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.....

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Penguin, Little Black Classics

I'm at little bit late to the party on this one - as they were published back in March, but thought I'd still do a quick post to bring these marvellous little books to other people's attention:-

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Penguin Little Black Classics are  80 slim snippets of novels, collections of short stories, essays or poems all newly packaged and on sale for a mere 80p each. They have been released to celebrate the imprints 80th Birthday.  Authors include Karl Marx (who is currently selling the best), Jane Austin, Edgar Allen Poe and Samuel Pepys. As they are 64 pages long,  authors that some people might find intimating are made manageable.

As they're from Penguin they are beautifully, and simply designed. I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on them.

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My top choices would be:

1. A Pair of Silk Stockings, Kate Chopin
2. Circles of Hell, Dante
3. The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman
4. Woman Much Missed, Thomas Hardy
5. The Fall of Icarus, Ovid 
6. Anthem for Doomed Youth, Wilfred Owen
7. Gobin Market, Christina Rossetti
8. Come Close, Sappho
9. The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent Tongue
10. Wailing Ghosts, Pu Songling   

*hint hint* it's my birthday next month

wishlist

Though I far far too many unread books on my shelves at the moment, I'm always browsing books shops and the internet for my next purchase. Here's what on my current wishlist:

1. Maggot Moon, Sally Gardner 

This one sounds really unusual, it's about a totalitarian state, determined to beat it's enemies in the race to the moon. They thing that really grabbed me, is that it is narrated by a young dyslexic boy, this could either work really well- or be a complete disaster.

2. The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr I. Solzenitsyn 

After reading Child 44 I've come to the conclusion that I'm ignorant about the Soviet Union. This is a memoir of the authors experience in a gulag (prison labour camp) for criticising Stalin on a postcard. For reviews, it sound like a pretty harrowing read, but I think its important that these historic events are recorded and widely read.

3. Nervous System: The Story of a Novelist Who Lost His Mind, Jan Lars Jensen 

Another memoir, this time about mental illness. I noticed a trend recently for more fiction and biographies discussing mental health (for example  The Shock of the Fall) which I think is a really positive thing, as it's still such a taboo.


4. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins 

There's so much buzz about this one, it's going to be the next literary phenomenon and is being touted as the next Gone Girl, so I need to read it before I'm left out.

What do you think of my choices? Have you read any of them?

wishlist

All though I've only recently gone a book buying splurge (and have yet to read them all) I've already got my eye on some more:-

(picture source: Amazon)

1. The British Witch: A Biography, Peter Maxwell-Stuart 

Using a variety of sources, Maxwell-Stuart looks at the persecution of men and women throughout 500 years of history.
I've had a life-long interest in witches, I have an affinity with outcasts, so this really fascinates me. Published a couple of months ago, there aren't currently many reviews, before spending £17.99 I want to know how accessible the book is.

(picture source: Amazon)

2. The Penguin Book of Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt, Joyce Tyldesley
Another period of history I've always loved is Ancient Egypt, I went to the British Museum recently and spent hours looking at the artefacts. A lot of my knowledge about the gods, rites and history of  ancient  Egypt comes from a Horrible History book I read aeons ago, so it's about time a read something more in depth.
Penguin really excels at this sort of thing, and the reviews are complementary.

3. Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings, Lyndsay Faye
I've not read any Sherlock Homes, but this novel pits the most famous Victorian detective against the eras most infamous serial killer.
I have huge respect for Lyndsay Faye as an author, she is brilliant at creating atmosphere and making history come alive. See my review of Seven for a Secret here  

(picture source: Amazon)

4. The Virgin of Flames, Chris Abani 
I listened to TED talk that Abani gave online and he really impressed me. The Virgin of the Flames is a novel about misfits, a graffiti artist, a stripper, a tattoo artist and a Rwandan butcher living in L.A. The blurb makes it sound cool and contemporary.

5. The Undertaking, Audrey Magee
This year is the centenary of the First World War, to commemorate I'd like to read some war related books. (see here for my list of 10 must read war novels)
The Undertaking is a novel about ordinary Germans trying to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of World War II

What do you think of my wishlist? Is there anything you'd recommend?

5 graphic novels I'd like to read

Graphic novels are not a genre I've ever really explored, I've only read one, Persepolis but after reading various reviews on Amazon and Good Reads, I think I might be missing out.

Here's a list of 5 graphic novels I have my eye on:

1. The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1, Robert Kirkman 

I'm a huge fan of the tv show, so would love to see how the original story deviates. If you're not familiar, basically The Walking Dead is about a zombie apocalypse and the destruction of society. Originally released as comics, this compendium includes numbers 1-48 and is a whopping 1088 pages! It is pricey though at over £30, and there is another compendium after this one. I can see how an interest in comic/graphic novels will be expensive.

2. The Nao of Brown, Glyn Dillon       

This novel is about OCD, and as I have an interest in mental illness I'd like to give it a try.

3. Black Hole, Charles Burns 

This sounds right up my street, a story about a plague effecting teenagers in the suburbs of Seattle.

4. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel 

I first heard of  Alison Bechdel test through watching a youtube vid by Anita Sarkeesian (link), basically the Bechdel analysis the gender equality in a film, to pass the film must have have at least two named women who talk to each other about something other than a man. Most films can't even reach this small requirement, and the figures are even lower when the test is applied to POC. 

Anyway, so my point is Alison Bechdel seems like an awesome woman fighting the patriarchy so I'm really interested in reading Fun Home, her memoir about growing up in her dysfunctional family.   

5. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle 

I used to live in South Korea, and have peered into the North when I visited the DMZ, so this graphic novel travelogue is very appealing.  Guy Delisle has also written other graphic novels about Jerusalem and Shenzen, both of which I've been fortunate enough to travel to, and quite fancy reading as well, though Pyongyang is first on my list 

Books I've got my beady eye on

I had to put myself under a self imposed book buying ban until I'd finished We, the Drowned, but since I've finished it, I'm now looking for something else to read. Here's a list of books I've got my eye on:-

1. Zadie Smith, NW: I'm a big fan of Zadie and have read most of her other books. I'm hoping this is going to be a better version of  John Lanchester's Capital (reviewed here) as both use the city of London itself as a main focus. NW has released in paperback, so I might have to pick it up. 
2.  Khalid Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed: I found A Thousand Splendid Suns  and The Kite Runner, incredibly moving. Hossenini has recently been criticised for portraying Afghanistan only negatively, but I am interested to see his latest offering.
3. AM Homes, May We be Forgiven: Homes recently won the 2013 prize for Women's Fiction. If she can beat the mighty Hilary Mantel, I'm curious to find out why.  

Has anyone read any of them? What did you think? What would you recommend?  

Presents for readers

Today is my birthday (yay!), and as I will be jollying around Lisbon this is a scheduled post of suggestions for presents for bibliophiles:-

One. 

How about a good book? hahaha pretty obvious, but why not? If you're stuck for ideas, have a look at my recent reviews and see what I did/didn't enjoy. Another useful place to look is goodreads which has a massive archive of reviews. Alternatively go out there and get some human contact, your local bookseller will have loads of recommendations. 

Currently on my wishlist are:-

image from Amazon.co.uk

1. The People of Forever are not Afraid- Shani Boianjiu. A coming of age novel about young women doing their national service in Israel 
2.  We, The Drowned- Carsten Jensen. A literary voyage about a crew of Danish sailors in 1848 
3. The Lost Books of the Odyssey-Zachary Mason. Continuing my current hobby for Greek epics. 
4. Far From the Tree- Andrew Solomon. Non-fiction, examining genetics and parenting     

Ok if a book is too obvious or you're not sure what the person you're buying for has read, I have plenty of other suggestions after the cut....