EVER BOUGHT A BOOK ON THE STRENGTH OF THE REVIEWS ON THE BACK???

If you are like us (and probably one of the many thousands of book lovers across the globe) and have had the misfortune of spending your hard-earned cash on an apparent "best-seller"; you will probably also have experienced the dull thud as you bang your head against the wall, thinking "Why did I listen to the reviews on the back?!" The truth is: reviews found on books are usually self-promoting, PR stunt-type hype and not necessarily a true reflection of the books' quality at all.

It is our aim to tell the truth about books, but don't for one second assume that that is synonymous with us creating a blog to 'diss' authors' work - to the contrary - our intention is to provide an honest appraisal of each and every book we read. If the book is any good - it'll get a good review. If it's awful and a tragedy to the literary world - then it won't. It's that simple.

Tuesday 2 October 2007

Time to Go Home by A.C. Smith (ISBN 1-873877-65-X)

Not an easy read; but the sheer British-flavoured eccentricity and the challenge more than make this worth it.
Although it is difficult for me to pin-point what it is precisely that I like about this book - you cannot help but feel empathy when you discover that all the royalties from sales are to be given to Compassion in World Farming - I would probably plump for the fact that "Thrawle" is just so interesting - so affable, so polite, so happy to get one over on the Inland Revenue... so British!
Set in various locations, but mostly in Myddfai, Wales... Thrawle, on the run (again) from the Inland Revenue, sets about cleaning up other people's messes in the most ludicrous yet sophisticated manner. Some sections washed over me, but the overall character of the book made me want to keep going.
Definitely one for the middle to upper classes to titter at knowingly over a glass of brandy... but then, I enjoyed it, so it can't be that bad! Besides, if only to give our farming community a flutter of a chance - I'd stump up the cash to buy this.

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