A city dreaming, by Daniel Polansky

Book title: A city dreaming

Author: Daniel Polansky

Rating: 5 out of 5

Synopsis:

M is a drifter with a sharp tongue, few scruples, and limited magical ability, who would prefer drinking artisanal beer to involving himself in the politics of the city. Alas, in the infinite nexus of the universe which is New York, trouble is a hard thing to avoid, and when a rivalry between the city's two queens threatens to turn to all-out war, 

M finds himself thrust in thrust in the unfamiliar position of hero. Now, to keep the apocalypse from descending on the Big Apple, he’ll have to call in every favour, waste every charm, and blow every spell he's ever acquired - he might even have to get out of bed before noon.

Enter a world of Wall Street wolves, slumming scenesters, desperate artists, drug-induced divinities, pocket steam-punk universes, hipster zombies, and phantom subway lines. Because the city never sleeps, but is always dreaming

Opinion:

I won this book as part of the Goodreads Giveaway.

First at all I must say I really liked the format of this book and the design of the cover. Touch and look are part of the experience for me when I am reading a book, and this one was a good adding. 

More than a novel it is a recompilation of several stories that are connected together by the same characters appearing through them, all because they are related somehow to M, the protagonist.

M is a kind of wizard, magician, something that lives between us, in our world, but he has access to some serious perks and alternative realities. He is not a bad guy, he is not a good guy, he is not trying to mix between us but he is not trying to be exceptional either. Apart from being some kind of magical being, M is a regular kind of guy.

New York has always been described as a steel jungle, and with this book even the underground can be a mortal adventure! Here the city is a character of her own, is alive in all the senses of that word and be either the deadliest place to be or the most amazing one.

Usually I am pretty good at reading while doing something else, but with this book I had to focus only on it. It was a bit hard to understand what was happening sometimes and I had to re-read some part. The humour is very particular, like private jokes between friends, and I know I was missing some points because of my cultural background.

Still the story is great; you will not be able to let it down and you will never look at your commute train the same way!

I was reminded of Neil Gaiman with Neverwhere all the way through the book. It is an incredible story, we all wish to have that kind of New York, hell, that kind of Earth.

I wished to know more about M, he seems to hide a lot of his potential and to have a pretty interesting past. Maybe we will have another book?

The peculiar life of a lonely postman, by Denis Theriault

Book title: The peculiar life of a lonely postman

Author: Denis Theriault

Rating: 3 out of 5

I won this book through Goodreads’ giveaway.

Synopsis: Secretly steaming open envelopes and reading the letters inside,

Bilodo has found an escape from his lonely and routine life as a postman. 

When one day he comes across a mysterious letter containing only a single haiku, he finds himself avidly caught up in the relationship between a long-distance couple, who write to each other using only beautiful poetry. He feasts on their words, vicariously living a life for which he longs. 

But it will only be a matter of time before his world comes crashing down around him…

Opinion:

Younger I always wanted to be a postwoman, going around my town with my bike delivering messages, parcels and letters to all my neighbours so I was very happy when I received this book.

Bilodo’s story starts very normally, an average man going on with his life and duties, until curiosity wins over him and he decides to open a letter he is supposed to deliver.

From that moment, his life changes for the worst, becoming a creepy third wheel in a passionate correspondence between 2 lovers. It quickly escalate from opening the letters before delivering them, to break in into the man’s apartment and impersonate him.

Like a lot of things in life, you know what he is doing is morally wrong, your skin feels all wrong continuing to read the story, but you simply cannot stop.

By the end, you get attached to Bilodo and his struggles, you feel how depressing his day to day is, and how much pressure he feels at his work place. We can all rely a bit on that.

The plot is easy enough to follow until the last chapter, and then I got completely lost with the last bit of the story. I can understand vaguely what the author tried to do, but it is so out of the blue and so unrelated to the rest of the story, that it didn’t make any sense.

I must say the Haiku’s were a very nice touch and very romantic choice, even so I am extremely bad with poetry and have no interest in it.

A fairy tale for Christmas, by Chrissie Manby

Book title: A fairy tale for Christmas

Author: Chrissie Manby

Rating: 4 out of 5

I won this book through Goodreads’ giveaway.

Synopsis:  What could be more magical at Christmas than a fairy tale come true?

It's the festive season and the members of the Newbay Theatre Society, more commonly known as the NEWTS, are preparing to put on a show. Being cast as Cinderella is the realization of a dream for newcomer Kirsty, not least because she hopes starring in a panto under the direction of her boyfriend Jon will bring them closer together.

But Kirsty soon learns that it's not all glitter and good cheer behind the scenes at the amateur theatre as bitter rivalries nurtured through decades, wardrobe mishaps and suspicious near-fatal accidents threaten to derail the production. And then there's Prince Charming himself. Will working together with Jon bring Kirsty her happy ever after... or reveal their love to be nothing but a 'showmance'?

With Christmas just around the corner, it's going to take more than a Fairy Godmother to get Kirsty and her cast-mates to the ball.

Opinion:

All in all it is a very light and warm book, perfect for a cosy day under the blanket with a cup of tea and cookies.

You have all the elements for a classical love story: a nasty boyfriend, a young and optimistic woman, a charming and adorable widower, with the cutest daughter, all around the most stressful and demanding period of the year: Christmas.

Kirsty is a young woman who decided to follow her dream by leaving her desk job and joining the entertainment team in a cruise, finding love on board.

Same love that will make her leave that boat to join an amateur theatre production in the little town of Newbury. Very far from all the glitter and glamour of the boat life, that little coastal town will be the sparks she needs to fight back against a manipulative boyfriend and find herself again.

The story circles around the Cinderella’s pantomime production, showing us all the steps from the writing of the play, to auditions processes, passing by costumes and rehearsal.

I really enjoyed that part, with all the different characters introduced to us, all of them with hidden secrets I was not expecting! With this kind of book, you always expect to find stereotypes, but in this book, they were so well written and conceived, I didn’t see them coming until the very end.

My only frustration was around the boyfriend. The author tried from the very first page to make us hate him, making him the most despicable person but I hate being forced like that, I like to make my own opinion at my own pace. However, in this book, to help the plot move along, the author pulled all the stops to make sure to represent him as a horrible man, with no depth, with all defaults, without any nuance.

Kirsty’s inner journey was very well written, her character development was a joy to follow and made you feel good and happy by the end. Good on your girl to follow your dreams! She had to learn by herself what she wanted in life, what made her happy or miserable, and dare to go for what she wanted.

I enjoyed the book for what it is, and recommend it if you are looking for charming love story with a Christmas background.

Postcards from the Sky, by Erin Seidemann

Book title: Postcards from the Sky

Author: Erin Seidemann

Rating: 4 out of 5

I won this book through Goodreads giveaways.

First at all I must say I love the dedication, it was maybe one of the best I ever got so far. The "Spread your wings!" was a very nice touch. Thank you Erin.

This book was a mistake book, the one you take for a week-end away, thinking it is not the usual kind of book you read so it will take you longer to get into it or to finish, and at the end you fell so deep into it, you end up reading it in 2 hours, with nothing left to read for the next days. I just couldn't put it down.

Erin takes us through all the experiences, good and bad, from the moment she decided to learn how to fly, through purchasing her first plane, to have her first big solo adventure.

She has a fast-paced writing style, very straight forward and honest about what she writes (maybe a bit too much, we have a lot of details about her love life). She doesn’t hide anything and doesn’t apologize neither for her choices of themes.

Each chapter has a very nice quote about adventures, and the edition I got had great black and white pictures in the middle. Aviation is not a world I know a lot about, so they were a very welcome touch.

It is very interesting to follow the progress, struggles, adventures, down and up of a woman following her dream to be a pilot and have her own plane in a world so strongly dominated by men. Mentality is changing, but there is still so much more to change.

She gives us enough details of flying and planes to keep us wondering and interested, without drowning us and making it boring. We have enough technical details to understand her struggles and pride, maybe feeling like being a pilot ourselves!

Her adventure to the Bahamas made me think of all my own travels and all the ones still to come. What a blast. I recognized a lot of the feelings and sensations you encounter while so far from home in an unknown country.

Highly recommend you this book, easily readable in one afternoon, with a very nice and heartfelt story, laugh and cringe moments.

Erin, if you ever need a co-pilot, I am all yours!

Swimming with fishes, by Rasheda Ashanti Malcolm

I won this book through a Goodreads Giveaway. It was a nice book, easy to read, simple story line, stereotypical characters and only one major plot. I liked the part in Jamaica, it is a culture and a location I don't read a lot about usually, so it was interesting to read about these characters, they way of life and how they see life. unfortunately the book turn around one of my major turn off, so I lost any interest in it from there. I did finish it because the style was comfortable and easy to read, and I kind of like the main character, but I cannot give it more stars for that. All in all, it is a nice easy book, good for a week end under the sun in the garden.

Butchertown, by Thomas Burchfield

I won this book through Goodread Giveaways. First time reading a book from this author and I quite enjoyed it. I think this book describe very well Murphy's law that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. The protagonist, Paul, have an epic week end pack with flirting, dealing with polluted cities, vicious gang members, close calls with Death and blood flowing rivers...all that for a date with a girl. Pretty lucky guy huh? It was quite an easy read, finished it in one week end, very fast time line and story-line, you cannot get a breath and become bored. The author was leaving subtle hints all around the book, and either you could look further into them or just leave them be and enjoy the book as it is. The different characters were clearly described, and some of them needed a good slap in the face, but hey, it was a different time, different situation. Go for it if you like fast paced books, one shot, gangsters and action.