loopyker's #CBR7 Review #04: The Martian by Andy Weir

I can't believe it has taken me a month to get to writing this review.  I was telling everyone about it when I finished it, but just didn't get it written down.  I had managed not to hear much about this book beforehand.  I can't even remember where it was recommended so that I put it on my library hold list...and then waited months for it to come up since it was so popular.

I will start with what a lot of other people say because it is so obvious - this feels a lot like the movie Apollo 13, but with one person.  Some people say it is like Cast Away, but it doesn't have that crazy edge.  While reading it, I kept thinking that it would make a good movie and when I looked, they were in fact already making the movie. It is scheduled to be out in November 2015.

The "Martian" is astronaut, Mark Watney, from Earth who accidentally gets abandoned on Mars after a failed mission.  A little food and a lot of equipment is left there with him.  But can he figure out how to survive all alone for the years it will take until the next mission arrives?

It moves from one problem-solving, crisis moment to the next.  I did not want to put this book down!  I also don't want to write spoilers.  I really didn't know what was going to happen from one minute to the next.

loopyker's #CBR4 Review #08: The Killings at Badger's Drift by Caroline Graham

I'm a fan of the TV show, Midsomer Murders, and the first five books in Caroline Graham's Chief Inspector Barnaby Series inspired this TV show, so I thought I'd see how the audiobooks compare starting with The Killings at Badger's Drift: Chief Inspector Barnaby Series, Book 1 .  I haven't read any of the original (7) print books. 

If you've seen the British TV show, then you know that Midsomer Murders follows the investigations of Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby and his younger sidekick Sgt. Gavin Troy, around the quaint little villages in the English countryside .  These are slower paced murder mysteries when compared to typical American shows.  Runtime per episode is 100  minutes.  If you find these too slow-paced for you, then the 8-13 hour or more length of the audio books won't be to your taste.

Compared to the TV show, I found both the Barnaby and Troy characters less likeable.  DCI Barnaby was missing that subtle, warm humour portrayed so well by actor John Nettles  and similarly, Sgt. Troy was missing the sweetness to his inexperienced bumbling that Daniel Casey (and later Jason Hugh as DS Jones) brought to the roll.

The narration and most character voices were read well by Hugh Ross, however some of the voices for the more flamboyant characters were exaggerated in a way that made them difficult to understand at some points. 

Since I started writing this review, I have seen a couple of the more recent Midsomer Murder epidsodes where John Nettles has left and has been replaced by his cousin with the convenient name of DCI John Barnaby, played by Neil Dudgeon.  I'm glad that I saw this after listening to the audiobook.  It makes this new TV DCI Barnaby character more understandable.  I feel like he is much more like the original DCI in the book version of Badger's Drift.  Similarly, and unfortunately for the sidekick - now DS Ben Jones, played by Jason Hugh, they seem to have made his character more immature to have the relationship between the DCI and his underling closer to the book, instead of looking like he has gained some experience working with the first DCI Barnaby.   I am curious to see if the sidekick character develops better in both the TV show and books in the Chief Inspector Barnaby Series.

As for the story, it is a traditional type of murder mystery.  An elderly spinster sees something she shouldn't have and gets killed to hide the secret.  DCI Barnaby has to figure out if it was in fact a murder, and if so, then what was the motive?  There is a little more adult content in this then in the TV show - enough that I made a note to mention it, but not enough that I can remember specifics now.  I don't like to say much about the plot or characters since it is a mystery. 

The Killings at Badger's Drift: Chief Inspector Barnaby Series, Book 1
Author: Caroline Graham
Audiobook:
Narrator: Hugh Ross
Publisher: AudioGO Ltd  (Mar 01, 2011)
Duration:  8 hours, 24 minutes
ISBN:  9781445834207

Hardcover:
264 pages (also available in paperback and ebook versions)
Publisher: Adler & Adler Pub; 1 edition (January 1988)
ISBN-10: 0917561414
ISBN-13: 978-0917561412

loopyker's #CBR4 Review #06: The Angry Earth: A Story of the New Madrid Earthquakes by Sally Watson

This is one of the newer books from one of my favourite authors, Sally Watson.  Sally is well-known for her juvenile fiction published through 1954-1971 (my favourite, Jade,   among them), but she began self-publishing new books in 2006 - present .

The Angry Earth  is one of Sally's more recent adult-level books, but it is still without the explicit violence or sex that you find so often in other historical fiction.  I much prefer Sally's style. 

I read this a few months ago, coincidentally just past the bicentennial of the main event inspiring this story -  the start of the New Madrid Earthquakes of 1811.   The New Madrid Seismic Zone is in the U.S.A. along the Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee border, but also goes into Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.  (more info. on Wikipedia: New Madrid Seismic Zone )  Even though these were massive earthquakes, and they could happen again, very few of my American friends seem to have heard about it!  Certainly when we think of earthquakes in the U.S.A., we think of the west coast, not the south/mid-west.

The Angry Earth follows the immigration of a privileged family from France, who due to a change in circumstance end up in a small frontier town in the U.S.A. of French and English.  Their poor, twelve year old maidservant, Fleur, is left with most of the responsibility of getting them started in this new place, becoming one of the strong and independent heroine's that are Sally's specialty.  In this already challenging setting, the family and town then all face the total upheaval of their lives and homes when the earthquakes begin. 

As with all of her historical fiction books, Sally has researched this thoroughly and includes many real historical figures in the town of New Madrid and beyond.  As a Canadian, growing up with the War of 1812 history all around my area and even reading this during the bicentennial of the War of 1812, I was interesting in the little bits of history mentioned leading up to that war.   I also appreciated the musings and debates of the characters about still very relevant topics.  In today's current American and Canadian political climate where it is popular to insult intelligence and many feel they are sufficiently educated more by FB one-liners and comedic satire than even attempting to really learn about the issues, the thoughts of a character pondering the goals of this new country to rule themselves through the democratic process stuck with me:

"Yet how could men who know no history rule intelligently?  Europe sensibly educated its ruling classes.  But if all men should rule--and even possibly women one day: who knew?--then all must be educated, and well-educated, or such a democracy would destroy itself by its own ignorance. "  

Overall, I felt that the story took a little longer to get going than most of Sally's books, but that once it got going it was as compelling as her others and I couldn't put it down.   I felt for the characters' loss and terror and confusion and was pulling for them to come together.  And as so often happens with Sally's books, I didn't want it to end and when that inevitably happened, I immediately started looking up some of the historical references to continue the story for myself.  Google and Wikipedia make that so much easier now.  :)


This is an entertaining read for those interested in historical fiction, strong female characters and/or natural disasters.

More of Sally Watson's books centered around American history:
The Hornet's Nest (Scotland and America - Virginia, 1774)
The Delicate Pioneer (Seattle, 1852)
The Haunted Schoolhouse (California, 1892)

(Full Disclosure: I am the web designer for booksbysallywatson.com and received a free copy of The Angry Earth from Sally as payment.  It is treasured!  But, I do not receive any compensation for sales of her books, or for my review.  I'm just a big fan!)
 
The Angry Earth: A Story of the New Madrid Earthquakes
Author: Sally Watson
Versions available:
    Paperback 242 pages, 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
    Kindle Edition e-book
    NOOK Book e-book  
Publisher: Booklocker.com, Inc. (October 28, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1601459998
ISBN-13: 978-1601459992