The Maze Runner, James Dashner

I read this one for work, its a teen book (soon-to-be film) and dubbed as 'the next Hunger Games'.

A group of boys live in the centre of a maze and are trying to find a way out. Some have been there 2 years, but another boy is delivered (with no memory) each month or so. This is until our man Thomas arrives, who turns out to be the last delivery except for a comatose girl who triggers 'the ending'. The boys are shut in the centre of maze at night to protect them from 'Grievers' who patrol the maze corridors - the descriptions of the Grievers are good, they seem to be part machine and part slug. No-one ever survives a night out in the maze (except of course our man Thomas...)

Its hard to judge teen book I think as most of them are written a) so everything is spelt out for you, nothing is assumed and b) very angsty - usually the protagonist is constantly whining and asking 'why me, I didn't ask to be special and amazing at everything...' (you know you've got a good teen book when it does neither of these things)
SO ignoring the above The Maze Runner is pretty good, original (as far as I know) and has a good amount of peril and intrigue.

Also just finished reading The Pearl by John Steinbeck, which is brilliant.

M.C. Beaton, Death of an Outsider

I read this over the course of a weekend and loved it. It is pure entertainment - soft and cushiony and very enjoyable. The protagonist is Hamish Macbeth, a policeman in Lochdubh - a little village in the highlabds of Scotland. In Death of an Outsider he is filling in for a policeman in neighbouring Cnothan when the most hated man in the village is murdered. It is exactly what you would expect, lots of gossip, an overbearing and brutish superiour, a love interest, descriptions of the Scottish landscape... lovely!

Next is Her Brilliant Career by Rachel Cooke - non-fiction for a change.  

Graham Greene, Travels With My Aunt

I thoroughly enjoyed this! Having read (and not enjoyed) Brighton Rock recently I wasn't sure what to expect from Travels with My Aunt, it was a very pleasant surprise, funny, silly and completely engaging.
It is narrated by Henry Pulling - a retired bank manager who has led a very quiet, very sheltered life. he meets his aunt at (what he believes to be) his mother's funeral and a short while later finds himself travelling on the Orient Express with her. His Aunt Agatha is the polar opposite of Henry and is full of improbable stories of her long, eventful and risque life.

Henry is a perfect narrator - he is a boring but endearing man, and reminds me a little of Mr Hastings in Poirot novels, slower and more innocent than the reader but he works well coupled with the other characters and the plot. The novel has something to say as well as being funny and silly. Greene is showing a man who has coasted through life and not experienced anything, never travelled, never married. Pulling gradually loosens up and starts to enjoy himself (though is just as stoic) so the novel seems a sort of warning - though is never overt or preachy - to never avoid adventure, or to seek it out.

I have also just finished Death of an Outsider by M.C. Beaton (guilty pleasure!)

Dracula, Bram Stoker

Dracula is brilliant! It is written through a series of diary entries by a group of people who are brought together by the discovery of who, and what the Count is. It is very elegantly written - both believable (to a degree!) and suspensful. It is also worth noting that the book is not at all cliche'd, garlic and stakes through the heart are instrumental - but feel necessary and again oddly believable!

The book starts with the diary of Jonathon Harker, who is sent by his employer to Count Dracula's castle in Transylvania. Dracula then makes the journey to Whitby and from there to London. Most of the action takes place in London before a 'thrilling chase' back to Transylvania!

 

It is, as you would expect, a little dated. In particular with the treament of Mina - Jonathon Harker's fiancee.  The men are all in love with her because she somehow is not always fainting. They seem to expect her to be in a puddle on the floor continuously and are completely in awe when she isn't. I think one of the guys actually describes her as having the brain of a man at one point. 

It is also quite religious - fears for the souls of the Undead and for other souls which may become Undead drive the protagonists. It is however unfair to judge the novel on standards from over 100 years after it was written, and these two flaws do not at all detract from the brilliantly enjoyable story.

Read it! Now on Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene which looks to be a witty one.

The Waterproof Bible, Andrew Kaufman

 

This is an odd one! It is a strange mix of sci-fi characters set in what looks alarmingly like the real world. It is very enjoyable, a bit of light relief but also a comment on coming to terms with family, relationships and emotions. I felt like I was not quite getting all the nuances and metaphors, but it is also one of those books where you can take from it as much as you like, only skimming the surface is fun too.

Next up - Dracula!

The Art of Being a Woman, Patricia Volk

The Art of Being a Woman is, not surprisingly, non-fiction and is much less preachy than its title suggests. In it Volk tells of the two formative influences in her life; her mother Audrey Volk and the Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. They are polar opposites, her mother is 'the most beautiful woman in the world' and very conservative (she believed every woman should have a ring and a mink), Schiaparelli was seen as ugly and was hugely provocative, 'Shocking Life' was the title of her autoboigraphy.

 

The thing which makes this book compelling is not only the stories of the two women and how their personalitites shaped their lives, it is Volk's relationship with her mother. Reading Schiap's autoboigraphy at 10 meant she saw there 'was more than one way to be a woman' - it brought her out from her mother's shadow and seems to have given Volk a thicker skin when taking criticism. I think the reason I enjoyed this book most was the insight into someone else's relationship with their mum. The idolising weighed up against the irrepressable need to critique, the desire for approval against the desire to live how you need to. Surprisingly I found the Art of Being a Woman comforting above all else.

Next will be The Waterproof Bible, by Andrew Kaufman.

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

I was very pleasantly surprised by Brave New World. I find novels with such a high reputation rarely turn out to be entertaining, the ideas come before a readable story.  Brave New World is an exception though, it is compelling both because of the world Huxley has created - the ideas of happiness are fascinating and somehow repellant even though they certainly have a logic - and the characters are a good mix of outsiders and those perfectly 'conditioned' to this new world. 

The book is set in the future, when the 'world controllers' have created a world in which everyone is happy. Children are engineered in labs, born and brought up in a huge factory where they are conditioned for the lives they are to lead. Mothers and Fathers are repulsive concepts and citizens are taught to never develop real relationships but to never be alone, everyone is a perfect consumer. 

The novel follows Bernard Marx and Lenina Crowne. Bernard is dissatisfied with the society and is an outsider others are wary of, whereas Lenina is a model citizen and very likable. It is this duality which makes the book such a success I think - you see both sides. All in all well worth a read, it gets you thinking but is entertaining and very readable too. 

I am now reading The Art of Being a Woman by Patricia Volk, who is talking about the two main influences in her early life, her mother Audrey Volk and the fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli.