Chuckles Mini Review Catchup

I review everything I read, on my blog and on Goodreads. Most reviews are of a decent length but sometimes you don't have much to say about the book because of its length or you DNFed it or various other reasons. In cases like that it makes sense to write a few mini reviews in one post and clear them out your way! So lets catch up with some reviews from January!

1) Paul Firth-Four Minutes To Hell
The Valley Parade fire of 1985 has been described as football's less-remembered disaster, despite the television pictures of the flames leaping through the wooden stand. 56 people lost their lives and hundreds more suffered horrific injuries. This is the story of that day, told in their own words by some of the survivors, by some of those with family among the 56, by some of the professionals who fought to save lives and heal the injured and by one quite remarkable man, a true hero. The book also discusses the findings of the Popplewell Inquiry and how safety at football grounds was finally given the priority it needed.  

In 1985 I was 11 and I watched live on TV in utter horror as the fire went from a few seats to engulfing the whole stand in just a few minutes, killing 56 football fans, most dying trying to exit the back of the stand on to the street-the way they had entered the ground. I'll never forget seeing the people on fire or whose clothing was melting as they tried to escape the inferno. It was the worst thing I'd ever seen. This is the first book I've read about the disaster and it reduced me to tears at times, with vivid descriptions of how people became trapped and died, and the lucky escapes that others had. There are tales of true heroism from the police, the players and the ordinary fans who risked their lives to save others. I had no idea of how difficult it was to get out of this stand with all the sections seperated by barriers that had to be climbed including the final five foot barrier to the pitch which was too much for some of the elderly and disabled fans with oxygen diminishing and the heat and flames behind them. It was truly harrowing. This link shows the full horror and how quickly it happened. Be advised there is footage of a man fully on fire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIxN3ypB3rw

This book follows the interlinked stories of a group of people who escaped the disaster only to find that friends and family seperated in the chaos were missing. In the days before mobile phones, imagine how difficult it was to find out what happened to loved ones. There is the added story of a true hero who saved lives, the on and off duty cops who saved lives, the doctors who looked after and operated on the victims. It is a well written book and a fitting tribute to the fans who died that day.

2) Jonathan Waterman-In The Shadow Of Denali
Jonathan Waterman paints a startlingly intimate portrait of the white leviathan and brings to vivid life men and women whose fates have entwined on its sheer icy peak.

I was expecting so much from this book but ended up pretty disappointed. I expected it to be full of deadly accounts of climbs and near misses but there was hardly any of that. Instead we got endless hero worship of the author's favourite climber, long biographies of the climbers but less about the climb, a man with mental illness and his previous exploits but a vague mention of him going to Denali to die, the author's adventures as a mountain guide in Alaska where he and his friends care little for the job they do, people they know who live in the area, great detail on the author shovelling other climber's turds, and other things that lacked the interest and excitement of the couple of detailed featured climbs. It was more about the author's poetic waffling about the mountain and his self-indulgent adventures. Even the stories of other people climbing has to mention the author's involvement or his view on things. To be honest I found this dull and boring. I'd rather have had the adventures of the bears that roam the area.  

3) Spencer Quinn-A Cat Was Involved (Chet & Bernie Mystery #0.1)
As fans know, Chet first met Bernie on that fateful day when he flunked out of K-9 police school. The details of that day though have always remained a little vague (like so much in Chet’s doggy brain). All we know is that Chet had been the best leaper in his K-9 class, but for some reason he failed his final leaping test...and that a cat was involved...and that there was some blood. But whose? The test, the cat, the blood—all pieces of a puzzle that, when solved, will bring down a dangerous gang of thieves—and signal the start of a beautiful friendship. This fateful day has been alluded to in every book in the series, and now fans of Chet and Bernie will finally get to find out what actually happened. For these two beloved characters, it was something like love at first sight—and, for Chet, at first smell, too.  

This is my first outing with Chet, narrator of our story. He is about to finish K9 school and become a police dog when he witnesses the theft of a car with a cat inside. He is unable to tell anyone what he saw but as he is about to take his final test, he sees the missing cat and goes to investigate, causing him to fail his exam. Local PI Bernie dog sits him befor Chet is to be sent to the pound but on hearing the story of Chet and the cat, he starts to piece together the details of the car theft, and sets out with Chet to solve the crime.

I love Chet! He is smart and friendly, but his obsession with food is never far away from his thoughts as the story progresses. It was a fun short story to read and I would like to read more about Chet. I'm just not so sure about Bernie, a washed up PI with a drink problem. I do have the first full book in the series which I might try at some point.

4) Jen Campbell-Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops
This Sunday Times bestseller is a miscellany of hilarious and peculiar bookshop moments: 'Can books conduct electricity?' 'My children are just climbing your bookshelves: that's ok... isn't it?'

A John Cleese Twitter question ['What is your pet peeve?'], first sparked the 'Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops' blog, which grew over three years into one bookseller's collection of ridiculous conversations on the shop floor. From 'Did Beatrix Potter ever write a book about dinosaurs?' to the hunt for a paperback which could forecast the next year's weather; and from 'I've forgotten my glasses, please read me the first chapter' to 'Excuse me... is this book edible?: here is a book for heroic booksellers and booklovers everywhere. This full-length collection illustrated by the Brothers McLeod also includes top 'Weird Things' from bookshops around the world. 

This book was pretty amusing. I used to think that running a bookstore would be a good idea but now I'm not so sure. There are the idiot customers that can't seem to understand the concept of a shop selling books and not having milk or lottery tickets. The people who think that the shop is there to look after their kids while they do other things. There are the people with no understanding that they kind of need the name of the book or author before the seller can identify the book they want, rather than the cover colour. There are also the customers who have a few strange ideas about the books they are buying.

'My granddaughter's looking for a book about Agnes's Knickers.'
(Angus, Thongs & Full Frontal Snogging)

'Do you have that children's book I've heard about? It's supposed to be very good. It's called Lionel Ritchie and the Wardrobe.' 

'Yes the Famous Five, that's the one. The one with the transexual.'

'Did Anne Frank ever write a sequel?' 

'It's about people with large hairy feet.'
'Do you mean hobbits? The Lord of the Rings.'
'No...erm...The Hairy Bikers.' 

5) Jen Campbell-More Weird Things Customers Say In Bookstores 
Customer (holding up a book): What’s this? The Secret Garden? Well, it’s not so secret now, is it, since they bloody well wrote a book about it!

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops was a Sunday Times bestseller, and could be found displayed on bookshop counters up and down the country. The response to the book from booksellers all over the world has been one of heartfelt agreement: it would appear that customers are saying bizarre things all over the place - from asking for books with photographs of Jesus in them, to hunting for the best horse owner’s manual that has a detailed chapter on unicorns.

Customer: I had such a crush on Captain Hook when I was younger. Do you think this means I have unresolved issues?

More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops has yet more tales from the antiquarian bookshop where Jen Campbell works, and includes a selection of ‘Weird Things...’ sent in from other booksellers across the world. The book is illustrated by the BAFTA winning Brothers McLeod. 

Back again with the customers who say some strange things when looking for books. There are those with a Star Wars obsession with King Herod being the father of Jesus, The Very Hungry Caterpillar being bulimic, Gulliver's Travels being a travel guide to follow and the horse whisperers being employed to interview horses for the book War Horse.  There are the disappointed customers asking about a Tolkien book signing, not being able to pay by Amazon gift card, unable to get an audio book on sign language, wanting Fifty Shades book 4 which they think is called Trilogy, and being unable to buy antique door handles.

''This book looks good. How can I watch it?'

'Excuse me, where do you keep all your books?'

'I can't find any books on WWIII.'

'Which of these dieting books would you recommend the most?'
(Holding Weightwatchers and The Hunger Games)

'Do you have this crime book? It's called the girl with the dragon and the baboon.'