It says ‘Do not use
marker pens on the whiteboard.’
I do anyway.
Words
Oops, a week late this time. But here are the books I read in April:
#12 | Life, Interrupted by James McConnel
#13 | Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
#14 | Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi
Again, I’ve not read as many as I should have done this month, but I am also half way through Orlando by Virginia Woolf, and this week I got distracted by One Day by David Nicholls, which I can’t put down.
But back to April’s books. Life, Interrupted is the story of an undiagnosed tourettes sufferer. It tells the story of not only the twitches so commonly associated with the illness but the compulsions and obsessions that go with them. It documents the ups and downs that come with such a life, as a promising musician James attends the Royal College of Music but after realising that alcohol quietens the ‘commander’ in his head, spirals into alcoholism and depression. The book is written in much the same way that James must think, the story is interrupted and we jump around in time. This lack of flow did make it difficult to stick at at times, but overall I enjoyed it.
I love Evelyn Waugh. He is a satirical genius and Decline and Fall is no exception. It tells the story of poor Paul Pennyfeather who is struck by bad luck at every turn. Expelled from Oxford he ends up teaching, where he falls for the mother of one of his students, who is not all she seems. Poor naive Paul. Brilliantly written characters and a plot thick with coincidences and conspiracies, it’s a very funny read.
Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi left me raging. It was an intriguing book about a man deciding to leave his wife and children. I have never read a book before where I hated the lead character so vehemently. He was selfish and self-important, and the entire book is him justifying his actions, knowing full well that leaving will destroy the lives of his wife and children, but he needs to do it because he’s bored and is really into this girl he’s shagging on the side and just doesn’t feel that he should be held back by the mundanity of domestic life anymore. Oh it absolutely infuriated me. But it’s a testament to the quality of the writing that I kept reading, and despite hating the plot and the characters, I will still look out for more Kureishi to read in future!
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I’ve been having some major clear outs recently, and today I decided it was time to go through my fashion, art and knitting books to remove the ones I rarely use any more. So I’ve spent this morning listing them on eBay. You can view my seller page, where the following titles will be on sale for 1 week:
#1 | Costume & Fashion: A Concise History by James Laver
#2 | 20th Century Fashion by Valerie Mendes & Amy de la Haye
#3 | Sewing Lesson: A Japanese Pattern Book by Machiko Kayaki
#4 | The Harmony Guide To Crochet Stitches
#5 | Digital Illustration: A Master Class in Creative Image-Making by Lawrence Zeegen
#6 | Fabric Savvy: The Essential Guide for Every Sewer by Sandra Betzina
#7 | Fashion Artist: Drawing Techniques & Portfolio Presentation by Sandra Burke
#8 | Wrap & Drape Fashion: History, Design & Drawing by Elisabetta Drudi
#9 | 20th Century Fashion: 100 Years of Style by Decade & Designer by Linda Watson
#10 | The Fashion Book by Phaidon
#11 | London Street Art by Alex MacNaughton
#12 | The Dressmakers Handbook by Rene Bergh
#13 | The Harmony Book of Machine Knitting Stitches
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A couple of days late, but here are the books I read in March:
#9 | Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd
#10 | The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
#11 | Room by Emma Donoghue
Oh dear. Only 3 books in March (though I’m very near the end of my current book). It’s currently week 13 and I’m on book 11. Not good, I’m two weeks behind.
I blame Virgin Suicides for falling behind, it’s a book I love and have read so many times it’s like a comfy old sweater. But sadly that meant that my reading rate slowed right down and I kind of meandered through it for a couple of weeks. It’s such a beautiful book of teenage longing, of that love you can feel for someone as a teen even though you’ve never even had a conversation with them. I noticed more details about the narrators this time which added another level of sadness to it for me.
Both of the other books I absolutely loved and couldn’t put down. Ordinary Thunderstorms basically told the story of a man who walked in on an assassination, and through doing so ends up the main suspect of the murder. He goes underground in London, living on the streets until it all blows over, but of course it’s not quite as simple as that. William Boyd is one of those rare authors who can write in a million different genres and I think his ‘thriller’ writing is quite amazing. After reading Restless a couple of years ago I just had to read this book and it didn’t disappoint.
Room gained lots of press attention last year after being nominated for the Booker, but I’ve been wanting to read it since a friend recommended it to me when it first came out. It is inspired by those horror stories that come out in the press periodically of men keeping some poor abducted girl in a basement for years and years, long after the media and their families assume they must be dead.
The real difference in this story is that it is narrated by the imprisoned girl’s 5 year old son, Jack, who has spent his entire life in the 11 foot square cell and had absolutely no awareness that anything exists outside of ‘Room’. From a very dark place comes such a heartwarming book, Jack’s innocence and confusion about the world is hilarious and touching, and he tells the story of his mothers survival with no understanding of how incredible other people find her, she’s just his ‘ma’ after all. I read it in about a day and a half. I couldn’t put it down, and I’ve recommended it to everyone I’ve spoken to since. The Guardian Books Podcast suggested ‘ma’ as one of the true heroines of modern literature, and I totally agree.
So those were my books in March. I’m currently reading a biography (non-celebrity, don’t worry) that I picked up in Oxfam, but you’ll have to wait until April’s round up to hear about that.
You can follow my reading as it happens on my Goodreads profile.
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