Tell No One by Harlan Coben (3.5 stars)

I liked this book, lots of twists and turns. The final twist saved for the last page may have been one too many, but overall a great read.

3.5 stars.

The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles (2 stars)

Wasn't a particularly big fan of this book. The story seemed to enter almost a dreamlike state after Kit leaves with the caravan, and her deep love for a random who raped her didn't seem very plausible. What I did like was the descriptions of the sahara, I felt like I had seen some of the desert and isolated towns myself.

2 stars.

The Magus by John Fowles (4 stars)

Wow, I was just about ready to give this up about 100 pages in. The lengthy flowery descriptions of Greece were starting to annoy me:

...floating under Venus like a majestic black whale in an amethyst evening sea...

and the story was taking a long time to get anywhere. I remember thinking 'why has it taken 50 pages to get to the island?', and the untranslated passages and obscure literary references felt like the boorish kind of intellectual snobbery the book was attacking! But I stuck with it, and couldn't put it down for the final third. I picked the major plot twist fairly early, and then Fowles managed to convince me I was wrong - brilliant. I felt as Nicholas did, struggling to separate fact from fiction. The end was crushing, although the latin translation of the final words leaves a clue. Highly recommend it, I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

Couldn't see how this could work as a movie, and woody allen's quote confirms that suspicion. I'll probably watch it anyway.

4 stars.

A Drink Before the War by Denis Lehane (4 stars)

Good detective novel, was good to be able to visualise some of the areas of Boston. Felt slightly strange to read a Chandler-esque detective story set in current times. Really enjoyed it.

4 stars.

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger (3 stars)

Interesting factual account. Little bit constrained by the journalistic style, since some of the major players in the story die they can't tell us what actually happened. The pararescue jumpers (PJs) have a crazy job, reading about the downed Coastguard chopper was fascinating. Now to see the movie!

3 stars.

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini (4.5 stars)

Loving this series. Smashed this one in two days, great read, haven't read much fantasy recently but this was fun.

4.5 stars.