Reading Roundup – 5th July 2013

July 5, 2013

For this week’s reading roundup I read something I don’t often read – a play.  I was fortunate enough to catch via NT Theatre Live Helen Mirren’s wonderful performance as Her Majesty The Queen in Peter Morgan’s witty play about the weekly audiences between Queen and Prime Minister.  It always wonderful to watch a well written play performed by skilled actors, and this was no exception.  I enjoyed picking up on a few things I’d missed – like the explanation of why Peter Morgan opted to avoid a chronological narrative – he didn’t want to have the audience counting off the Prime Ministers on their fingers.  It’s certainly worth checking out.  Morgan also wrote such excellent screenplays as The Queen and Frost/Nixon.  Pick it up on Kindle, Kobo or iTunes. I also recommend that you take a look at the NT Theatre Live’s programme of events – this is a truly excellent series of plays and I applaud the theatre’s commitment to bringing them to a wider audience.

I am coming to the conclusion that I’m not really so fond of the grimdark genre.  This week I read/listened to Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence.  There are some interesting characters – I was intrigued by Jorg – and it was a well written story, but I think I prefer a little more humour in my reading.  I think that’s also why A Feast for Crows is the novel in GRRM’s magnum opus that appealed to me the least – it sorely missed Tyrion’s humour.  I’m probably unlikely to read the follow up King of Thorns.  You can pick up Prince of Thorns on Kindle, Kobo, iBook or Audible formats or listen to a sample.

Another book I read/listened to this week is Kevin Hearne’s Hexed, the second book in his Iron Druid series.  This is one series I love listening to on Audible. Luke Daniels’ wonderful voice work makes this a joy to listen to – his interpretation of Atticus’ hound Oberon is particularly noteworthy.  Sadly, Oberon isn’t in this sample but I can assure you he always makes me giggle.  Having said that, I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as Hounded, the first book in the series.  There were just too many disparate plot lines that didn’t quite all come together.  I felt Hearne should have focused on either the Bachants or the German witches or the infighting within the Celtic pantheon but not all at once.  All in all though, it is a very enjoyable series and I will certainly continue to follow it.  I listened to it on Audible and it’s also available in Kindle, Kobo and iBooks format

The next book I’m about to start is The Companions by R A Salvatore, which I got free to review from Netgalley.  I’ve not yet read any of Salvatore’s works, but I’ve heard great things about it, so I’m looking forward to this.

Added to my library this week

After enjoying Finding Colin Firth (see my review) I added Ms. March’s earlier work The Meryl Streep Movie Club in Audible format Lichgates: Book One of the Grimoire Saga – currently free in Kindle format

2 Comments

  • Jenny July 6, 2013 at 4:31 am

    There is no ‘grimdark’ genre.

    • evelynne_r July 6, 2013 at 10:30 am

      I got it from TV Tropes, which describes it as “darker and edgier.” I’ve often seen it to describe authors such as Abercrombie or Lawrence. It’s true I’d not seen it either until I started reading them!

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