Read ‘The Corrections’ by Jonathan Franzen. Felt apathetic.

Read ‘Freedom’ by Jonathan Franzen about 20 months later and loved it!

Put off reading it for so long because of the so dislikable characters in Corrections but really, really, the characters in Freedom really captured me! They were so real, recognisable and utterly human. Messy mixes of good, bad, beautiful and ugly.

This is a story of marriage and family. It mainly follows Patty and Walter Berglund as they navigate the process of learning to love eachother. Honestly. It is a heartwrenching, funny and moving story. A great read. Very much a slice of life, kind of book.

You can bypass the Corrections but you can’t miss this one.

Other post modern reads you might like:
‘The Slap’ by Chris Tsolkas
‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ by Jonathan Safran Foer
‘The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt
Anything written by Michael Chabon 

Sorry that it has taken me so long to get onto reading this…. you see, it is rather a long story…

I didn’t have the cash to buy any new books and asked my mum if she wanted to read ‘The Casual Vacancy’ and if so, would she please buy it so that I could read it too?
Polite, I think.
Anyway, she buys it…

AND GIVES IT TO MY SISTER. Who has since devoured it, lost the dust cover and given it to her boyfriend.

So I bought my own copy.

And it was worth it. This story could not be much more different than the Harry Potter Series, (although you get glimpses of modern British life in scenes with Dudley Dursley). This story is about small town England, about the comings and goings of the members of the town, the town council and a block of ‘project housing’ nearby.  

It is about poverty and addiction and pointing the finger… who is to blame for all the tragedies that happen daily? 

It took me awhile to come to grips with the abundance of characters but by half way through I was almost addicted to this book as I was to Harry and Pals. A great read. 

Sometimes I do this naughty thing where I read the last few pages of the book when I am only half way through. I definitely shouldn’t have done that here… definitely not.

A captivatingly written novel (as you can see… see how long it took me to read it!) of a brother and sister who share an unusually intimate relationship. Toby is the brother, Elenor the sister. Toby is sent off to fight in WW1 and dies and Elenor cannot be at peace until she finds out how he died.

This book portrayed the visceral, horrible reality of fighting at the front lines of a World War more than any other book I have read. And I have read a lot which concern WW1 and 2. I felt the damp, the heat, I smelt the smells and imagined myself cramped in cattle trucks or crouched in a trench. This is a book to help you never forget.

I want to read more of Pat Barkers work, I am intrigued.

Other books set during/ after the world wars which you may like reading:
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - by Louis de Bernieres (get past the first third and you’re away flying)
A Pale View of the Hills - by Kazuo Ishiguro
Catch 22 - by Joseph Heller
Ship of Brides - by Jojo Moyes
Coming Home - by Rosamund Pilcher
The Book Thief - by Markus Zusak
 

A small piece of the world in a novel. This is a tale of brotherhood, medicine, tradgedy, estrangement, ‘a country in turmoil’ and love. Its span reaches from Ethiopia to India to America and comes with a large cast of intricate characters.

Two siamese twin brothers, separated at birth are thrown apart through tragic circumstances and brought together through similarly tragic ones. This personal story sits within the larger stories of military coups in Ethopia and the state of the medical systems in Africa and America. Beware of graphic surgical scenes - made me feel a tad queezy.

What would be a real bonus to some but was a deterrent for me was that this book reads more like a biography than the fictional novel that it is. I don’t do well with non-fiction. It is the kind of book to buy for someone who usually reads memoirs or autobiographies.

Other books you may like:
‘White Swans’ - Jung Chang
‘Angela’s Ashes’ - Frank McCourt
‘The Heavenly Man’ - Brother Yun
‘Ines of My Soul’ - Isabel Allende
 

A little slow to start and dragging its heels at the end, this book was nevertheless full of gripping intrigue and juicy details throughout its centre.

Set in Edwardian England, this story follows a man unlawfully imprisoned (George) and a famous novelist (Arthur) who takes on the detective skills of his most famous character (Sherlock Holmes) to help bring justice about.

Imagine a courtroom drama, mixed with historical biography and lashings of mystery… the kind of book that people, who don’t usually like fiction, would gladly read… and for lovers of fiction, it is a bit of a page turner and a good holiday read.

If you liked this, you might also like:
The stories of Sherlock Holmes, in their various forms of publication by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The various mysteries of Agatha Christie (she is alluded to in this book also!)
Memories and Adventures - Autobiographical - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
 

Exquisite and Devastating are disarmingly brilliant words for describing this novella. With subtlety and attention to detail, nuance and sexual tension, McEwan describes the wedding night of two young, inhibited virgins in the 1960s.

Their worries and thoughts are revealed to the reader but kept from each other. As the night whirled to its climax, I was immersed with the deep tradgedy of all that can be lost through missunderstanding and the simple act of silence.

Love is something to fight for.

The only other book which I felt as gently coaxed into sadness through was:
‘The Remains of the Day’ by Kazuo Ishiguro 

An excellent second novel and in every way, just as enjoyable as ‘Q&A’. I devoured this book. Set in modern day India, this book begins with the death of a millionaire playboy and follows this six arrested suspects, detailing their motives and lives. An Indian whodunnit, with all the colour and flavour of a Bollywood movie.

In a way, this book is about the depravity of modern society where justice is not upheld; a society where Ghandi’s seven social sins are common occurances:
Politics without Principle
Wealth without Work
Knowledge without Character
Commerce without Morality
Science without Humanity
Worship without Sacrifice
Pleasure without Conscience 

If you liked Q&A read this!

Rosamund Pilcher is truly a pleasure to read. This is the kind of book you curl up with on a cold winter’s night with a large cup of cocoa or a large pot of tea.

The story follows a young girl called Judith as she moves from childhood to adulthood, before, during and after WW2. The novel is set largely in Cornwall, a place which Rosamund Pilcher evocatively portrays. I felt as though I absolutely wanted to be there, to feel the fresh wind on my face and to stand on a cliff overlooking the clear sea, before heading to a local pub for some Cornish pasties.

One of Rosamund Pilcher’s strengths is her attention to detail, she makes you believe in the setting she creates among the pages of this book. Another of her strengths is her ability to portray character after character after character without making you feel overwhelmed. Instead, I felt as though I knew each of her characters intimately and became engrossed in their lives. She is a masterfull storyteller.

Other Masterfull Storytellers that I love:
Bryce Courtenay
Isabelle Allende
Margaret Atwood
Enid Blyton
Sarah Waters