March: What I Read

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (4*) - FINALLY, I HAVE CONQUERED THE BEAST.  Yes, fifteen years after my teenage self combed through this book for 'good bits' and nearly lost her lunch, my adult self read it in its entirety and to her surprise, rather enjoyed herself!  This book is not going to be for everyone, or even for most people.  The eponymous Patrick Bateman's relentlessly monotonous cycle of brand names, outfit descriptions, expensive restaurants, pill-popping and bed-hopping will put many off before they even GET to the torture, murder, sadism and frenzied cannibalism - but actually, I ended up finding the repetitive detail quite soothing, and found that not only did this shallow everyday rhythm counter the (incredibly) graphic scenes beautifully, but it also allowed Bateman's black humour and moments of sudden wisdom and humanity to shine through with unexpected brightness.  I got quite fond of him by the end - like somehow as reader and character we had been through the wringer together, each inside the other's psyche - and I still can't quite work out how much of his narrative was 'real' or whether some interactions and moments were purely the product of his increasingly desperate mind.  Now I'm going to allow myself to revisit the (much tamer and more obviously funny) movie, and my mastery of this novel will finally be complete!

Little House in the Big Woods (Little House 1) by Laura Ingalls Wilder (4.5*) - I'm waaaay behind on Bex's 2016 Little House readalong, so this month I finally picked up the first book to get started - and it was wonderful.  Set in the early 1870s in Wisconsin, it's an autobiographical year in the life of four year-old Laura's pioneer family - Ma, Pa, Mary, Laura and baby Carrie - and their log cabin in the woods.  What really struck me was how connected the family is to its surroundings: how the shifting seasons are enjoyed; how the natural world is respected and seen as something to coexist with, not conquer; and how each meal, each foodstuff, each item for the house is carefully planned and created from scratch, often with help from Laura's wider family.  It's a wonderful antidote to modern living, with charming illustrations to add to the reading experience, and I loved every minute.  It's a rose-tinted tale to be sure, and it lost half a star for a couple of slightly muddled descriptions of the objects and processes Laura observed - but they were minor gripes.  Roll on book 2!

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín (4*) - I'm not a massive reader of historical fiction, but when the film buzz first arose (with a bunch of my favourite actors attached to the project) it really whet my appetite for this one.  It's the story of a young Irish girl, Eilis, who travels from Enniscorthy to Brooklyn in the 1950s to start a new life full of expanded opportunities and interesting people.  The novel explores her growth from a timid girl to a poised young woman, and the way she is torn between her Irish roots and American lifestyle.  It's written in a slightly detached tone, and the ending was a bit too abrupt for me (albeit realistic), but I loved Eilis's journey and the many little details that brought her experiences to life, whether it was the rough crossing to New York, working in a department store, Christmas at the local parish hall, or spending the day at the beach with friends.  A compelling, subtle little novel that didn't rock my world, but made me very glad I picked it up and gave it a chance.  Just one word of warning - don't (re)watch the movie trailer if you plan to read it; it spoils (and therefore ruins) one of the most important plot points of the whole novel!

P.S. I watched the movie last night and it was BEAUTIFUL.  The music is to die for, it streamlines some of the fussier strands of the original, and the slight air of detachment in the novel gives way to a deeply emotional screen adaptation that ends on a perfect note.  My only issues with it were that some of the key characters lacked the depth and spark they had on the page, and it skipped over most of the novel's romantic scenes that served to heighten the stakes in Eilis's dual lives and make the necessity to choose between them all the more poignant.


Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (4*) - Yup, I finally read it - which is good, because I was starting to feel like the last person in the universe to pick it up, and it's been on my shelves for TWO AND A HALF YEARS already.  I didn't like it as much as Attachments, but I appreciated the slow-building and refreshingly joyful nature of the relationship between Cath and Levi, and I loved Reagan's sass and Mr Avery's dry wit (I was imagining him as Stanley Tucci all the way through!).  The focus on the Simon Snow fandom brought back some great Potter memories, and given my Carry On purchase last week it's probably a good thing that I preferred Cath's fanfiction to the 'real' Simon book excerpts peppered through the novel.  Overall I think it was maybe a little longer than it needed to be, but it finally succeeded where Anna and the French Kiss (and others) failed for me - it's a fun, bookish college novel full of interesting and multifaceted characters and different types of relationships and issues, and has a self-awareness and charm that help to excuse its more clichéd moments.  Bring on the next Rainbow! 


It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (5*) - This book's been on my radar for the longest time (you know how much I love a good mental health novel) and HOORAY, it was so worth the wait!  First of all, let me say that it's quite refreshing to read one of these stories from the perspective of an average guy; not a painfully innocent or shy boy, or a kooky girl, but a regular, testosterone-driven, vaguely worldly fifteen year-old who likes video games, pot and jerking off.  Craig's description of his five days in a mental hospital, which he checks himself into after a long battle with depression and a night of suicidal crisis - is not only pithy, warm and very realistic (it is drawn from Vizzini's own experiences), it is also, as the title suggest, really kind of funny.  It's filled with wonderful characters and it's possibly the most relatable mental health novel I've read yet; I've scrawled so many notes and hearts and stars in the margin to mark passages to go back to next time I need to feel that I'm not alone and that other people have had the same weird thoughts as I'm having.  I also watched the movie adaptation, which is quite faithful to the book and put a big smile on my face by the time the credits rolled.  Highly recommended!

Gold by Dan Rhodes (4*) - This is an odd little book.  Nothing much happens, and yet it completely won my heart back in 2009 with its mixture of small-town characters, gentle charm and earthy British flavour.  It opens with three friends - short Mr Hughes, tall Mr Hughes and Mr Puw - chatting idly in their local pub.  Septic Barry is sitting across the room with his band, and Mr Edwards is pulling pints behind the bar.  All is as it should be.  And then a Japanese-looking girl walks in, orders a pint and sits down in the corner.  "Welcome back," everyone says.  But who is she?  Every year she arrives in this little Welsh coastal town and stays for a fortnight, alone, walking and drinking and reading.  Why is she here?  The book meanders through each day of her stay, adding little by little to the quirky tapestry of the town and the people in it as their stories unfold, and reaching deeper into Miyuki's life back home.  It's funny and delightful and strangely beautiful, and I loved reconnecting with it - and its sweetheart of a protagonist - all over again!

Biblioholism: The Literary Addiction by Tom Raabe (4.5*) - Another reread for me - and one I would wholeheartedly recommend to a large swathe of my fellow book lovers, be they LibraryThingers, GoodReaders, bloggers, BookTubers or just die-hard lifelong readers.  It could have been written for us - or by us, for that matter!  In short, this is a comprehensive guide to biblioholism and all the various quirky traits and habits that go along with it.  It is evident that Raabe is 'one of us' and he drives right to the heart of our affliction with humour and insight.  Alongside chapters on book buying, reading, collecting and storage, he also includes a hilarious alternative history of the book and a section on the extremes of bookish behaviour - eating books, stealing them, burying them and even destroying them.  With a wealth of interesting and amusing examples of biblioholic behaviour drawn from literature and history, this is a definite keeper for me - and I was delighted to find that when it came to the self-help-esque quiz (just how bad DO you have it?) I had actually increased my score a few points since my last reading; I can now rest assured that I'm still on my chosen path to eventually dying happily under a collapsed bookcase.  Good to know.  :)

 

 

Aaaaand that was my March...  Hope you all enjoyed your reading this month too!

November: What I Read, What I'm Reading

How the hell is it December already?  Not that it feels like it, because despite the Channel 5 movie marathons and Christmas readalongs and Instagrammed decorations, there's still a whole lot of real life left between now and the 25th.  Give it another week, and POSSIBLY I'll be ready to watch or read something borderline seasonal, we'll see.

So, last month's reading.  Despite taking part in two separate readathons (the 24 in 48 readathon and Tika's minithon), I actually didn't read very much at all, especially over the last week or two.  Not that it was a bad thing, I've just been doing other things - like exploring going back into higher education, completing a couple of fairly heavy-duty job applications, helping my mum with a Forth Bridge-esque 5-coat paint job on our panelled hallway, blitzing my overloaded laptop, watching Criminal Minds (my new favourite thing) and stalking Amazon for Black Friday Week Christmas present deals.  Here's what I DID finish:
 

 

~ What I Read ~

 

Beloved

by Toni Morrison
This was my first Toni Morrison, and it managed to be both everything I expected and nothing like I expected...  It's the story of Sethe, a runaway slave living in Ohio, who many years ago killed her small daughter to prevent her being taken away by a posse of men from her former plantation.  It's about how her actions have reverberated down the years, and about how slavery penetrated every part of society.  There is a pervasive feeling of fear and oppression that seeps under the skin of the reader and refuses to leave.  This is also, however, a ghost story, a feat of magical realism slightly akin to Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child - and that I WASN'T expecting.  I'm still not entirely sure what was going on with Beloved and Sethe, and I'm not entirely sure I liked it as a plot device (especially the stream-of-consciousness weirdness near the end)...  but there we go.  As a whole the book was beautifully written, brutal and evocative, and I think that even when the content, the storyline itself, has left my memory, the FEELING of reading it will linger.  An interesting reading experience - 3.5 stars.


The Dead-Tossed Waves (TFoHaT 2)
by Carrie Ryan
Another novel that wasn't quite what I expected!  (That seems to be becoming a running theme of late...)  I really didn't like the first book (The Forest of Hands and Teeth) when I read it back in August, but I took a gamble on this one because my main problem was with the unbearably selfish protagonist and I knew the viewpoint for this novel shifted to a new character.  From her name - Gabry - I thought it would be a kind of prequel from the perspective of the girl-turned-Breaker in the first book, but it's actually not.  Instead we've jumped forward a generation - and Gabry's story is SO MUCH more enjoyable to read than Mary's.  There's another love triangle (bleurgh), and the pervading bleakness remains, but the overall plot is more interesting and I actually found I preferred the way Ryan concentrates on looking forward instead of returning to answer questions from the first book.  After all, the characters can't get answers from the past because the past is literally dead - so why should we dwell on it too much as readers?  I think I'll see this series through now, find out what happens to these characters and their battle against the Mudo in the end!  3 stars.


Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
by Lucy Knisley
A super-fun graphic memoir that seems to be doing the rounds at the moment.  I'd heard of Lucy Knisley, but had never visited her website or anything like that.  I will probably drop by more often now, because this book was so cute.  It's pretty much a series of comics about different elements of growing up as a food-loving individual in a household devoted to it (her mother is/was a caterer and her father a keen appreciator of good cuisine).  There are vignettes on craving garlic mushrooms and discovering the world' most amazing croissants in Venice.  She talks about following in her mother's footsteps as a student, and about the comforting power of cookies.  It's all done in a simple, charming and amusing style, interspersed with recipes that sound amazing.  Loved it - I'll definitely be reading more of her books!  4 stars.


The Unknown Unknown
by Mark Forsyth
This tiny pamphlet is this year's Independent Booksellers Week essay.  I missed last year's by Ann Patchett, and had to go looking for this one on AbeBooks because there was nowhere else for me to get it locally, but it's so good!  It's all about the idea that bookshops can lead you to books you never even knew you wanted to read, and that such serendipitous discoveries are actually quite important - not to mention FUN.  I've never read Mark Forsyth before, but his style is clever and amusing, with plenty of pop culture references and some interesting thoughts on book buying culture.  It's under 25 pages, £1.99 in-store and only takes a few minutes to read - so if you see one still sitting around on a bookshop counter, do pick it up!  4.5 stars, it's such a lovely little thing for a reader to be able to return to every so often.


~ What I'm Reading ~

  

At this moment I'm ACTIVELY reading three different books: The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli (a history of the Harry Potter fandom) and Project X by Jim Shepard (a novella about a pair of would-be school shooters).  I've also got two collections that I'm still dipping in and out of: poetry in the form of Charles Bukowski's The Pleasures of Damned, and columns in the form of Charlie Brooker's Dawn of the Dumb.

 

Aaaaand that was my November!

 

October: What I Read, What I Watched, What I'm Reading

Another month comes to an end, ALREADY.  I mean, Jesus, where the hell is 2014 going?  Summer's dead (R.I.P. Summer), the clocks have gone back, my winter coat has been brought out of retirement for another cold season, and wintery drinks like chai tea and hot chocolate have suddenly started to feel very appealing.  Even more scarily, the first 2015 reading challenges have appeared on A Novel Challenge.  IT HAS BEGUN.

So, let's get to the books and movies I consumed in October, shall we?  It's actually been a fairly slow reading month (it hasn't felt like it), but I DID watch quite a few movies, which is something I love but tend to let slide when I'm in a reading fever.  I think it balanced out okay in the end!
 

 

~ What I Read ~

 

Lord of the Flies

by William Golding
This was the second of the two books (the other being To Kill a Mockingbird) that I was determined I would definitely read this year - so hooray!  I've had it on my bookshelves since I was a young teen, so it was about time really.  Unfortunately for such a highly anticipated read, I wasn't as blown away by it as I'd hoped.  I wanted a kind of Coral Island-esque adventure that gradually descended into savagery and violence; what I GOT was a disappointingly jerky, uneven allegory that glossed over the survival element almost entirely, skipped forward in time in unspecified bounds, and grew quite repetitive at times.  As a result, some of the most important and moving scenes didn't have that much impact at all, and the hunters' savagery was less "diminishing sense of civilisation" and more "well, that escalated quickly".  It took me a surprisingly long time to read such a short novel - well over two weeks - and sadly the cover remains my favourite thing about it!  2 stars.


Austenland (Austenland 1)
by Shannon Hale
This book's been drifting on and off my reading radar for a while, when it first hit bookshop shelves and then again when the movie came out, but I finally picked up a copy from The Works this month and devoured it pretty much whole.  It was a nice break from the relentless misery of LotF, and FAR better than I expected.  It's about a Darcy-obsessed woman who travels to England to visit a holiday estate which promises a complete Austen experience - manners, men, a grand ball, and a happily ever after.  Jane hopes to use it to purge herself of her life-squashing romantic fantasies - only to find that maybe she's not quite done with love and the Austen magic after all.  I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the sequel - same premise, new character - which I bought at the same time.  A cheery 4 stars.


Our Zoo: The Real Story of My Life at Chester Zoo
by June Mottershead
I was midway through the TV series when I found out this existed, and I bought it on the spot.  I actually read JUST this for the whole of the most recent Dewey's readathon (not something I normally do during a 24-hourer) because it was such an easy read, so charming and interesting and generally lovely to immerse myself in.  It's different to the BBC drama - that portion of the story is done within a couple of chapters, and the book moves on to the development of Chester Zoo from a tiny idyll to the world-famous force it is today - but the tone is just right, enthusiastic and entertaining, sharing stories from a magical childhood yet not shying away from the inevitable sadness that comes with working with animals, wild or otherwise.  June's voice is so warm and it's rather nice that now, in her eighties, her family's dream and decades of hard work are finally being recognised by a wider audience.  3.5 stars.


The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This was a buddy read with Bex from An Armchair By The Sea (who is also hosting a readalong of The Pickwick Papers before Christmas, if anyone's interested), and it provided an excellent excuse to FINALLY read it!  It's so many people's favourite book, it's a classic I missed out on at school... it just had to happen, sooner or later.  Most people probably know the basics - the yearning love of the enigmatic Jay Gatsby for his old flame Daisy, set against a backdrop of moneyed twenties life in all its bittersweet glory.  It didn't have as high an impact as I'd hoped, admittedly - the end was spoilered for me, for a start - but it had all the alcohol, parties, wit and style I could possibly have wanted from my first Fitzgerald.  3.5 stars, and you can read my full review here.


I Remember Nothing, and other reflections
by Nora Ephron
Just sneaked this one in under the wire before midnight on Hallowe'en, whew.  And oh Nora.  How I love you.  In much the same vein as I Feel Bad About My Neck, which I read last year, this is a loosely-linked collection of wryly humorous sketches and vignettes, of various lengths, about family and getting older and life in New York.  It's not hysterically funny, it's not deeply profound, it's not life-changingly memorable - but it is warm and real and lovely to read.  Considering that I read a large portion of it alongside the decidedly less-than-lovely Beloved, that was exactly what the doctor ordered.  3 stars.

~ What I Watched ~

 

Seann to be Wild (2012)
 Stand-up comedy, by Seann Walsh
Not much to be said about this one really.  Seann Walsh is a young comedian who appeared on things like Stand Up for the Week and Live at the Apollo for a while, made me laugh hysterically every time, and that was that.  He sort-of reminds me of a bewildered lion, like he should be in Oz when he's not on stage.  His stand-up is of the 'everyman' observational comedy type, particularly aimed at 20-somethings and students I'd say, and I love him.  Yaaaay! (watch a clip)


Harold and Maude (1971)

Starring Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon, directed by Hal Ashby
Guys.  GUYS.  This movie is amazing.  Barry recommended it in a film video aaaages ago (possibly even before I started watching him - I binge watch BookTubers when I first find them to see if I like their stuff) and I spotted that it was on Netflix, so I gave it a go and IT WAS SO GOOD.  It's about a boy obsessed with death (mostly to try to get his ridiculous mother's attention) and an almost-eighty year-old woman overflowing with life, and their unlikely friendship-turned-romance.  It sounds so icky, but it's not, it's bittersweet and hilarious and I laughed and cried and the characters are wonderful and the soundtrack is by Cat Stevens and YES.  I want my own copy now, I adored it.  (watch the trailer)


Lost in Austen (2008)
Starring Jemima Rooper and Elliot Cowan, written by Guy Andrews
I was really fancying a little Jane Austen time in the middle of the month, but was already reading other things - so I went on a mini Austen TV and movie binge instead.  Rather than watching straight-up adaptations I first went back to this TV series, in which feisty Londoner (and die-hard Pride and Prejudice fan) Amanda Price finds a magical door into Longbourn in her bathroom and switches places with Elizabeth.  It's actually better (and funnier) than I remembered, watching Amanda completely screwing over the original plot and desperately trying to get everybody's storylines back on track - and Elliot Cowan's Darcy is seriously fine, WET SHIRT OR OTHERWISE.  So much fun!  (watch the trailer)


Austenland (2013)
Starring Keri Russell and JJ Feild, directed by Jerusha Hess
Hanna mentioned really liking this when I met up with her in September, hence buying the books and the DVD soon afterwards.  I watched it as soon as I was done with the novel, and I LOVED IT.  It's smart and cheesy and ridiculous and romantic, and JJ Feild is basically what would arrive on Earth if Tom Hiddleston and Alan Cumming had a love child, so...  Yes.  GREAT fun for Austen fans who aren't too precious about modern twists on the original stories, which I'm not.  Interesting fact: Jennifer Coolidge was actually on Shannon Hale's fantasy cast list before the movie was made, so it's nice that what's on screen at least partially matches up to what the author had in mind on the page! (watch the trailer)


Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
Starring Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton, directed by Jim Jarmusch
FINALLY!  It feels like I've been waiting for this movie forever - buzz started early, festival fever fanned the flames (ALLITERATION), the rest of the world saw it, we finally got a limited release (which meant nowhere round here bothered), and then forever and a day later the DVD arrived...  It was worth the wait.  I think.  The immortal and slightly weary characters are beautifully portrayed (Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska, Tilda Swinton and John Hurt, come on), the cinematography is dark and interesting, and the soundtrack is one of my favourites of recent movies.  It's definitely a slow-burner - not much really happens - but it's gorgeous and intimate and I had a deep feeling of satisfaction when the end credits rolled, which is always a good sign for me.  Definitely one for a rewatch sometime soon. (watch the trailer)


Our Zoo (2014)
Starring Lee Ingleby and Liz White, written by Matt Charman
This is actually a TV series rather than a movie, but since I'm planning on acquiring the box set at some point I thought I'd include it here like I would any other series I own on DVD.  It's basically the story of the creation of Chester Zoo - a dramatized and enhanced version of the earliest part of June Mottershead's story (see above).  George Mottershead, a shell-shocked WWI veteran, and his young family move to a large house in Upton with the intention of opening a zoological gardens, a 'zoo without bars', where animals can live comfortably and safely while also providing an educational opportunity for visitors.  Unfortunately, the conservative residents of Upton have other ideas...  It's a beautiful BBC period piece, with superb acting across the board, a great cast, adorable moments and some really nail-biting ones, even though obviously you know it all came good in the end!  Lovely cosy cold-weather viewing.  (watch the trailer)


Catching Fire (2013)
Starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, directed by Francis Lawrence
Do I really have to explain this one?  No, probably not, but here we go.  I rewatched the movie at the end of the month, because I want to finally read Mockingjay in November before the first instalment hits the big screen.  Unlike last year, I don't want to reread the first two books - not yet - so I watched the film instead.  It was as brilliant as I remember, from the thrilling moments of rebellion to the ingenious arena to that incredible Mockingjay dress.  I've heard bad things about the last book, but my love for the first two and their corresponding films goes undiminished! (watch the trailer)


World War Z (2013)
Starring Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos, directed by Marc Forster
First up, can I just say that this movie was NOWHERE NEAR as awful as I expected it to be from the dreadful reviews and tirades of abuse I've seen around the internet.  It was never going to be a straight-up adaptation of the book (which I read in September), because an oral history-style novel by its definition has no cohesive narrative or prominent character to root for - but I thought the compromises made to bring the overall story to the screen were excellent.  The tone remained quite faithful: the emphasis was on military intervention, and the zombie apocalypse as a contagion, rather than on gore and cheap thrills.  It did manage to cram in plenty of horror-movie staples - terror on a plane, terror in a military facility, terror in an apartment building - but although they were noticeable, I didn't mind.  It just added to the feeling of zombie saturation and the fact that literally nowhere was safe.  It's not going to be my favourite movie of the year, but I'm really glad I gave it a try and formed my OWN opinion.  Definitely one I'll be returning to next time I fancy an easy-to-watch sci-fi action movie of an evening.  (watch the trailer)

~ What I'm Reading ~

  

This has actually changed a tiny bit since I started writing this post (and took the photo for it), but let's go with it...  I've finally remembered that I'm working way my way through The Pleasures of the Damned, the collection of Bukowski's poems, so I've read a few more of those recently.  I picked up Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley, a cute graphic memoir that I'd originally planned to read during the Dewey Readathon but set aside in favour of Our Zoo, so I'm a couple of 'chapters' into that as well.  It's very cheerful and chirpy, providing the perfect happy-break from my final current read, Beloved by Toni Morrison.  I've actually finished it this evening and Jesus, it's brutal.  Beautiful, but brutal.  More on that in next month's wrap-up...  I haven't picked my next novel yet, but it'll probably be something from that groaning library pile that never seems to go down, haha.  Or Mockingjay!  Must read Mockingjay... *wanders off to have a look*

 

Aaaaand that was my October!

 

September: What I Read, What I Watched

Du du DUH DUH DUH... another month bites the dust...  sing it with me!  Yes, you will have that song stuck in your head for the rest of the day.  YOU'RE WELCOME.  :)
 

 

~ What I Read ~

 

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
I've wanted to read this for a while, because I wanted to watch the movie and you know I always prefer to read FIRST - but sadly I didn't like it any more than Dash and Lily's Book of Dares.  It was a quick read, quite fun, quite amusing - but also 100% forgettable.  Like Dash and Lily, there were some brilliant little moments and some profound lines in there, but it wasn't enough to redeem the book as a whole and I've already forgotten all but the bare basics.  I'm glad I borrowed it from the library instead of shelling out for a copy of my own!  3 stars.


Red Dragon (Hannibal Lecter 1)
by Thomas Harris
My first book of the Halloween season - and what a pleasant surprise it was!  Hannibal himself is only in it for about 3 seconds, so what you're really left with is a well-written crime novel that focuses almost entirely on two characters: the murderer, Francis Dollarhyde, and the fascinating Will Graham, brought in by the FBI to use his empathic and imaginative talents to get inside the mind of the 'Red Dragon', who has already slaughtered two completely unlinked families in their homes.  I found the psychology of both these individuals to be the book's strongest element, with Dollarhyde's terrifying delusions and Graham's intuitive understanding dancing around each other as the FBI gets closer and closer to the truth.  I can't wait to read more from this series - an unexpected 4.5 stars!


And the Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks
by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs
Finally, my first Beat novel!  It's been a long time coming, though I'd always assumed On the Road would be my first... but whatever.  I got this one from the library right after I bought Kill Your Darlings on DVD and realised that the book was essentially a thinly-veiled novelisation of the real events depicted in the film.  Labelled a 'crime noir', I actually didn't think it felt that way at all; the murder is a fleeting thing right near the end of the book.  It's incredibly easy to read, filled with tiny mundane details that build up a picture of a bohemian alcohol-fuelled lifestyle largely consisting of bar hopping and drifting in and out of each other's homes to eat, sleep, love, talk and dream.  I also liked the insight into how boys would 'ship out' to work at sea, and how that process worked.  An odd one, this, in that I didn't rank it THAT highly, yet I'd really like to reread it and have my own copy at some point in the near future.  3.5 stars.


Ketchup Clouds
by Annabel Pitcher
This was another book that ended up being a little different from what I expected.  From the 'teenage girl writing to a serial killer' premise, I'd expected a thriller more akin to Belinda Bauer's Blacklands.  What I GOT was something that was more like a fusion of Laurie Halse Anderson and Malorie Blackman: a pitch-perfect, wry and beautifully told story of a young woman spilling her darkest secrets to someone she hopes might understand.  It's gripping, yes, and provocative, but in a heartstring-tugging and realistic way rather than a chilling one.  4 stars - I might read her other novel at some point too.  Has anyone read it already?  Do you recommend it?


Woolgathering
by Patti Smith
This is an odd one.  In well under 100 pages, Smith manages to cram in photographs, vignettes from her life and a dose of poetry.  I picked it up at the library after I saw it reviewed on BookTube, and I'm glad I did, even though I've forgotten most of it already.  It's undeniably well written and has its profoundly beautiful moments - I particularly liked the vignette entitled 'Nineteen Fifty-Seven', which manages to combine fire, grief, family and a dog into a heartbreaking few pages - but the poetry and more random 'artistic' moments didn't do much for me, I'm afraid.  It came across as a bit pretentious where I think it was just meant to be honest.  If Just Kids sticks with Smith's talent for writing and nixes the odd tangents, I think we'll get on just fine.  A tentative 3 stars, maybe?


World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
by Max Brooks
My last complete read for the month!  Despite having owned it for years, pretty much all I knew about this one was that everyone seems to love it, and it does what it says on the cover - it's an oral history-style zombie novel.  I thought it was fantastic!  It's so convincing that occasionally, when I was reading a segment more focussed on something not directly zombie contact-related (military tactics, say), I forgot I was reading fiction.  In these more technical areas I genuinely have no idea how much detail is real, and how much was entirely fabricated by Brooks.  The oral history format also made it extremely addictive, because each person's perspective only lasts a few pages at most, so it's too easy to read 'just one more'.  This isn't light reading, exactly, but if I've managed to make it sound even remotely intriguing then I highly recommend giving it a try!  4.5 stars.

~ What I Watched ~

 

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)

Starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, directed by Peter Sollett
Meeeeeeeh.  So, I read the book because I wanted to watch the film, yes?  And the trailer looked quite amusing, and MOST of all I wanted to watch it because I have a tremendous crush on Kat Dennings.  I have to say, she made a great Norah, and her and her perpetually-intoxicated friend pretty much made the movie for me.  Whoever cast Michael Cera as Nick should be shot, but that's another matter entirely.  Once again, the ingredients for a good romcom were there - funny bits, kooky characters, great one-liners - but somehow it just didn't come together for me.  I watched it on Netflix, and it's definitely not one I'll be buying to rewatch or anything.  Oh well.  (watch the trailer)


Manhunter (1986)
Starring William Petersen and Tom Noonan, directed by Michael Mann
This one, on the other hand, completely outshone its trailer, and even managed to make the awful synth soundtrack feel faintly ironic instead of just cheesy.  I was urged to watch this adaptation of Red Dragon instead of the remake with Anthony Hopkins - and I have to say, it was a good call.  Will Graham is portrayed really well (not Hugh Dancy-well, but SSSSH) and Brian Cox's miniscule role as Dr Lecter is the perfect mix of charm and cunning.  It also alters the odd double ending of the book, which was possibly an improvement.  I'd definitely recommend reading it first - there were so many character details that made more sense that way - but if you're going to watch an adaptation this is WAY better than I expected!  (watch the trailer)


Kill Your Darlings (2013)
Starring Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan, directed by John Krokidas
This was another one that surpassed my expectations - though I had pretty high ones anyway, so it's aaaaaaall good.  I absolutely loved it.  I'd never even heard of it until I saw it in Tesco, but I bought it on the spot because it's baaaasically another version of the true story behind And The Hippos Were Boiled in their Tanks.  It's from the perspective of Allen Ginsberg, and is about him meeting Lucien Carr, being introduced to William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, and ultimately witnessing the fallout from the murder of David Kammerer, who had been obsessed with Carr for years.  As with the novel, however, the film is more about the build-up - the music, the alcohol, the poetry and flirtation and shabby decadence and the development of ideas that would shape the Beats for years to come.  It's funny and intoxicating but has its sudden dark, heartbreaking moments, the soundtrack is wonderful, and both Daniel Radcliffe (Ginsberg) and Dane DeHaan (Carr) are amazing.  Ben Foster is particularly impressive as Burroughs too.  I'm sure Beat experts can find plenty wrong with it - as always happens when real events are translated onto the screen - but it's one of my favourite movies of the year so far.   (watch the trailer)

~ What I'm Reading ~

  

Aside from a brief return to Charles Bukowski's The Pleasures of the Damned, which I dip in and out of whenever I remember I'm reading it, I've been concentrating on Lord of the Flies.  I'm not gonna lie, it's taking me a while - though I'm not sure why.  It's easy enough to read, and the dark undertones are building nicely - it's maybe just getting a bit... repetitive?  I'm not getting enough of life on the island and how the mindsets of the boys are shifting - it's all a bit "and then we traipsed around the beach a bit again and OH BY THE WAY SOME OF US MAY BE GOING MAD".  No real insight into why, or how - it just is.  I mean, I understand, I just think it would have been more effective to have explored that descent a little more deeply instead of just having another scene of small children eating fruit or playing in the water. 

Yeah, give it about fifty pages love.

Hopefully I'll finish it early this week, I've got so many I want to read this month!  Upcoming books may or may not include Pride and Prejudice, Austenland, The Great Gatsby and hopefully some of the non-fiction I've got checked out of the library at the moment.  Stay tuned!

 

Aaaand that was my September!

 

August: What I Read, What I Watched, What I'm Reading

Flying in late YET again with my August reviews and wrap-up, oooops.  Hello!  How was your late-summer reading?  I feel like mine finally picked up a bit last month; I finished Lamb at last and leapt head-first into some long-awaited novellas from the library.  The impending 'final deadline' really boosted me to drive hard at my reading towards the end of August, because I desperately wanted to read these books and I'd had them for so long I couldn't renew them any more!  It's amazing how much time you find to read when you have the threat of library fines at your back.  :)
 

 

~ What I Read ~

 

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

by Christopher Moore
My first priority in August was to FINALLY finish Lamb, which I'd been reading since I went on holiday at the end of June.  I'd put it aside for some frothy summer reading and to finish a non-fiction book I'd been struggling to get through, so it was about time!  Happily, it lived up to all the rave reviews and Moore-hype I've seen everywhere over the past few years.  The basic premise is that Christ's oldest friend Biff has been resurrected by an angel and locked in a hotel room to write his own gospel - the real story of Joshua's life, filling in the massive gap between 'born in stable' and 'thirty and preaching the Word'.  Christopher Moore being a clever and hilarious dude, this manages to incorporate everything from Buddhist philosophy and the wisdom of the Kings of Orient to kung-fu and a Yeti, as Joshua sets about learning how to be the Messiah.  It's such an absorbing read, very intelligent, very funny, yet surprisingly wise and poignant sometimes too.  Definitely a keeper - I gave it 4.5 stars - and I see many more Christopher Moore novels in my future!


The Forest of Hands and Teeth (TFoHaT 1)
by Carrie Ryan
I'd heard a lot of good things about this book, and had been looking for it at the library for AGES, so when I finally spotted it on the reshelving trolley I grabbed it!  A zombie novel whose synopsis reminded me a bit of The Village - human enclave, very insular and ordered, evil things trying to breach the fences - this sadly turned out to be a tad disappointing.  The actual zombie mythology of Ryan's world is interesting, and the book definitely kept me hooked, but I had some problems with it too.  I felt like it set up more questions than it answered, paving the way for future books in the series in a way that was more frustrating than enticing, and I really wasn't keen on the main character, Mary.  She is extremely self-absorbed and self-obsessed, playing with people's hearts and constantly putting herself and others in danger through her reckless need to follow her whims instantly instead of thinking them through.  Of course everyone around her pays the price, and yet she never seems to learn!  I've picked up the next book, The Dead-Tossed Waves, mostly because it has a complete character shift so... no more Mary and her stupidity!  Hopefully I'll like this one better, and it'll fill in some of those unanswered questions that bugged me in the first book...  3 stars.


Ghost World
by Daniel Clowes
I loved the movie version of Ghost World as a teenager, so when Ellie (the Curiosity Killed the Bookworm branch of the Ellie Army) offered to send on her copy of the graphic novel, I eagerly accepted.  And I'm so glad I did!  To start with I wasn't sure I was going to like the style, either in terms of the art work OR the dialogue, but the further I delved, the more I appreciated it.  It's actually made up of several short and largely self-contained vignettes that fall along a linear timeline, rather than following one big story arc, which probably helped, because I could dip into it for light relief in between chapters of the Carrie Ryan novel.  It had its kooky moments, and its poignant ones, and it was a good excuse to watch the movie again for the first time in years.  I think I like the adaptation more, but it was still a lot of fun!  4 stars.


We Have Always Lived in the Castle
by Shirley Jackson
Finally, I read my first Shirley Jackson!  Jean over at Bookish Thoughts talks about her a fair bit, so I thought it was about time I gave her a go.  My local bookshops failed epically, but the library fared better and I picked We Have Always Lived in the Castle to start me off.  This book is more about atmosphere and character than plot, concentrating on an insular household comprising eighteen year-old oddball Merricat, her older sister Constance, her cat Jonas, and their eccentric uncle.  The rest of their family was killed in bizarre circumstances and the townspeople hate, ridicule and fear them in equal measure - all they have is their house, each other and their unchanging domestic routine.  Until a money-grabbing cousin unexpectedly arrives and brings their world tumbling down around them, that is...  The description and prose in this novella is beautiful, and the inside of Merricat's strange mind is quite fascinating.  It's fairly sedately paced, with the exception of one genuinely heartbreaking scene of chaos and misery that made me feel sick to the stomach, but it flows well and I never felt like it was dragging at all.  A hard one to describe all round, really... My best advice is just to read it for yourself!  4 stars - I'll definitely be reading more Shirley Jackson soon!

A Single Man
by Christopher Isherwood
Another beautiful little novella that's far more focussed on character, thought and ambience than it is on plot - and is thus difficult to describe or review in any meaningful way.  This was my first Isherwood - and again, most definitely not my last - and is pretty much a 'day in the life' of George, a British college professor living in Los Angeles.  He is still mourning the (fairly) recent loss of his partner Jim, and finds himself irreparably estranged from the world: from his neighbours and colleagues, because of his sexuality, and from his students, because of his age.  He spends his time perfecting his outer façade, searching for understanding, reflecting on life, and fielding the neuroses of his larger-than-life friend Charlotte.  It's gorgeously written and quietly devastating, and I plan to buy the film soon because if it's even NEARLY as good as this, it's going to be something special.  Another solid 4 stars.

~ What I Watched ~

 

The Double (2013)

Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska, directed by Richard Ayoade
This film was the reason I finally read my first Dostoyevsky novella back in April (jeez, was it that long ago?!).  The DVD was released in August and I bought it the same week, thanks to the winning (for me) combination of classic source material, 'what is real' mind-fuckery, and the combined talents of Jesse Eisenberg (who is rapidly becoming one of my favourite actors, he's amazing), the lovely Mia Wasikowska and the genius that is Richard Ayoade.  It was... slow, not in a bad way... extremely dark, blackly funny, strange and unsettling, picking up pace and getting simultaneously more coherent yet more warped as the movie went on.  The numerous cameos from Ayoade's fellow comedians (Tim Key), IT Crowd friends (Chris O'Dowd, Chris Morris) and cast members from his previous film Submarine (Sally Hawkins, Craig Roberts AND Paddy Considine) were fun to spot, but felt a bit out of place in such a pitch-black film.  I definitely preferred it to the book and will be watching it again at some point to see how much more I get from it the second time around.  Cautiously recommended.  (watch the trailer)


Ghost World (2001)
Starring Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi, directed by Terry Zwigoff
I finished the graphic novel during the last Bout of Books readathon, so it made sense to round off my BoB week by watching the movie, for the first time in YEARS!  It had so many little moments and snippets of dialogue that translated straight from the page to the screen (as you might expect, given that the screenplay was written by Daniel Clowes), but also gave the characters one film-friendly overarching plot which helped ease the transition between media.  The double act in the film is actually Enid and Seymour (a new character drawn together from several in the book) rather than Enid and Rebecca (who still has an important role, just... less so), but I didn't mind because the dynamic between these two soulmates-yet-polar-opposites was so much fun.  Seymour's a sweetheart and offsets Enid's confident feistiness a bit... it works.  The dialogue is still superb and the whole thing felt as warm and hilarious and full of heart as I remembered.  I also LOVE the music - lots of old blues and country rock, it's great.  Recommended! (watch the trailer)


House, Season 2 (2006)
Starring Hugh Laurie and Omar Epps
I actually watched most of this season aaaaages ago, then recently decided to rewatch it from the start so that I could finally finish it off and move on.  It's pretty much more of the same magic House formula as the first season - brilliant deduction, bucketloads of sarcasm, some nasty moments and lots of medical intrigue.  This season involves everything from a prisoner on death row to a famous doctor with possible TB, a woman with Munchausen Syndrome to an immuno-compromised heart transplant patient, all with a side dose of team bickering, hospital politics and House's ever-present leg pain.  Funny, brilliant, fascinating and moving by turn.  If, like me, you're a latecomer to this series and haven't started it yet, get on it - it more than lives up to the hype! (watch the ridiculously overdramatic US trailer)

~ What's Up Next ~

  

I finished my first book of September - Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - on the first of the month, and moved straight on to my Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.  It's my first foray into the world of Hannibal Lecter, so me being me I decided I might as well dive straight in the deep end and not only READ ALL THE HANNIBAL, but also watch the movies and both series as well.  I figured I might as well stick with Hannibal's storyline instead of veering off into the worlds of Norman Bates or Dexter Morgan again just yet.  Each serial killer in his own sweet time!  So far I've been very impressed by the book AND the new series; the book, in particular, is far more accomplished than I expected, and the series is every bit as addictive as the hype suggested.  Bring on the rest!


I have highly inappropriate fantasies about being in this particular man sandwich. NOT LITERALLY DR LECTER PUT THE KNIFE DOWN.

 

Aaaand that was August!  I hope you've all had a wonderful summer and are looking forward to some great autumn reading!

 

July: What I Read, What I'm Reading

Good grief, another month's gone by already!  It's terrifying how fast the weeks are flying by at the moment.  This month's been a fairly slow one for reading, partly due to a duff book choice making me not want to read that much (oops) and partly due to a few long days spent prepping and painting my bedroom, usually finishing at around 7:30pm, by which point all I've wanted to do is flop down somewhere comfortable with a DVD.  Still, the next Bout of Books readathon is coming up next month, and I'm back in the swing of things a bit now, so hopefully August will see more books being toppled from my ever-growing to-read list...
 

 

~ What I Read ~

 

The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave 1)

by Rick Yancey
This one took a really long time to read, for some reason.  I started it on holiday at the end of June and didn't finish it until about a week into July, even though it's really good and quite the page-turner.  Seriously, I don't know what happened this month!  Anyway, I've had the book for ages, the sequel's coming out soon and it's also being made into a film, so it seemed a good time to read it - and I wasn't disappointed.  It's a fascinating alien apocalypse story mostly focussing on an isolated survivor called Cassie.  Her parents are dead, her little brother has been taken to an army camp somewhere, and Cassie has no idea who are the good guys or the bad guys any more.  Instead she is focussing only on her goal of being reunited with little Sam, however dangerous that journey might be.  I really enjoyed this; I thought the characters were interesting, the extra-terrestrial invasion was well thought-out and compelling to read, the inevitable love storyline was pleasantly secondary to the wider plot, and the seeds have been sown for a complex and exciting sequel.  I've already preordered my copy!  4 stars.


How to Build a Girl
by Caitlin Moran
If you've been around this corner of the internet at all over the past few weeks you can't NOT have noticed the readalong going on right now.  I'm not officially taking part, but I bought the book and read it anyway (because CAITLIN MORAN), which means I can at least read everyone's posts and join in the discussion a bit every week!  This is a semi-autobiographical novel about Johanna, an awkward, bookish but wonderfully spirited teenager living on a Wolverhampton council estate, who reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde, a wild-child pop culture fiend, in order to get a job in music journalism and earn money to help keep her family out of abject poverty.  It's absolutely hilarious, brutally honest and deliciously earthy, and I've underlined half the book; there are so many brilliant one-liners, beautiful little philosophies and moments of painfully real political and social commentary.  Love, love, love. 4.5 stars!


A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck by Lightning
by Gretel Ehrlich
This would be the duff book I mentioned.  I've been reading it since May, and jeeez, it's been hard going for such a tiny book.  It sounded so fascinating, but sadly what I EXPECTED from it turned out to only be a small part of the book as a whole.  When Ehrlich is talking about the science of lightning, about the mechanics of a lightning strike, about its effects on the human body, about the medicine behind recovery from such a devastating electrical surge - all this is SO interesting.  Unfortunately a large proportion of the book is instead devoted to restless, self-indulgent, self-absorbed, faux-spiritual wallowing, and in these moments the author often plunges into prose so purple it actually made me laugh a few times.  It was like reading bad teenage poetry.  I've included an excerpt below to illustrate the kind of moment that literally had me laughing aloud - suffice it to say, I wouldn't recommend this one.  2.5 stars, purely for the on-topic interesting bits.

"Our large sleeping tent, staked farther up the slope, was shaken by the glacier's detonations and echoing thunder all night.  I wrote in my journal by flashlight: "I feel as if I were a fish feeding at the crumbling edge of the universe."  I wanted to wear clothes made from that place - perhaps an auklet feather skirt - and sleep on the white fin of an orca."

LOL, whatever.

~ What I'm Reading ~

 

 

Now that I've finally finished slogging through the Gretel Ehrlich, I've switched my attention back to Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore.  I've got about 120 pages left and it's SO GOOD.  Philosophical and hilarious and tongue-in-cheek and naughty and just utterly fantastic.  After that I have a couple of library books on their last possible renewals (oops), and after THAT I'm probably going to read Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell.  I've seen the Richard E. Grant adaptation a few times - it's one of my favourite rainy-day movies - so it's really about time I read the original!

 

Aaaand that was July!  Hope you're all having a lovely summer...  :)