Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell.

Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell.

Published - September 2013.

Blurb On the back.

From the author the New York Times best-seller Eleanor & Park

A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.

Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan . . .

But for Cath, being a fan is her life — and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie première.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be room-mates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly room-mate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?

And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

Review.

Welcome to the obsessive world of fan fiction, College and Family.

Rainbow Rowell takes us into the life of Cath, her twin sister Wren and her awkward obsession with writing slash fan fiction on Simon Snow. (Note for the uninformed Simon Snow is a blatant if often loving rip-off of the Harry potter series, and Slash fan fiction refers to the rather murky world of same sex pairings. To relate it back to Harry Potter it would be Harry getting it on with Draco.)

It follows Cath as she starts her freshman year at college without her twin who has dumped her to branch out on her own. Throughout the book she has to deal with her classes, her wild twins problems, her unstable dad who is unravelling without anyone at home, her runaway mother trying to get back into her life and her room-mates overly cheerful boyfriend.

This book is written for the young adult market. For the nerdy 13-16 year old girl who loves fan fiction. As a 30 year old male I probably should not have enjoyed the book, however, the writing is solid and the story so enthralling I couldn't put it down until I finished it. Don't get me wrong its not Crime and punishment and I had it done in 3 hours, but they where a thoroughly enjoyable 3 hours, filled with fluff and quite an interesting family dynamic.

The only thing that detracts is the Simon Snow extracts. You can see the similarities to Harry Potter however it hasn't replaced Harry in the universe as he is mentioned in the book, which detracts slightly.

8 out of 10 for an enjoyable bit of rainbows and teenage angst. 

Raising Steam – Terry Pratchett

Raising Steam – Terry Pratchett

Audiobook – Audible.

Read by Stephen Briggs

12 Hours and 20 Minutes

 

What can you say about Terry Pratchett. The man has created a world so rich and in depth that it has managed to span a 30 year time period without losing any wit, charm or sense of wonder. 40 books in 30 years, is a phenomenal achievement in any field, but to keep things from stagnating and becoming repetitive is nothing short of amazing.

I have to say that this is going to be a rather bias review. My love of Pratchetts work meant I had this pre ordered on audible months before it came out, and I have to say I wasn’t disappointed. It follows the age of steam engines arriving to the Disc.

As with many of the Discworld novels it follows the parallel tracks of Satire and politics (excuse the pun) and as it follows the jack of all trades Moist von Lipwig in his third outing as a main character. However it also mixes other favourites with everyone from Sam Vimes, The low king of the Dwarfs, Harry King and more making appearances

As with most of Pratchetts work its hard to go into too much detail without giving away the plot, but suffice to say it is a fast paced well oiled machine powering through the Satirical landscape. As with most it can be read as a standalone novel but I would implore you to read the first 39 novels first, or if you don’t have time at least Going Postal and Making Money which introduce you to Moist .

As mentioned this version reviewed is an audiobook read by Stephen Briggs. Once again he brings the characters of the Discworld to life. Recently I have found my ability to sit a read a book severely curtailed in the form of a bouncing baby boy. I have however found myself listening to Audiobooks with increasing frequency. The Discworld novels in audiobook format are some of the best and that is in no small part to Briggs’ talent.

The book is a brilliant anniversary present for Discworld. Happy 30th.

The Audiobook is wonderfully read and well worth it for people who don’t have time to sit and read at the moment.

9 out of 10.