Books and Beans - Aberdeen

In an effort to live local this year I am trying to avoid chain coffee shops, chain motorway stops and chain bookstores. Occasionally a cinema will sneak in.  Any blog labelled independent living will feature finds in the UK of any of these, or if I'm lucky, a combination.First up is Books and Beans in Aberdeen, a great place in the centre of Aberdeen for a large selection of second hand books at reasonable prices, some great home cooking and internet access. And an art gallery.They also hold a poetry evening and have published a couple of recipe books featuring their brilliant soups.A very welcoming and relaxing place with no pressure to give up your table.Although the soups are brilliant I already knew that so a massive amount of pancakes were ordered. I wasn't greedy, that's the portion size!

Tales from the Mall - Ewan Morrison

Is this my definitive non fiction book for 2013?

Ewan Morrison leads us through the ideaology and intentions of the shopping mall.

With angles from location, people, layout, materials and planning policy this is an in depth book that reads easily for the subject matter.

Lots of researched anecdotal stories make it entertaining and mean that as much as we all had some idea of the tricks employed to keep us shopping you're bound to learn something you didn't already know.

Why are malls so shiny? Why are the restaurants where they are? Why do they serve the food they do? And why are employees shifts organised as they are?

We get an idea of the damage done by malls and the statistics of the numbers closing.

My favourite story relates to an old lady revisiting and trying to have her sandwich and flask of tea. Are you allowed to drink from your own flask in a mall?

The book covers mainly the UK and US so there's a good chance you'll be able to relate it directly to a place you know.

Highly recommended to make you think twice while shopping....especially when queuing to pay...

Would I buy another? Yes

Publisher - Cargo

Clay - Melissa Harrison

Is this this year's Night Circus? Or Snow Child?

It has the delicacy of Snow Child and the mystical essence of Night Circus.

Unlike Night Circus the landscape is very real and around us all at all times. Written by acclaimed nature writer Melissa Harrison the book takes 3 very different characters in an urban landscape and a relatively short time period.

Jozef is an immigrant of several years standing working to maintain a mean existence. TC is a child of a broken home who is a reader and adventurer/explorer in an age of xbox. Lastly, Sophia, a pensioner widow, living in her marital home long after it's show home glory has been eroded.

Gradually the three lives interconnect in an innocent manner reminiscent of times long past. Society, however, has moved on and sideways glances are inferred throughout the story.

What makes this book stand out is the setting of the tale. The urban landscape is painted over with the description of nature which abounds including the changes in the seasons – the new arrival of life, plants surviving, trees coppiced and sprouting. There's an element of nature to be admired in every layer of brick, crack in the pavement and derelict property.

That doesn't mean the reader is spared the harsher realities of urban warfare. There are tattoos, pit bulls, broken families, sadness and hunger present in the narrative.

This is a beautifully written book, not an off note in it at all, by a writer with an enviable vocabulary.

This one is my pick to soar high in 2013.

Would I buy another? Yes

Publisher - Bloomsbury

The Siren - Alison Bruce

I like DC Gary Goodhew. At last a police character that's not a divorced drunk with estranged children. But he does have quirks- a love of vintage films, a tendency to meditate and a bit of a feminine side. Add to that a large dose of sensitivity and you have a person most mums would love. And most daughters too once they'd got past the bad boy stage.

In this crime thriller we are first introduced to a couple, their friend and her son and very shortly after to the friend's ex-boyfriend who has locked in syndrome.

The cast of the book is extensive and characters re-appear chapters after they've first been introduced in a very passing way. You do need to keep track of the bit players.

Following a fire at the couple's house while they are babysitting the young son the child is nowhere to be found. Neither is the husband. But that would be too simple. So it's time for DC Goodhew to step in with his new permanently blushing female sidekick PC Gully and his colleague Kincaid.

There's a mystery to be solved

Part of the entertainment with this novel is the diversity of the characters-from miserable failure police officers to successful social workers (I'm sure I once knew the DC who hunches over the steering wheel only that one huffed as well). Great tongue in cheek humour.

There's an element of normal people, criminal underclass, police and press all with believable storylines. Steadily paced for the first three quarters and then romps home in an unexpected way.

Would I buy another? Yes- I missed my bus stop with this one!

Publisher – Constable and Robinson

The Story of Beautiful Girl - Rachel Simon

One review says “this is the best book I've ever read” which to me either shows how different we all are or maybe a lack of reading experience. Either way it's not the best I've ever read.

It appears that there are a whole collection of books around at the moment where there is either a child left in someone else's care or on the doorstep. Maybe the book would have been better for me if I hadn't already read some of the others and been affected by a touch of deja vu.

Negatives out of the way this one added in the story of a home for those deemed incapable. Incapable in this instance being a much looser definition than that with which we are currently familiar, this time the occupants are more likely to be inconvenient or a bit of an embarassment to their families.

The personalities in the home, their treatment, their methods of dealing (or not) with their treatment make the book. With a range of patients and their nurses and supervisors the added level is a refreshing change.

Throughout the book there's a feel of delicacy and then harshness.

Well written and an enjoyable read.

Would I buy another? Probably

Publisher – Cornerstone Publishing

Wombling in Colchester January 2013

What's to be found? January 2013
Tally:
2 hats
2 necklaces
1 car park ticket
£2.33
1 fake rose
1 ring
£25 top man voucher
1 pen
1 glass
1 pair gloves
1 mobile phone charm
1 Greggs loyalty card
1 bracelet
1 pair socks

Choked - Tania Carver

Tania Carver aka Martyn Waites shifts the focus away from Colchester in the latest Esposito crime thriller allowing readers a new view of the Essex coast and just touching into Ipswich. As a local this both detracts and adds to the enjoyment- I don't know as many of the places so I can concentrate more on the storyline. And the storyline has upped it's game as well. Much more twisty turny than the previous novels in the series. Esposito's child is taken and the race is on. It has an unusual concept with a released criminal being manipulated to try and clear his name. The criminal casts a sad character with a very sorry background which almost endears him to the reader. Overall this is a romping good read.

Would I buy another? Yes

Publisher Little Brown