Monday 31 August 2015

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger

My favourite bookshop had an amazing special on some YA books. My amazing book seller knows my planned reads as, in perhaps a bout of  poor judgement, I gave her all four pages of my want-to-read list (typed in size 9 Calibri font). (She has been amazing and has not bankrupted me as yet, so perhaps the judgement was not so poor.) Anyway, I am digressing.

The Finishing School series by Gail Carriger was one I wanted to look at for a possible instalment in the school library. As it was on special (3 books for R99) I decided to pick it up (along with five others - my TBR pile will drown me yet!)

This is no ordinary finishing school. While learning the complete art of being a lady, one learns to spy and assassinate threats. Interested?

The premise did have me interested. I love spy stories. In fact, I have perhaps a greater love of the Alex Rider series than anyone nearing 40 should! But I found this so disappointing.

(Drumming fingers on the desk, staring at the rain falling. Trying to figure out what to say.)

OK, I am going to be blunt. While it could be read as humorous that a girls priority is to look pretty at all times, the level to which this was taken was ridiculous - and I mean more ridiculous that James Bond getting out of his wet suit only to have a perfect penguin suit on underneath. At least there was purpose for Bond to be dressed as such. But at school, when there is an explosion, priority number friggin one is not to dust off soot, but to make sure no one is dead. Or perhaps I am considered too unladylike. Yes, perhaps I am being harsh, but, that just annoyed me. Throughout the entire book, everything was set on appearance. While looks are the best form of deception, that is just not the sole focus I want to have in any of my reading. I prefer brains over beauty.

Having said that, at least the main character fit into the brains category. I would have stopped reading midway if she had turned out to be a complete ditz. I would have liked to see how her brains could have helped her in class though. Oh wait. Sorry, my bad. Homework was to practise eyelid fluttering. So much for all the Hermiones of the world.

I also found the plot incredibly predictable. No really. Was anyone surprised at where the story went? The storyline wasn't bad though, and I was entertained. But I did feel that the story was more worthy of a middle grade rating than YA.

I know that I am no where near the right demographic for this book. I know I am probably reading far too much into it (Am I? What messages are girls being told through these lines?). But this is just not for me.  So what would I have preferred? I would have preferred actual valuable lessons on spy training. I would have liked to see the girl learn and show improvement in areas such as self-defence and physical prowess. Then I would not have minded lessons on etiquette as they would have been a part of 'disguises' and not the main focus.

I had been wanting to read Soulless by Carriger, after all the great reviews it has received on Book Tube, but now I am doubting it. If Soulless is better, please let me know.

I gave this 3 stars on Goodreads, allowing for the fact that I am far too old to read this. I can think of some kids that I teach who might find this a fun series.

This is the 57th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

Sunday 30 August 2015

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

If being a high school teacher is not enough to put one off ever wanting to join the multitudes of folks in the parenthood club, then this book is the thing to finally push one over the edge.

The dreaded question to all parents out there: what would you do if your child was involved in a school shooting? Would you blame yourself? Would your life be able to continue? In this book, Eva writes letters to her husband after their son, Kevin, commits mass murder.

“I thought at the time that I couldn't be horrified anymore, or wounded. I suppose that's a common conceit, that you've already been so damaged that damage itself, in its totality, makes you safe.”
― Lionel Shriver, We Need to Talk About Kevin

There is no nice way to say this. This book is devastating. If happy reads are your thing, don't go near this one. But if you want to see a perfect example of a tortured character, then look no further. While I am not a mother (thank Merlin, because this book would have given me a whole new set of things to worry about if I were), I could feel Eva's pain throughout this book. I could feel her frustration and her sense of hopelessness. While I could not condone her actions in some cases, I could understand them. Maybe it was the first person narrative (it is told in letters) that made her character so relatable, or maybe it is just that, at some point in time, everyone has been in a hopeless situation, because she really felt like a real person. Her side of the story was also fascinating as she is an unreliable narrator. Just how unreliable is up to the reader to determine.

“...trying to be a good mother may be as distant from being a good mother as trying to have a good time is from truly having one.”
― Lionel Shriver, We Need to Talk About Kevin

And Kevin... What all I could say about Kevin! But I won't. If you are interested in this one, I will leave it to you decide about him.

This book raises interesting themes: the well tested discussion between nature and nurture, parenthood, and what causes evil. I liked how there were no conclusive answers (it would have been very presumptuous for there to have been), but I loved how I got to see these questions from 'the other side'. I also had to agree that society does tend to blame the parents, particularly the mothers, when things go wrong with the child.

I spent quite a while in front of my computer, thinking about how I would rate this book (because we all know how important Goodreads ratings are! - that is sarcasm, in case it doesn't translate well in print). It was not enjoyable in the traditional sense. It is very hard to return from a nightmarish journey and say it was fun. But this was truly a brilliantly constructed book. I loved it for the language, and I loved it for taking me to a kind of hell I hope to never experience in real life. I decided to ate this 5 stars.

This is the 56th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

Friday 28 August 2015

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

This was brilliant! Crazy, insane, absurd, but completely brilliant!

A plane full of teen beauty queens crash lands on a deserted tropical island in the middle of nowhere. Sound familiar? If you have read Lord of the Flies by William Golding, it should. Just as Golding created a social experiment on paper, so did Libba Bray. So. Here is the question.  If a group of boys would turn into savages, what would happen to a bunch of beauty queens? Yeah, I went into this convinced that I knew the outcome...


“Maybe girls need an island to find themselves. Maybe they need a place where no one’s watching them so they can be who they really are.”
― Libba Bray, Beauty Queens

Libba Bray has put together the most absurd scenario to create some of the best (non-political) satire I have read.   If you do not like an absurd and crazy plot, then perhaps this one is not for you. If you have a feminist bone in your body, you might be really interested in this. It really raises some interesting questions. I am still puzzling over many statements and occurrences here, and trying to formulate an opinion.

Initially, being a shameful traitor to my own gender, I thought this was going to be a complete spoof on beauty queens, because I wouldn't even qualify as a beauty queen in an alternative universe and have never put any value in females who would qualify (yes, pathetic, I know. I am working on this.). In the beginning I got what I expected - and then, without me even realising it had happened, everything changed. I discovered their individual characters, realised that they weren't morons, and watched them, well, to say would be spoiling, now wouldn't it?

"There was something about the island that made the girls forget who they had been. All those rules and shalt nots. They were no longer waiting for some arbitrary grade. They were no longer performing. Waiting. Hoping.

They were becoming.

They were.”
― Libba Bray, Beauty Queens

While the plot is humorous, the awesome part of this books is everything that it is saying. From the one and only black contestant saying that she is an individual and not a race, to the girls realising their own power. There are some fantastic themes in here.

Contrary to what I expected, this book made me proud to be a female.

I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads. While I absolutely enjoyed this, the rather absurd plot did detract a little, although I believe the plot was the method to transport some really interesting ideas.

This is the 55th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

Tuesday 25 August 2015

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

I bought this one from a second hand bookshop because it was a Persephone book. I don't know what the chances of my getting my hands on another one are, but hey, I have one!

This is one of those weird books where an opinion is not so easy to voice. In other words, I am not sure what I thought of it.

Miss Pettigrew is a middle-aged spinster (don't you just hate the sound of that word) who is desperately needing a job. She arrives at the home of Miss Delysia LaFosse, and from there, many unexpected things happen.

I thought this was a completely fun read. There were definite themes of feminism which I completely enjoyed and found a total surprise, especially for a book published in 1938. But, there were things that I found myself questioning or noting with disapproval. The anti-Semitic statement definitely alerted bells in my head. A part of me wants to write something scathing in response of it, the other part of me wants to find out if that was the way society though in that time - after all, although a reader should make such judgements, I think one also needs to see whether those judgements are founded on the author, or society as a whole at the time. I think that books reflect the thoughts and feelings of the time (if they are realistic representations of the time), and that there is a lot to be learnt from it. For example, Mark Twain's characters or Bryce Courtenay's characters in The Power of One, use degrading words to refer to people of colour. If they didn't, would the message have carried? Anyway, that is a whole other conversation that is not really meant for this post.

Going back to the notes on feminism, I did appreciate how the approved behaviours of women were questioned and shown to be lacking. I liked how intelligence in women was shown to be a valuable thing. There were some parts that I questioned, but as a whole, I think this story was very progressive in its tale. Put it this way, my grandmother, who is 93, would not approve of it. Perhaps I should add another star just for that reason.

I would really love to hear what someone else had to say about this one. My opinion is still being formed.

This is the 54th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads.


Monday 24 August 2015

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

This was a fun, action-packed, light read. It was just what I was after, after the collection of heavier books I have been reading recently on top of a heavy work schedule.

The Bone Season is set in the future of an alternate London. Psychic powers are illegal, and just being able to connect to the aether is enough of a crime for one to be sentenced to death! Of course, the protagonist, Paige, is extremely gifted, and when she saves herself from an arrest on the subway, things go incredibly wrong.

Although it was everything I was after, I must confess that although, story-wise, it was interesting, there were parts that I had to question. I won't go into details for the sake of spoilers, but I will just say that there were some feminist questions I felt I needed to raise, and some rather clichéd scenes should be challenged.

I have mixed feelings over glossaries at the back of books. When it comes to foreign languages, I appreciate them as it is adding to my general knowledge. But when a writer creates new words, I would much prefer to have these words explained in the text. Having to swing between the glossary at the back and the story in the front, takes from the reading experience in my opinion, as it haul one out the story. My alternative, which is to try and work out the meaning of these words from the text, while sufficient in understanding the plot, is not great.

I was very tempted to shelf this with YA because it had the YA pace and a typical YA plot. There are some maturer scenes than one would normally find in YA, but then, most YAs aren't innocent.

I didn't hate it, I didn't love it. I might pick up the sequel if it falls under my nose, but I won't be going out of my way to find it.

This is the 53rd book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

I gave this 3 stars on Goodreads.


Sunday 23 August 2015

Book Haul 001

I don't usually post about book hauls, because they would make me feel a bit guilty (I like buying books). But as I finally got off my backside and delivered my HUGE pile of unwanted books (if you are curious, you can see the post that I made about those books that were going here) to the second hand bookshop, I feel less guilty. Added to that is the wonderful fact that the owner and I did a swap. I didn't pay a cent, he didn't pay a cent. It was pretty awesome.

On top is The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. While this book wasn't on my want to read list (which has now grown to 4 pages, types in size 9 Calibri) I had heard about this book and seen the movie. In other words, I was curious. Therefore I bought it. If I don't enjoy it, I can always return it.

Next up is Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. At 'varsity I only studied To the Lighthouse by Woolf and I am curious to read some more of her works. Plus, there have been some interesting discussions about her on Booktube. I was a bit disappointed that someone had taken yellow highlighter to this book, but as I technically didn't pay for it, I suppose it is the best deal I will ever get.

Then it is Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. Always been curious about this one, plus, whoever had this book either reads like I do (doesn't damage it) or never opened it. The only Tolstoy I have read was The Death of Ivan Ilych and I really enjoyed that. I figured I would try one of his most popular works.

Fourth in the pile is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. To be honest, the book I really want to read from this author is Everything Is Illuminated but it wasn't there, so I settled for this one. It is also in good condition, so no worries there.

Jen Campbell has spoken extremely highly of Michel Faber's works. The other books don't really interest me as there is a strong Christian theme in them (although Jen says they are not preachy books), but I thought I would give this one, The Crimson Petal and the White, a try first. If I love his writing style, I can always get more.

I then got No and Me by Delphine de Vigan. This book was originally written in French. I have heard many mixed reviews about this one, but I am curious to make up my own mind. It is an award winning book, so there should be something, somewhere, that I can enjoy.

The final book I got was I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I have taught Angelou's poetry for years, and I would like to learn more about her.



Tuesday 18 August 2015

Bout of Books 14 Updates

Bout of BooksHere are my updates for The Bout of Books 14 readathon! I have decided to put it all in one post to keep everything looking a little bit more organised. (And so that I do not feel the urge to write an essay a day.)

Goals

  1. Read a LOT of female authors. 
  2. Put a dent in my TBR pile to promote guilt-free book shopping.
  3. Don't get fired while doing goal 1 and 2 - as it will put an end to book shopping as a whole!

Day One

Books completed: The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
Books started: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Pages read: 219
Challenges: Confession time here. I started doing it. And then it grew to be a massive project. Two hours later, I was no where near done and it had morphed into something extraordinary. I gave up and went back to reading. Maybe one day I will finish it and give it its own blog post.

A great beginning, especially considering that my Grade 12s start writing their trial exams next week, and work is crazy! As the majority of my reading this month has been a bit heavy in nature, I decided to pick up The Bone Season, hoping for a lighter, faster read. It is definitely fulfilling that so far.


Day Two

Books completed: 0
Currently reading: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Pages read: 111

A not-so-stellar second day. It was a little more focused around the third goal, in other words, I had to get a lot of work done. My reading time was also interrupted as my cat decided to go and walk in paint (where? why? how? wtf?) at around 11pm at night, so he and I had a bit of a struggle as I tried to clean him up. You would be amazed as to how long that took. Here is to hoping day 3 is going to be much more productive. With only 4 hours left and zero pages covered, I am not getting my hopes up. But at least I have almost cleared my 'to do' list at work.

Day Three

Books completed: 0
Currently reading: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Pages read: 77

Reading is proving to be a bit draining this week. Actually, perhaps it is pretty much everything else that is proving to be draining - like the riots going on, which make getting to work a nightmare, as there is a huge safety concern, and the attempt to miss trouble by being on the road before 6:30am. No one should be on the road for work at 6:30 am when work only starts at 7;30 am (and the trip takes 10 minutes). although, the other day, it took 45 minutes... Yay for riots - not.

I am hoping to finish The Bone Season tonight though. So, no challenges for me. I am going to read.

Day Four

Books completed: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Currently reading: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
Pages read: 171

My second best day of the readathon so far. The Bone Season was a pretty good choice for BoB as it really read quickly, even though it was a bit of a chunky book. Miss Pettigrew, which I picked up around 9:30pm, is also proving to be a pretty quick read. While I can't say that I am completely invested in the story yet, the 50 pages I cleared went by in what felt like a few seconds.


Day Five

Books completed: None
Currently reading: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
Pages read: 34

Oh deary me. What an appalling total. I got into bed early, with every intention to finish Miss Pettigrew. But then my eyes got heavy and I was cosy and warm, and I couldn't keep my eyes open, not even by hoisting my eyebrows into my hairline. I gave up and went to sleep.

Day Six

Books completed: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
Currently reading: We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Pages read: 207

A much more productive day on the reading front. I managed to spend about 2 hours or so reading outside (the weather was unusually perfect for it). We Need to Talk about Kevin is perhaps not the best book for a readathon. While it is beautifully written, I am finding the topic draining. Maybe I will try and finish it on day 7, or maybe I will pick up something lighter and faster.


Day 7

Books completed: None, but it was close
Currently reading: We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
Pages read: 378

I missioned through more than 50 pages of We need to Talk about Kevin before I decided I needed to give myself a break. Because I had heard that Beauty Queens was satirical, I decided it might lift my crushed spirits. I was right. Had I been 10 years younger, I would have completely ignored the fact that I had to be at work in the morning, and have just finished the last 90 pages. (Yes, I got that close to the end.) Oh well, I will finish it up tonight, after my obligatory 2 chapters of Kevin. Beautifully written, one seriously dense and draining topic.

TOTAL

Books completed: 3 and two halves!
Pages read: 1197

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

This is my second Amy Tan novel, and I have to admit to loving the way she writes.

This is a mother and daughter tale that is concerned about bridging not only a generation gap, but a cultural and 'truth' gap. There are three parts to this story: Ruth, the American daughter, worrying about her ailing mother and remembering her childhood; LuLing, the Chinese mother's story set in a difficult pre-war China; and then a return to the present time, after Ruth has read the story.

While this isn't a gripping story, it is definitely interesting. I particularly enjoyed the story of the mother in China. The culture, traditions and actions of the characters were fascinating. There were moments where I was shocked and horrified, and then there were others where I giggled a bit stupidly. I also have to commend Tan for how she captured the mother's voice. Through her story, we could understand why she appeared to be a harsh mother to Ruth when she was a child. Although I cannot find the quote, to paraphrase the one part I appreciated, Precious Aunty explained that LuLing's mother criticised her because it showed she cared, and then she proceeded to criticise LuLing more, to prove that she cared more.

While the daughter's story was easier to relate to, it was a lot less interesting. Her problems, although definitely something many women could relate to, were no where near as interesting as her mother's. I also was completely undecided as to whether the end actions were the correct actions or not - which was probably a bit of the point.

I can't say that this book is for everyone. Folks who prefer a pacey plot will be bored stiff within a few pages. Those who have an interest in China and its culture and history might find this more entertaining.

Overall I rated this 3 stars on Goodreads, because, although I appreciated the read, I did struggle to pick the book up each day, particularly Ruth's parts.

This is the 52nd book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

Monday 17 August 2015

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

This is a tricky book to review, because the reading experience will far outweigh anything I could possibly say about it.


Richard leaves home to go to a New England college where he joins up with a small class of extremely pretentious students studying Greek. On the first page you learn that they kill one of the students. So much for spoiler alerts!

In retrospect, not much happens in the plot that you do not read about in that first page. But, although that would suggest a very boring read, it was anything but. I was glued to the pages and constantly had to see what was going to happen,  how it was going to happen, why it was going to happen and then what was going to happen next.

The characters in The Secret History are really well fleshed out. In a way, I consider this book to be more of a character study of the students than a plot driven novel. I enjoyed every interaction with them, witnessing their reactions and actions. Although I did find Richard (the narrator) to be rather whiny, I could understand his motivations, although I tend to prefer a more direct, proactive solution. What I did enjoy seeing was how each of them handled the events that occurred in the book. I even found the professor interesting. He was a character that had a lot of influence on the students, even though he did not have a ton of page time.

One thing that I did find interesting is how my feelings towards the characters fluctuated throughout the reading. There were some I admire and ended up fearing, there were those I thought were annoying and ended up liking. Yes, there were some very interesting people in this book. (They felt like people, not characters in a story.)

While I don't think this one might be for everyone, I enjoyed it. I think that folks who have experienced university, especially studying literature or classics, would probably enjoy it more. I also think the expectations one has going into this is important. From the reviews I looked at, many people rated this poorly because they were expecting a typical crime thriller. This is not a crime thriller. It is pretty much anything except a crime thriller.

Overall I rated this 4 stars on Goodreads, although I cannot put into words why I did not give it 5.

This is the 51st book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

Tuesday 11 August 2015

The Book Title Tag

Sarah at Bookish Sarah did this tag, and I was inspired by her answers to give it a go. You can find the original video by the creators of the tag here.

1. Title that's the story of your life

I was so tempted to claim The Secret History by Donna Tartt, and go for the mysterious feel, but it would only be partially accurate. (Still going for the partially mysterious.) Perhaps Thud! by Terry Pratchet would be better as it represents the sound of reality striking and my realising that to actually achieve my dreams (published writer, blah blah) that I would need a time turner and an almost fatal supply of energy drinks. But as I am a teacher, I am going to go for Patrick Ness's The Ask and the Answer, because that is my life. I ask, they answer (and boy, can they come up with things that have no relation to the text) or they ask and I answer. It is my life. Reality sucks.

2. Title that describes your perfect weekend

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. (Just a note here, I really did not enjoy this book at university. Maybe 17 was too young to read it, but then, I have no plans to reread it as yet, so I can't even speculate on that.) I am not a fan of crowds. The perfect weekend would be somewhere nice and quiet, alone, probably with a good book or ten. (We did say perfect weekend. So why settle for a realistic 2 books?) Should I not be in the mood for being a hermit, perhaps In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith.

3. Title of an adventure you'd like to go on

A Dance with Dragons! Maybe. I can't say I like dancing though, but it does sound like fun. (Yet again, another book I was not a fan of. I wrote a really long comment about this ages ago. This one is the 5th instalment in The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin.)

4. Title you want to name your child

Let's go with Madd Addam (by Margaret Atwood) because a bit of eccentricity cannot be a bad thing, surely? My cats (who are my current children) are named Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson) and Tiger Thomas Huckleberry (from he most popular works by Mark Twain - if you met my cat you would realise that the name fits him perfectly.)

5. Title of your ideal job

Is there a book called 'funemployed and not destitute'? No? Bugger. The Black Arrow, side kick to the Green Arrow. (OK, just kidding.) Ooo! I know! The Book Thief. I would need to get over certain moral issues, and perhaps acquire a backbone to be brave enough to break the law, but, I could enjoy that! If not, perhaps I should just settle for Mr Penumbra's 24 hour Bookstore. I would ask for the night shift and be surrounded by books. No exam papers or marking in sight!

6. Title of a place you'd like to visit

Bugger, now I have used the bookstore one. Umm, The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancy? No, it sounds cold and wet, which matches the weather outside. OK, let's go for Norwegian Wood by Murakami because it sounds peaceful (and far away). I have not read this one yet, but I am really curious to read some Murakami. I have heard great things about his works.

7. Title of your love life

I don't like using the titles of books I have not read and have no intention of reading. However, there is only one answer to this one: The Boy Next Door (by ... hang on, gotta Google it ... Ooo, there are many. Let's go with Meg Cabot.)

8. Questions you ask yourself

How to be Both (by Ali Smith) How to be a good teacher and have the energy and time to be a writer; is there a way to paint AND read at the same time (Yes! audio books!); how can I finish this book tonight and be awake for work tomorrow... You get the picture. I love doing so many things and inevitably I end up having to choose between what I want to do and what I need to do. (That dang thing called reality again!)

9. Title of a kingdom you want to rule OR name

The Final Empire (by Brandon Sanderson - loved this one) because it will stand the test of time, being final and all that. I think I could make a pretty good job of ruling this one. (It isn't as though there is likely to be much I could do worse...)

10. Title you'd name your band.

The Rosie Project (by Graeme Simsion). Insider information here, but my first name is Rosalind. Yeah. See the connection? Good! Could I ask you to be kind enough to forget the first name thing now? Please!

Oh well, that is my RnR break for the day over. Off to set tests! (This might account for the slight negative undertones of this tag. With every test I set these days, my desire to work in a bookshop grows. Not only do I feel that it kills so much of the literature we cover, but I just get disheartened with the results I get.

Monday 10 August 2015

A Pair of Silk Stockings by Kate Chopin

This is the 66th book in the Little Black Classics series by Penguin. An ingenious idea, by the way, as it is rather pleasant to either read short works by loved authors, or to see whether one would be interested in reading other works by popular authors before committing to say, Crime and Punishment.

Although titled 'A Pair of Silk Stockings', that is only one of the short stories in this collection. There are five stories and they are all great. Hmm. That is rather vague. Let me go into a bit more detail.

Chopin is an author I was required to read at university all those decades ago. I read The Awakening, and although I am completely fuzzy on what it was about, the theme of feminism does seem to venture under all those foggy mossy memories. (In other words, I could be mistaken.)

Kate Chopin was extremely progressive and modern in her thinking. When I think of the things that my grandmother (at 93) believes, such as it is almost a mortal sin that I am single, and that, as a student, when I worked in a pub, I was a prostitute (I sold beer, for heavens sake, not my body!!) I can even appreciate Chopin even more. Her collection of short stories deal with feminism and racism and were initially published at the end of the 1800s.

I particularly enjoyed the first short story, which was a critical view on racism but yet also had massive feminist undertones. The end of that one was disturbing with the injustice. Knowing what one does about what women were legally able to do, it leaves one under no illusions as to what .... Ahhh, once again, to write another word is to spoil something.

The other story that I appreciated was the final one, A Pair of Silk Stockings. A woman is in possession of a large amount of money, and chooses to spend it. I will leave you to read what she spends it on. I can guarantee that most mothers out there would feel a deep connection with the story.

Overall I rated this 4 stars on Goodreads, although most of the stories were worthy of 5 stars.

This is the 50th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

If you happen to be in the mood for a beautifully written, magical story with well-developed characters, then look no further.

This was another book I have picked up as a result of booktube. There are so many people out there who have rated it highly, I was curious to see what it was about.

The story stars with a competition being laid down between two 'magicians' (Yes, I am wanting another word, but there is no other word.). They will pit their apprentices against each other in a tournament. The grounds: The Night Circus. Of course that is an almost criminally inadequate synopsis, as it does not capture the magical experience that is the Night Circus, nor does it mention anything about the the competitors, nor the lives of the other people in the circus.

The writing in this book is absolutely beautiful. I did feel that some parts could have moved a little faster (I was interested in the circus, not so much the people who had initiated it, and their lives), but even their presence added a certain sense of the danger around. Morgenstern brings the magical atmosphere of the circus to life, as we see it from multiple narrators.

This book, as with many I have read recently, does not follow a chronological plot. I think the story is all the stronger for it, as the reader learns what has happened and what will happen and what is currently happening all at the same time. As the book progresses, so the strings of all the timelines start converging until everything is perfectly clear and the plot as a whole makes perfect sense. (It is actually the reason the synopsis took me a while to write, because the novel actually starts with a 2nd person narration. Another aspect that helps draw the reader into the web of the tale.) A side note; take note of the dates at the top of the chapters. It will help with the read.

The characters in this were three-dimensional. Although some aspects were left for the readers to really piece together (the romance for one was understated, but could be read into with the form and content of the 'love letters' they sent each other). I preferred this, as I generally find when an author feels the need to overstate that a romance is amazing, it generally feels anything but. Also, I should state that although the romance is important to the plot, it is not the sole focus of the story. It is the only way that I enjoy romance in books, actually.

I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads. It left me wishing that there was a Night Circus for real that I could go and visit.

This is the 49th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.


Sunday 9 August 2015

Bout of Books 14

Bout of BooksIt is Bout of Books time again. Again the timing is not quite ideal although it is way better than it was last time!

So what are my plans?
I am not sure. My goal for the month is to read only female authors. The only ever so slight problem is that the books I have planned for the month (they are the books in my TBR) are rather big and heavy. Not quite the perfect reads for a readathon. But then, I don't think I am quite aiming to read a gazillion books in seven days (although that would be nice... Ahhh, guilt-free book shopping!)

I think my goal is to be to just take advantage of free time and read like crazy (the basic readathon goal) and maybe it will help get me through the list of female writers that I have been dying to read a little faster than if I were left to my own devices (my own devices is procrastination with loads of booktube videos and paging through Goodreads).

Without wanting to repeat my August TBR, here are the books I would like to get through. I am putting a load of them up here, as I don't how far I would have progressed by the time Bout of Books begins, nor what I will be in the mood for when it does start.


 

 This is highly ambitious, even for a month. But right now, I have no idea what mood I will be in.
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
Good luck to all other participants! I wish you a productive and enjoyable week of magic, mayhem and happy endings (if that is your thing. You are more than welcome to cry over the ending if you prefer!).

Friday 7 August 2015

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Hold the presses! I adored this!

A.J. Fikry acts like an old man. (He is really 39.) He is grumpy, miserable and opinionated and has no objection acting like a dick. Until... Are you interested yet? Come on! It is set in a bookshop! And I don't mean like Mr Penumbra's where it starts in a bookshop. This story is in a bookshop.

“No Man Is An Island; Every Book Is A World.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

What a delightful cast of characters. By the end (actually, it was by page 60) I loved Fikry. I loved how the supporting characters grew and changed and how this mostly happened because of the bookshop. (Of course, that wasn't the case for Fikry. Something bigger happens to him.) As a reader, I loved that idea! What a logical place for people to grow and become more! Even the characters that were less than liked had a role to play and were not merely a plot device.

I really enjoyed how the book was set out. Each chapter was titled after a short story. Before the chapter, there is a note by Fikry to someone (not spoiling you here) commenting a bit on the short story and also a bit on his life and the events that occur in the chapter to come. What isn't there to love with that idea?

I really seem to be gushing about this one. I did absolutely enjoy it though. It was everything that I was in the mood for, without even knowing I was in the mood for it. I read this, grinning like a fool. Even the sappy, mushy parts were adorable, and I don't usually go in for that at all. I devoured this book in about 2 to 3 hours. Nice people, loads of literature, reading, writing and a bookshop. It was my version of heaven. Another awesome quality to this book is that it introduces readers to a load of short stories and some other books. It was almost the same as watching a booktube channel while reading at the same time. Talk about enjoyable multi-tasking.

“You know everything you need to know about a person from the answer to the question, What is your favorite book?”
― Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

I wonder what my answers would say about me. For starters, I would probably respond with, "Are you serious? You want me to pick one?!" That would probably be followed by a string of books, with explanations (and recommendations).

This is the 48th book I have read for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.

I gave this one, very predictably, 5 stars on Goodreads, because to hell with whether it had any great literary value, I just really enjoyed it.

I would recommend this one to readers.

Thursday 6 August 2015

An August TBR?

I never have a planned TBR for a month - or even a week. I read by mood. But this month, I have decided to make a slight variation to that.

This year I have been extremely good at keeping a record of what I have read. I have all sorts of things marked down in order to keep track of important things (how many books I have read - 67, what genres I am reading - pretty much everything) to random things (how many 1000+ paged books I have read this year - the answer is none). This has, however, made me aware that 59% of the books I have read are by male authors. Now, I don't have any objections to the male gender, nor do I feel the need to boycott them as authors. I am not that kind of feminist (and I have a particular fondness for many male authors' works, such as Neil Gaiman). But it has made me aware that the discrepancy is so close.

So I have decided that I am going to read only female authors in August. There. I have said it. Now I have to do it! With luck, by the end of the month, the difference between the two will be minimal!

Here are some of the books I am thinking about reading. (These are all from my TBR pile.):




It isn't the most vibrant set of covers I have put together...
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell would also fix the answer to the 1000+ paged books for the year. Shew! That is a big, intimidating book - not for my brain, but for my wrists!!! How on earth to get through that without cracking the spine?!. I was quite surprised to learn that Lionel Shriver was in fact a woman (thanks booktube!).
There are others I could read, for example, the remainder of the Madd Addam trilogy, or other books by Amy Tan or Isabel Allende. I think I still have a book by Leigh Bardugo, but I am putting that off because I didn't enjoy the first one, and I don't like getting rid of books I haven't read yet. It is an option for this month though, although more a last option.

I am currently reading:

I left The Night Circus at work on Tuesday, so I had to pick up something else! I did not plan to read these two at the same time. Both of these books are giving me the 'I am going to love this' vibe so far. I think I am feeling it a little more for The Secret History, but that could have a lot to do with picking up The Night Circus directly after The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry - which I loved, adored and wanted to climb into. (In other words, it gave me a book hangover of note.)

There are also the books that I have finished reading already this month, two of which I am yet to review here:


Wish me luck!