Sean Bennett

I have been making a conscious effort this year to take more time out to read and enjoy some books. It is just one of those things that I struggled to make the time for despite the pile of great books I have and have yet to read.

I’m not going to do a review of these books, just sharing with you the ones I have enjoyed and recommend. So here we go…

The Facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios – Yann Martel

I received this book for Christmas and it was completely unknown to me but this collection of short stories was well worth the read. The title story involves a young man and his dying friend writing a story together. Their strange story is written with each chapter being influenced by an event from the years 1901 to 1986.

Of the other short stories, my favourite is Manners of Dying.

The Howling Miller – Arto Paasilinna

I borrowed this book from the library and I’m not sure why but it just seemed to stand out to me on the day. The plot revolves around a mentally ill but otherwise good man who takes to howling like a wolf during the night. I’m pretty sure this is the first book I have read that has been translated from Finnish and this background provides an interesting and uncommon setting.

Life in a little Finnish village is seemingly quite bizarre.

Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow, Hell Island – Matthew Reilly

I’d read Ice Station and Area 7 some time ago and found them to both be action-packed page-turners. I bought Scarecrow too but it had been on the bookshelf and I had never got around to reading it. Well, I couldn’t let it sit there forever so I decided that I HAD to finally read it.

Having been such a long time after reading the first two books in the series I really needed to reread the others as well and so I did. Sadly, they weren’t the books I remembered. Perhaps my tastes have matured somewhat since I read them (I was about 15 at the time) but these books are the most far-fetched stories I have ever read. I still like Matthew Reilly but his writing really does cater for the masses so to say.

By the time I got to Hell Island, I was wondering why I bothered. Sure, there is action and explosions but I just can’t believe any of it any more. I would love to see any Matthew Reilly books made into movies though. The Scarecrow is a great character.

Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom

I first saw this book on Oprah a couple of years ago but don’t think that I hang on Oprah’s every word and worship her. Nevertheless, the Oprah factor did eventually lead me to read this book (although it wasn’t until a good 5/6 years later). It was a bit hard to find this book because I thought it must’ve been one of the “Oprah’s Book Club” selections but it wasn’t. The effect on the sales was the same though. A brief appearance on Oprah and this book became the highest selling memoir of all time. That fact alone should be enough to convince people that it is a worthwhile read.

It is actually kind of similar to The Facts behind the Helsinki Roccamatios.

Anyway, let me know your opinion and drop me a comment.