30. Toni Jordan-Addition

I’m still rather behind with my reviews as I read this book about a month ago,so it will be a while before I’m fully up to date.This book stands out in my mind though(making the review easier)as it’s one of a very small number of novels I can think of which deal with OCD.Although the character is never defined as such she exhibits obvious signs of the disorder and it’s a credit to the author that she doesn’t feel the need to make ‘Addition’ a disorder novel.

The protagonist,Grace has a fascination with numbers and counting and lives her life within a rigid set of guidelines and routines.She is hyper aware of the limitations she puts upon herself but at least initially she is happy to live within them.Things begin to change once a ‘love interest’(for want of a better term)arrives,but this isn’t a novel where the heroine’s problems are magically solved by a man,thank the lord!Rather he notices her problems and somewhat misguidedly steers her towards a treatment which results in Grace becoming a passive person pumped with pills.Without giving away the ending of the book(or trying not to!)I will say that this book deals with some rather complicated issues,especially considering its brevity and my only real criticism would be that despite it doing so skillfully I would have liked to read much more from Grace.The central question or issue at the core of the book seems to be the danger of sacrificing some of yourself to be in a relation,and is this something that can be avoided?I won’t reveal any more but will say that I wholeheartedly recommend this fresh and intellligent debut novel.

29.Rebecca Miller-The Private Lives of Pippa Lee

After greatly enjoying the book and the author’s subsequent film adaptation of ‘Personal Velocity’some years back I immediately purchased Rebecca Miller’s second novel ‘The Private Lives of Pippa Lee’.The book is an odd one in several ways and unusually I have a polarised opinion of it too.In general my opinion on books falls into one of there categories:love,dislike or indifference,yet this book was none of those.

It gets off to a slow start with Pippa and her much older husband moving to a retirement village.Pippa’s husband is 80 and becoming infirm,yet Pippa is only in her 50s and soon begins to feel stifled by the geriatrics surrounding her.Several odd things begin to happen to her whilst she is asleep,such as being unaware that she has cooked and eaten fried breakfasts,entire cakes and even leaving the house and driving to a local shop.This was one aspect of the story that interested me as I find sleep disorders fascinating,so I was slightly dissappointed that this area wasn’t developed further.As the plot unfolds so does Pippa’s past and the hazy,free wheeling excitement of her youth contrasts with the monotony of the present.It is in the sequences set in the past that Pippa shines as a character,one who is independent and spirited and has a rather disturbing relationship with her Mother.If the whole book had been set during her earlier years I would have enjoyed it much more,but as it stands the book only engaged me half of the time.The later chapters in particular see several predictable developments which are needless and seem to be there only to convince the reader it was worth persevering to the end.

Much of the writing and the ideas demonstrated here are solid but the story itself never quite takes off,which as shame given the obvious talent and imagination of the author.

28.Nicholas Sparks-A Walk to Remember

After reading and greatly enjoying ‘Dear John’a few months ago I decided to try another of the author’s works. ‘A Walk to Remember’is awash with glowing praise,but I found the story itself predictable and heavy handed.It deals with a teenage boy who gradually begins to notice a girl he has always been indifferent to or irritated by previously.In a small North Carolina town the two are thrown together in drams classes and slowly a tentative relationship develops.despite the obstacle of the girl’s religious beliefs and strict Father.I don’t want to spoil the story’s main revelation(although I found it obvious)but I will say that once it has been exposed things take an even more sentimental and mawkish turn.This book obviously wants to be a great love story and a classic coming of age novel but sadly it is neither and is mercifully short.I am willing to read more by Nicholas Sparks,I only hope the next one I pick up is much better than ‘A Walk to Remember’.

27.Pearl Lowe-All That Glitters

Following on from my last read is another book about music,this time an autobiographical one.Those of you in the UK may know of Pearl Lowe as a friend to Sadie Frost,Kate Moss et al,but back in the mid ’90s she was a Britpop hopeful.I loved her second band,Lodger and found it strange when she started popping up in tabloids regularly.I purchased this book because of my previously documented nostalgia for the Britpop era.I generally enjoy reading memoirs too(although not the increasingly popular misery memoirs of late).

‘All That Glitters’is largely a testimony of Pearl’s battle with drugs,although also deals with her youth and pre-fame and addiction years.This is an easy read despite the often dark subject matter,largely thanks to the enganging style and voice of Pearl.Whilst not a literary masterpiece it entertains more often than it irritates and although at times it seems to drop names and openly acknowledge her lavish lifestyle a little too much it entertains in the way I expected it to,and is a cautionary tale for those who think the rock n’ roll lifestyle is a glamorous one.