Book group
I like to read, no secret there, and even with my Harry Potter fix I have managed to fit in another couple of boxs.
One: The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank
Two: The Olive Readers by Christine Aziz
So, number one ' The Wonder Spot'; this is Ms Banks' second novel and I've read her first too. This one is pretty much in the same vein - lead female character who doesn't really know where her life and career is going and how she relates to the men in her life. I liked this sort of book about 7 years ago which is when I read the first one, this time round, it just seemed a bit old. It has merit in a sense, but not something I'm going to be recommending left, right and centre. She does make a couple of good points though: 1) when she visits an art gallery with her family, Sophie (lead character), complains that there are no gift shops and her brothers retort is 'Galleries are girt shops'. What a great reply. I really like that idea. 2) Ms Banks says some interesting things about where you find yourself in life with your career and it kind of resonates with me at the moment. 'At work and on the street, in the subway and on the bus, in restaurants, drugstores, and dry cleaners, I looked around me and thought, few are called . Almost nobody was. Robert had been called to be a doctor, Francine Lawlor an editor, Adam had always known he wanted to be a playwright. But they were the exceptions. I was like everyone else; I fell into a job, and I worked at it. It didn't seem wrong to want more, but it was wrong to expect it to be delivered'. That sounds about right...
Number 2: This book is an absolute gem. I picked it up in the bookshop ages ago and then put it down and then picked it up again. The reason for this: the sticker on the front recommending this book as part of a Richard and Judy TV thing - not really a good recommendation in my mind. How wrong I was. This book has a bit of an interesting history ala Richard and Judy. They hosted a nationwide competition looking for new authors. Authors were asked to send in the first chapter of their book with a synopsis of where the book would go. After 5 months of competition and reading 46,000 entries, 5 'winners' were chosen, with the ultimate winner (prize to be published) being Christine Aziz. She definitely deserved to win. Yes, I haven't read the others (the other 4 winners were also published), but this is a quality book. It has a lovely style of writing and you can get really into the story which is a futuristic look at the world and how we will be in a few hundred years. The Earth has suffered at the hands of global warming and after the 'fall out' the Earth is in the hands of the 'corporations'. It is a mix of 1984, Blade Runner and the olive readers. Very interesting concept and deftly handled. Go and read this book!!!
posted by Yogini @ 11:57 am
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home