Book Review: Body Work (a Rivers of London graphic novel) by Ben Aaronovitch and others

Rivers of London: Body Work
by Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Cartmel (writers) and Lee Sullivan (artist) (741.5 Aar + Hoopla Comic Books)

Despite enjoying the novels in the “Rivers of London” series by Ben Aaronovitch, I was somehow unaware that a series of several graphic novels (each a compiled collection of multi-issue comic books) set in the same story continuity have been released over the past few years.

 

Body Work was the first of the graphic novels, compiling a five-part comic book storyline set between the 3rd and 4th books in the series. Young police constable Peter Grant, still relatively new to his position in The Folly (a mysterious department within the British police that focuses on supernatural occurences), is called to offer his expertise on a case in which an automobile seemed to create a fatal accident of its own accord. A bit of investigating by Peter and his boss, Thomas Nightingale (the last authorized British wizard), reveals that a supernatural entity had possessed a car, which was then sold to a junk dealer, who promised to crush it. When he couldn’t bring himself to do so, and instead used parts of the possessed car in repair jobs on other vehicles, those cars also went rogue, endangering lives and property.

 

Teamed up with a young female constable from the “normal” police force, Grant and Nightingale must use their own magical skills to try to stop the demon car’s reign of terror. The artwork in this story is terrific — capturing the physical essences of the “regular” characters from the novels very well, and introducing new, previously unseen characters as well. The story featured some moments of peril that were well-portrayed, and had me thinking of the novel, Christine, by Stephen King, also featuring a car with supernatural abilities.

 

Body Work isn’t necessarily the best “jumping on” spot for readers interested in getting started with the Rivers of London series. But for anyone who already knows these characters, this was a terrific short entry in the series and I do recommended it.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the rest of the Rivers of London series, by Ben Aaronovitch, starting with Rivers of London (UK title, US title was Midnight Riot).)

 

( official Ben Aaronovitch web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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Book Review: One Day in December by Josie Silver

One Day in December
by Josie Silver (Silver)

 

Because romantic fiction isn’t necessarily one of my “go to” genres, every year, I have a tradition of reading one romance novels, usually just before Christmas, and often a holiday-themed romance at that. This year’s choice was One Day in December by Josie Silver, after the cover caught my eye in the bookstore.

 

One Day in December is set (mostly) in London, with a few side jaunts. The plot covers 10 years. At Christmastime 2008, Laurie James, a young woman in her early 20s, is riding the bus on her way home from her hotel clerk job, when the vehicle pulls up to a bus stop and her eyes lock with the eyes of a handsome young man. Electricity sparks, and they both realize it. But Laurie doesn’t get off the bus and the young man doesn’t get on. Trying to track down “bus boy” becomes an obsession for Laurie and her flatmate, the vivacious Sarah, but success never comes.

 

Sarah ultimately falls for the young man of her own dreams, and finally introduces him to Laurie as “the man I’m going to marry!” — it’s Jack, the “bus boy” Laurie’s been looking for. From that point on, the lives of this trio of young Brits become complicated — truths that should have been immediately shared are kept secret, new relationships come and go, but the friendships between Laurie and Sarah and Jack remain at the heart of this story.

 

It’s a romance, so you can probably guess that all ends up well by the end of the story — over 9 years after it begins. The enjoyment in One Day in December is getting to know some superbly-drawn characters and becoming invested in their happiness and heartbreak over that span of time. I’ll admit…I enjoyed this one!

 

[ official One Day in December page on the official Josie Silver web site ]  

 

This is a selection of the Reese’s Book Club — click here to see a list of other books read by this online book club!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library – Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

A Street Cat Named Bob (the film on DVD)

A Street Cat Named Bob
[DVD Street] 

This 2016 movie (released on DVD in 2017), is adapted from the first two autobiographical books by James Bowen, A Street Cat Named Bob and How He Saved My Life (2013) and The World According to Bob: The Further Adventures of One Man and His Streetwise Cat (2014). I loved both of those volumes, especially the first, which was a painfully honest account of Bowen’s struggles to recover from drug addiction and survive on the street of London, first as a street busker (musician) and later as a seller of The Big Issue. Bowen’s life was forever changed when a ginger tomcat adopted him and gave his life focus and a greater purpose.

For this film, the “plot” of the book is streamlined, and a lot of extraneous material, including Bowen’s time in Australia with his mother, cut out, in order to focus primarily on his interactions with Bob the cat, once Bob shows up in his life. Luke Treadaway gives a terrific performance as Bowen, and the actual Street Cat Bob performs as himself (with several other stand-in cats) in this film. There are some other good performances, including Ruda Gedmintas as Betty, the friend who helps James get his life together and develops a romantic attachment, Joanne Froggatt as Val, James’ social worker, and Anthony Stewart Head (Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer!!) as Bowen’s father.
This isn’t a deep film, but it has lots of nice “moments”, and for anyone who, like me, loved the books, this is a charming little nugget. There’s also some very nice original music that Treadaway as Bowen performs during his busking scenes. I definitely recommend this one for anyone looking for a “feel good” film with an engaging cat!

[If you enjoy this, you should absolutely read Bowen’s book. I found the first book to be far more interesting than the subsequent ones, but they’re all good reads: A Street Cat Named Bob and How He Saved My Life, The World According to Bob: The Further Adventures of One Man and His Streetwise Cat or A Gift From Bob.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for A Street Cat Named Bob ] | [ official Street Cat Bob web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

Sherlock Holmes' London by Higashiyama Kobayashi

Sherlock Holmes' London: Following the Footsteps of London's Master Detective
by Higashiyama Kobayashi [914.21 qKob]

First published in 1984 (UK, 1986 US), this large book is jam-packed with photographs, illustrating London from the perspective of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. The first section of the book features reproductions of historical photos from the era in which the Holmes stories are set, showing what the world of London -- and specific sites mentioned in the stories -- looking like when Holmes would have been solving his cases (1877-1903). The remainder of the book is filled with both color and black-and-white photos of sites throughout London and the immediate surrounding countryside, taken in the 1980s, that illustrate the current appearance (in many instances this can be timeless) of scenes described in the Holmes stories and novels. Although a bit dated, since it was published 30 years ago, I still found this to be a fascinating read -- and, because 80% of the content is photos (or reproductions of the illustrations from the original stories), this can be a quick read, depending on how long you want to study the photos. Holmesian fans will definitely appreciate this one, as well Anglophiles in general. Just remember, even the "modern" photos are now historical in nature too! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ see Scott's Reviewer Profile and Other Reviews ]

[ official Sherlock Holmes Literary Tours web site ]

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Corduroy Mansions

Corduroy Mansions
by Alexander McCall-Smith

This novel is centered on the residents of a block of flats in London called Corduroy Mansions. The book does not have a central story line that ties everyone's on-goings together, rather it switches between the characters and their acquaintances in a way where there are multiple stories going on at once. I found myself getting into a few of the stories more than the others and kept skipping over a few sections about the other characters to read about what happened next in my favorites. I did of course go back and read what I had skipped, and I'm looking forward to reading the second and third books in the series. Personally I enjoy this style of writing, but I know that it might irritate other kinds of readers who prefer a continuous plot. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Dog Who Came in From the Cold (Corduroy Mansions 2), A Conspiracy of Friends (Corduroy Mansions 3), or the 44 Scotland Street Series by Alexander McCall Smith.] -- recommended by Kristen A. - Gere Branch Library

[Also available in book-on-cd and downloadable E-book formats.]

[ official Alexander McCall-Smith web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!