Not the kind of girl who gives up just like that

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 14

2008-05-26T12:24:53Z

I Play the Drums in a Band Called Okay
by Toby Litt

Told from the viewpoint of Clap, drummer in okay a canadian indie band (other members Syph, Mono, and Crab) who are approaching middle age and the ill-advised albums and money making tours that come along with it.

The tales of excess and amplified ideas of importance are reminiscent of what you hear wheeled out in Nickelbacks’s (shudders) mega hit ‘Rock Star’ - cringeworthy, realistic and what you'd expect from a world famous (albit fictional) band.

Rather than being like 'The Dirt' this has another level, which follows Clap’s journey from excess to Buddhism via infidelity fatherhood and realisation of his own mortality . It could have been approached with sarcasm and too much knowing, but Litt’s depiction of the flawed yet nicest member of okay is self deprecating, and amusing without being clichéd.

Although at points the narrative seems to lose it’s way, the anecdotes and the lessons learnt are worth sticking with it for when it gets back on track.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 13

2008-05-14T21:43:30Z

The Good Father
by Marion Husband

I started this for my book group, and wasn’t sure if it was for me, but was gradually taken in due to the thickening plot and mysterious pointers placed that indicated a ‘big reveal’. I ended up guessing most of the twists, the way in which you can with a soap, but this isn’t a bad thing, it just means it was easy to get into the flow of the plot.

It goes something like this:

“When Peter Wright's father dies he leaves his entire fortune to Peter's best friend Jack. Over a few weeks in the summer of 1959, the consequences of the old man's legacy affect three families, Jack's, who has brought up his three children alone since his wife was killed, Wright's solicitor Harry who is trying to rebuild his relationship with his estranged son Guy, and that of Peter himself, whose friendship with Jack is threatened by his father's death and the terrible secrets he has kept since his return from the Japanese POW camps. "The Good Father" explores the nature of fatherhood and the bonds betweens fathers and their children in a gripping story of love, betrayal and adultery.”

Husband writes about the past in an engaging way, with just enough references to brands and clothing to put you in the right place, and her representation of social mores seem accurate and true.

There were a couple of things that irked me. At points, major moments were built up, then when they came, they were merely alluded to instead of any explanation or enlightenment about what actually happened (what is now wrong with Ava? What crimes did Hans actually commit?). I also found the sex scenes embarrassing, not for their harshness, but the fact they tended to slide into Mills and Boon territory at points, but hey, some people love that.

Although I wasn’t swept away by it, it was an enjoyable, mostly well-written read.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 12

2008-05-05T16:36:53Z

Submarine
Joe Dunthorne

When I got this out of the library, the librarian opened it to stamp it and said, ‘ oh I tried reading this and I hated it.’ I got it out still as the cover made me interested (I LOVE greyhounds and scribbly drawing – simple pleasures eh?).

I’m glad I didn’t take any notice, as I loved this.

It starts promisingly enough, narrated by the strange Oli- a teenager that has all the markings of an awkward teenager without actually being unconfident. His pamphlet for fat girl who him and his mate bullied made me laugh (‘don’t be yourself, people will like you then’) as did his observation son his parents and his new girlfriend.

In the middle of the book, he decides to save his parents marriage after his mum takes up hippy hobbies with a sandal wearer (shudders) named Graham. His ideas about life w re just the right side of precocious, and his descriptions of sex and such things disgustingly teenage and biological.

There were a couple of things I’d like to have changed – his supposed best mate Chips barely features, the reintroduction of his fat foe made an obvious karmic point, and the reference to Adrian Mole was a wee bit po-mo for my liking – but otherwise, I was pleased that such an ace cover lived up to my expectations.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 11

2008-04-28T21:12:39Z

The Room of Lost Things
by Stella Duffy

I love London. The buildings, the tube, the bustle. A few years ago I finally went to South London and discovered a different London. One that doesn’t come with map, that is louder, stranger, a mish-mash of cultures – sounds, smells and sights - squashed next to each other in shops less picture postcard and even more alluring for that.

‘The Room of Lost things’ is set in this area, which is painted in a loving yet real fashion, with no grotty archway or uncomfortable issue (race/sex/politics)glossed over in favour of making it seem desirable to outsiders, and the descriptions in this book are almost poetic at times.

Stories with too many characters can be confusing and distracting, but this, although heavily casted, is not like that. You can picture Stefan the commitment-phobe dancer; Akeel the terrified and conflicted father to be, Marilyn with her tight clothes and massive appetite, and of course, there’s Robert, the protagonist – owner of the dry cleaners and many, many secrets.

His story had me going. I couldn’t wait to find out more about him, but this wasn’t because of any overly dramatic devices or cheesy revelations. Like the character his story was slow, steady and well-thought out.

I’ve been a fan of Duffy’s since finding Immaculate Conceit in Manchester’s Central Library many years ago, and her writing has matured, progressed and is even better, which as I love her other books, was a lovely surprise.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 10

2008-04-16T21:06:30Z

Michael Tolliver Lives
By Armistead Maupin

This is where we catch up with Michael aka Mouse, who we first met back in the 1970s in Tales of the City. Fast forward 7 books and we're in the present day with michael and the various characters he still knows from his days at Barbary Lane where all this started.

So, how many ways do I love Armistead Maupin? Let me count the ways.

1. He writes about a city I love with such affection and colour that you feel like you’re right there

2. He's created a set of charcaters in Tales of the City that are so well-thought out that they lasted throughout his series and have transplanted to the present-day successfully without feeling stranhge or anachronistic

3. These characters are put in stagne siutautions whilst still being funny, deeply flawed and real

4. He's realistic about negative things (AIDS, suicide, old age) without being mawkish or preachy

5. His style and flow are complex but easy to read, witty without being snarky, and for that I am deeply envious of him

I'd recommend this but if you've never read any of his work start at the beginning wits the acer than ace Tales of the City

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 9

2008-04-11T07:09:48Z

Something Borrowed
By Paul Magrs

Sequels and series are funny things. You can’t just dive in and wonder what will happen. There’s already previous you have to take into account, and there is the necessary recapping and background that’s needed for readers who haven’t read the first one.

Still, bar my impatience to get past this and into the story ‘Something Borrowed’ is rather good.

The descriptions of Whitby and the motley people who inhabit it ring true, as does the dialogue, which is relaxed, colloquial and sharp. Jessie is a great heroine, who is flawed in so many ways it would be hard not to like her.

Just like Magrs’ first book in the series, ‘Never the Bride’ there is a good dose of suspense and intrigue all the way through, that has lots of quirky details, subplots and flashback, without being confusing to keep up with.

The only thing I wasn’t so keen on was the final chapter, which ‘borrowed’ (see what I did there?) from The Wicker Man a wee bit too much for my liking, but the last paragraph leaves it open for a third book, which sounds great and I look forward to reading it.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 8

2008-03-26T21:11:32Z

Apples
By Richard Milward

I read this last year and re-read it for my book group at Blue Lounge (which was dead good and 30 people came along and a reet good time was had) and although I still liked it, I noticed more things about it and found it to be very different reading something for ‘work’ rather than pure pleasure.

One lady dubbed this 'West Side Story meets Jeremy Kyle' which sums it up pretty well, and we debated whether or not it should be given to teenagers to warn them about how boring having kids is, and I definitely agree that reading this as GCSE now could be as mindblowing as when I was given To Kill a Mockingbird for the first time.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 7

2008-03-23T08:02:01Z

Shot
by Sarah Quigley

I found this hard to get into. Starting in San Francisco with comedian Lena getting shot on her way to buy donuts, it seemed quirky and interesting, with the bullet having a voice aswell as her.

Then there are pages and pages about her Polish immigrant family, all who have strange aspects and interests (OCD, taxidermy) and how she started performing as a child at her dad's club- whilst it's nice to have some background, half a book on this was dull and too much.

Things start to get interesting when Lena decides to leave California, her horrifcally ambitious and 1-D boyfriend and go to Alaska and takes photos of loss.

This section was full of descriptions of the wilderness and of the secrets and losses people hold inside them and although I could see the ending coming a mile off, it was written with suspense and clarity which the rest of the book lacked.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 6

2008-03-12T22:43:05Z

The Story of My Face
by Kathy Page

Starting in present day Finland, disfigured religious academic Natalie is there to uncover what prompted a man to set up Envallism, a (fictitious) strict Protestant sect, which somehow led to an accident that changed her body and led her into this line of work.

Going back to 1969, a teenage Natalie is obsessed with Neil Armstrong, and whilst avoiding her mum - who is into free love and forgetting to care for her daughter - she lets herself into a neighbour Barbara’s garden, and decides to infiltrate her seemingly conventional family, unaware of the secrets and lies which hide behind their nuclear façade.

The title is too bland for what lies in these pages - a complex and thoughtful story, told effectively from many perspectives. Page’s depictions of teenage confusion and bravado ring true, as does the sinister fervour that grips the Envallists, who think images are a porthole for Satan to jump through and think its right to send a child home for wanting to watch man land on the moon.

When you become an adult it’s easy to forget just how strange being a teenager is, and page has captured this time perfectly with Natalie - Her jaded view on the world is interspersed with sweet childlike interest in biscuits and cuddles make her a sympathetic main character, even when she is being manipulative and intentionally disruptive; within Barbara’s family or at the Envallist holiday camp at a farm in Filey.

Switching back and forth in time and country without losing momentum, this story is rich in detail and plot, and builds ever so slowly.

I expected horrors to come at the end, and the story behind her face is revealed in the last few pages; the full terror of skin grafts and sedation expressed through the same subtle language that’s used throughout this wonderfully understated book, which concludes with a satisfying epilogue and last chapter which is full of hope.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 5

2008-03-12T22:37:54Z

Stars Are Stars
by Kevin Sampson

I love books that capture the sorts of emotions and events that whizz past you when you're young, because you're too busy experiencing them spend time writing them down. When you fall in love for the first time, you think no one's ever felt like this before, that you’re making your own rules and nothing, not even time can stop you.

Stars are Stars follows Danny May, a 15 year old from Toxteth who dreams of going to LiverpoolArtSchool. He meets Nicole, a politically active middle class girl and the two of them embark on what they believe to be a bohemian love affair.

Falling in love when you’re young, you think that no one's ever felt like this before, and that youthful arrogance is captured perfectly in Danny and Nicole's conversations and affectations, which are carried out in dive bars and clubs in Liverpool and in the streets of Paris.

Their love story may be the main storyline, but politics and music feature heavily too. Bowie, Psychedelic Furs, The Bunnymen, Devo all feature and unusually for a book that mentions real bands and events (Ian Curtis' suicide) they crop up very naturally, that doesn’t feel like Sampson is trying too hard to be cool.

Then comes the politics...from hope to despair in five years, here comes Mrs Thatcher smashing and grabbing, all whilst keeping her hair in that unworldly helmet. In 1980, Danny receives the devastating news that the Art School's funding has been withdrawn by the new Tory government, and stops painting, starts taking drugs and robbing from the people he loves.

Danny's descent allays with the massively violent Toxteth riots, which are described in vivid detail, just like his paintings which bookend this story.

This story swept me up; due to the colour and texture that Sampson gives his characters and the situations they are born into and fail to get out of.

My only criticism would be that whilst Nicole is out of the story, and Danny gets involved in photographing the riots, it still feels real, but the way they meet up again in Wales, did feel a little contrived, but it’s something that can be overlooked as this is a stunning book, which is well written, exciting, thought provoking and crystallises a very strange and turbulent time in British history, that is made human with the story of Danny May.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 4

2008-02-26T18:47:47Z

Escape Routes for Beginners
by Kira Cochrane

Don’t you just love it when you judge a book by it's cover and it turns out to be far, far better?

This looks sickly sweet, but behind the sugar pink cover is a deftly told tale that hooked me after the first chapter.

Rita Mae is a little girl living on a prison island who dreams of escaping her surroundings and going to Hollywood is one which anyone growing up in a small town can get; although I never had to deal with prison riots thank gawd.

Set in the 1950s and going back to the early days of Hollwood to explain how Rita Mae's life ended up this way via her beautiful prostitute grandmother and prim, social climbing mother, Cochrane manages to paint an accurate picture of the social mores of both eras, which juxtaposes well with the depictions of the prison, where Rita Mae's feckless father works.

Although most of the characters in this book are generally well thought out and lift well off the page, I found her parents, especially her mother who bleaches her hair to hide her Mexican heritage from babyhood, one dimensional - I just couldn't believe that repressed homosexuality and hidden pasts would make a parent completely neglect and abuse a child without any hint of love at all.

There are some pretty dark moments that I didn’t see coming but by the end, when things can’t get any worse, there is a sense of hope, which takes this from gritty to something far less predictable and special.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 3

2008-02-11T21:57:32Z

Fatso
by Lars Ramslie

What’s it like to live in a world saturated by sex, when you’re a virgin?

‘Rino is fat, ambitionless and a 34-year-old virgin. He is also obsessed with sex. Living in a flat owned by his father, he lacks the necessary social skills and charm to reverse his pathetic situation. When his father decides to let out one of the rooms in his apartment to a young woman named Maria, Rino is forced to re-enter the human stratosphere”

Translated from Norweigan, ‘Fatso’ is told with lots of English colloquialisms and could be set in any major city, making it easy to imagine. The plot and dialogue is realistic, and the characters are flawed, well-rounded and recognisable.

I started this and worried it was going to be just an excuse to swear and look clever. The constant inner monologue of Rino, that was straight from a porn‘script’ made me balk a bit, but I’m glad I carried on till the end.

This is a tale of redemption, and truly touching one at that.

There are many uncomfortable moments (in fact there’s less comfortable ones to be fair) including some morally ambiguous sleep-sex that made me squirm reading about it.

Getting under his skin and seeing what it must be like to be fat, unloved and wanting was emotional and because of this strong set –up when he finally starts to move on with his life, thanks to a liberated new flatmate introducing him to the world, I found myself willing him on to become a member of the human race again.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 2

2008-02-01T12:47:58Z

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle
by Haruki Murakami

This is a book I’d heard a lot about and I can see why it’s so well-liked. Murakami is a master of turning the mundane into the magical, and the tale of Toru, his missing cat and wife, plus an array of characters that pop up in the present, past, future and in other worlds.

Although this is an interesting and intricate story (I would LOVE to see the synopsis he had to submit to his publishers) it took me a while to get into it, and I felt that it could have been a wee bit shorter, with some of the surplus cut out – far too much military info plus plotlines and characters that were built up in detail, which then tailed off without ever reaching any sort of explanation or conclusion – and the story would have been just as good.

I enjoyed the strangeness and found myself being sucked into Toru’s world(s) but ended the book feeling frustrated that some of the things revealed about his brother-in-law and the strange hotel room at the end were too vague, and parts about his employer Nutmeg and her son Cinnamon’s Chronicles (especially about the heart buried in the ground) were frustratingly left unexplained which left me wanting.

50 books in 1 year - 2008 - # 1

2008-01-10T21:05:57Z

As If
by Blake Morrison

This was a recommendation from she_ghost

I was interested in this as the Bulger case was one of the cases I covered in my dissertation on the link between violent media and violent acts, and although it did touch on the media violence angle, I was pleased that this was a detailed look at the case and our society as a whole.

Starting with a lengthy ramble through the children’s crusades, I wondered where this was going, but it made sense once he started talking about the case.

Blake Morrison was at the trial of Robert Thompson and Jon Venables in Preston, and looks at their backgrounds, influences, the nature of childhood and evil to find out what I wanted to know at the time: why?

There are a few passages I found hard to read (especially one that reads like a sex scene but turns out to be a description of him putting his daughter to bed) but this is a complex book that covers a lot but never strays too far that it loses your attention.

As Morrison illustrates, children can be, and often are cruel.

Through personal anecdotes, fables and factual examples, he looks at why children are portrayed as innocent, when they are far from that, and sets out a calm and fair conclusion that is far more thought-provoking than anything else I’ve read on the subject.

50 books in 1 year - 2007

2007-12-27T18:47:45Z

So, I’ve done. 50 books in one year. Phew!

It could have been more, except there were a few I jettisoned half way through for failing to be what I wanted. Others, I stuck with em and failed to see the fuss even on the last page. Others made me feel excited about books, about writing and about the availability of ace books at my local library.

So, to finish this year’s first 50 books in a year on this journal, here are my top 5’s...

Top 5 Finds

The Water’s Edge By Louise Tondeur

Apples By Richard Milward

The Killing Jar By Nichola Monaghan

Pages for You by Sylvia Brownrigg

Stag Hunt by Anthony McGowan

Top 5 Let downs

Joshua Spassky by Gwendoline Riley

Home By Tom Relf

Kitty and Virgil By Paul Bailey

The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs by Irvine Welsh

The Book of Other People - By Zadie Smith

I think I may do it again in 2008. anyone care to join me - it doesn't have to be 50, any number really
x

50 books in 1 year - # 50

2007-12-27T18:26:14Z

The Book of Other People
by Zadie Smith

I was excited by this book. The cover art, the authors I’ve previously enjoyed (Toby Litt, Adam Thirlwell, A.M Holmes, Nick Hornby) and illustrations by Daniel Clowes and Posy Simmonds.

According to the blurb: "The Book of Other People" is just that: a book of other people. With an introduction by Zadie Smith and brand-new stories from over twenty of the best writers of their generation from both sides of the Atlantic, "The Book of Other People" is as dazzling and inventive as its authors, and as vivid and wide-ranging as its characters."

Although the characters and situations are wide-ranging this doesn't mean they're engaging.

Short stories are often seen as the less glamorous siblings of the novel but they’re often a lot harder to master, and this is evident here.

The trouble is, it left me feeling bit flat. Whist there are some ace stories in here, I get the feeling that some of these writers are so sued to having a full novel to flesh a character and their story out, that having a short story to make their mark was perhaps too much of a challenge.

David Mitchell’s Judith Castle, Heidi Julavits Judge Gladys Park Schultz and Rhoda, By Jonathan Safran Foer really stood out, but the rest, whilst the actual writing is proficient, a fair few of the scenarios refused to lift off the page, with characters who weren’t that interesting or believable, which was disappointing.

50 books in 1 year - # 49

2007-12-23T23:08:13Z

Stag Hunt
by Anthony McGowan

A macho stag do, made up of southern ex-public schoolboys plus one token northerner who went to state school, takes place at a private house in the wilds of Cornwall.

One of the group is out for revenge, and McGowan provides enough character traits that made me think it could be any of them. They have a grudge against the group (bar Matthew who is a late invitee) due to being raped by the other men when they were at school, which was a practise actively encouraged by their pervy Latin teacher who meets a sticky end in the first part of the book.

All of the men have secrets and demons, which are told from the point of view of narrator Matthew (the token northerner) and also each of the other characters. Instead of being confusing, this technique works well, with clear voices and detailed back stories for each. The story also flips between their schooldays, to the recent past, to the present, which is also easy to follow, but very intricately plotted.

McGowan explores class and the male psyche very well, with details that are well researched - myths and legends, military references - and a heavy dose of machismo that you’d expect from a bunch of fellas with numerous hang ups ring true.

It’s mysterious and dark and violent and totally gripped my imagination with the possibilities that this story presented and would make an ace film.

50 books in 1 year - # 48

2007-12-18T12:41:05Z

My Cleaner
Maggie Gee

The moral dilemma of whether employing someone to clean your home is right (I think not) made me pick this up and the plot goes like this:

“Vanessa Henman, a neurotic, middle-aged, middle-class writer, her despised painter and decorator ex-husband, Trevor, and their son, Justin, who is 22 and too depressed to get out of bed.

The only person Justin wants to see is Mary Tendo, the Ugandan cleaner who took care of him through most of his childhood when his mother was too busy in her study to spend any time with him. When Mary responds to Vanessa's cry for help, the balance of power in the house shifts dramatically and everyone's life begins to change irrevocably.”

This book is all about light and shade, in a lot of senses. Obviously with the women's skins, backgrounds and outlooks - Vanessa is white, middles class, terribly concerned with appearing right on, selfish, prickly and aggressively ambitious. Mary is black, working class, upbeat, down to earth, friendly and quietly ambitious - but also with their story, which flicks around, from the past to the present, taking in their flaws and good bits.

Both Africa and Britain are described in a way that is neither gritty nor romantic. Britain is grey and overly complicated, Africa is shiny and simple, which mirrors Mary and Vanessa’s characters - Vanessa is a cringeworthy, hand wringing liberal who is horrifically selfish and uptight, and Mary as an open woman who has seen a lot but has inner strength.

Although this was an enjoyable look at class and morals, I thought the descriptions of both women's childhoods went on a bit too long, and was disturbed by Mary's behaviour with Justin (suckling a grown man? Eww!), but other than that, it wasn’t half bad.

50 books in 1 year - # 47

2007-12-15T18:29:04Z

Atlantic Shift
by Emily Barr

Having read 'Cuban Heels' and 'Baggage', I chose this because of the author. And whilst this is good, it felt a lot ‘fluffier’ than her previous work.

The story is about Evie, a British cellist who is more famous for her looks than her musical ability. On the night of a major performance, she dumps her husband and embarks on single life, moving in with another girl and sleeping with reality popstars. So far so humdrum.

Then, she starts getting poison pen letters, runs off to New York where her best mate is having fertility treatment. This is where the pace picks up and it all starts to get interesting. Evie has secrets, which come tripping out as people from her past catch up with her and she catches up with them.

The last part of the book, feels a bit rushed, and although there are a few too many elements for one novel (it could have been way simpler) and I wasn’t massively keen on the epilogue, where all loose ends are tied up all too comfortably, Atlantic Shift is a bit of fun that, due to the knowing tone throughout, is one step up from chick lit.

50 books in 1 year - # 46

2007-12-11T14:26:24Z

Rhode Island Red
Charlotte Carter

A murder mystery set in modern day New York, told by Nan, a shaven headed sax player who is obsessed with jazz, Paris and good food.

A well planned out story, with an array of film noir –ish characters, filled with twists and (often violent) surprises that meant I couldn’t put this down until I got to the end.

If you like New York, Jazz, strong female characters or books like Stella Duffy’s Saz Martin series, then you’ll like this.

50 books in 1 year - # 45

2007-12-08T15:44:13Z

Long Way Back
by Brendan Halpin

Being a lapsed catholic I usually shy away from religious themed books. This appeared to be about music, but the main characters, Clare and Francis turned out to be Catholics. Sneaky, but thankfully, their religion was a theme, but not the focus and they were portrayed as well-rounded people rather than born again botherers.

The story starts with the brother an sister from Boston in their rebellious teenage years following onto being responsible adulthood, where they both face tragic experiences which prompts Francis to lose his faith in God, get tattoos and join a band, and Clare, who cares for dying people and has a family to raise, to try to help him find who he is again.

Their relationship rings true, as does the dialogue which switched from serious to playfully mean in a moment. For a book involving personal grief and breakdown -which is remedied through the euphoria of listening to and playing music (Ramones, the Who, the Cure, Buzzcocks) and using it as a tool for recovery -it isn’t actually hard going, and although there are moments which made me well up, it’s a positive story that has some great moments and I’d definately recommend it.

50 books in 1 year - # 44

2007-12-01T17:08:23Z

The End of Alice
by A.M. Homes

I approached this book with caution, wondering what horrific things it contained, but was won over by the reviews on the back, and I’m glad I picked it up.

Apparently this book cause outrage when it was published in the US and on the surface, it’s obvious why it would. I mean, a book narrated by a convicted child killer which details his correspondence with a wannabe (female) paedophile – well, it doesn’t take a genius to see why.

It is brutally honest and made me cringe at the depictions of prison life, horrific childhood incidents and the crimes which got the narrator in jail, if only for his intense concentration on bodily functions and fluids.

I wasn’t sure whether to believe the narrator recollection of his time with Alice - it felt like he believed that was what happened, but as a man who’s spent over two decades being inside jail, I wasn’t so sure.

This is a very bold book - a story which gets more complicated and riveting as it goes on – and one which is written with style and guts.

50 books in 1 year - # 43

2007-11-26T14:35:36Z

Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl
by Anonymous

I decided to re-read this after watching the TV programme. Although the show is quite rude, there's certainly not as much fisting on the screen as there is in the book.

I enjoyed reading it again, as it is pure filth in parts, and her experiences of relationships and living alone in a big city ring true.

Even though no one knows who wrote it, I like the idea that it could be by a northern girl in her twenties who makes an unsual job choice in order to survive in the capital. I also doubt a man could know the monotony of what girls go through when it comes to hair removal and hormones, no matter how much he researched amongst friends.

Although this doesn't really have much of a plot and is just a diary, it flows fairly well, up until when the sex stops and the holiday reportage starts. it turns from Sex and the City to Judith Chalmers on Wish you were here, which no one wants right?

50 books in 1 year - # 42

2007-11-22T17:15:28Z

So Many Ways to Begin
by Jon McGregor

Jon McGregor is the kind of writer I wish I found more often. His first novel was recommended as a novel where not much happens but everything happens.

His second novel is more of the same beautifully written, concise, authentic prose.

Writing about ‘real’ life is a skill. Some writers seem to think being gritty and bleak is authentic, that the more depressing a situation the more valid.

From bombed-out Coventry to a changed Northern Ireland, back to wartime London and a desolate Scottish quayside, McGregor portrays the mundane, everyday lives of curator David Carter, his wife Eleanor and the families they came from.

Exploring complex themes without the finished work feeling laboured or try-too-hard

‘So Many Ways to begin’ takes in failed ambitions, family secrets, resentment and what goes on behind closed doors through a story that skitters along, back and forth in time, with intense moments of poetry.

50 books in 1 year - # 41

2007-11-07T21:19:25Z

Marian Keyes
Anbody Out there?

Marian Keyes is a guilty pleasure for me.

Along with Lisa Jewell and Anna Maxted, she writes the sort of books that are painted as chick lit by numbers on the cover, but inside, unlike many other such authors, they write refreshing stories, filled with awkward moments, mundane themes, realistically irritating family members and friends, fallible main characters, men who aren’t there to save or to be derided.

'Anyone out there' tells the story of Anna Walsh (one of the Walsh sisters who crop up in every other of her books), an Irish girl who works in New York as a beauty pr. So far so chick-lit.

The books opens with her back at her parents, injured, confused and her husband won’t return her calls. Although she’s still ill, and her parents want her to stay, she heads back to New York.

There are twists and turns along the way (that I guessed but won’t mention as it would spoil the story), but basically, this is a tale of a woman’s journey to rebuild her life that is funny, interesting, complex and very sad at times.

I should stop feeling guilty I think.