when, as a college freshman at Syracuse Uni, she was beaten and raped on her way home, the subsequent trial, and how she, her friends and family cope in the aftermath of the rape.

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Right from the off this story gets under your skin. Sebold leaves nothing out. After reading her story and realising how awful it must have been you get the impression that writing this story was something that the author had to do. She says herself in the book that she is the kind of person do just let it all hang out - and in this book she certainly does. She details the rape itself which makes very difficult reading indeed. But more importantly are the observations that she makes in the aftermath; how people's reactions and opinions change towards her; how she is seen differently in the eyes of those who no her; how the the police and detectives deal with her. It is a harrowing yet brilliantly written piece of writing. Sebold is so so good at picking out what matters in the story (I hate using that word with this book - it suggests fiction, or something trivial which this certainly is not) and in eloquently drawing out what you know is lurking in the back of your mind but can't quite pin-point. This is one of my favourite quotes from the book:

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"I also discarded certain assumptions I had held about how the world worked and about how safe I was." (This quote was actually taken from the piece that she wrote in the New York Times on Feb 26th 1989 entitled 'HERS; Speaking of the Unspeakable' but appears in her book also).
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I think that this quote just sums up everything about the whole experience. Particularly in the way you no longer feel safe, how you no longer fit into your life from that point on, how everything is measured in terms of "before the rape" or "after the rape", how people see you differently even though they don't mean too. And most importantly how it impacts the rest of your life, not just through post-traumatic stress disorder, but also in the decisions you make be they subconscious or conscious.

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When I read The Lovely Bones last year I said that I didn't like where it was going. Having read Lucky I suddenly feel like I understand The Lovely Bones a whole lot more. I realise now where Sebold was coming from. The purpose and plot has now slotted into place.

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Would I recommend Lucky as reading material to someone who had been raped? Tricky question... But I would say yes. Sebold is a heroine. She goes round the hard way (her words!) but doesn't give up, and I think that her honesty and ability to unflinchingly put into words the emotional turmoil involved are so effective in bringing the reality of rape out into the open. I have immense respect and admiration for her.

James Toseland Autobiography

Didn't know whether to list this one in the book log since it's not fiction... but it's still a book and I read it so what they hey... Although with it being an autobiography there's not much to say really, lol.

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James Toseland; two time World Superbike Champion and current MotoGP rider with Tech 3 Yamaha, tells us about his early life and how he came to be a motorbike racer, classically trained pianist and general all round good guy (and he is really a genuinely nice guy!). This guy is so dedicated to winning and being the best it's untrue. I think that whatever he chose to have done with his life, he would have been good at it. He just seems to be one of those people who knows exactly what he wants, sets his sights on it, and goes and gets it - letting nothing stand in his way. So with that in mind you'd think he would be an arrogant and cocky guy, right? Well, amazingly he's not. All the time while reading his book it struck me how down to earth and grounded he is; a highly commendable achievement in an environment where I imagine it would be pretty easy to start lording your status over everyone.

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But Toseland simply comes across as the guy next door who just happens to race motorbikes at an international level for a living. It would be pretty easy to take this character credit away from him and assume that he's only coming across in the way he wants to appear as he's the one writing the book. Fair point - and I admit I'm a big fan of his anyway. But, I seriously think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone with a truly bad word to say about him (apart from rivals he's beaten on track of course!). As I say, he is a genuinely nice guy, period. I think anyone who reads this, fan or not, will be surprised at how dedicated to his sport, and how humble in success he is.

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If you want a lesson in how to be a winner, then this is the book you need.

Panic - Jeff Abbott

To be honest I couldn't really get into this book at all. It seemed to take me ages to read (which is odd as it's not complicated) and I didn't find that it flowed all that well either - it seemed to be very bitty, and just all over the place. Having said that, when I did eventually get to the end I would say that I did enjoy the actually story. Maybe it was just me not being in the mood to read...

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General plot: Evan Casher is a normal guy who makes documentary films for a living. One day he gets an urgent call from his mum asking his to come home. When he arrives she is lying dead on the kitchen floor, with the attackers still in the house... As it turns out Evan's parents are not who he thought they were... and his girlfriend Carrie, is not who he thought she was either. They are all spies working for the KGB/CIA (whatever) and certain people need them dead, others want them alive. And now they are after Evan. Who does Evan trust? (cue dramatic music...)

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I think some of the characters and relationships could have been developed a bit more. After reading the authors note afterwards and discovering that he wanted to bring forth the core of Carrie and Evan's relationship, I'm not sure how successfully he managed it to be honest. It was there, just under the surface... but it felt like that it needed a little more just to bring it more into the spot-light. The scenes with just the two of them could have done with a little more to emphasise it I think. And even though Dezz is a totally evil character in the book, I found his character to be the most complex and interesting of all of them; his child-like behavior, having a dad as a spy and jockeying for respect, being in love with Carrie but being emotionally unable to show it, his loose-cannon behaviour coupled with his need to constantly chew caramels! I would like to have seen a bit more character development on his side... to get inside Dezz's head. But then, the story wasn't about him really so I can understand why Abbott didn't take him further - but personally I found him to be the most intriguing of them all.

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Also Evan's transformation from yuppie-about-town to fugitive-on-the-run was a little hard to swallow... it all seemed a bit too easy. Like you or I could just suddenly pitch ourselves against the experienced and battle-hardened (not to mention combat-trained) bad guys and come out on top and save the day.... hmmm. Amazingly his schemes to foil the bad guys actually work.

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So generally a good book to read if you're in the mood, but I think there was the potential for it to be a whole lot more rounded. More character development too other than just plot focus would have given it the punch it needed... I think anyway :)

The Pilot's Wife - Anita Shreve

After reading Fortunes Rocks and loving so much I felt compelled to read some of Shreve's other novels to see if they were just as good. And since The Pilot's Wife is probably one of the most well known of her works (thanks to Oprah) it seemed like a good place to start. And as it turns out, it's a pretty good book too: athough I didn't enjoy it as much as Fotunes Rocks and it is written in a slightly different style. It's a great story in how you don't always know someone as well as you like to think you do - especially those that you love.

Kathyrn is married to Jack who is a pilot with Vision Airlines. Together they have a daughter; Matigan, and the family run their routine around Jack's flight schedule since he is away a few days at a time. As in Fortunes Rocks, the ages of the Kathryn and Jack are different since there is a fifteen year age gap between them, although you'll have to see for yourself whether this is significant to the story or not. Kathryn and Jack live in what she considers to be a normal marriage, and she views their decline in intimacy as the result of his long periods away and the natural ebb and flow of a marriage in it's 10th year.

But when Jack's plane goes down in the Atlantic just off the coast of Ireland leaving no survivors, Kathryn and Mattie's world comes crashing down around around them amidst much media speculation on why the plane exploded and crashed. As Kathryn tries to deal with the emotion surrounding her husbands death she is faced with accusations that he may have been a terrorist and may have used the plane to commit suicide: taking all 103 innocent passengers with him. But while she tries to unravel the mystery, convinced that she knew Jack well enough to know he would never do something like that, she uncovers and even greater secret he has kept from her. A secret that shatters the memories of their life together much more than an exploding plane ever could.

Once again Shreve does a great job with the writing. She leads you through the story but still leaves you to figure out what isn't being said just as much as what is. Kathryn and Jack's relationship is significant in the way they are with each other, although I don't think I managed to fully appreciate the intensity of their relationship. You get the idea of Jack being the central pivot in everything, who wields a power they are all unaware of. You also end up feeling sorry for Kathryn although she manages to rally herself and survive okay on her own. There is a suggestion that Jack didn't really love Kathryn as much as she thought; that it was his relationship with his daughter that keeps him in the marriage. And when Kathryn travels to London and comes face to face with Jack's other life, you can feel the love and trust that she held for him slipping away through her hands which Shreve manages to write beautifully. Her subsequent breakdown at the knowledge is handled with care but Kathryn is a real heroine and does the right thing by Mattie. You know in the end that she'll be okay - eventually. Another great story which is brillantly and sesitively written. Shreve explores boundries of what a character might do when truly faced with their worst reality.

Vanishing Acts - Jodi Picoult

I've had this book on my shelf for a while and I was really looking forward to reading it. After enjoying The Tenth Circle so much I really wanted to get my teeth into this one. The blurb on the back sounded too intriguing to resist. But I was a little disappointed I have to admit. But that doesn't mean it was bad... I just didn't think it was as good as the others I've read.

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The story follows the lives of four characters; Delia, Eric, Fitz, Andrew and Elsie. Delia and her father Andrew have lived in the state of New Hampshire ever since Delia was 4 (I think, or there abouts) and has only ever been the two of them since Delia's mother Elise, died in a car crash. She grew up with the lads next door on both sides, Fritz and Eric, and the three of them have a seemingly endless friendship and closeness. Eric and Delia are engaged and have a daughter, Sophie. However, one evening Delia discovers that the mother she thought was dead is not actually dead at all, but instead living a live in Arizona. As it turns out her father kidnapped her, changed their names and lived a life of lies. Andrew is hauled off to trial in Arizona and Delia coerces her Fiance Eric, into acting as his lawyer because she trusts him and he knows them both. Fritz also tags along because the paper he works for wants in to write regular and in depth articles on the proceedings.

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Eric's mother was an alcoholic, as is Eric... as, it turns out, was/is Delia's mother - hence the reason we are led to believe Andrew spirited Delia (real name Bethany) away from the incapable care of her mother. However, during the trial when the prosecution goads Andrew into a rage of fury, he suddenly and shockingly reveals that the reason he took Delia away from her mother was because her then boyfriend, who is now her husband, was sexually abusing Delia. Knowing back then that the courts would never believe him without proof or grant him full custody, especially with a prior conviction however minor, he takes her away to begin a new life.

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So it sounds like a pretty good story huh? And it should be. But it just wasn't for me and I can't put my finger on why. When Picoult writes she throws up these really interesting questions that you have to stop and consider, and ask yourself. But in this case I just felt like she was asking questions for questions sake - they were relevant... but they were questions that you knew the answers too, or that were too easy to answer. There's this whole native Indian/Hopi sub-plot going on too and I couldn't figure out why it was relevant the main story or what it was supposed to help highlight and bring to the fore. I suppose it was something to do with knowing who you are rather that what you were or something like that but I know I didn't completely get it.

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With regards the whole Eric/Delia/Fritz triangle this is also complicated. They both love Delia and she loves them - all in different ways, but still love none-the-less. The reason Delia and Eric have not married yet is because Eric is still dealing with his drink demons. Delia sleeps with Fritz during the story and they discover they should be together. Eric is okay with this... but then he knows somehow that him and Delia will get back together. The idea being that all three of them are interchangeable. So basically it's a giant witches cauldron full of love, toil, trouble, betrayal and trust. Simply add a pinch of understanding, and stir...