I am now reading Fatherland by Robert Harris. It is a historical crime thriller and is a really interesting book. It is a fictional story considering what would have happened if Hitler had won the war. It is written from the perspective of Xavier March a German detective and it really shows how scary it was under Nazi rule. While it is in the possible future I think that it is still historically accurate and therefore extremely interesting.  I am about half way through it but still have no clue as to how it will end. It is definetly worth reading. And I mean it this time!!

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Cliche I know! However I have found it a good book. I like all the symbolism and codes that the book uses. I find it interesting even if it is really unbelievable. It is an easy read and quite simple to follow. It presents a different view on religion and causes you to question the beliefs that they espouse. I would recommend this as a thought provoking but still readable novel.

I am currently reading Killing Floor by Lee Child. I only really like crime when it has a bit of humour and this book supplies that. It is about Jack Reacher, the star of the book who has recently been immortalised in film. It is a bit gruesome in parts but is a good read. I think that the plot is well thought out and I still have not got a clue as to how the book will end. Futhermore it is a long book. I despise books that seem to end before you have even started them.

A few weeks ago I went to see Life of Pi at the cinema, I am now reading the book. I liked the film and thought that the story was an original one. However I hated the ending which I thought was incomplete, it did not tell you what really happened. I will tell you what I thought of the book once I have finished it!

I have almost finished Empire of the Sun by J G Ballard. It is semi autobiographical and tells the life of a boy, Jim, in China during World War 2. It is an quite an unusual read. At times I found it a bit confusing and felt that the story line did not make sense. I had not previously realised how much control Japan had over China during the war. It really showed how China was basically brought to her knees. It also showed the impact that the Americans had on the war and how influential the atomic bombs really were. Once they fell the ending was kind of inevitable.

The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams. It was a bit of weird book. I generally am not a fan of sci-fi but I will admit that I did enjoy this. It had enough humour to make it a good read. It was totally random at points but for me this really worked. I found it quirky and liked the way that it did seem very random, that was the point. The plot was similar. It was completely implausible but still worked. However I did find it to short and I am looking forward to reading the next book.

Enigma by Robert Harris. This is a typical spy book with both codes and romance. It explores the life of Tom Jericho, a codebreaker from Bletchley Park. It is a good read and I found it rather interesting. It shows that the Park was made up of different "huts". Each hut was in control of a different part of the code breaking process and people in different huts could not even communicate with each other! The whole process was unbelievably secret and security was of the utmost importance. It is an interesting story with a well hidden twist in the tail.

Illumination by Matthew Plampin. It is really good! It was unusually about the Franco-Prussian war which I found interesting. I did not realise how far into France the Prussian army got. It tracks the experience of Hannah, an English painter, during the conflict and her heroic lover, Jean-Jacques Allix. The topic was different and I liked the way it was written. It also showed the development of hot air balloons during the period, although some of this was fiction!! There were no real defects in the novel, apart from the predictable ending. However even the ending did not spoil the overall feeling of the book.

I have just finished The Cleaner of Chartres by Salley Vickers. It is about a women Agnes who was found as an orphan as a baby. It charts her life as she grows up and all the events that occur during it. She works as the title suggests, as a cleaner at the cathedral. It was an enjoyable read but I found the ending a bit predictable and disappointing. However it was written well and worth reading.

Yesterday I read Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Everyone has been raving about it for ages and I finally found a copy to read. It is about a girl, Hazel, who has cancer. It is more realistic than most books and actually seemed more possible. I really enjoyed it, especially the ending which was lovely albeit predictable. I found it a bit confusing as it kept switching between very complex and very "teenage" language. I would rather it just stick to one! However it was an enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend.

I have finished Confusion and have moved on to Casting Off by Elizabeth Jane Howard. It is the last book in the Cazalet series. By now all of the characters are grown up and it begins to feature their children. Tomorrow I am going to the library so I may pick up some more books.

I am presently reading Confusion by Elizabeth Jane Howard. It is part of a 4 book collection about life during World War 2. It is interesting and shows what life was actually like, albeit for the richer section of society. It charts the life of three girls, Louise, Polly and Clary, and how their life changes throughout the war period. The books are really long, which I love, and really show how people had to adapt under war time conditions. I would definetly recomend it as an enjoyable read.

I have started this blog to complain about the absolutely deplorable amount of books being written. Seriously, are people not interested in good literature any more. The amount of trashy chick flicks published, is there not a good read anywhere.
Whenever I phone my Granma we always ask each other "Read any good books?" and these days the answer is always a resounding NO! We both agree that there are no authors around. Personally I am a fan of historical fiction but even she says that there are no books of any quality being written in any genre. She even says that there are no new good Swedish crime thrillers!
I think that we need some new authors. We need people to write some decent books! Where are all the modern George Orwells, Harper Lees, Arthur Conan Doyles and so on? Have people just given up on attempting to write decent literature. They find it simply easier to write a crime thriller with less than a hundred words, no story line, run of the mill characters and atrocious vocabulary.
So I urge you, any one with half a brain please write a book. Write a book with wit and humour. Write a book with heart wrenching characters. Write a book with a stupendous ending. Write a book with either tearful romance or tearful murder. Write a book with an actual meaning. Write a book with a varied structure. Write a book that is worth reading.