Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I don't think I've ever read a novel that has moved me to tears in the first two or three pages. This is a beautifully written book about characters that feel like real people (and in one case, this is almost true) experiencing real emotions. I find that the book stays with me after I've finished reading it, always a good sign.



This is a first novel by Danny Scheinmann and what a powerful debut it is. Highly recommended.


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The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
I didn't like this book much. I kept reading it because I'm interested in early science and in the 1700s generally. It is part one of a trilogy but I wont be reading any of the others.


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Temple by Matthew Reilly

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is my favourte Reilly book so far. It's a big fat blockbuster of a book but I ploughed through it in a couple of days. It's very edge-of-your-seat stuff, written in a cinematic style so it feels more like watching a fast paced action movie than reading a book.



The story has two timelines, one set in the time of the Spanish conquest of the Incas and the other in Peru of 1999. The unlikely hero is William Race, a mild mannered, likable linguisitcs expert who, during this story, finds himself on a mission to save the world.


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Atlantis by David Gibbins

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
The writer spends a lot of time talking about underwater technology and weapons, and I meant a lot of time. If you're interested in hardware all named usung longs lists of abreviations and numbers then you'll love this book. If you want to read about Atlantis, be prepared to wait, and wait. Unfortunately, even when it got to the 'juicy bit' I was still bored. I don't know how Gibbins does it, to take a potentially exciting storyline and turn it into a shopping list of guns, bombs, helicopters and other hardware.



Dull stuff.


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