Saturday 29 January 2011
Wednesday 26 January 2011
It's a brave new world.
The other day, I found myself wandering through the aisles of WHSmith’s, armed with a £15 gift voucher. I was on the lookout for something I hadn’t read, but was certain I would enjoy. I have a bit of thing with buying books; I want to know, beyond a doubt, that I’m making an investment. The book either has to be something I’ve read and know I’ll want to recommend or read again, or a book by an author I’ve read before. Generally, I don’t buy books I’ve never heard of, by authors I don’t know. However, Smith’s is not the best place to book browse with such specifics in mind so I wound up staring at their teen fiction, my never-fail fall-back option. And so I managed to discover two pretty cool things.
1. Because of the Teen love of all things supernatural, some Christopher Pike books have been re-released. Be still my heart.
2. Many, many, many of the popular teen books (a large majority of which are now supernatural or sci-fi based) were on a Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Price offer. Result!
So I picked up Pike’s Remember Me Volume 2 (I have book one hidden away somewhere, an old Point Horror edition, ah memories) and 0.4 by Mike Lancaster. Now 0.4 I’d never heard of. I’d never seen an advert or any promotional material. It wasn’t on my ever increasing list of must-read teen fiction. So, for the life of me, I have no idea why it intrigued me. The cover was pretty cool, the blurb vague but fascinating, and the tape recorder aspect reminded me of 13 Reasons Why, another teen book I read last year. So maybe that’s why. But once I’d picked it up, it did pull me in. The writing was pacy, the characters interesting, but not overly formed, and the action began almost immediately. The interruptions throughout the narrative from the blank bits of tape and the scholarly interludes added a feeling of depth to an otherwise fairly straightforward invasion scenario and that was definitely welcomed.
However, Lancaster’s book, although great, is quite simplistic (even for TF) and I feel it could have done with being a little longer. The concept is actually quite an interesting one and it’s a shame that certain aspects of the text make the possibility of a sequel seem remote. I would recommend it if you like a bit of light sci-fi but it’s one to find in your library rather than the bookshop.
1. Because of the Teen love of all things supernatural, some Christopher Pike books have been re-released. Be still my heart.
2. Many, many, many of the popular teen books (a large majority of which are now supernatural or sci-fi based) were on a Buy-One-Get-One-Half-Price offer. Result!
So I picked up Pike’s Remember Me Volume 2 (I have book one hidden away somewhere, an old Point Horror edition, ah memories) and 0.4 by Mike Lancaster. Now 0.4 I’d never heard of. I’d never seen an advert or any promotional material. It wasn’t on my ever increasing list of must-read teen fiction. So, for the life of me, I have no idea why it intrigued me. The cover was pretty cool, the blurb vague but fascinating, and the tape recorder aspect reminded me of 13 Reasons Why, another teen book I read last year. So maybe that’s why. But once I’d picked it up, it did pull me in. The writing was pacy, the characters interesting, but not overly formed, and the action began almost immediately. The interruptions throughout the narrative from the blank bits of tape and the scholarly interludes added a feeling of depth to an otherwise fairly straightforward invasion scenario and that was definitely welcomed.
However, Lancaster’s book, although great, is quite simplistic (even for TF) and I feel it could have done with being a little longer. The concept is actually quite an interesting one and it’s a shame that certain aspects of the text make the possibility of a sequel seem remote. I would recommend it if you like a bit of light sci-fi but it’s one to find in your library rather than the bookshop.
Friday 21 January 2011
Four mages. One destiny. No turning back.
Finally got around to reading the final (as far as I’m aware) book in the Circle Saga by Tamora Pierce, The Will of the Empress. It sees our four mages, Sandry, Briar, Tris and Daja, go to visit Sandry’s cousin, the Empress of Namorn after a long period away from each other. They have grown apart and have closed the connections between their minds and their powers. While there, it becomes apparent that the four have stepped into a trap and it takes all their skills, and them accepting the changes in each other and in themselves, for them to fight and escape the Empress.
I haven’t read Tamora Pierce books in a while but I stumbled across this book when, a few months ago, I ‘Googled’ Pierce. I had just finished re-reading the two Circle Quartets and was intrigued as to whether anything more had been done with the characters. Unfortunately, Pierce has fallen out of favour in the UK over the past ten years and finding a copy of Will of the Empress proved difficult. It took me moving to a new borough before I managed to locate one in my, now local, library system. It seems a shame that so many libraries are facing closures and budget cuts when, sometimes, the only way to really enjoy reading is in your local library. I probably could have bought the book online if I’d wanted to but not everyone has the luxury of being able to buy something just to sample it. We have an amazing system that lets us take books, CDs, DVDs, and much more home on the basis of pure trust that we’ll bring it back. Why would we want to wreck and destroy that? Take away the libraries and you take away many peoples only access to literature and that is always a bad thing.
Many of my weekends as a child were spent roaming around my local library, picking up and discarding titles, before heading, usually with more than my allocated 14 books, to the checkout desk. My mum would often end up with half of her allowance used on my books. As soon as we stepped in the car, I was ploughing into the first title and would usually have finished at least two books by the first evening. The Diary of Anne Frank, Junk, C.S. Lewis, Little Women, Jacqueline Wilson and so many other great writers and novels were books that I first picked up off of library shelves. I would really hate to think that other children and teenagers are being deprived of the wonderful freedom that comes from reading, taking you out of your life and inhabiting somewhere more fantastical.
I’m sorry, I’ve rabbit-ed on. I would just be angry if Library funding problems caused them to begin closures. But enough of that for now.
So I read the Pierce. In a day. And then the next day I started on Lies by Michael Grant. FINALLY! I have been desperately waiting for this paperback to come out but I got bored waiting so I just reserved the hardback from the library (back to that wonderful library) and guess what? Finished that in a day too.
I am constantly in awe of teen fiction writers. I genuinely believe they have a much tougher job than writers of adult fiction since the teen is an infinitely harsher critic. A teenager (this is all generalisation, obviously) will pick up a book based on the blurb, or presentation or possibly that a friend has recommended it. They do not care what prizes it has won, or been nominated for. Once chosen, the teen will begin to read. If it doesn’t grab them in the first page, that’s it. The book is done for. There is no recapturing that first impression. An adult reader, however, will struggle through, spurred on by the Booker Win or the Everybody’s Talking About stand at their local bookstore. Writing for teens not only takes a killer idea, but it takes a killer pace. You can’t lose focus, because if you do, so will the teenager. They can bear a few pages of boring, even a few chapters, but a couple hundred pages are not going to cut it. I remember reading Tess of the D’Urbervilles at sixteen; I skipped 100 pages and still understood the story – obviously everything I’d missed had been filler.
With all that pressure, it’s understandable that teenage fiction is often more violent and sexualised than adult fiction; it has to be to draw and keep the attention. Most teenagers are well versed in the playground gossip version of sex, violence and drugs so giving them an informed adult perspective, through the medium of teenage narrators and characters is possibly a good strategy.
Any-who, I’m heading off topic and running on a bit so I think I’ll wrap it up here; Lies was an amazing book and now I’m just desperately waiting for Plague, the fourth book in the series. Not out till April - damn my impatience!
Farewell folks!
I haven’t read Tamora Pierce books in a while but I stumbled across this book when, a few months ago, I ‘Googled’ Pierce. I had just finished re-reading the two Circle Quartets and was intrigued as to whether anything more had been done with the characters. Unfortunately, Pierce has fallen out of favour in the UK over the past ten years and finding a copy of Will of the Empress proved difficult. It took me moving to a new borough before I managed to locate one in my, now local, library system. It seems a shame that so many libraries are facing closures and budget cuts when, sometimes, the only way to really enjoy reading is in your local library. I probably could have bought the book online if I’d wanted to but not everyone has the luxury of being able to buy something just to sample it. We have an amazing system that lets us take books, CDs, DVDs, and much more home on the basis of pure trust that we’ll bring it back. Why would we want to wreck and destroy that? Take away the libraries and you take away many peoples only access to literature and that is always a bad thing.
Many of my weekends as a child were spent roaming around my local library, picking up and discarding titles, before heading, usually with more than my allocated 14 books, to the checkout desk. My mum would often end up with half of her allowance used on my books. As soon as we stepped in the car, I was ploughing into the first title and would usually have finished at least two books by the first evening. The Diary of Anne Frank, Junk, C.S. Lewis, Little Women, Jacqueline Wilson and so many other great writers and novels were books that I first picked up off of library shelves. I would really hate to think that other children and teenagers are being deprived of the wonderful freedom that comes from reading, taking you out of your life and inhabiting somewhere more fantastical.
I’m sorry, I’ve rabbit-ed on. I would just be angry if Library funding problems caused them to begin closures. But enough of that for now.
So I read the Pierce. In a day. And then the next day I started on Lies by Michael Grant. FINALLY! I have been desperately waiting for this paperback to come out but I got bored waiting so I just reserved the hardback from the library (back to that wonderful library) and guess what? Finished that in a day too.
I am constantly in awe of teen fiction writers. I genuinely believe they have a much tougher job than writers of adult fiction since the teen is an infinitely harsher critic. A teenager (this is all generalisation, obviously) will pick up a book based on the blurb, or presentation or possibly that a friend has recommended it. They do not care what prizes it has won, or been nominated for. Once chosen, the teen will begin to read. If it doesn’t grab them in the first page, that’s it. The book is done for. There is no recapturing that first impression. An adult reader, however, will struggle through, spurred on by the Booker Win or the Everybody’s Talking About stand at their local bookstore. Writing for teens not only takes a killer idea, but it takes a killer pace. You can’t lose focus, because if you do, so will the teenager. They can bear a few pages of boring, even a few chapters, but a couple hundred pages are not going to cut it. I remember reading Tess of the D’Urbervilles at sixteen; I skipped 100 pages and still understood the story – obviously everything I’d missed had been filler.
With all that pressure, it’s understandable that teenage fiction is often more violent and sexualised than adult fiction; it has to be to draw and keep the attention. Most teenagers are well versed in the playground gossip version of sex, violence and drugs so giving them an informed adult perspective, through the medium of teenage narrators and characters is possibly a good strategy.
Any-who, I’m heading off topic and running on a bit so I think I’ll wrap it up here; Lies was an amazing book and now I’m just desperately waiting for Plague, the fourth book in the series. Not out till April - damn my impatience!
Farewell folks!
Monday 17 January 2011
Everybody Lies.
I seem drawn at the moment, to writing about lies and liars. I'm not sure why; I haven't been through anything traumatic, haven't come across a deluge of people lying. I have had a few conversations this week about the ethics of cheating (relationship wise) and it has got me thinking as to what is right and wrong. I recently found out a couple of people I know have had flings with people in relationships. Now these are friends that I respect and people whose judgement I really trust. It makes the whole situation very cloudy in my opinion. Anyway, I can't judge, I haven't been in that situation.
So, this was all to explain the possible reasons for my focus on telling lies. It's an interesting topic to explore, outside of the relationship context. What is considered an acceptable lie? Is there any such thing? Why do we feel the need to lie, or, conversely, to tell the truth? I lie. Not all the time but, sometimes, lies are necessary.
As House says, "It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies, the only variable is about what".
On that note, here is a recent (today) poem.
Against my cheek,
the pressure of her hand is painful,
bringing memories of similar hands in similar states.
Betrayer,
though she does not know it.
The word hangs like foggy air between us,
the syllables bouncing through my skull.
A friend - I have no rights to call her that,
she none to call me.
Yet,
against my cheek,
her hand is warm.
Perhaps the unsaid lies can be forgotten,
somehow a silent truce reached.
My vision blurs with him
softly taking her hand.
Rising, she leaves me,
the warm touch replaced by memories
of lips once soft for me.
It shall always be this,
lies and half-truths.
And him,
breaking her with kisses.
No title as of yet, possible one is Fake, although that may be to obvious.
So, this was all to explain the possible reasons for my focus on telling lies. It's an interesting topic to explore, outside of the relationship context. What is considered an acceptable lie? Is there any such thing? Why do we feel the need to lie, or, conversely, to tell the truth? I lie. Not all the time but, sometimes, lies are necessary.
As House says, "It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies, the only variable is about what".
On that note, here is a recent (today) poem.
Against my cheek,
the pressure of her hand is painful,
bringing memories of similar hands in similar states.
Betrayer,
though she does not know it.
The word hangs like foggy air between us,
the syllables bouncing through my skull.
A friend - I have no rights to call her that,
she none to call me.
Yet,
against my cheek,
her hand is warm.
Perhaps the unsaid lies can be forgotten,
somehow a silent truce reached.
My vision blurs with him
softly taking her hand.
Rising, she leaves me,
the warm touch replaced by memories
of lips once soft for me.
It shall always be this,
lies and half-truths.
And him,
breaking her with kisses.
No title as of yet, possible one is Fake, although that may be to obvious.
Sunday 16 January 2011
Nothing can break the bond between sisters .
SPOILERS ABOUND
I just finished Sister by Rosamund Lupton the other day and oh my god. It’s brilliant. One of a few books I picked up because everyone else was reading it and I absolutely loved it. It’s beautifully written and gripping right till the end.
“Nothing can break the bond between sisters ...When Beatrice gets a frantic call in the middle of Sunday lunch to say that her younger sister, Tess, is missing, she boards the first flight home to London. But as she learns about the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, she is stunned to discover how little she actually knows of her sister's life - and unprepared for the terrifying truths she must now face. The police, Beatrice's fiancé and even their mother accept they have lost Tess but Beatrice refuses to give up on her. So she embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the truth, no matter the cost."
Taken from the blurb to the book (Lupton, 2010)
I have one problem with it however, namely the identity of the murderer, who turns out to be the lovely Doctor William. He just doesn’t seem the type and even at the end of the novel when his true nature is revealed, it just seems out of character. Maybe I’m being a little naïve in wanting to believe that if someone seems good then they are but I suppose you could also argue for artistic licence here as well; we only ever see one side of William, never any nuanced shades.
Regardless of a few niggles, the book is amazing and really draws you into one woman’s desperate struggle to put her sister to rest.
I just finished Sister by Rosamund Lupton the other day and oh my god. It’s brilliant. One of a few books I picked up because everyone else was reading it and I absolutely loved it. It’s beautifully written and gripping right till the end.
“Nothing can break the bond between sisters ...When Beatrice gets a frantic call in the middle of Sunday lunch to say that her younger sister, Tess, is missing, she boards the first flight home to London. But as she learns about the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, she is stunned to discover how little she actually knows of her sister's life - and unprepared for the terrifying truths she must now face. The police, Beatrice's fiancé and even their mother accept they have lost Tess but Beatrice refuses to give up on her. So she embarks on a dangerous journey to discover the truth, no matter the cost."
Taken from the blurb to the book (Lupton, 2010)
I have one problem with it however, namely the identity of the murderer, who turns out to be the lovely Doctor William. He just doesn’t seem the type and even at the end of the novel when his true nature is revealed, it just seems out of character. Maybe I’m being a little naïve in wanting to believe that if someone seems good then they are but I suppose you could also argue for artistic licence here as well; we only ever see one side of William, never any nuanced shades.
Regardless of a few niggles, the book is amazing and really draws you into one woman’s desperate struggle to put her sister to rest.
Friday 7 January 2011
They is closing down the centre!
So, a fun announcement to start off the New Year with: HMV and Waterstones shutting shop on 60 stores. Not a good thing but hopefully, it'll keep the chains running a little longer. Even if I don't shop there, I still like having those stores on the High Street to browse through. And I suppose I do shop there sometimes. Anyway, enough of that. Onto my latest acquisitions.
I finally found a copy, and finished, my book club selection - The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore. I'll leave most of my comments aside until Book Club comes and goes (planning to write a regular piece after each month's meeting) but generally I liked it. Very odd, but its nice to have a different kind of Christmas story.
Onwards and upwards - I finally joined the library in my new town! December was much too manic to try and get it done but it has been driving me crazy, not having any access to new books, even if I do still have a small mountain at home to devour. The library, unfortunately, is exceedingly poor. For something that calls itself the 'Central' library, its range of books, its organisation and its generally depressing decoration make it somewhere I really don't want to spend a lot of time. Luckily, living in a London borough means I do have access to libraries in 11 other London boroughs as well as my own. Thank god for small mercies. Needless to say, most of my book browsing will be done online, only venturing forth once I know books I want are in stock. I know the Government/Councils are pulling a lot of funding from the Library System and, while this is a terrible thing, you can see why no one visits when they look like my one. They need dedicated, passionate staff (who will be more so with a decent salary) and some cold hard cash spent on new books and sprucing the buildings up. Seriously, give me a couple of grand and some able volunteers and I'm sure that I could do wonders with the places.
The one book I did pick up on my first trip was a teen fiction one (I had to take something home) and I was quite pleased with the outcome. If I Stay by Gayle Forman, is the story of a teenage girl who is almost killed in a car crash. With her body in a critical condition in the hospital, Mia's spirit (no better word for it really) is left to decide: to live or die, to give in, give up or to stay and fight. The book details Mia going back over her life, and watching the people she loves by her bedside, as she desperately tries to make a decision. Mia's tale, borne out of a real life incident in Forman's life, where friends died in a car crash, strikes home and leaves us to decide (in the words of Jodi Picoult): what would you do?
So January is starting off well for books; I've finished... (counting in my head)...three new books this year, and it's only the 7th. I've also watched a few new-ish films and finally started the third season of In Treatment (mainly because everything else is on Thanksgiving/Christmas/Holiday Season hiatus). It's good but I haven't really watched enough episodes yet to build up a massive interest - it's been too long since I watched Seasons One and Two. So In Treatment is back on the 'Watching' list and, very annoyingly, Boardwalk Empire is off it. I have the episodes (Iphone compatible) but, apparently, ITunes has taken a dislike to them and refuses to acknowledge their existence. And people wonder why I don't like Apple products? ITunes is the biggest waste of RAM I've ever encountered to be honest.
There is more to come, but this post is getting a little longer than I'd like so I shall wrap up and continue on later.
I finally found a copy, and finished, my book club selection - The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore. I'll leave most of my comments aside until Book Club comes and goes (planning to write a regular piece after each month's meeting) but generally I liked it. Very odd, but its nice to have a different kind of Christmas story.
Onwards and upwards - I finally joined the library in my new town! December was much too manic to try and get it done but it has been driving me crazy, not having any access to new books, even if I do still have a small mountain at home to devour. The library, unfortunately, is exceedingly poor. For something that calls itself the 'Central' library, its range of books, its organisation and its generally depressing decoration make it somewhere I really don't want to spend a lot of time. Luckily, living in a London borough means I do have access to libraries in 11 other London boroughs as well as my own. Thank god for small mercies. Needless to say, most of my book browsing will be done online, only venturing forth once I know books I want are in stock. I know the Government/Councils are pulling a lot of funding from the Library System and, while this is a terrible thing, you can see why no one visits when they look like my one. They need dedicated, passionate staff (who will be more so with a decent salary) and some cold hard cash spent on new books and sprucing the buildings up. Seriously, give me a couple of grand and some able volunteers and I'm sure that I could do wonders with the places.
The one book I did pick up on my first trip was a teen fiction one (I had to take something home) and I was quite pleased with the outcome. If I Stay by Gayle Forman, is the story of a teenage girl who is almost killed in a car crash. With her body in a critical condition in the hospital, Mia's spirit (no better word for it really) is left to decide: to live or die, to give in, give up or to stay and fight. The book details Mia going back over her life, and watching the people she loves by her bedside, as she desperately tries to make a decision. Mia's tale, borne out of a real life incident in Forman's life, where friends died in a car crash, strikes home and leaves us to decide (in the words of Jodi Picoult): what would you do?
So January is starting off well for books; I've finished... (counting in my head)...three new books this year, and it's only the 7th. I've also watched a few new-ish films and finally started the third season of In Treatment (mainly because everything else is on Thanksgiving/Christmas/Holiday Season hiatus). It's good but I haven't really watched enough episodes yet to build up a massive interest - it's been too long since I watched Seasons One and Two. So In Treatment is back on the 'Watching' list and, very annoyingly, Boardwalk Empire is off it. I have the episodes (Iphone compatible) but, apparently, ITunes has taken a dislike to them and refuses to acknowledge their existence. And people wonder why I don't like Apple products? ITunes is the biggest waste of RAM I've ever encountered to be honest.
There is more to come, but this post is getting a little longer than I'd like so I shall wrap up and continue on later.
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.
So a new year dawns.
Bringing with it regrets? Resolutions?
It certainly gives us a sense of newness, even if nothing physically changes. The calendar moves forward one more day, as it always does and we simply interpret it as a new beginning, a fresh start.
For me, I suppose, I'm trying to see it as that. It's a whole new year, with endless possibilities and no painful memories. Not that every year has those, or doesn't, it's just nice to have an (almost) blank slate.
For example, although I don't have resolutions as such, I do have a few goals for the year. And while some of them do involve this blog, a lot of them don't. I heard somewhere that if you tell people what you want to achieve, you're less likely to succeed, so I'm going to attempt to keep my goals to myself. That way, if I fail, no one but me will know.
Knowing me, this won't last long. Although I'm great with other people's secrets, I'm terrible at keeping my own. I think I have a slightly narcissistic personality; I like to think people are thinking or talking about me. That's probably really awful but I can't help it.
Anyway, like I said, some of the goals are to do with this blog and those I will attempt to begin within the next month (I'm giving myself a laaaaaarge timeframe).
One think I do need help with though is figuring out how to add a new page onto my blog. Google here I come!
Bringing with it regrets? Resolutions?
It certainly gives us a sense of newness, even if nothing physically changes. The calendar moves forward one more day, as it always does and we simply interpret it as a new beginning, a fresh start.
For me, I suppose, I'm trying to see it as that. It's a whole new year, with endless possibilities and no painful memories. Not that every year has those, or doesn't, it's just nice to have an (almost) blank slate.
For example, although I don't have resolutions as such, I do have a few goals for the year. And while some of them do involve this blog, a lot of them don't. I heard somewhere that if you tell people what you want to achieve, you're less likely to succeed, so I'm going to attempt to keep my goals to myself. That way, if I fail, no one but me will know.
Knowing me, this won't last long. Although I'm great with other people's secrets, I'm terrible at keeping my own. I think I have a slightly narcissistic personality; I like to think people are thinking or talking about me. That's probably really awful but I can't help it.
Anyway, like I said, some of the goals are to do with this blog and those I will attempt to begin within the next month (I'm giving myself a laaaaaarge timeframe).
One think I do need help with though is figuring out how to add a new page onto my blog. Google here I come!
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