Orange January Round Up

Well January 31st is slowly fading over the horizon and I have just turned the final page of my last Orange January book. Orange January is over. I thought I would take the time to do a quick round up of the challenge and the books I managed to read.

I originally pledged to read one book as reading books nominated for prestigious awards is not normally my thing. However I am proud to say I managed to read three books by the end of January. I have been trying to broaden my reading horizons lately as I tend to get stuck in my favorite genres if I am not careful.

The Orange Prize Project is run by Jill at The Magic Lasso. The aim is simple; to spend a reading books nominated for, or having won the Orange Broadband Award Prize. Originally this started as the Orange July Challenge, it proved to be very popular the Jill added another month to the calendar and Orange January was born. This was my first time participating in this challenge.

The books I managed to read were

• The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
• The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

The books I picked were a mixed bag for me I loved one, disliked another and thought the other just average.

To start with the most recent read The Night Watch just did not move me the way it has a lot of my Library Thing and blogging friends. Also I had a lot of expectations going in to read this book, which could be why I felt more disappointed with the book then anything. It had interesting themes but I seriously doubt I will read another Sarah Waters book again. Not because it was awful but more her style of writing is not what I generally like.

Case Histories I really did not like and found myself skipping most of it. It did have a surprising ending though which I will give it full credit for.

The Time Travelers Wife however was a joy to read. I could not put it down once I had it and was entranced by the characters and the story unfolding. It was just a beautiful read and very moving. For me it deserved all the rave reviews it has received if not more. Even though it is still early in the year it has been a stand out book.

Jill will also be running an Orange July which I will participate in. Even though two books did not work out to plan I have read three new authors and discovered one author I will continue reading. I already have a few books in mind to read but I will decide closer to July as to which ones I will read (and which ones I can get from the library which will make the ultimate decision for me LOL).

The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Rating 2 out of 5

"Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked out streets, illicit liaisons, sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941, The Night Watch is the work of a truly brilliant and compelling storyteller. This is the story of four Londoners—three women and a young man with a past, drawn with absolute truth and intimacy. Kay, who drove an ambulance during the war and lived life at full throttle, now dresses in mannish clothes and wanders the streets with a restless hunger, searching … Helen, clever, sweet, much-loved, harbours a painful secret … Viv, glamour girl, is stubbornly, even foolishly loyal, to her soldier lover … Duncan, an apparent innocent, has had his own demons to fight during the war. Their lives, and their secrets connect in sometimes startling ways. War leads to strange alliances"

Well I must admit I just was not taken by this book. Even though I really wanted to like this book as it is normally the sort of thing I enjoy, historical settings, strong women, unusual story, and interesting themes. Also it came quite highly recommended. However I just could not get into this book fully, I just could not work up any real interest at all.

The pace I found was almost painfully slow, it didn't really go anywhere until towards the end. I did not like the story being told back with a backwards storyline as it was annoying and not engaging. The stories told at the end were far more interesting then the stories told at the start. Personally I think if the story line was reversed it would have made the start far more impact with the sadness of how the characters had gotten where they were. If the books ending was at the start it would have been more interesting story in my mind. However others clearly loved this format and the way it was written as it has garnered a lot of great reviews and has been nominated for the Booker and Orange literary prizes

The underlying themes in the story were probably the only saving grace of this book for me and kept me reading. It deals with issues that in the 1940 were taboo such as homosexuality, women's rights, and abortion. It also dealt a little on the effects of war and how society was changing during that period.

I would recommend this book to people who like reading books nominated for prizes, lesbian fiction, or what I like to call "people" drama.

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

Rating: 2 1/2 out of 5

"Summer. To Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, the world consists of one accounting sheet - Lost on the left, Found on the right - and the two never seem to balance. His days are full of people clamouring for answers and explanations. A jealous husband suspects his wife. Two spinster sisters make a shocking find. A solicitor investigates an old murder. A nurse has lost her niece; a widow, her cats. Jackson has never felt at home in Cambridge, and has a failed marriage to prove it. He is forty-five but feels much, much older. He is at that dangerous age when men suddenly notice that they're going to die eventually, inevitably, and there isn't a damn thing they can do about it. Surrounded by death, intrigue and misfortune, his own life is brought sharply into focus."

I really was not very taken with this book. The only reason I continued to read it was I had been told it gets better half way through, and to be fair it did get more tolerable towards the end.

Firstly I did not like the style that it was written in. Kate Atkinson seemed to want to use the biggest words available which is fine every now and then but not in nearly every paragraph in the first chapter. Also the language was old fashioned as well, which at first I though was maybe in keeping with the setting of the first chapter but I later realised this was how Kate Atkinson wrote (though it did loosen up towards the end) I almost put the book straight down after the first chapter.

I couldn't really like any of the characters except for Jackson and he was not in it as much as the blurb would imply. The only other interesting characters were barely in the book much to my disappointment. To be honest I disliked most of the main characters except perhaps Theo who was just a sad soul. Julia and Amelia only became interesting towards the end of the book.

The story jumped around a lot and was told from many different points of view which grew annoying especially when I did not see the relevance (or care perhaps?). In some cases the same story was told from two different points of view which did not offer anything new or insightful. There was a lot of unnecessary story thread woven in. Well for me they were unnecessary, I just did not see the relevance to the story being told. I found myself skipping quite a few paragraphs and not missing much.

I mostly kept reading to find out what the answers to the cases were, and I must confess to actually being surprised by the turn one of the cases took. Perhaps I am being harsh as I had just read the excellent Time Travelers Wife, but this book really failed to grab me at all. If it wasn't for the more interesting last chapters and the twist I probably would have scored this lower.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Rating 5 out of 5

“The story of Henry and Clare, who have known each other since Clare was 6 and Henry was 36, and were married when Clare was 20 and Henry 28. This is possible only because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he flashes to other points in time, usually moments of emotional gravity for him. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.”

This book has received many rave reviews and it is not hard to see why. The story is epic and sweeping in its grandeur and is the type of book that elicits those sorts of words. The story follows the lives of Clare and Henry told from both of their perspectives as they struggle to find a normal life together in a world that is only learning about Henry’s condition. The issues dealt with in this book are emotional and real. Niffenegger writes about the issues with realism and sensitivity. There is the science fiction element to the story however it is hardly noticeable as the drama and romance of the story is far more prominent.

The prose does tend to jump around alternating between Clare and Henry, and occasionally time periods. While normally this would annoy me as a reader in this story it is appropriate and is seamlessly blended.

My main criticism (and there is only really one which is minor) is the language occasionally used by Niffenegger. During intimate scenes Niffenegger uses what would be best described as colourful language to illustrate the moment. Which is fine don’t get me wrong, for me though it just did not fit with the rest of the book. The rest of the book is this beautifully written prose that glides along with elegance and finesse and then all of a sudden there is this hideous coarse word. After the first instance I was left with the feeling of “where did that come from?” It was as surprising to me as would be to hear Mary Poppins using the f word. Other then those few (and they were few) jarring moments there is not really much else I can fault this book on.

A beautiful book which had me laughing and crying and wishing very fervently that our lives are not determined by destiny.

I highly recommended this book.