EOFY Top 5 books

Most people do these kinds of lists at the end of the calendar year but I have a strange fascination with a new advertising phenomenon called End Of Financial Year (EOFY) marketing. Consumers are being urged to grab bargains before the end of the financial year because...there won't be any good deals available in the new financial year. It used to only apply to vehicles and the businesses who bought them in order to write off the purchase for taxation purposes. Now everyone's getting in on the act. Nevertheless, I digress.

I review most books that I read unless they are "bad". If I like it I review it. I review on Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2380830-d-a-cairns?page=1&shelf=read  and on purchase sites where applicable. Sometimes, I post reviews here on Square Pegs as well. I rarely award five stars and it is equally rare for me to not finish a book or, having managed to finish one I didn't really like, to not review it. Writers have a much different appreciation for books. I'm fussy in the sense that I am hard to impress, but not picky when it comes to what I read. I'll give just about anything a go, and I'll do so with an open mind.

What makes a "good" book for me, and I suspect for most serious readers, is emotional connection to at least one of the characters. If I don't care, the best a writer can hope for from me is three out of five. If it makes me laugh or cry, if it makes me lose track of time, if I re read a line or a paragraph because it was so good, if it teaches or inspires me, if it challenges me, if it speaks to me about myself...now we're talking. All of this is entirely subjective of course, and the interesting thing is that the book does not have to be especially well written, although strangely all of the books I give high ratings to are, in my opinion, very well written.

Without further ado, here are, in no particular order, the top 5 books that I read this financial year.

1. Above his Station by Darren Craske
2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
3. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
4. No Regrets: A Rock and Roll Memoir by Ace Frehley
5. The Gallant (vol. 8 of The Australians) by William Stuart Long

What is the best book you have read this financial year? What makes a book 'good" ?

No Regrets by Ace Frehley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Anomaly was the name of Ace Frehley's most recent studio release. The title of his autobiography, No Regrets, strikes me as very anomalous. It defies belief that someone who has lived the kind of life described in his book, regrets nothing.

This riveting and at times revolting account of the life of Ace Frehley, (and the birth and rise of one of the greatest bands of all time, KISS) is both entertaining and disturbing.This rock and roll memoir is a literary cliche. Sex, drugs and rock and roll are all here within the pages of No Regrets.

The "Spaceman" (Ace Frehley's character in KISS) seems to have spent most of his days on earth lost in space, and it appears to this reader that despite being a recovering alcoholic and sober for many years now, he is still lost.

Highly recommended, and not just for KISS fans.


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