wish list

I've just come back from a mini-break to Wiltshire- so expect some photos of some historical properties and pretty gardens coming up in the next few days.

Whenever I National Trust property I always make sure to pop into their secondhand bookshops, as they do paperback for 50p and hardbacks for £1.50, which is incredibly good value. There wasn't anything that grabbed my fancy this time though, so I'm currently at a bit of a loss of something to read.

I do have a rather extensive wish list however.....

picture source

My Top Ten Books of the Year 2014

Happy new year everyone! Personally, I'm not fussed about new year, it's nice to have the time off work, but I've got a thing about looking at people while counting - I just find it awkward.

Anyway, as promised in my post yesterday I've put together a countdown of my top 10 books of the year. It was so difficult to come up with this list, firstly to cull the list from 103 to 10, then put them in some kind of order. The closer to number one it got, the harder the decision process was, the final 4 are pretty much all on equal billing.

drum roll please......

A Year in Books

It's new years eve today (obviously) so I'm going to reflect on my year in books.

By my count I've read a grand total of 103 books this year, the reviews for which can be found in either my review tag, my year in books tag or on my alphabetised list page. 

Under the jump is a general sort of breakdown of the books I've read, plus the worst 5 reads of the year. Not sure if this post will be of any interest to anyone, other than me, but I had fun looking back and considering what I've read this year.

If your a bibliophile I highly recommend recording (either on blog form, or just in a notebook) what you've read.  

what I've read this month (December)

Another short list this month, I haven't read as much as I expected over Christmas.

1. Lyndsay Faye, Dust and Shadow
2. Mary Roach, Gulp (non-fiction)
3. Karen Joy Fowler, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves   

I also started a couple of books J by Howard Jacobson and Exodus: Immigration and Multiculturalism in the 21st Century, Paul Collier and another Man Booker - To Rise Again at a Decent Hour. I'm probably going to polish them all off next both.

I found it a real struggle to get into a book this month, I felt quite apathetic about reading, plus I was short on time. The three books I did read however, were all rather good. Glup was my favourite, an unusual choice seeing as it is a non-fiction book about digestion.

Karen Joy Fowler, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

Yay! I've managed to cross another Man Booker off my list, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.

Much has been said about the plot twist, and this review would seem incomplete if I didn't so BIG SPOILER WARNING. If you are planning to read this novel, avoid reading this (and any other) review, as I don't think it'll be half as effective or enjoyable reading it already knowing the twist.

The Plot: Rosemary is unsociable and awkward, a legacy of her unusual upbringing. Rosemary's family life is dysfunctional. Her father, a psychologist, treated her and the rest of her family as a scientific experiment.
 When Rosemary's sister, Fern, vanishes , she is left feeling guilty, although she is unable to remember her role in Fern disappearance, This event also has repercussion on the rest of the family. Her mother becomes unhinged and neglectful, her brother runs away and engages in criminal activity that brings him to the attention of the FBI.  

Rating: 3.5/5
*spoiler warning*

a whole paragraph in one visual gulp

"I could take in a block of text or a whole paragraph in one visual gulp. It was a matter of letting my eyes and thoughts go soft, like wax, to take the impression fresh of the page. To the irritation of those around me, I'd turn a page every few seconds with an impatient snap of the wrists [...] I wanted characters I could believe in, and I wanted to be made curious about what happened to them"

- Ian McEwan, Sweet Tooth 

Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself

quote: "Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms."- Angela Carter 
book: Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis 

Marjane Satrapi- Persepolis

Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel has been on my reading list for a while, ever since I saw the animated film of the same name.

The plot: A coming of age story set in Iran during the Islamic revolution of 1979. Marji is a rebellious child, outspoken and with a strong sense of justice, she resents the restrictions imposed on her life by the new government. Worried, her parents send her to Vienna to be educated. However, this move brings its own trials due to a unfamiliar culture and inhospitable people.

The images of this graphic novel are deceptively simple, but they mange to covey some massive ideas; war, revolution, religion, idealism and politics. Persepolis introduced me to the history of Iran and the 1979 revolution, but more importantly it gave me an insight into how normal people are affected by the regime. Iran is periodically mentioned in the news, so it is important to have some sort of understanding about the country.

Marji as a character is very likeable and it is lovely to see how she progresses through the novel. She made me appreciate how hard it must be to grow up and discover who you are, when so much life and freedom is dictated by the state. Marji's time in Vienna and her return to Iran are very difficult, personal struggles about identity, loneliness and love are honestly and heartrendingly told.  

 

She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain

"She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain"

- Louisa M. Alcott 

Buying Books & Booksellers

After recently visiting The London Book Review I started thinking about how I actually buy books. Ebooks have been a phenomenon, and according to an article I read this week an estimated eight million Brits now own an e-reader (17/04/13 Evening Standard). Although I own a kindle, and appreciate the convenience of  been able to cart around hundreds of books in my handbag without putting my back out, I will never stop buying physical paper books.

 I will also never stop supporting book stores, yes the internet is marvellous, but online shopping is impersonal. I find it easier, and more enjoyable to leisurely browse for books in a shop. You can read the blurb, feel the weight and appreciate the cover design in a way that is not possible when just clicking on links. 

I find it a real pleasure to spend hours in a bookshop, my arms overflowing trying to make a decision. It is one of the simple joys in my life to open a book for the very first time, the pages fresh and the spine crisp and unbent, you cannot experience the same sensory delight reading from a screen. 

garden book nook

Picture taken from here

This would be such an amazing place to sit and read! The only downside is I would probably also have to take an epic amount of antihistamines for the resulting hay-fever.    

Scotney Castle

The residents of Scotney Castle were obviously bibliophiles as there are lots of bookshelves and libraries in this stately home. The 14th Century castle is actually a ruin, but that just adds to the romance. Margaret Thatcher, the recently deceased British Prime Minister, used to have an apartment in the Victorian manor that is also located on the Scotney estate.  

Burj Khalifa Library

The library in the tallest building in the world 

My dad is currently working in Dubai, he sent me this picture of one of the libraries in the Burj Khalifa, it looks pretty swanky and I bet the view is amazing!

Adam J Nicolai- Alex

Firstly, massive respect to Adam J Nicolai for self-publishing and doing so well in the Kindle chart. Though self-publication has become easier because of ebooks, it is still a brave and difficult thing to do. Unfortunately, although I admire Nicolai's proactive approach to getting his work out there, I really didn't like the book. Alex is unimaginative and trite. I wouldn't have bothered to struggle through it if it wasn't for this blog. Perhaps, I am being a little bit harsh, it has some glowing reviews on Amazon and surely they can't all be written by Nicolai's family.

The Plot: Ian's son, Alex, is murdered and although the perpetrator is dead as well, Ian can not find closure. His wife has left him, his job is threatened and now he is being haunted by his son. Are these visions of Alex a manifestation of his grief and a sign of mental ill health or is the ghost of his son trying to communicate with him beyond the grave?
Trigger warning:  rape, child abuse, N-word, murder.

The premise of this book is overdone, a ghost with unfinished business and a father wanting vengeance has been done to death (pun totally intentional) and Nicolai doesn't add anything new. The whole thing was very predictable, and everything was too neatly tied up at the end.

Stephen Chbosky- The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I finished Perks in a two day reading binge over the Easter holidays. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about it, the book does have a couple of good points, but they are outweighed by the negatives.

The Plot: Charlie is an introverted teenager navigating the pitfalls of friendship, first love and growing up in the early 90s. As a shy loner, Charlie's life is changed when he is befriended by flamboyant Patrick and his step-sister, rebellious and beautiful Sam. They introduce him to parties, drugs and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Encouraged by his friends, Charlie stops just observing life, and starts participating.

Trigger warning:- the book contains domestic violence, rape, homophobia and child abuse

My initial reaction to The Perks of Being a Wallflower was irritation. The first sentence set me off, 'I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party'. I'm not necessarily against narrators addressing the reader directly, Mildura Kundera is a good example of a writer who breaks down the fourth wall effectively, but I hate when motivations or actions are attributed to the 'you'. I really dislike when an author projects things onto me as a reader, I like to make up my own mind about a character or a situation and not have assumptions made about how I will read and react.  It's a minor thing really, but as it happened right at the start it influenced how I felt about the rest of the book.

Matt Bondurant- Lawless

If you're a fan of the film, the book won't disappoint.

The Plot: Set in prohibition era America, three brothers defy the law when corrupt officers try to get a cut of their illegal liquor trade. Based on a true story and written by the descendant of one of the Bondurant brothers.

Lawless is violent and brutal. I was expecting it to be as I'd seen the film, but the description of Forrest Bondurant getting his throat slit was graphic and disturbing. The narrative reflects the harshness of the era, poverty was common and men had to be ruthless and show 'true grit' to be able to provide for their families.

"Most Bondurant men, including Jack and his brothers, had that strange obsession of the terminally poor; the dreams of wadded sums of cash, of heavy lumps of change in your pocket, the small stacks that speak of dreams. They banked on the salvation of a few dollars" 

I felt like I got a real insight into the manufacturing of moonshine and bootlegging. Matt Bondurant manages to give an impression of how illegal alcohol would taste and smell. The code of silence and men's presumed right to act independently of the law was an integral part of bootlegging. There is a pervading logic to the book that, although they were breaking the law and were violent, the Bondurant's actions were in some way justified. The brothers did adhere to some kind of moral code, they distilled liquor to feed their families and reacted violently to protect themselves and loved ones. 

I liked the inclusion of Sherwood Anderson, a character who doesn't appear in the film. He is a writer doing research into the Bondurant Boys and other notorious bootleggers in Franklin County. The addition of Anderson helped contextualise the Boudurant's narrative, he witnessed the poverty that motivated the brothers. He also observes the glamour and fame that was, and still is, associated with successful moonshiners.

Myth and reputation are key themes in Lawless. Matt Bondurant developed the narrative from newspaper clippings, trial transcripts and family lore. It was very interesting how, in part, the reputation of the brothers was crafted by hearsay and rumour.

If you enjoyed Lawless I suggest you try Cormac McCarthy an American novelist who also writes about tough and desperate men facing difficult circumstances. 

"a book should be written so that it could be read aloud in a cornfield; only then would it be American and true"

- Matt Bondurant, Lawless  

"Reading, by its very nature, is an admission of defeat, a ritual of self-humiliation: it shows that you believe other lives are more interesting than yours." 

 - Matt Bondurant, Lawless