The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova

This is rather a strange novel, and although I wouldn't say that reading it brought me a lot of joy, I certainly found it hard to put down. Okay, so essentially the story is about Dracula but even more than that it seems to be about the the nature of being a historian and the nature of research, and it's the blending of the two which makes the whole things a bit strange. The storyline is pretty gripping and I really did want to find out what happened in the end, which is why it was hard to put down, although some sections dragged on a bit. There's hardly any present-day narrative, with almost the entire story being taking place in various people's past and being relayed to the reader second-, third- or even fourth-hand through stories and letters, and stories and letters within letters. What you miss out on, therefore, is any characteristation of the woman who is ultimately telling the story - even by the end you don't really know what she's like at all. Furthermore, I didn't feel there was enough variation between the different characters. We hear the lengthy recollections of this historian and that librarian, all from different cultures and backgrounds, but it's as if they're all speaking with the same voice and personality. Having said that, it is a really interesting book and at points it was scary enough to prevent me from reading it at night!

The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

Wow. Lillie lent me this book when I asked her to reccommend me something to read, and now that I've read it I'm tempted to buy it for myself, because the story is so powerful and intriguing that it'll cling to me and I'll want to dip back into time and time again. The story is told to us by Clare and Henry, whose relationship is constantly buffeted by the sea of intense love and loss. Henry's got this genetic condition which causes him to time travel - he somehow gets dragged forward and backward to different points in his own lifetime, where he meets Clare, himself and other people in different times and places. It's a really beautiful and poignant tale, and it seems genuinely believable - not sci-fi at all - and is entirely unsentimental, which I appreciate. The Times describes it in three words: "wonky, sexy, incredible," and I agree.

44 Scotland Street and Espresso Tales, by Alexander McCall Smith

These are the first and second collected-together-in-a-book versions of McCall Smith's newpaper serial about the lives of some people who live in a house of flats in Edinburgh. It passes the time I guess, but there are whole stories I skip because they're dull. I would rather read an entire book about the five-year-old genius Bertie and his self-obsessed mother: that's the one storyline that has something genuinely interesting to say. Something to read when you can't find anything else.



The Sunday Philosophy Club, by Alexander McCall Smith

I'll just add a quick word about this one here. I can't add it to my book count because I didn't finish it; but I really couldn't read any further. I'm not sure why McCall Smith thought it was a good idea to write a series of books through the eyes and thoughts of a tedious, self-absorbed and unlikable middle-aged woman. Ugh.