Ben Aaronovitch's spellbinding novel 'Rivers of London'

At the start, ‘Rivers of London’ appears to be your classic murder mystery novel. A few murders and a couple of random, unexplained events all leading to, one would expect, a clever and perfectly logical explanation which expertly ties all the clues. However, it soon becomes clear that ‘Rivers of London’ is far from your average, run of the mill detective novel, popular with jetsetters and holiday makers and frequently found in airport bookshops.

Whilst it does offer all the elements of your beloved detective novel, Ben Aaronovitch’s ‘Rivers of London’ is a beautifully crafted murder mystery novel, with delightful action packed adventure, making use of all the usual plot devices; car chases, work place romances but with a major twist. PC Peter Grant is not your average police constable. Fresh out of training, he is assigned to the METs department for dealing with all things mystical and so the story evolves from your stockpile crime novel into a fantastical quest to uncover a supernatural villain, encountering ghosts, vampires and river spirits along the way.

It seemed that the final conclusion to the novel was slightly rushed, all the supernatural elements coming together in a bit of a frenzy. I think I’ll put this down to my overexcitement though. I couldn’t wait to find out how exactly the resolution would come about. Every time I picked up the book I found myself reading it

compulsively, reading into the early hours of the morning to find out the fate of the lovable PC Peter Grant.

So if you’re looking for an action packed detective novel to read on the beach this summer, I’d really recommend this one. It’s a bit different; its originality makes it a really good book which you can savour, instead of one which you’ll want to leave in the hotel at the end of your stay. And for the faster readers out there, there are two more books in the series, ‘Moon over Soho’ and ‘Whispers Underground’, to keep you going all holiday. 

One awesome book bed!

One extremely awesome bed. If I had the money, I would definitely get myself 

one of these!!!

Jasper Fforde's 'Shades of Grey'

Jasper Fforde’s ability to write such incredibly creative and original books which subtly comments on our own society yet still proving to be an easy and highly entertaining read never ceases to amaze me.

‘Shades of Grey’ is a novel which takes place in a future world where the inhabitants can only naturally see one colour and everything else appears to them as grey. Which shade is visible to them and how much of it they can see determines their class and social standing. The action centres around Eddie Russett, a young red who has been sent to the ‘outer fringes’ to conduct a chair census as punishment for having played a prank on the son of a prefect.

It paints a picture of a wonderfully imaginative yet dystopian future to rival those created by Orwell, Atwood, Bradbury and Burgess.

This book gives you everything a great novel should and with great ease. Fforde never appears to be trying too hard. ‘Shades of Grey’ gives you a tale of romance and adventure, good guys and bad guys, of growing up and discovery laced with humour and yet all the while quietly broaching the tricky subjects of racism, social order, government rule and law enforcement.

All in all Fforde’s novel is a fantastic book which I highly recommend to any avid reader. I eagerly await the release of the sequel ‘Shades of Grey 2: Painting by Numbers’ scheduled to come out some time next year.

Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series continues with the release of book 7 this July : The Woman Who Died a Lot.

Jubilicious.

A pretty awesome reworking of Sir Mix-a-lot's 'Baby Got Back' for the Queen's Jubilee Weekend.

I like big boats and I cannot lie,

You other Britons can't deny,

When the Queen walks in at an elderly pace, 

And a fake smile on her face,

You get proud,

Wanna pull out your flag,

Cause you notice her matching handbag,

To the regal ensemble she's wearing,

Head of State and I can't stop staring,

Oh Queenie, you're on our money,

From Cowes to Orkney,

My Britishness tries to stop me,

But your Jubilee makes me quite happy...

by Charlotte John