Title And Author: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold
Publisher: Doubleday
Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed by BorrowBox & Essex Libraries
Length: 432 Pages or 10 Hours 18 Minutes
Since I first heard of this book earlier in the year, I wanted to read it. I am not a fan of True Crime and not really had much interest over Jack the Ripper (though I have said I would be curious to go on a Jack the Ripper Walk round East London), so the idea of me wanting to read this came very left field. I mean… why? Why would I want to read about Jack the Ripper and his murders?
But wanting to read this surprised me and when I decided to close my Audible subscription and use my local library and their audiobook app, I went to see this was on here. And it was, much to mu surprise, and I knew, without really thinking it through that I wanted this to be part of my Murder Month. No, not wanted. This HAD to be in my Murder Month.
The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper looks at the five women at the heart of this terror, and, with this, looks at the social pitfalls and peril of being a middle-class women (or just a women in general) in Victorian London.
I don’t want to go any further here as I want to go further a little later in this write-up.
When I was offered to review the audiobook of this, I jumped at the chance. I am only just getting into the late Terry Pratchett's writing so seeing this intrigued me. A collection of short stories for younger readers? Sold.
Follow-up to the previous collection, Dragons at Crumbling Castle, this collection of fourteen short stories - including one or two that inspired Terry's later stories. Short stories that range from wizards, talking statues, a town in the the Wild Wild West (of Wales), gnomes, trolls, and a time-travelling TV to name but a few...
This is quite a short audiobook - just under 4 hours - and it was a fast listen for me (a shock for me, but with me cycling to and from work the past few days, it made the cycle fun!). And I loved how short and bitesized each story was.
This collection is of Terry's early short stories, taken from the local newspaper he worked at. And while I liked these stories, a tiny part of me felt a tad uneasy over this collection. I'm not sure why, but I could help but feel a hint of cashing in on this. I'm not sure why I felt this way - I hope am being a little sensitive over this but I couldn't shake that feeling away.
There are some stories in here I liked more than others - The Blackbury Park Statues is my favourite out of these. And these stories are aimed for a younger audience - middle grade readers (oh, how I disliked this term) but I think most Terry Pratchett fans will enjoy this.
I have thought a while about writing this blog post. Now, normally, I don't write reviews for books I don't finish. I feel uncomfortable about doing it - how can I give an honest review on something I haven't finished?
But with A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson, I am going to make an exception. This is a once in a blogtime thing so don't get too excited, book peeps. I feel that I should talk about the book, my thoughts on the pages I have read and explained why I've decided to stop reading this.
So, for those of you who don't know A God In Ruins, this is a companion novel to Kate Atkinson's previous novel, Life After Life. In this, we follow Teddy throughout his life. Growing up from son and brother to would-be poet and World War Two pilot to husband, father and grandfather. As he grows through the 21st century, he will soon face a challenge in a future he never expected to have.
So, let me talk about the positives of this book (from what I have read). The writing is very subtle and it flows beautifully. Plus, this is also a non-linear book (it jumps back and forward throughout Todd's life) and it didn't feel confusing. It made sense and, for me, it's rare for a book to write in this style and it to make sense to its readers.
But, from what I read, I can very easily see readers not feeling connected the characters and might find this book a bit slow-paced (I said it was subtle, remember?) and I think some of you guys might want to read Life After Life before you read this as you "get" it.
So... why am I stopping reading this? It's a "It's not you, it's me" situation. I do want to read this! I do! But at the same time I started reading this, I got my little Bagheera (not sure who Bagheera is? Read my blog post here and, be warned, there are cat gifs. A lot of them!) and kittens are very high maintenance. And this book needs time - it's like a bottle of red wine. It needs time to breathe and I can't give this book the time it deserves at the moment when I have a kitten clawing its way up my jeans (or trying to attack the bookmark ribbon. Or sit on the book. Or try and eat a corner).
Plus, I have been trying to read this for nearly a fortnight and I have only got 100 pages in. At this rate, I will finish this in 6 weeks time. That's two months. And I can very easily see myself hating the book. And I don't want that. I want to read this book and I want to have time to read it, without panicking about my emotions changing because it's taking me longer to read than normal.
So, this isn't a review. This is me saying what I think of the first 100 pages and, hopefully, in the future, I shall read the book completely and give you guys a full review.
Set in the near future, Ben Chamber is told by his wife that there's a robot in his garden. So when he goes to investigate, he finds a small robot with a broken tube inside. Instead of throwing the lost and rusty thing away, Ben takes him home. After that, events happen. His wife, Amy, leaves him and, before he thinks about, Ben decides to find the robot's - Tang's - creator.And with that, they go travelling round the world...
Now, this is an interesting read as I am very torn over it. I do like this book, but there are faults.
This book is set in the near future with robots and androids, but I liked that these weren't the driving force. The robot - Tang - acts at times like a toddler or a young child and, at times, you had to actively remind yourself that Tang was a robot, not a child.
Also, while this is set in the future, this was a very human story. The story dealt with a marriage breaking down and the fall out. It touched on a few issues, but it was a light read. It has an Alexander McCall Smith feel.
However, I have issues. Well, one issue really. And that was the adults in this book. Most of them are not nice people. It was the way they acted to our main character, Ben, a man who it took a while for me to warm up. Later in the book, Ben admits that he wasn't the easiest person in the world, but I found it hard to believe that he was ok with how his sister and his wife treated him. They apologise for their actions, but for some reason, I found most of the characters actions (barring Tang and 2/3 adults that should have their own book! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM!!!) a bit hard to accept.
This was a light read for me. While I didn't love it, I did like it and I kinda want a Tang. Plus, this would make a wonderful uplifting movie.
Hi everyone. Welcome to my spot in the Robot In The Garden blog tour! And I am thrilled that Deborah Install is taking over the blog and chatting about the book's playlist! So, before I go any further, I would like to thank Deborah for taking time out to chat about music and I would, also, like to thank Ben from Doubleday/Random House for inviting me on this tour!
Now, shall we get this blog post started and hand it over to Deborah? I think we should, so all yours
1. "The Garden" - Take That Don’t judge me ;-). The title is relevant, of course, but also the lines 'This is the life we've been given, so open your mind and start living' are relevant to Ben
2. "Distant Sun" - Crowded House Similarly, 'Tell me all the things you would change, I don't pretend to know what you want.' I also always thought this song was about a guy completed bowled over by the brilliance of a girl, and I always thought that was something that drew Ben to Amy.
3. "Fix You" - Coldplay I love this song. I find it really emotional. I used it once in an amdram play I directed once. In this context it fits the point near the beginning where Ben really realises Tang needs his help. Also the line 'But if you never try you'll never know just what you're worth' is what people have been trying to say to Ben all along, but never found the words.
4. "Hotel California" -The Eagles I called the place in the book the Hotel California because I always reckoned the one in the song to be a really unpleasant, seedy sort of place, so it fitted.
5. "Born To Be Wild" - Steppenwolf The chapter where Tang dances to this song was one of the earliest I wrote. I just had to have my robot do 'the robot' and this song was just always in my head for it, partly because it's a total driving song, but also because it gave Ben the opportunity to ponder Tang's sentience.
6. "Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons I confess I picked this one entirely for the title. I wanted one for Kyle and there aren't too many songs about radioactive sausage dogs.
7. "One For My Baby" - Frank Sinatra A song about a guy, nursing a drink, being miserable about a girl who's left him. Either fits in the sports bar section or when Ben is drinking the Old Fashioned in the hotel in Tokyo.
8. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" - Bonnie Tyler Ben's song of choice for karaoke. Traditional heartbreak song and easy to belt out drunk. I do not know this from experience, I hasten to add.
9. "The Robots" - Kraftwerk A Doubleday recommendation, and it makes me think of the bit in the book with all the androids lined up in the Japanese shop.
10. "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead Purely for the title. And because I like it. :-)
11. "Digital Love" - Daft Punk
Had to put some Daft Punk in, and this one seemed to fit best. I put it at this point in the playlist because it would be at about the point where Ben and Tang are on Palau and, as the saying goes, 'shit gets real'.
12. "The Scientist" - Coldplay Bollinger = mad scientist figure. But also, it feels to me that pretty much every line has relevance for the story.
13. "Mr Brightside" - The Killers
Placed here for the point where Ben feels that he is losing Amy all over again.
14. "We Are Family" - Sister Sledge
The end of the book is very much concerned with family. And it's a fun song.
15. "Happy" - Pharrell Williams
What can I say? I'm not sure I could bring myself to write an unhappy ending...perhaps I'll surprise myself one day. :-)
Confession time. I have never read a Terry Pratchett - well, I think I might have read Wyrd Sisters but don't quote me on that. But Terry Pratchett is always been one of those authors that has so much buzz around them, that's a bit overwhelming. It's the same with Jane Austin. There is so much respect and love that if I dare either of them and went "They were ok", I might have been given death glares...
So when the lovely Felicity from Midas PR asked if there was any audiobooks coming out in the past few months that I fancied reviewing, I saw this collection of non-fiction essays from Mr Pratchett and mentioned that these would be an interesting listen as this would not only introduces me with Terry's writing but also, introduces me to non-fiction - a genre I'm not that well read in.
A Slip of the Keyboard is a collection of non-fiction essays spend through Terry's life via three sections. Talking about his life as a writer, a look into his childhood, Discworld and then his thoughts of his Alzheimer's Disease and his opinions of assisted dying.
Now, seeing as non-fiction isn't my comfort zone, I went into this a bit uncertain on if I would enjoy this. And for the most part, I did. I liked hearing Terry's ideas, thoughts and his musings about life, writing, Discworld (a series I really need to investigate) and on assisted dying.
Now, assisted dying and Terry's battle with Alzheimer's were subjects I thought I would find taxing and upset to listen, but instead, I find them very interesting to hear his thoughts and made me, at several points, go "He does have a point here, but I'm not totally convinced on his reasoning on that point."
I do have problems with this collection (and the audiobook). The first was how the audiobook was set up. There were times I got confused on what essay or article I was listening to as the gaps between when one ended and another began were quite short at times and, there was a few times I think two essays merged into one in my brain and I didn't realise this till halfway through the second essay.
My second is, at times, it did feel a bit repetitive. You can tell this is a collection spanning years as some jokes, phrases and ideas were repeated and with this collection, two essays will have the same joke and the essays would be following each other. But, with the nature of this book, I understand this would happen from time to time.
While this isn't exactly something I would rush out to read, I am glad I have had the chance to listen to it. I do have plans to read more of Mr Pratchett (Stevie from SableCaught made me buy Mort and I have plans to read that soon) and I hope it makes me think about the world around me a little more. But I think this is very much for the fans who will devour anything Terry writes...
