Review: The Surgeon of Crowthorne: a tale of murder, madness & the love of words

The Surgeon of Crowthorne: a tale of murder, madness & the love of words by Simon Winchester
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A surprising read really. After all, who would know that the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary could be so fascinating and intriguing?
I for one had never known the real story being the creation or even any of the story, so finally sitting down and reading the book, sure it's not overly long, but it's easy to read and doesn't lead you off to boredom like other books can. It was interesting to see in to the insight of the men who spent their lives dedicated to a book that they didn't even get to see fully completed.

It's certainly a book that is worth reading, whether you are really all that interested in the Dictionary at all, it's worth it, I promise. The text is easy to follow, easy to read, it doesn't bore you with too much with heavy detail, it touches upon the subjects it needs to and then moves on to the next important thing.

A 5 out of 5 read for sure.

View all my reviews

Review: The Minister and the Murderer

The Minister and the Murderer by Stuart Kelly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Minister and the Murderer.

Quite the title really, catching and intriguing. But I felt a little let down by it really. Sure it touches heavily on the church and on religion, but I found that it only touched about Nelson lightly and about the man. I had bee expecting it to tell you more of Nelson's life story, of who he was as a person, more on his crime and more about how he became a minister.
But in reality, the author focuses more on the religious side of things and relies on the text of the bible quite a bit. Although not really my kind of book, I was quite intrigued to see how it turned out and powered my way through all of the pages, even when I felt like it was draining my soul.

View all my reviews

Review: House of Leaves

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Review: The Woman in Black: Angel of Death

The Woman in Black: Angel of Death by Martyn Waites
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Review: Devil's Day

Devil's Day by Andrew Michael Hurley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Review: The Haunting of Hill House

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Review: The Limehouse Golem

The Limehouse Golem by Peter Ackroyd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Review: The Exorcist

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Review: Tiny Histories: Trivial events and trifling decisions that changed British history

Tiny Histories: Trivial events and trifling decisions that changed British history by Dixe Wills
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Review: When Britain Burned the White House: The 1814 Invasion of Washington

When Britain Burned the White House: The 1814 Invasion of Washington by Peter Snow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A very interesting read in to a subject that many people doesn't know about. The author has written it in a way that makes it light and easy to read, that it isn't heavy like some history books can be. There's plenty of information to keep your interest as well as diagrams of the movements of each side, the British and the American.

Subjects like the burning of the White House, should be something taught in all school's, even if it was only for a short period of time in our history. It's our history at the end of the day, now I can't speak for American schools, but I know us British don't cover anything to do with the 1814 battle. Shame really as this would make a very good book to study while studying the subject.

View all my reviews

Review: Just After Sunset

Just After Sunset by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



View all my reviews