Books 5,6 and 7

Book 5 was ‘How to Write a Novel in a Year’by Louise Doughty.It began as a c0lumn in the Daily Telegraph and had so many responses it was converted into a book.The book features a variety of exercises and techniques designed to help with generating and developing ideas when writing a novel.I followed some of the exercises but after a while I was enjoying the actual reading of the book so much that I decided to read it in full and then return to the exercises later.

The writing style is perfect for this type of book,it is wry and engaging and although I already knew of Louise Doughty as an author(indeed that’s why I decided to buy the book in the first place),I definitely want to read one of her novels soon.

Number 6 was ‘Special Topics in Calamity Physics’ by Marisha Pessl.I was drawn to it by the interesting sleeve design and the glowing review from Audrey Niffeneger and as it was only £1 I quickly purchased it and began reading it the same day.It’s a lengthy novel and a greatly ambitious one,and the style is highly unique.Narrated by the bizarrely names Blue Van Der Meer the book is full of references to largely obscure texts read by the protagonist,and is layed out like a syllabus,with each chapter being named after a great work of literature.It is startling,perplexing and by the second half certainly gripping.Although I found the very end a little too neat for my tastes and was slightly irritated that there were still so many unanswered questions,overall this book was staggeringly ambitious for a debut novel and definitely worth reading.

Book 7 was ‘The Position’by Meg Wolitzer and centres around what happens in the 1970s when the four Mellows children discover their parents have written a very popular sex guide with graphic illustrations of their acts.The book then skips foward to the present and updates the reader on how each of the siblings has grown up and the impact their parents lives have had on them.The dynamics of the family have heavy similarities with those of ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’and while I found the book very entertaining initially after a while I struggled to get through it.The problem may be that I found many of the characters hard to empathise with,in particular the Mother who appears to be nothing beyond a vaguely drawn woman who is incredibly vain and self obsessed.In general this book failed for me as it seemed to take a decent idea and make it generic,largely because the characters resembled those of so many independent films so closely.

Well the current reads seem to have been rather diverse which will hopefully make for more interesting reading!Next is likely to be a Batman graphic novel and a couple of children’s books.

Reads in January so far

My first book of the year was ‘The Illumination of Merton Browne’by JM Shaw.I found it in an Oxfam bookshop in London recently and liked the idea of the central character finding a basement of forgotten books.It came as something of a surprise once I started reading the book that rather than being a whimsical tale of an awkward adolescent it was much more about gang violence and various degrees of abuse.I don’t usually favour very grim and gritty books but I persevered with this one.

What makes ‘The Illumination…’interesting also acts as its downfall.Whilst it’s interesting to read about someone very articulate and intelligent who is also part of a gang acting outside the law,this also adds to the very unrealistic ending to the book.To me it seems rather lame to layer on schmaltz and redemption after doing so well with shocking and stark urban realism.

Next was Ian McEwan’s ‘On Chesil Beach’which I’d be eagerly awaiting for months.The only reason it took me this long to get around to it was because I didn’t want to shell out for a hardback copy of such a small book.It was worth the wait though as,like every review I’ve seen would suggest it is a wonderfully evocative novel and beautifully written.My only criticism would be that it seems a little too brief,with the ending arriving unbearably quickly.I also wasn’t hugely thrilled with the summary of the later years of the characters as I felt it superfluous,but overall it was a touching snapshot of an intimate evening.I am yet to read a McEwan that can touch ‘Atonement’though.

Then there was John Crace’s ‘The Digested Reader’in which the author attempts to sumarise a variety of books in around 500 words,all of the summaries written in the style of the original author.This idea began as a newspaper column and I think it probably worked better in that format.Although it was amusing and covered a variety of books from literary fiction to trashy autobiographies it just seemed too much to read it all at once and after a while the ruthless mocking seemed to get a little too smug for my liking.

Then there was Meg Cabot’s ‘Size Doesn’t Matter’(also known as ‘Big Boned’)the third in the Heather Wells mystery series.I loved the other books in the series and couldn’t put them down,they were fun,touching and greatly enjoyable.The problem I found with ‘Size Doesn’t Matter’was that it seemed too similar to the previous books in places,particularly the issues surrounding Heather’s love life.I also found the murder and its motive ludicrous and the ending of the book was much cheesier than anything I would expect from Meg Cabot.So although a very light and easy read it lacked the spark of the other books,I do hope there will be more in the series though as hopefully this one was just a weak link.

So that’s what I’ve managed so far,I have several other books on the go at the moment so I’m sure I will be back soon.

Hello!

This is my first post here so I’m not that sure how to begin really.I had the idea that it might be fun to write reviews of the books I read throughout the year and post them here.I’ve had ideas like this before and lacked the follow through to keep up with them but as I’m always reading I thought I would give it a shot and hope that a)anyone out there finds this interesting enough to read and b)I won’t be completely lacking in my attempts to craft words about my thoughts on the books I come across.

Wish me luck!