Reading Update: 1/4 of 2011

I am rather boastful when it comes to talking about books I've read. Past attempts to keep lists have usually fallen flat on their backsides. However I have got into the habit of keeping 2011's reads in a Google Doc which I can access each time I open my email (which is far too often). My reading tastes have been graphic novels of late. I find them rather fast and easy to read; I can usually polish one off in half an hour. Him Indoors got me a Kindle for my birthday and I have been downloading a lot of the classics I should have read years ago, like Pride and Prejudice. Unfortunately I have been somewhat distracted by easier reads. My brain finds it difficult to process the writing styles pre-mid 20th century when I'm tired. As I do most of my reading at night, this can slow my reading intake. There has been one book that kept me way up past my bedtime though.

That book has to be Any Human Heart by William Boyd. I love whacking huge literary books, especially ones that span decades. The portaginst is Logan Mountstuart and the novel is written in the format of his "personal diaries." I had to keep checking the back cover to make sure it was indeed a work of fiction. We follow Mountstuart through his time at Oxford, reporting on the Spanish Civil War, his sour friendship with Edward VI and Wallace Simpson, the knowledge that 'it all comes down to luck in the end. That's all it [life] is: good luck and bad luck.' 


Here's my list so far: 

January
1. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
2. A Week in December - Sebastian Faulks
3. Isabel Dalhouise: The Lost Art of Gratitude  - Alexander McCall Smith
4. The Election - Tom Percotta
5. Dead White Men and other Important People - Ralph Fevre and Angus Bancroft (DNF) *

February
6. Any Human Heart - William Boyd
7. Y The Last Man Vol. One: Unmaned - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra and Pamela Rambo
8. The Abstinence Teacher - Tom Percotta
9. Hope for Newborns - Rodge Glass (DNF) *

March

10. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
11 Y The Last Man Vol. Two: Cycles - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra and Pamela Rambo
12. Y The Last Man Vol. Three: One Small Step - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra and Pamela Rambo
13. The Walking Dead Vol. Nine: Here We Remain - Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn and Robert Kirkman
14. Y The Last Man Vol. Four: Safeword - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra and Pamela Rambo
15. Y The Last Man Book Five: Ring of Truth - Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra and Pamela Rambo

*DNF = Did Not Finish

January 2011: Books read

I have been trying (again) to keep a list of books I have been reading this year. Google Docs is very handy for this because I usually have a Gmail tab open on my browser. According to my list I have only read five books so far; one of which I did not finish. 

Here's the guilty list here:

1. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
2. A Week in December - Sebastian Faulks
3. Isabel Dalhouise: The Lost Art of Gratitude  - Alexander McCall Smith
5. The Election - Tom Percotta
6. Dead White Men and other Important People - Ralph Fevre and Angus Bancroft (DNF)

Currently I am chomping my way through Any Human Heart by William Boyd. I confess to being a reading snob and assumed that Boyd's writing catered for a certain market. The covers of his books seemed a tad glossy and I thought they may have been an upmarket blokey version of chick lit. I am glad to report that I am wrong. Any Human Heart follows Logan Mountstuart as he travels through the 1920s at Oxford, 1930s working as a writer, 1940s as his time in the Royal Navy and 1950s/60s working at an art gallery in New York. The novel is written in a journal format and it works very well. At times I almost forget that I am reading a work of fiction.

Need to get back into the habit of writing reviews more often. My OU course encourages this and has a nice little checklist of things to think about. I may not do this for every book but it's a good start.

Next Stage

I cannot believe it is almost the end of June. This month has zipped by, probably because I have been busy. This month I have:

• Gone on holiday to Yorkshire for a week
• Avoided my dissertation
• Went to a local writer's group 
• Found a new flat to move into with Him Indoors
• Put in a fair bit of overtime at Work Wot Pays Me
• Started putting some work into my dissertation

Alas my reading record for June has not been very good. Only five books read so far and two WIPs. My WIPs are:

Both are quite big volumes. I started Wolf Hall when on holiday and have been slowly making my way through it. Its size makes it unsuitable for a commute/work breaktime read and I have been reading it in bed. I love books about the Tudor period and Mantel has done an excellent job of this one. She takes established historical figures, such as Wolsey and Cromwell, and makes them into living, breathing people. Only 170 pages in and I can see why she won the Booker Prize for this.

On another note, the booking for the Edinburgh Book Festival opened yesterday. Surprisingly I managed to get access to it at 10am and booked tickets to see the almighty Lionel Shriver. Funds this year mean financially I could only afford to attend one 'paid' event. Shriver won hands down. Cargo Publishing is hosting a free showcase of new Scottish writing one evening so I may venture through for that. Unfortunately the Book Festival is a tiny bit too close to the dissertation hand in date (31st August) so I might be limited for time to play.

This afternoon I'm going to watch the England v Germany match at a friend's house. Alas I am working early tomorrow so it will be a tame time (for me anyway). Him Indoors has volunteered to make a complex dinner (Leek and Cheese Souffles) so there might be time for some book reviews later on. Cannae wait.

May Reads Round Up

May 2010

1. After the Fire - Karen Campbell
2. The Tin-Kin - Eleanor Thom
3. The Declaration - Gemma Malley
4. Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger
5. A Perfectly Good Family - Lionel Shriver
6. Plan B - Emily Barr
7. The Mobile Library: Mr Dixon Disappears - Ian Sansom
8. So Much For That - Lionel Shriver

Sadly I stayed up a bit later on Monday (last day in May) to finish off my last read, So Much For That. My lack of reading n' reviewing activity should pick up after the lack of activity that was May. After my exam I reverted to my usual lazy state. May saw more social invitations and overtime at work so I haven't been at home too much.

I'm quite pleased that I am sticking to my rule of only reading female writers. The exception is Ian Sansom, purely because it was a ILL. There's an outstanding Library Loot post I should really get round to writing. It may not surprise people to know that one of my library requests includes a time management book.

What?!

Lately I have been keeping a note of books I've read in a Google Doc file. This evening I checked it to add a book to the list. According to this list I have only read six books so far in May! Which is a shocking state of affairs.

Hopefully June will be a more fruitful month.

(Belated) Library Loot: 20th April - 27th April

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

Belated post this week due to looming deadline. Then I had a revision session on Tuesday and a dissertation meeting yesterday that sent my head spinning a little.

Onto Library Loot! As I have mentioned in previous posts I have access to two libraries. One is located in the Current District I live in. The other is Next Door To Current District; where I grew up. Both libraries have their pros and cons. One district charges for Inter Library Loans; the other doesn't. One charges more for late fines (oops!) than the other. The list goes on.

This week's loot comes from Next Door Library. It has recently been refurbished and I was feeling nostalgia when I went there. Hence the large number of YA fiction present:



I am trying very hard to avoid this book until after my exam. There have been some mixed reviews and I have a feeling I might be sucked in by the story. So this book will be hanging out on my TBR table for some time.



Another pick from the library selection table (am awfully fond of them!). It's a novel about the Victorian period (tick!) and is about Spiritualism (double tick!) and torrid affairs (ding, we have a winner!). The Crimson Petal and the White appears to have me addicted to this genre of fiction. I don't think Cover the Mirrors will be as awesome as The Crimson.... was but I can keep my fingers crossed.





I loved Paula Danziger when I was a teen. She used to have a book slot on a Saturday morning kid's show called Live and Kicking. Her outfits were always cool with big earrings and chunky jewellery. She may have been responsible for my own fascination with similar accessories. Alas I could not carry them off as well. These books have been a nice distraction although seem a little dated now. Not many teen girls these days would go out on a date wearing a nice sweater and jeans. But the humour is still there with the silly pranks (such as Super Glue-ing everything in the school building). Need to find out if I still have these at my parents' house:

Library Loot 13th-19th April 2010

I've had some time on my hands lately. This time really should be spent doing coursework but I like to work under pressure. As a distraction, I have been wandering around various book blogs and stumbled upon this rather interesting idea:


Library Loot which is a wonderful idea from Eva at A Striped Armchair.

My low funds mean I have started using my local library for books. Usually I bought them from Amazon Marketplace but I cannot justify that expense any longer. Last week I requested Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins and recieved a phone call to say it was in. Yesterday was a surprisingly sunny day so I decided to wander down and collect my book. My local library is only 10 minutes walk from my flat. It's rather small but I was surprised how busy it was.

It's the Easter school holidays and the children's book department was full of toddlers, tweenagers, ratty parents and babes chewing on book corners. The available computers were all in use by the time I left. Turning a corner, I stumbled upon a book group having tea and a good old natter about the book they had been reading. Yes, it might be a small library but it was a used library. And there's nothing nicer than seeing a library in use.

The other advantage to the library is the book displays. I try to read a range of fiction but dislike Amazon's marketing choices sent to my email. One stand appeared to be devoted to How to Use.... books with an emphasis on Web 2.0 such as Twitter and Blogging. They are rather short books but I was amused to see printed books as a resource for Web based tools.

But hey, you want to know what I chose, right? Two books came from the The Herald/Tesco Summer Read campaign. The readers are either all Scottish or based in Scotland (Alexander McCall Smith for one) and small presses are represented as well as big sellers.

Finally (I hear you cry!) here is my library loot for this week:




(These two came from the library stand.)







It is doubtful I will get all of these read this week. Surviving and Corduroy Mansions are both two week loans whilst the rest are four week loans. Currently these books are proving good distraction techniques from looming deadlines.

Sunday Salon: Writing on the Page

I started writing my response to this post on my Facebook profile but I felt I could squeeze a blog post out of it. For the link-phobic, the article concerns the issue of unrelated marginalia. The author goes beyond annotating the text to using a book as a temporary notepad (repository?) of their immediate thoughts. One such tale includes a scribbled note to phone someone. Now they cannot remember why they needed to contact this person but it remains a constant reminder of a point in their life.

Sometimes I am not sure where I stand on annotated books. Books have always been precious objects to me. In primary school I lent a so-called friend pristine copies of my Roald Dahl books to read in class. Two months they came back, tatty, dog eared, one cover even ripped. Even now, that moment when she handed my prized possessions back to me still brings a small lump to my throat.

Then I started university and had a massive reading load to battle with. Luckily I could afford to buy most core texts but still refrained from writing in the margins; preferring to make my notes on paper. Then I got a Sociology teacher; probably one of the best teachers I have ever had. Her class had a mouthful of a title (Titles of Comparative Sociological Thought and Theory, to paraphrase) but she had taught a previous class in Sociological Theory that I had been rather impressed by. I signed up and went to the first class. There the teacher said it would be "extremely" helpful to annotate the texts that we were studying. "Bring a pencil, do it in pen, use those colour tabs, anything! Even buy a cheap second hand copy," she told us. Now, one problem I have with annotation is that I have big, messy handwriting. On an average line of paper I maybe fit five-six words; less if I'm in a lecture and writing fast. So I took a deep breath and got my pencil out. To make a confession, I rather enjoyed it. The text I remember most was Persian Letters by Montesquieu. My copy is still somewhere in my mountains of books and has notes scrawled all over it. It makes me happy seeing them; reminding me at one time I loved and enjoyed studying Sociology.

However I have not continued annotating every book I own. My reading taste is dominantly contemporary fiction and I enjoy analysing in my head, as I go. Sometimes I annotate a text for studying (if my camera hadn't died I would have posted one of my course textbooks that has a forest of colour tabs growing out of it). I especially enjoying doing so to printed out journal articles. But I would never do so with a library text. It still narks me when I get a book out the library and someone has left their notes written in the text. Or, worse, highlighted passages. It's very distracting if I'm reading the same text but for different purposes.

At the same time, my stance seems hypocritical when you consider my Bookcrossing habits. For those who don't know, Bookcrossing is a website that tracks books. When you register a book, it is given its own unique tracking number called a BCID that needs to be written or recorded on the book. You can simply write the number on the book or stick a bookplate into the book that captures the same information. A lot of Bookcrossers have similar feelings to mine. "You want me to do what to my books? Write on them, stick labels in them, good Lord!"

A theme that keeps cropping up on my course is the sanctity of the text, or specifically, the printed book. As a potential archivist, it is part of my job to look at objects, manuscripts, notebooks, journals, anything to assess its uniqueness and importance for future study. Take your bog standard printed book, Mass Paperback by A.N. Other. Typically it will not be accessioned by an archive. But what if this book belonged to Barack Obama in his student years and, being the rebel he is, coated the book in his own annotations of his thoughts and feelings? In that example it is the information that matters, not the medium it is recorded on.

In an attempt to conclude, I am not promoting the mass annotation and defacement of books. Even in this 'age' of the e-book, many readers still favour the interaction with the physical object of the book; the touch of the page, the smell, the spotted front cover. Shared texts should not be actively annotated. For a new reader, this can interrupt their interaction with the text, that wonderful feeling of entering a new world that books open up. But for your own personal collection? Go wild. Annotate, highlight, scribble. Alas I will not be joining you (she of the messy handwriting) but I wish you well and God speed.

Sunday Salon: January Round Up

Highlights so far:

Sookie Stackhouse
I finished the most recent addition to the True Blood saga. This is probably the first time I have dipped my toe into the paranormal fiction genre and completed my mission (Twilight ended in a ball of fire and an unfinished read). Dead and Gone has a 'Final Battle' feel to it and I'm not sure where Harris is going to go after this. The book opens with the Weres/shape shifters coming out of the closet. And the small matter of a murder occurring in the backyard of Merlottes. Believe it or not, Sookie has more pressing concerns such as mad, bad fairies turning up. Thoroughly enjoyed this adventure and read it almost in one sitting. Now I just have to wait for series 3 of True Blood later this year *grumbles*

The Believers by Zoe Heller
Absolutely loved this book. It's a short read (comes in at just over 300 pages) and follows the Litvinoff family in New York. The patriarch, Joel, suffers a massive stroke and this provides the framework to explore the relationships in his family. Audrey: his hypocritical Socialist wife. Rosa: their eldest daughter who is looking to religion to answer her empty life. Kara: the youngest girl who is stuck in a loveless marriage, trying for a baby. Lenny: the adopted and feckless younger son.

Heller has such a fantastic way of writing that highlights the flaws of characters. Kara's weakness for high calorie snacks, Audrey's nasty and downright cruel temper. The Believers is an adpt title for the book as Joel's stroke provides a stimulus for his family to question the very (shaky) foundations its based upon.

Despite this, the book does have a bittersweet ending. I found myself cheering for one particular character and mentally jumping up and down, waving pom poms. Although I was surprised Heller chose to end the narrative at that particular point. Was it, perhaps, to convey a small sense of hope and optimism for the characters she had created?

Go read it. Go on, I dares you :)

The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Farber

Finally finished this door stopper of a book last week. My creative writing tutor had warned us about the ending. Silly thing to say but it just ends. Although you can guess what happens, Farber doesn't explicitly show us where some of the characters end up. It is nice to read something in which you're not spoon fed an ending but it did leave me wanting more.

The language and sometimes explicit sex scenes may put some people off but please read past this. In the later stages of the book, it truly doesn't matter and there's very little sex that takes place. An important feature of the narrative due to the changing role of Sugar, the book's prostitute and some may call her the heroine of the book too.

February looks like it's going to be the month of the Millennium trilogy for me. I broke my aversion to buying hardbacks and used some Christmas money to buy The Girl Who Kicked A Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson. Already I've been sucked into the final installment of the lives of Lisbeth Salander and Michkel Blomskiv. It does make me sad that we won't see any more from these books due to Larsson's untimely death.

Finally, I was saddened to hear of the passing of JD Salinger. Thank you, sir, for writing The Catcher in the Rye. I read it when I was 12, didn't understand it very well but numerous re-reads later and Holden Caulfield has a small place in my heart. A glass will be raised in his honour this evening.

Sunday Salon: Shameful how it has been

One of my new year resolutions was to try and update my blog each week to contribute to the Sunday Salon which a fellow blogger introduced me to. The idea is simple (like all good ideas). Each Sunday imagine you're bustling about a busy reading room and sharing ideas about what you have read that week.

My last post was in January (!) so instead I shall be content with updating about the two recent reads that have made an impact on me, The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larson.

The 19th Wife was a misleading book. From the blurb on the back, it looks like a book dealing with a murder in a contemporary Mormon sect that still follows the laws of polygamy. Actually it's a comprehensive book dealing with 'manuscripts' from the 19th century, centering on Ann Eliza Young who was the 19th wife (well, not exactly, there appears to be a lot of debate on that topic) of Brigham Young, who lead the Mormon movement after the death of its founder, Joseph Smith.

Esbershoff flits between manuscripts, letters and archived documents (no doubt with their basis in truth but something he's allowed his imagination to run riot with) as well as the modern day story involving Jordan. The book opens with Jordan, an outcast member of this sect, reading on the Internet his mother has been arrested for the murder of his father. Jordan was outcast from the sect a number of years before for holding hands with one of his many sisters, although it is later revealed in the book that Jordan is gay. Another no-no for this sect. At first, I thought this book would fail my 50 page rule. The sections with Jordan seemed clumsy, that anyone could have written then. Without the story to unravel, there was nothing to keep me here.

Then Esbershoff moved onto the manuscript belonging to Ann Eliza and from there I couldn't put the book down. He paints a very vivid picture of individuals involved with the initial stages of the Mormon faith, the fragmentation of the faith (and before everyone flames me, yes I do know that the section that believes in multiple marriages is in the minority. Alas, that story sells more newspapers) and very believable female characters. I tend to find female characters written by a male writer don't always ring true but Esbershoff hit the nail on the head. Also, the added introduction 'written' by Harriet Beecher Stowe was a nice touch as well.

This book was a real page turner and I was almost disappointed when we returned to the present to Jordan's story. The manuscripts chapters provided an interesting contrast between the hopes of the founders of the faith to what people have warped it into. Certainly a book with food for thought and will certainly spark a lively discussion.

And now I have poured my coffee, turned the washing machine onto to spin and Him Indoors has been roused from his slumbers, I shall turn to my next book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson.

I picked this book up out of mere curiosity and the hype surrounding it. Larsson died not long after he completed his third manuscript in this series (called Millenium) so it has that edge of sadness over a living author (especially one that died so recently). According to his bio, he was a leading authority on right-wing politics and this shines through in this book.

The story opens with Mikael Blomkvist, a Swedish journalist who has been charged with libel against a Swedish industrialist suspected of foul play. He is offered a chance to get away from it all, by Henrik Vanger, another Swedish industrialist. Mikael's 'cover' job is to write a biographical history of the Vanger family, with all its skeletons, including many colourful right-wing family members who were part of the Nazi movement in Sweden. In reality, he has been asked to investigate the disappearance/possible murder of Harriet Vanger in the 1970s. What follows is a roller coaster ride as Mikael battles to solve the mystery as well as attempting to save his floundering magazine, Millenium, which is suffering badly after the libel case.

I really don't want to reveal too much more of the story apart from two elements. One, the twist had my jaw drop open in disbelief, I simply sped through the final pages and was not disappointed. Two, Lizbeth Salander is a fascinating and troubled female character. Some of the scenes portraying some of the sexual abuse she suffers is horrifying but a small part of the militant feminist inside me cheered when she got her revenge.

A small warning: some parts of this book are extremely graphic and did turn my normally strong stomach. But Larsson is not merely using them for 'shock value', these incidents gel well within this story.

That's my lot for the week. My current read is continuing the Frost In May series (which I only discovered earlier this year) and whatever my course throws at me (starting tomorrow - weeeee!).

It's all about the style, dahling.

Due to that gap between full-time employment and being a full-time student, I have been spending a lot of time on the internets. I know, you never would have guessed! And one activity that has been taking up a lot of my time is Twitter.

When I first got the Internet (ah, my lovely AOL dial up account!) almost ten years ago, I did spend a fair amount on-line chatting or IMing people. As anyone who has used AOL as an ISP will tell you, it is geared towards this idea of 'social networking', in fact a good bit before I think a formal social networking site came along. MySpace doesn't count. But I did enjoy chit-chatting with other people, replacing my earlier fascination in life with pen-pals whom I wrote actual letters to. Very bizarre. I wonder if anyone under the age of 25 has pen-pals.

Yesterday I was adding people on Twitter that I found interesting. Predominantly fellow writers. I work on the principle that the more I am surrounded by a certain person or object, the more its 'usefulness' will rub off on me. That is how a fellow writer asked me a certain question: "what do you write? literature or the lighter stuff like crime, women's fiction, etc?"

I have to admit this question stumped me. I find the idea of 'literature' to be a rather loaded term. My friend Dictionary.com defines it as the following:

1.	writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays.

2.	the entire body of writings of a specific language, period, people, etc.: the literature of England.

3.	the writings dealing with a particular subject: the literature of ornithology.

4.	the profession of a writer or author.

5.	literary work or production.

6.	any kind of printed material, as circulars, leaflets, or handbills: literature describing company products.

7.	Archaic. polite learning; literary culture; appreciation of letters and books.

Now I find all of these definitions interesting. Perhaps the strongest case I can find for the definition of 'literature' is no. 7. To me this perhaps sums up the best case for literature. Or simply put the appreciation of books and letters. Should a reader feel guilty because they would choose Dan Brown over the latest AS Byatt? Should Bridget Jones's Diary be shunned from the halls of literature despite the response and the love its readers had for the protagonist? No, because they love the letters and words that make up their chosen writer's world.

I would like to point out I am not belittling the person who asked that question about. I am somewhat influenced by a current fireworks display going on in the world of Scottish literature sparked by this incident. In turn, this has lead to a number of Scottish crime writers coming out in defence of their genre. I'll admit this straight up, I am too thick to write a crime story. Or the gentler term is that I lack the lateral thinking to write a decent whodunit. The crime genre is something I dip in and out of as a reader but as a writer I shy away from it. Partly because everyone would guess immediately who had done it within two pages.

Going back to the posed question, I answered that my writing is 'dark'. And it is. For my Creative Writing class, my final submission for the class was a short story encompassing some of my more violent rants on the subject of mankind. My writing group has set a rather pleasant writing piece entitled What The Bee Saw. My first draft of that piece is turning into a World War II Spitfire style shoot out. Though I did try to start it off nice and cutesy *sighs*

My task for this week has been trying to get my handwritten notes and ideas onto the computer because I find it easier to continue with the plot, character, whatever spews forth from my pen. And, to be quite frank, I was really shocked at some of the things I had written. Now I know why my high school English teachers would gingerly hand me back creative writing pieces with the advice to make my stories less gruesome.

I can brood on things, God knows I can. I can naval gaze with the best of them. But even sometimes I step back from myself and think "Oh dear, I am very surprised you're not out there drowning hamsters." For someone who had a fairly normal and, let's face it, boring upbringing there is a lot of venom in the pen.

Is there a genre out there called 'dark'? Or will I have to edit my writing to suit the horror/fantasy/insert other genre here market? Maybe I'll be relegated to that safe category within bookshops that is called Literature.

Edinburgh Adventures

I was writing an update about my weekend in Edinburgh and thought it might be of some interest to people here.

On Saturday evening we had Alexander McCall Smith at the Book Festival. For years his events have always sold out extra quickly and I only achieved gaining tickets this year by sitting in work and hitting refresh constantly on the screen. Anyhoo, I got them and it was a rather interesting talk. He seems such an ordinary man and then casually drops into the conversation "I was visiting a baboon colony in Botswana" and so on. I wonder if his books are getting intentionally nastier. His new series, Corduroy Mansions sounds rather spiteful and a million worlds away from the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. He did spend some time on 44 Scotland Street which is such a lovely series. Bertie, the poor put upon 6 year old, is obviously a favourite. However, in the Q&A session, I was slightly displeased at someone's attempts to have their girlfriend feature in a future 44 Scotland Street episode as the "mad cat lady who lives across from the Cumberland Bar".

A quick note about the hostel we were staying in. I had never stayed in a hostel before and wasn't sure what to expect. Caledonian Backpackers came slightly recommended by a fellow Bookcrosser, partly for it's proximity to the Book Festival venue and (as I later found out) to the Royal Mile. Unfortunately the sound proofing was awful. We were staying in a large dorm (of 20 beds) and the guests were rather courteous. But staying somewhere near Princess Street with no double glazing was a disaster. I think I only got 4 hours sleep the first night. Luckily, I got moved after the first night into a Female only dorm towards the back of the hostel which was a bit quieter.

On a sidenote, I'd consider staying in a hostel again. And both my companion and I agreed that if we were travelling alone a hostel is a good place to check in and interact with other people.

Anyway, on Sunday morning, we went to see Anthony Sher who, as well as being a fantastic actor from what I've been told, has written a great many books. He's a fascinating man, what with being South African, gay and a secular Jew. Although the interviewer did bring his cocaine addiction out from the left field. Companion went all fanboy over Mr Sher, bless him, and got his books signed by him after the talk. If I didn't already have lots of books in the flat I would consider picking one up.

After the talk it was a wander up to the Royal Mile and the Fringe Box Office for me to purchase tickets. After looking through the program I had decided to spend my vouchers on seeing Adam Hills, Princess Cabaret and Hitler Alone. In the queue we were accosted by Iszi Lawrence who was doing a free comedy show in an hour at a nearby venue.

All in all I was rather chuffed with my Fringe highlights. Adam Hills is hilarious and had a BSL interpretor who really interacted with the show. I know now the BSL sign for clitoris and a sign unique to Australian sign language (for "Fuck you! Fuck the lot of youse!" Am very surprised this is not in Scottish sign language). His show was a wonderful mix of comedy and tragedy. His message about inflating people was truly poignant and the launch of balloons after his act brought a small tear to my eye.

Princess Cabaret was rather interesting. It was a mix of songs and sketches centring on the Disney princesses. I never thought of Jasmine from Aladdin being a Middle East Peace negotiator or Sleeping Beauty waking up to the horror of STDs and 'darkies' wandering the streets. Favourite moment: the song about an enraged Tinkerbell finding Peter Pan in bed with Wendy and trashing his cave. Really enjoyed it.

What a contrast with my final 'paid' show which was Hitler Alone. It was in a small, claustrophobic venue, probably sat around 20 people. It was held at a language institute and was the only performance I was offered a cup of tea or coffee for. Paul Webster, playing the 'villain' himself was very, very good and had done his research. On the flyer for the show, he explained he was born in 1939 and had childhood memories of playing in bombed out buildings. And of a Jewish refugee teacher savagely beating a fellow schoolpupil for drawing a swastika on a jotter. The danger of these performances is that they can make you feel 'sorry' for this broken and defeated man (the play was set in the final hour in the Bunker in which it was reported Hitler disappeared to a room, ranting and raving). The sorrow of which he spoke about his mother and loss of friends was heart breaking. However, all empathy was wiped away when Webster completed his performance by falling to the floor, ranting, raving and spitting about the evil of Jews .

Finally, Iszi Lawrence was a bit of a mixed bag. Not bad for a free performance (her story about causing her flatmate's cat to vomit upon the sight of her naked body was predictable but still hilarious) but it did flag a bit towards the end. She may need to spruce up her routine to last an hour, normally the time for a headliner at the Stand. Plus my enjoyment wasn't helped by having had two pints and desperately needing a wee.

Oh and my last event at the Book Festival. Melvin Burgess was my idol when I was a teenager. He was giving a discussion panel with Anne Fine and Rachel Ward on the topic of 'Compelling Novels, Vulnerable Children'. Considering his books deal with drug addiction, underage sex and extreme violence, I'm not surprised. The discussion was interesting but it was full of bloody social workers simpering about how they interacted with children.

Anyhoo, there was a signing after the discussion group and I raced to buy his new novel to get it signed. The following conversation ensured (warning: major fan girl moments):

Melvin: Hi there, what's your name?
Laura (me): Laura.
Melvin: (begins writing on the front page of the book)
Laura: You know, the only book my mum has ever tried to prevent me reading was The Baby and Fly Pie.
M: (amused) I've never heard that said before! A lot of people do complain about the ending because it's so negative.
Laura: It was the bit when he realises his sister's a prostitute. So I had a massive tantrum until she gave me it back.
M: Well it wasn't promoting it as a career choice! You had a tantrum, eh?
Laura: Yes, I was 12 years old and a rather spoilt only child. I think she was more concerned about me because I wanted to be a writer.
M: Have you got anywhere with that?
L: Hmmm it's been on hold but I'm getting back on track again.
M: Keep writing.
L: (cue gush of crap) I don't expect you to remember this but I sent you one of my short stories years ago and you sent me back a letter saying 'Keep Writing'. And I've always keep that in my head.
M: (looks up, a bit puzzled).
L: Thank you again. I really appreciated it. (grabs book and runs away).

And you know what he had written in my inscription? "Hope your mum doesn't stop you reading this!"

Change with Age?

This morning I have been catching up with some Bookcrossing admin. Since I joined Bookcrossing in 2004 I've found more and more books I've wanted to read. In those five years I have slowly, and unwilling, come to realise that the chances of me reading these books before I die is very slim. Unless I have some 'orrible accident involving my legs and am in a plaster cast for some time. But yes, it's time for a book purge. I work near a lot of charity shops that have books on sale for ridiculous prices. Sometimes I can pick up a whole bag for under a fiver. Then there's Borders who stock the Penguin and Wordsworth classic editions that sell for less than £2. And that's where the connection with this post lies.

I have always been a reader. Technically before I could properly read. My parents probably spent a lot of money on audiobooks and I worked out how to use the cassette player (huh, how retro!) at the tender age of 3. The Mothership has revealed she was quite upset the day I told her I didn't need her to read to me anymore. I had the tapes and I could follow along with the books provided with them. My favourite was Gobbolino, the Witch's Cat and there was a story about a family of ogores who had a pet dragon. These stories were rather dark in theme. For example, the son in the ogore family had to go on a dangerous quest to save his village. Gobbolino was persecuted by other cats in quite a cruel manner.

Other books came and went. For a while I was obsessed with the Narnia Chronicles. They were wonderful stories with adventures and swords and talking animals. I guess the subliminal Christian messages were missed by me. There were many days my mother would find me trying to get to Narnia via one of the wardrobes in our house. Sitting on my bookshelves were Roald Dahl's finest, Enid Blyton's Secret Seven, Famous Five and The Naughiest Girl in School. Earlier this year part of the myth surrounding Enid Blyton was shattered in my work. Somewhere in the depths of the archives, there was an anger letter sent by Blyton to another writer whom she felt had greatly offended her. Could this have been the same woman who wrote the characters of Elizabeth, Julian, George, Anne and even Timmy the Dog? Yes, it was. The bossiness of these characters and their hot headiedness showed through in this letter. A recurring theme of this year has been the quiet deaths of aspects of my childhood. This was the time that Enid Blyton's light firmly went out for me. This figure from rainy afternoons spent reading in my room had departed.

The biggest change in my reading habits has been a swing towards the classics in my later years. When I was a teen, I favoured Melvin Burgess and George Orwell, pretending I was rebelling. I read The Catcher in the Rye but didn't quite understand what it was about. I tried to read Lolita and found it boring and slightly replusive. Phillip Larkin told me that your mum and dad fuck you up. For a time, I believed him.

At high school, a teacher introduced me to the wonders of Sophocles and Euripides. Works that are older than our society but still speak generations later. I'll never forget the performance of Antigone that opened with a video screen showing past dictators and ending with a shot of Tony Blair (context: this was not long after Britain supported the illegal occupation of Iraq). Words and stories written so very long ago still were, and are, relevant today.

And now? My distaste for the classics has faded away. Ann Bronte is currently telling me some concept of feminism was alive and well in the early nineteenth century. And who knows, this might be the year that War and Peace makes it onto my reading list.

Reads of 2007

I have a gut feeling that I am going to get a lot of pelters for this entry. I have the (mis)fortune to have some great readers and writers in my social circle who have attempted works by more stylistic writers than Marian Keyes. But hey, sometimes after you've wormed your way through sixteenth century Scots legislation you want to read some candy floss. Anyone who is familiar with my various Bebo and Bookcrossing identities may have seen this already. Again this is a list of what I've read rather than what has been published this year.

1) The Crow Road - Iain Banks
This is special because it has taken me almost 6 years to read this book. First attempt was in sixth year of high school, second attempt was a few years later and this year was the third, and final attempt. Once I accepted the book is about nothing in particular, it made it a lot easier to read.

The plot follows the family McHoan and the trials and tribulations it brings. Prepare for numerous flashbacks (and flashbacks within flashbacks, a factor which brought the end of attempt one) as well as unearthing family secrets. You know the book is going to be good when it opens with the line 'It was the day my grandmother exploded.'

2) The Boy I Love - Marion Husband
Originally I picked this book up because it was only 99p and it was set in the post-WWI era. It tackles the topic of homosexuality and follows the life of Paul Harris, a closet homosexual. After the war he returns home and to his lover, Adam. However the plot twists when Paul discovers his dead brother's girlfriend is pregnant. He decides to do 'the right thing' and marries her despite not being the biological father.

This is a touching book and looks at relationships between human beings. I feel people seem to regard homosexuality and gay culture as a 'new' occurrence but there have been examples of this throughout history. I wouldn't say this is a wonderfully written book but the twists the plot take keep you interested.

3) The Girls - Lori Lansen
I know, I know, it's a Richard and Judy book. It's still worth a read and will probably appeal more to the ladies on here. The story follows Ruby and Rose, twins joined together physically and mentally. They are abandoned by their mother and are adopted by the attending midwife and her husband.

The books begins when the twins are looking back on their life. They are almost 30 and have been told by doctors not to expect living beyond that age. Rose decides she wants to start writing an account of their lives and so the book begins.

Again, you can tell I like these books, it's interesting hearing the different views each sister posses despite sharing their lives to such a great extent. The writing is painfully realistic and it makes you heart thump with empathy towards the girls.

4) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil & The City of Falling Angels - John Berendt
The only non-fiction books to make it onto my list. The former deals with a sensational murder case in Savannah. It was made into a film, only after the leading character passed away. An interesting look at one of America's hidden cities.

The City of Falling Angels is similar to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Berendt travels to Venice and uncovers the wacky characters living in the area as well as links to the local Mafia. This book makes me want to up sticks, learn Italian and go to Venice.

5) World War Z - Max Brooks
Max, son of Mel, has become famous for writing the The Zombie Survival Guide. This book is meant to be a UN investigation in the period when the human race was under attack from zombies. Instead of taking a straight forward narrative each section is presented as a verbal account from various survivors of these events. The book travels across the world though it is mainly based in America.

I defy anyone to read the story of the female air force officer and her radio friend and not be thoroughly creeped out. The first time I read this book I was up until 4am, I could not put it down. At least I'll be prepared for when the zombies come back

6) The Children of Men - P.D. James
Another apocalypse style book. Another book I couldn't put down. P.D. James describes a futuristic world in which the human race has become infertile (sounds like my idea of heaven). The book opens with the death of the youngest person in the world at the age of 22. The strain of an elderly population shows. People are encouraged to take part in mass suicides called a Quietus and their remaining families are heavily rewarded financially.

Our hero is Theo (ba boom!), a middle aged lecturer of history at Oxford. He enjoys a solitary life and wrestles with his guilt of accidentally killing his only child. Somehow he stumbles into an underground movement who has discovered a woman is pregnant....

The book follows a slow pace as this new world is revealed to us. Kittens are treated as babies and christened by the clergy. An animal birth replaces the joy felt by the birth of a new born baby. The elderly end their days, at a seaside town, filled with drugs and dressed as pagan sacrifices.

I have to say, the film adaptation of this book is a lot different but just as brilliant.

7) Anybody Out There? - Marian Keyes
Marian Keyes is like my dirty little secret. I got one of her books free with a magazine a few years ago and became hooked. Normally chick lit makes me want to gouge my eyes out with needles. It's sickly sweet, it's badly written and predictable. Keyes's books deal with drug addiction, affairs and mass intakes of alcohol. Amazing.

This book concerns the second youngest member of the Walsh family, Anna. Half of the Walsh clan have moved to New York and Anna has the Best Job In The World - she is a PR agent for a range of skin care companies. Alas she is not in New York when the book opens. She has gone back to Ireland, back to the bosom of Mammy Walsh, battered and bruised with her husband nowhere to be seen. Keyes is excellent at making events seem very normal (Aidan may have stayed in New York whilst Anna has returned home) and they slowly unfold to show everything is not all right. We find out Aidan has died in a car crash that Anna was involved in and explains her injuries. We follow her grief and her desperate attempts to get in contact with Adian. I'm a sucker for these books and I am not ashamed to admit I burst into tears on a few occasions.

8) Buddha Da - Anne Donovan
I'm a sucker for books set in my native town of Glasgow and this is no different. Each chapter is from the viewpoint of Anne Marie and her dad, Jimmy, and mum, Liz,. Jimmy decides to embark on an exploration of Buddhism but this exploration starts to alienate his wife and daughter. It's written in a Glaswegian dialect which did take me a while to get into - it's been a while since I've read a book like that.

Buddhism isn't a topic I've really looked into but this was, despite being a fiction book, a realistic presentation. In our Western culture it can sometimes be difficult fitting a new 'idea' into our society.

9) A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away - Christopher Brookmyre
An excellent read, again partly set in Glasgow. Brookmyre's humour borders on the black and blue side which appeals to me. The book is split between two characters, Martin and Simon. Martin is stuck in a shitty job as an English teacher and has become a father for the first time. His one form of escapism is going to Glasgow Airport to buy magazines and pretend he is going somewhere. Until one day he spots an old acquaintance at the airport, Simon. But Simon's been dead for a few years - in fact he died in a plane crash with no survivors. However, Simon is not dead. He has a reinvented identity as a terrorist for hire. He has no set ideologies, he carries out deeds for the highest bidder. Considering this book was written in 2000 it has a louder voice in today's 'war on terror' arena.

The book is rather long, comes in around 500 pages I think, but I sped through it. It's a gripping read and the back story is interesting. Perhaps I am a bit of a dunce when it comes to thrillers but with each twist I did do a little gasp of horror. It does also deserve the award of the most cringy worthy sex moment I've read in a book.

10) Tokyo - Mo Hayder
Another thick book, another book I raced to finish because the plot was so gripping. What is the connection between a young English woman in her 20s and a mysterious piece of film recording events of the Nanking massacre? Gray is a young girl who sells all her possessions to travel to Tokyo to track down a Chinese professor. No-one believes she has a read a book revealing the whereabouts of a rare film conveying some of the horrors of Nanking. In order to make money, she takes a job in a hostess club where she meets a member of one of the local Yakuza organisations. I don't want to reveal too much about this book but it is a compelling read. It switches from 1937 Nanking to modern day Japan but the writing does not suffer.

Also, this book is not for the faint hearted. There are some rather gory sections and I will never think of the smell of cooking meat in the same way.

To prove the hypothesis women cannot think for themselves, I'll copy Mr Buckland's structure and add some books that are worth a mention:

* Cafe Europa: Life After Communism - Slavenka Drakulic
- Topical because I visited Bulgaria this summer. The East European philosophy of "You have, I need" and their illusion that the West is a Utopia is firmly represented in this book. One account in Prague tells of a young Western European film produce being horrendously overcharged for translator services. When he tries to explain he has no money, his Eastern colleagues refuse to believe him as everyone in Western Europe is rich. Wish someone told me that.

*Lady Chatterley's Lover - D.H. Lawrence
- Yes, there are going to be some people who criticise me for not listing this in the top ten. It's well written, presents some ideas floating around the swinging twenties but I can understand why some feminists hate Lawrence. Emma is a rather frustrating character. Having said that, I did enjoy the style of Lawrence and am looking forward to reading some more of his books this year.

*Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe
Truly a product of its time and this is not a criticism. A book with a clear agenda with a dash of Christianity thrown in for good measure. And perhaps one of the few books today that can be published with frequent use of the word "Nigger".

STOP PRESS! WWAO agrees with Iain Banks

It must be compulsory for wannabe writers in fifth year at school to read The Wasp Factory and marvel at it.

It's not very good. Perhaps I was somewhat jaded when I read it for the first time. The book was the same age as me when I picked it up from the 'Older Students' section of my school library. The slim book was finished in a weekend and I was not left very impressed. In 1984, the year Orwellians were doing Jones impressions of "We're all doomed!", readers may have been more shocked at images of maggots feeding off living brains. And the brains of children for that matter.

Next came an attempt to read The Crow Road. Twice I picked up that heavy volume and twice it was returned to the library unread. It was not until this year that I finally finished a copy. Again the story was about nothing. I may have missed out on some wonderful metaphor for life but, honestly, it was really about the main character getting his hole wasn't it? But it was well written and had enough interesting plot twists to keep the reader engaged. Better than some of the painfully written tripe that appears on the lists of book trendsetters such as Richard and Judy.

And your point caller? I was reading through yesterday's email edition of The Guardian. The bibliophile's dirty weekend, or the Guardian Hay Festival, is under way and Mr Banks is appearing at it. Having published his first novel in years he needs to do something to promote it. Hence the article I read in this weekend's Guardian. Unlike some writers who like cowering away from politics, Banks makes no qualms about it. He famously ripped up his passport when Blair went to war against Iraq (please note, Britain didn't go to war) and stamped his literate foot in Dead Air.

One thing annoys me about Guardian interviewers is the immature attitude they take. Honestly, why would you suggest weeing in a swimming pool to a man in his 50s? However, there are some gems in this article. The following quote sums up a lot of my feelings on America:

"Personally, I believe when faced with an imperial power - and let's not kid ourselves, that's exactly what the USA is - one ought to do everything nonviolent one can to resist it, just on principle. The USA is a great country full of great people. It's just their propensity as a whole for electing idiots and then conducting a foreign policy of the utmost depravity that I object to."

The full article is here for anyone who is interested.