Margaret Atwood, Stone Mattress

As soon as a Margaret Atwood novel comes out it goes straight to the top of my must read list.

The Plot: Collection of short stories including: A retirement home under a siege by pro-youth activists. A murder committed to avenge a crime. A poet ponders his failing charms and talent whist been interviewed by a hopeful phd student.

The Rating:   3.8/5

air through autumn leaves

'Gigglings come from the two of them, or what would formally have been gigglings. Closer to squawking, or clucking or wheezings: sudden gusts of air through autumn  leaves. The vocal cords shorten, Wilma thinks sadly. The lungs shrink. Everything gets drier.' 

- Margaret Atwood, 'Touching the Dusties', Stone Mattress 

She's not extravagant

'She's not extravagant or greedy, she tells herself: all she ever wanted was to be protected by layer upon layer of kind, soft, insulating money, so that nobody and nothing could get close enough to harm her.'

- Margaret Atwood, Stone Mattress    

Pecan Pie recipe (with spelt pasty)

It is National Carrot Cake Day (who knew this was a thing?) but my carrot muffins were sad, flat little things and far too sorry to show on this blog. But, I did have have some success in the kitchen, with a Pecan Pie! 

It's my first attempt at making one,  as it's more of an American tradition and pastry scares me, but I'm chuffed with how it's turned out. 

 

recipe under the cut:-

Warren FitzGerald, The Go-Away Bird

Not going to lie, the reason I picked The Go-Away Bird up was because of its cover.

*Trigger Warning* murder, death, genocide, rape, mutilation, self-harm, violence, child-abuse

The Plot: Clementine's mum is Tutsi, her dad is Hutu, when the genocide begins in Rwanda, Clementine and her family are in perilous danger. Ashley had a troubled childhood, to cope with the memories he self-harms. When these two damaged people meet in a derelict London flat, their growing friendship and shared love of music, gives them both the opportunity to heal.  

Rating: 2.5/5

what I've read this month (January)

First round-up posts of the year - feels like the blog has got off to a slow start. I haven't posted as much as I intended, nor read as much as I expected.

But, here is a list of what I have read:-
1. Madeline Miller, Song of Achilles (re-read, review here)
2. Lee Child, Never Go Back
3. Steven Saylor, Roma 
4. Tom Rob Smith, Child 44
5. J.K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone  (re-read)
6. Warren FitzGerald, The Go Away Bird 

The worst novel of the month was undoubtedly Never Go Back racist, sexist and formulaic. I highly suggest you skip this, and read one of the earlier books in the Jack Reacher series.

Of course, I had to read Harry Potter after visiting the studio tour, I'm going to put up some more pictures from my visit next week. I also started the year by re-reading my another one of my favourite books of all time The Song of Achilles, I feel emotionally moved by this beautiful love story every time I read it.

Out of the new (to me) books I read, Child 44 was the best, but to be honest it was out of a rather weak bunch. I found out recently it's going to be turned into a film, and it is part of a series of books. I doubt I'm going to read any of the others though, because it's strength was that it introduced me to a period of Russian history I'm ignorant about, and it would probably be a better idea just to read some non-fiction about this period.

'comfort women' small webcomic

When I lived in South Korea I had the privilege to go to the House of Sharing and meet the Halmonis (grandmothers) who live there. The Halmonies survived the most horrific abuse during World War II, they were forced into sex slavery during the Japanese occupation of Korea. These remarkably brave women are still campaigning for justice, for the Japanese government to formerly acknowledge, apologise and redress this war crime.

picture source

There is a short webcomic available here, The Story of a Comfort Woman - Tattoo, by Sun-Woong Park I urge you to take a quick look.

I know it's not really something I usually blog about, but its really important to raise awareness.

Please also consider donating to the House of Sharing here

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?

5 top tips for visiting The Making of Harry Potter, Warner Bros. studio tour

For Christmas my sister gave me a brilliant present, a trip to The Making of Harry Potter, Warner Bros studio tour.

It totally lived up to me expectations, and I'll be posting some pictures of my visit in a couple of upcoming posts, but first I wanted to share some tips, so you can plan your own visit.  

if there is a book you want to read

If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.

–Toni Morrison