Best of the Month: March 2012

Fiction

A Feast for Crows by George RR Martin - Many fans of Martin's stunning series do not like this book for a few reasons: Martin took forever to put this book out, it features half of his characters (missing many of the fan faves) and cannot possibly match up to the previous book. In this slower and deeper fourth volume, Martin is spinning plots and building characters he has previously not written from the perspective of (like Cersei Lannister) to staggering depths. However, having had a little bit of distance from the 3rd book (and knowing the 5th is there waiting for me now) allowed me to fully enjoy this book. It is a complex read where tiny grains of detail await. I genuinely enjoyed it though it was nowhere near as action packed as Storm of Swords.

Non-fiction

40 Years of Shite - Trying to gain some perspective on England's national team is never easy as a fan. The team has become increasingly dismal in recent years due to a complete inability to keep up with the football development going on in the rest of the world. The managers, players and everyone else involved have never been the right match for the job and this book expertly explores how it could have done better while skipping none of the agony of defeat. It is also funny and highly entertaining as one attempts to sort through each and every dismal defeat.