Macbeth - William Shakespeare

Macbeth and his friend Banquo return form a victorious battle where they come across three witches. The witches predict that Macbeth will first become Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland. They also predict that Banquo will be the father of future Kings of Scotland. Both decide to laugh it off until a messenger arrives informing Macbeth that the King has made him Thane of Cawdor. This gets Macbeth to thinking and when her returns he tells his good wife Lady Macbeth all that has occurred. Not willing to wait she encourages Macbeth to murder the King. Having done so Macbeth still isn't happy. He wants his descendants to benefit too and so kills Banquo. The ghost of Banquo then haunts him and his men begin to believe he is going mad. Soon they discover the truth and with the help of the son of the previous King they stand against Macbeth. Macbeth believes he is invincible however, as the witches have since told him that no man born of a woman will kill him.

Out of all the books I was planning to read for this challenge this was the one I was most looking forward to. I actually started reading it a few weeks before Christmas whilst in a book shop. I had to force myself to put it down. It's really that good. I read somewhere that it's very similar to Antony and Cleopatra. I honestly didn't know that when I planned my reading order. Having said that I can see the similarities. Cleopatra and Lady Macbeth are said to be very similar. Sure, I doubt that Lady Macbeth is the beauty that Cleopatra was meant to be but thanks to both the men in their lives ended up at odds with their fellow men. Like Cleopatra too I loved the character Lady Macbeth. If it wasn't for her there probably wouldn't have been a play as Macbeth lacked the courage to carry out the murder without her. Of course after the first one he was able to do the others no problem.

The best speech was probably when Macbeth was murdering his King. However, my favourite scene is the witches. Their scenes were the ones I was looking forward to the most. I bet their lines are among the most famous. I know I've came across several of them in other books/films/television. The one that was brought to mind though was Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters (one of my favourites by this author). I am definitely going to have to read that again at some point this year. Another favourite scene was Lady Macbeth sleepwalking and trying to wash the blood from her hands.

Despite the fact that it was a play there was definitely atmosphere there. I imagine that it could be quite creepy to see it performed. I could picture lots of dark settings (obviously not only including the witch scenes). This play was everything I expected it to be and more. It's definitely at the top of my list of performances I want to see. If you haven't read this I highly recommend that you do.

Shakespeare Month challenge by A Literary Odyssey. More links here.

Zoo City - Lauren Beukes

Zoo City is set in a world where if you do something wrong your karma comes back in the form of an animal. An animal you have to slug around as separation can lead to sickness and death. This is what happened to Zinzi. Despite having everything she needed she led a fast paced life which ended with her living in Zoo city with a sloth and a mass of drug bills. Scams and searching for lost things are the only way she is able to survive. On finding one lost thing she is caught up in a murder and the pay she was relying on is no longer coming in. She has no choice but to take the one job she hates. Missing persons. Reluctantly she starts investigating but soon finds that there is more to this than she is being told. It's not long before she is in danger herself.

This was more alternate universe than sci fi but it was a great way to ease in to the challenge. I've been wanting to read it since I saw it reviewed in SFX over a year ago and then when it won the Arthur C. Clark award. From the first page I was immediately sucked in to the story. Not so much for the mystery behind the girl who had gone missing. It was for the story behind the animals. The book is split up with interviews and news items and a lot of it links back to when animals first appeared and how those with them are then ostracised from society. We see it first hand with Zinzi who has to overcome prejudice just so she can carry out her investigation. I loved it and the whole idea of it. Reminded me very much of the animals in Philip Pullman's Northern Lights. In fact there is even a reference to it but of course in this book it's not scene in quite so much a positive light.

I loved the atmosphere of the book and the fast pace. The setting was perfect. You definitely got the feel of Zinzi living in what can only be a slum but there is a sense of community too. Zoos (as they are called) pull together although there is still gangs and killings. As I said the mystery was secondary for me but I still enjoyed it. While I did have my suspicions as to who was really up to no good I certainly wasn't expecting the final outcome.

I would give the book a full star rating apart from one complaint. It felt like the ending was just a little too rushed. I would have liked it pulled out just a little bit more. Other than that it was a brilliant read and I did like the very ending of the book. I would like to hope that another book set in this universe might be on the cards as I would love to read more.

This is the first book I read for Ellie's sci fi challenge over at Curiosity Killed the Bookworm. Ellie picked this one for anyone who wanted to read along although it no one had to in order to join the challenge. If you want to see what others have been reading Ellie has posted links here.

Antony and Cleopatra - William Shakespeare

Since the death of Julius Caesar Antony has ruled Rome alongside two others. However, instead of looking after his affairs at home he spends all his time with Cleopatra in Egypt. This leads to discontent among his people and with Octavius Caesar and Lepidus who rule beside him. News of his wife rising up against Caesar and then dying for it doesn't even move him to leave Cleopatra's side. Eventually Caesar demands that he returns to do something about Pompey and his pirates. Whilst home their friendship is mended through a marriage between Antony and Caesar's sister. It doesn't last though and Antony is soon back in the arms of Cleopatra. Caesar has had enough  and soon the two friends are at war.

I have to confess that this is the first Shakespeare I have read since school. It's something I have always wanted to do but the longer I left it the more worried I became about not understanding the language. I must admit that it did take getting used to but I soon forgot about how odd it felt and got into the swing of the story. It helped that this edition has an excellent introduction and a section at the back to explain all those odd words (highly recommend the Penguin books).

I loved the story. Poor Antony is so ensnared by Cleopatra that he is willing to lose everything on her behalf. Snubs his friends by handing over lands to her. I loved Cleopatra. I thought she was a fantastic character. So selfish and spoiled and vain. Yet the ending showed that she did love Antony and that she had some pride. My favourite scene was the messenger coming to tell her that Antony had married. You had to feel so sorry for the messenger who was clearly terrified of telling her. Especially when she didn't take it well. This was followed by her being reassured that Octavia was a plain woman and had nothing in the way of Cleopatra's beauty. Like the jealous ex being told that the new girlfriend isn't pretty. I'm sure we have all seen this in other books/films/tv.

Antony on the other hand wasn't exactly a favourite of mine. I should feel sorry for him as he was so besotted with Cleopatra that he was willing to lose everything (and did). Yet I couldn't. Through out the play he is criticised for losing his manhood to Cleo. He gives up everything for her and yet when he is away and trying to mend his friendship with Caesar he marries a woman he doesn't love. When it comes to battle he ignores his friends advice and loses. When Cleopatra loses confidence and runs he blames her and wants to kill her (so much for love). Even one of his closest friends turns his back on him.

Whilst I did enjoy the play and would like to see it performed I couldn't help but have other images in my head as I was reading it. On Christmas Eve my dad had us watch "Carry On Cleo". Not exactly a Christmas film but we sat and watched it. As a result I couldn't help but picture the cast of Carry On in these roles. Bit difficult to take seriously when you have that running through your head. Managed to get over it though.

I read this as part of Shakespeare Reading month hosted by Allie of A Literary Odyssey (a fantastic blog, especially if you like your classics). If you want to see other reviews she has posted links here.

A Discovery Of Witches - Deborah Harkness

Diana Bishop has spent her entire life ignoring the fact that she is a witch despite the fact that she is the last in a long line of a famous family. Her parents were killed despite being powerful and so Diana just wants to be human. She focuses instead on her studies and is now a respectable historian taking time away from teaching at Yale to do some research in Oxford. When she calls for a manuscript to help with her research she ignores the fact that it is clearly magical and sends it back. All of a sudden she has the attention of witches, demons and vampires and not the good kind. Only one vampire is standing between her and the unwanted attention and to make matters worse her powers have decided to come out and play. She has to find out why only she can call the manuscript and how to control her powers before it's too late.

This book seemed to be focusing on the research and historical side of the story at first. This type of writing has always appealed to me (one of the reasons why I loved The Historian). Sadly it didn't stay focused on that. All of a sudden it became about a forbidden romance between a witch and a vampire. Diana is unaware that it is forbidden for creatures to be romantically involved and by the time she finds out it's too late. The only way to prevent ramifications is for Diana to become a vampire herself. Thankfully it didn't really go the whole Twilight route as neither Matthew or Diana want that. However, there were plenty of times Twilight was brought to mind. Mainly because of Matthew's protectiveness of Diana and his old fashioned attitude to love. Also the fact that Diana lets him a lot of the time. Not always. She started off as a fairly strong character but seemed to become more and more reliant on Matthew as time went on. Occasionally she would show some of her original strength though.

There were far too many parts of this book which were completely unnecessary. Detailed descriptions of almost every meal for one thing. I am sure that there were aspects of Diana's time in France which could have been cut down and no difference would have been made to the story or the connection the reader makes to the character. I was also disappointed at how much time Diana spent away from Oxford. I enjoyed the time there better than in France and New York.

Having said all that I did have fun reading the book. As I said I liked the historical aspect and that didn't completely disappear. The whole story didn't just revolve around Diana and Matthew and their forbidden love. It was also about the next step in the creatures evolution. Diana was a strong character for most of the book and whilst I did feel she changed I still like her for the most part. I also like where the story is going. The second book (which comes out this year) is set in the past and I believe a few famous historical characters pop up. I'm looking forward to that. An easy start to the New Year.

January Book Haul

I decided that this year I was going to spend some of my Christmas money on books since I never get any for Christmas. I know, poor me. The truth is everyone is afraid to buy me books in case I have read them. I am sure most of you are the same. The good thing is that I get to pick out my own. Most of the books I bought were related to book challenges I had joined. I'm not going to bore you by listing which books belong to which challenge as I have mentioned them already in previous posts. Here is a list of what's in the photograph though.

Antony and Cleopatra - William Shakespeare
Macbeth - William Shakespeare
Much Ado About Nothing - William Shakespeare
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
Zoo City - Lauren Beukes
King Solomon's Mines - H. Rider Haggard
The White Road - John Connolly
Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell
Dracula - Bram Stoker

Shockingly there is only one book in that pile that doesn't belong to a challenge and that's John Connolly. This is the fourth book in his crime series. I probably could have read them all by now but I am trying to savour them.

The two very pretty books at the bottom are Penguin Clothbounds. The truth is I could have gotten away with not buying them. I have plenty of classics sitting there that I could have read in place of Gaskell. Plus I have an electronic version of Dracula (I was shocked to discover during the clear out I had that I didn't actually have a physical copy of one of my favourite books). I couldn't resist treating myself to two of these beautiful books. I also realised during my clear out that I didn't own any Austen's other than P&P. I forgot it was my mum's copies I had originally read. When I decide which Austen I am going to re-read I have no doubt it will be one of these editions.

Notes On A Scandal - Zoe Heller

Barbara is a lonely single lady teaching history in a London school. She has  only her cat to share her life with. Sheba then joins the staff as a pottery teacher. This is her first teaching post and Barbara is fascinated in her and her life. Sheba little notices at first as she finds that her romantic view of teaching doesn't quite tally with reality. One boy takes an interest in art and Sheba immediately goes out of her way to help him. He alone makes her believe that teaching might not be a waste of time after all. Soon they strike up a forbidden relationship which could ruin the lives of both. Neither of them seem to care. When Barbara finds out she decides its her job to take note of all events so that her poor Sheba will not be vilified.

Before I go on to talk about the book I want to say a little about the cover.  I am always attracted to new book covers and last year Penguin brought out a new series of books called Penguin Ink. Penguin always seem to be bringing out fantastic new covers like this. This series of books are designed by Tattoo artists. I picked out two, this one and The Book Of Dave by Will Self. White Teeth would have went into the shopping cart too had I not already owned it. Notes On A Scandal was designed by Valerie Vargas who is a tattoo artist in London. Her inspiration is traditional tattoos. I'm not brave enough to get my own tattoo so instead I get to admire these books.

I think if it wasn't for this series of books I might never have picked up Notes On A Scandal. I'm glad I did as it was a fantastic book. A great last book for a great reading year. The idea that a 40 year old teacher would have a relationship with a 15 year old boy revolts me as I think it would any normal person. The fact that this teacher seemed a bit naive and that the boy was the one who appeared to push the relationship doesn't matter. It wasn't the creepiest part of the book though. If anything there are times you feel just a little sorry for Sheba. The creepiest part was Barbara who is writing Sheba's tale. Whilst she is putting out all the facts of Sheba and Connolly she puts her own thoughts and feelings in there. What you come away with is an old woman who isn't just lonely but also has stalker tendencies. We also saw that Sheba wasn't the first person that  Barbara potentially stalked. Sheba is just the first person whose situation led to Barbara having complete control over her.

For me that was the creepiest part of the story. It was subtly done too. At first you feel for poor Barbara. She is an older teacher who is a little set in her ways. She doesn't hold with new fangled teaching methods and as a result clashes with the head master quite a bit. She is clearly lonely. Her old friend no longer works at the school and she sees Sheba joining the team as an opportunity to make a new friend. She has little family and the cat is the only person who is happy to see her. You can't help but feel for her. It's not till half way through the book that there are hints that maybe there is a reason for that. Her old friend doesn't want anything to do with her and she had problems at her first school.

It was very well written. Barbara was very convincing as a narrator. Not once did the author make the relationship between Sheba and her pupil seem glamorous or exciting. Instead she was able to pull us away from the disgust of that to focus on Barbara and wonder just what she was up to. Very well done and a book that will stay with me for a long time I think.

Month and Year Ahead

First of all Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all had a great time. I have to say, unlike most Scots, I'm not a huge fan of celebrating New Year. I definitely prefer Christmas. My sister is exactly the same so we usually spend it together. We did that this year watching DVDs and stuffing our faces. We did have a wee drink too. It was all very classy, drinking champagne in our PJs whilst watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit. We were happy and it's been years since we watched that film.

Anyways, I promised you to reveal all about my reading plans for 2012 so here it is. Not terribly exciting I'm afraid. I think you all know my challenges for the next year. I have two personal challenges. The first is to read 60 books. Not that adventurous considering I read 132 last year. I think though that since I am now studying full time that 60 is an okay number. Lets hope I manage it.

The second is to continue with my one classic a month. I very much enjoyed it last year. I tried lots of classic authors I had never read before and I hope to do the same again this year as well as visiting some old. I have planned John Steinbeck, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Bronte, Iris Murdoch to name a few. First up is Elizabeth Gaskell with Cranford. I also want to re-read some, especially Austen. It feels a little like cheating though to include it in my classic a month.

I have signed up to do four challenges. I am fairly confident I can do them. The Shakespeare Challenge lasts only for this month and since I have most of it off I'm not too worried. The first play I am planning for this is Antony and Cleopatra. Looking forward to that. It's being hosted by Allie of A Literary Odyssey. The Sci Fi challenge is hosted by Ellie of Curiosity Killed The Bookworm. The challenge is to read one sci fi book a month. Each month Ellie is going to highlight a particular sci fi book although you are welcome to read a different title if you want to. I shockingly read only two science fiction books last year. It's shocking as this used to be my main reading staple. The first book up is Zoo City by Lauren Beukes. I decided to go with Ellie's choice as this had such great reviews last year.

The third challenge is the Mixing It Up 2012 hosted by  another Ellie of Musings of a Bookshop Girl. The idea is to read out of your comfort zone. There are a list of  genres for you to chose from and you read one book from each. I picked 12, one for each month, and I plan on making it a little harder for myself by picking authors I have never read before. The first one is a classic and I am going to join that with my Classic a month choice for January, Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. Lastly there is the League of Extraordinary Gentleman challenge hosted by Hannah of Booking In Heels. The idea is to read the books which starred the main characters from the film. I also plan on reading the graphic novel. First up is King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard. There are a number of books on that list which will be re-reads and two of them I didn't enjoy the first time round. However, I was surprised by one re-read last year so maybe these will surprise me too.

That's basically it for my plans. I would like to read more non-fiction among other things but I have to realistic. I can't do everything. I don't have any special plans for my blog either other than to continue posting, reading other blogs and taking part as much as time will allow.

You now also know my plans for January;

Shakespeare
King Solomon's Mines - H. Rider Haggard
Zoo City - Lauren Beukes
Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell

What are your plans for 2012?