Reading in Review

Gosh. Welcome to May, everyone! A third of the year has been and gone, and it seems like as good a time as ever for me to take a quick look back at what I've read so far this year. If you've not already seen, I keep a list of (new) books I've read here. My goal for the year is 50 new books (not counting re-reads or things I don't finish).

Despite an awful April, when I only read two books, my year's total so far is 19. A pretty good start, but not as good as last year (or so my trusty notebook tells me). Between January and April last year I read 25 books, but that was also when I was taking a class on Shakespeare, so that includes seven of his plays.

Some general thoughts, then. This year has seen my love for Margaret Atwood's writing grow; I've read a couple of her novels this year and they've been some of my favourites. I also absolutely LOVED the HUNGER GAMES trilogy that I read at the beginning of March. And I was thrilled to read the conclusion of the EARTH'S CHILDREN series (The Land of Painted Caves) at the end of March. I read a handful of the Orange Prize longlisted books - favourites include THE SEAS and REPEAT IT TODAY WITH TEARS, which was so heart-wrenchingly beautiful (and disturbing) that it made me cry.

I was just trying to think of what has been my least favourite book I've read this year. I was underwhelmed by ANIMAL FARM, but I'm glad I read it because now I don't have to just pretend. Other than that, THE FIVE PEOPLE THAT YOU MEET IN HEAVEN didn't please me as much as the other books I've read. It was very different, and a great idea, but I didn't fall in love with it the way I've fallen in love with most of the other books on that list.

All in all, I'd say I've had a pretty good book-year so far. And all this talk about books is making me want to go and read something. I'm not sure what, though, because I'm running out of books. (Ha. That's a lie. But I'm running out of books I want to read.)

So I'm off to sit in front of my bookshelves for a while until I figure something out.

Ciao!

Catching up

Phew. This has been a busy week. I've been doing work experience at a literary agency in London, so I've been commuting in, leaving the house at 8:30am and getting back at about 7:00pm. After the student life, and five hours of classes a week, it's quite a lifestyle change! I'm enjoying it, anyway. I've got another week there, though it's only a four-day week because of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend coming up.

I'll probably do a round-up post of this placement once I've finished, with some thoughts on the process, and taking a look at what I've learnt, so you can expect that next weekend. Until then, here's a couple of things I wanted to post this week but didn't have time for.

The Orange Prize for Fiction shortlist is out, which you can see here. I've only read two of the books shortlisted; I want to read ANNABEL but last time I checked it was only available in hardback, and I haven't really got space for many more books on my shelves so I'd better wait until it's out in paperback. The prize isn't awarded until 8th June, though, so I might try and get through the shortlist by then. It's only four books, to be fair, so I'll see what happens. Looking back to the longlist, I just finished reading REPEAT IT TODAY WITH TEARS by Anna Piele, which I really enjoyed. I would review it, but I've got hardly any time at the minute. I need to write a report for work tomorrow and an essay for university, so I think I've got plenty to be getting on with!

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It was the London Book Fair this week. I hoped to get there for at least one of the days, but unfortunately didn't manage it as I was working. From the sounds of things, though, it was a nice busy fair, much better than last year which was disrupted by the ash cloud... But everyone I'm working with at the minute seemed very happy after the fair. Happy and exhausted. So I guess that's a good sign. You can see a report from The Bookseller here. I wish I'd been able to go, but perhaps next year I'll be able to go as an employee of one of the publishing companies, rather than just as a student. Fingers crossed.

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Hopefully I'll get a chance to post a few things later in the week. Now I need to write my essay. Eek!

Review: Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson

Title: Grace Williams Says it Loud
Author: Emma Henderson
Publisher: Sceptre, 2010
Rating: 3 stars

To begin, here is a synopsis of Grace Williams Says it Loud, taken from Goodreads.com:

This isn't an ordinary love story. But then Grace isn't an ordinary girl. 'Disgusting,' said the nurse. And when no more could be done, they put her away, aged eleven. On her first day at the Briar Mental Institute, Grace meets Daniel. He sees a different Grace: someone to share secrets and canoodle with, someone to fight for. Debonair Daniel, who can type with his feet, fills Grace's head with tales from Paris and the world beyond. This is Grace's story: her life, its betrayals and triumphs, disappointment and loss, the taste of freedom; roses, music and tiny scraps of paper. Most of all, it is about the love of a lifetime.

Grace Williams Says it Loud tells the story of Grace, physically disabled and “mentally deficient”, as they put it in the book. We follow her from infancy, to the Briar Mental Institute, to a home in Hounslow. She makes friends and enemies, she falls in love with the wonderfully charismatic Daniel (my favourite character in the book), and then she loses him. Twice. We are shown the story of this life through Grace’s eyes, though it is the voices of all the other characters which fill the pages. Grace herself manages to speak only a maximum of two words at a time; the novel allows her thoughts the expression that her body is incapable of providing. It is this contrast, between the richly observant, descriptive narrative, and Grace’s stunted speech and her treatment by the nurses at Briar, that makes for some of the most moving sections of the book.

When I started reading this novel, I honestly couldn’t decide whether I liked it or not. I read it in three sittings: in the first, I reached page 70; in the second, I got to around page 170; and in the third sitting I read right to the end. But what struck me most about this book was that, by the time I reached page 70, I still couldn’t decide whether or not I liked this book. I found its narrative style didn’t quite sit right with me. I still can’t work out why. But what I then realised, whilst I was still puzzling over whether or not I liked this book, was that either way, it had made a significant impression on me in those opening few chapters.

Even now I have finished Grace Williams Says it Loud, I still can’t say whether or not I liked it. It was compelling, yes, and moving, and beautiful, in a way. It’s not a story – or a character – that I am likely to forget in a hurry. But I don’t think I enjoyed reading it. All the way through, the narrative style didn’t seem quite right. Grace’s observations seemed over-done, especially in the opening scenes of the novel. And then again at the end.

So: it was touching and beautifully done, in its own way, but not quite to my taste. Grace Williams Says it Loud was a good read, but not a book that I was able to lose myself in completely.

Simple Pleasures: My Book Wrap

As I mentioned in a previous post, my wonderful boyfriend got me a book wrap as part of my birthday present. (Inside the book wrap was a copy of The Seas by Samantha Hunt, which was on the Orange Prize longlist and has now been fast-tracked to the top of my To Read pile. But more on that another day...)

"What a great idea," I thought, as I opened the present. "One of the books I brought back from Norwich with me got its cover creased on the journey. Now I've got a nice way to protect it."

Today I went to London. Today I also took my book wrap out with me for the first time. A few days ago I finished The Swimmer by Roma Tearne, so was in need of a new book to read. I decided on Grace Williams Says It Loud, another novel picked for the Orange Prize longlist, and one I bought in my book-haul last week. As it travelled all the way back from Norwich with me, I thought I'd read that before The Seas which, as far as I know, hasn't travelled as far.

As it was, I didn't get any reading done on the train. But Grace Williams Says It Loud sat there in my bag, waiting patiently, snug, secure and uncreased in its pretty book wrap. It wasn't until this evening when I felt like doing some reading that I finally got it out of my handbag. And it wasn't until that moment that I realised the other great thing about this book wrap. Sure, it's very practical and will save many of my books from the torturous chaos of my handbag. But what I didn't recognise until that moment was the beauty that it adds to the reading process.

So: I take the wrap out of my bag and place it in my lap. The piece of ribbon is unwound from the button, and then once, twice, three times around the book. Then the fabric is folded open to the left, and then the other side is opened to the right. Grace Williams Says It Loud sits there, in the middle of the fabric, with its beautiful cover and the sea and the brooding sky... And that's it.

The beauty of the extended moment, perhaps. After all that I could finally pick up the novel and begin reading. Perhaps it just heightens the anticipation of starting a new book - that might be all it is. But there was something wonderfully pleasing about unwrapping that book before I could begin reading. Something that I'm sure most people wouldn't really appreciate.

My thought for today: it's the simple things in life that make me happy. I forget that too often.

Review: The Swimmer by Roma Tearne

Title: The Swimmer
Author: Roma Tearne
Publisher: HarperPress, 2010
Rating: 4 stars

It’s been a little while since I’ve written a review of any books, so to get me started, here is a synopsis of the novel, taken from Goodreads.com:

A gripping, captivating novel about love, loss and what home really means.  

Ben is a young illegal immigrant from Sri Lanka who has arrived in Norfolk via Moscow. Awaiting a decision from the Home Office on his asylum application, he is discovered by Ria as he takes a daily swim in the river close to her house. He is twenty years her junior and theirs is an unconventional but deeply moving romance, defying both boundaries and cultures – and the xenophobic residents of Orford. That is, until tragedy occurs.

Forty-three year old Ria is used to being alone. As a child, her life changed forever with the death of her beloved father and since then, she has struggled to find love. That is, until she discovers the swimmer.

The Swimmer is an incredibly moving story told through three different voices, each section of the novel still centring around (as the title suggests) the swimmer – Ben. A Sri Lankan doctor seeking asylum, Ben finds himself stranded in rural Suffolk when his money runs out and he is unable to reach London. He begins working illegally whilst waiting to hear back from the Home Office, and meets Ria as he struggles to survive, stealing food from her kitchen and swimming in the river close to her house to keep clean. It is an unlikely friendship between them which soon blossoms into romance, and still they await the decision from an impotent Home Office with regards to Ben’s asylum application.

This beautiful relationship is painted against a backdrop of barely-concealed racism in the Suffolk village of Orford. While the whispers of terrorism and news reports of ritually slaughtered animals fail to make an impression on Ria, we see the village closing in on itself, leaving Ben stranded on the outside. And then the sounds of gunshots ring out and their tragic repercussions echo through the rest of the novel.

Through the voices of a lover, a mother, and a daughter, the novel personalises the asylum process and the tragedy of loss and dislocation that is at the heart of this book. The three distinct voices of three very different women work to bring together the political and the personal, encouraging us to understand the predicament faced by so many refugees in this day and age. Writing at a time when immigration is a key issue in British politics, this novel sensitively gives us a glimpse at ‘the other side’ of the debate. For Ben and his mother Anula, Britain is a source of hope in their war-torn home country, a chance for a better, safer life. What we are shown in this novel is just how easy it is to put your hope in the wrong thing.

The Swimmer moved me to tears more than once – something I always consider to be the mark of a good book. Tearne’s writing is beautiful in the precision with which she depicts her characters and their world. The tensions between the characters are beautifully managed and conveyed; for me, it is Anula's section of the novel, filled with her undirected rage and her unarticulated hatred of Ria, which is most striking. This beautiful, heartfelt novel is Tearne's fourth, but my first look at her writing. I'll definitely be taking a look at some of her earlier works - this is a wonderful, touching work of fiction that I enjoyed immensely. Highly recommended.

Book-haul

My name is Emily Smith, and I'm a bookaholic.

There, I said it.

After the Orange Prize for Fiction longlist was announced yesterday, I spent a lot of the afternoon thinking about books. I'll be honest - I didn't have much else to do. So it got to mid-afternoon and I started getting a bit twitchy and restless, so I decided to go into town. Except "town" for me (90% of the time) means "bookshop". And so I made my way down to the local bookshop, braving a bus full of small children which were having some sort of screaming contest, and picked up a nice selection to add to my TO READ pile.

From top to bottom:
The Swimmer - Roma Tearne
Grace Williams Says it Loud - Emma Henderson
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
The Long Song - Andrea Levy.




*Note: I only bought the top 3 yesterday. They were on a 3 for 2 deal, so I got The Book Thief as well because I've heard a fair bit about it recently. I got The Long Song a couple of weeks ago in my last book-haul. I bought Room at the same time, and then a couple of days later bought all of The Hunger Games trilogy. That was a good week.

**Note: This is only the most recent additions to my TO READ pile. Lots of them are at home, rather than with me at university, which makes me sad. Other than these, I think I've only got two other books on my bookshelves here that I haven't read yet, which makes me feel slightly nervous.

I started reading The Swimmer last night. I'm about 80 pages in now, and am enjoying it so far. My initial impressions were that it's got a great cover, and that it could do with a slightly larger font size. I won't go into my thoughts on the novel itself just yet; that's something for another day. I'm off to do a bit more reading now, before some pre-birthday celebrations with my housemates, hooray!

Orange Prize for Fiction: Longlist announced

The Orange Prize for Fiction announced its longlist this morning. The Prize is now in its sixteenth year, and is the UK's only annual award for books written by women. The Prize exists to celebrate the work of talented, original women writers all over the world. This year's longlist of twenty books features writers from twelve different publishing imprints and, most excitingly, nine of the twenty books are debut novels.


The full longlist is as follows:

• Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
• Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch (Canongate)
• Room by Emma Donoghue (Picador)
• The Pleasure Seekers by Tishani Doshi (Bloomsbury)
• Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty (Faber and Faber)
• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (Corsair)
• The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (Bloomsbury)
• The London Train by Tessa Hadley (Jonathan Cape)
• Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson (Sceptre)
• The Seas by Samantha Hunt (Corsair)
• The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna (Faber and Faber)
• Great House by Nicole Krauss (Viking)
• The Road to Wanting by Wendy Law-Yone (Chatto & Windus)
• The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
• The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (Viking)
• Repeat it Today with Tears by Anne Peile (Serpent's Tail)
• Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (Chatto & Windus)
• The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin (Serpent's Tail)
• The Swimmer by Roma Tearne (Harper Press)
• Annabel by Kathleen Winter (Jonathan Cape)

Of these twenty titles, I've only read Room by Emma Donoghue, which I really enjoyed. The novel is narrated by a five year old boy, Jack, who has lived his entire life in a single room with his mother. This was something fresh and original, with an engaging and believable child narrator. If you haven't read it, I thoroughly recommend it.

With less than a month before the shortlist is announced on April 12th, I want to try and read a couple more from this list. I'm going to try and get through Repeat it Today with Tears by Anne Peile, Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson, The Seas by Samantha Hunt, and The Swimmer by Roma Tearne.

Let's see how I get on with these, shall we?

For more info on the Orange Prize for Fiction, see their 2011 page where the longlist and further details about the prize can be found.