January Reading Wrap Up

So it's somehow the end of the first month of 2015 already. Where did the time go?! Altogether I managed to read six books this month which is a fairly decent number for me. I decided at the beginning of the year that I wasn't going to set myself any reading targets as I just want to enjoy reading at whatever pace comes naturally to each book. Next month I might read ten or I might read two, but this month it was six.

I kicked off the year with The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente, the story of a girl who is whisked away to save the inhabitants of Fairyland. Having heard so many people rave over this book I could hardly wait to delve into it as soon as I could. However, it was just a little too 'out there' and weird for me and I didn't really enjoy it for the most part. I then picked up Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, another fantasy novel, but one that has it roots planted more firmly in the human world (I have heard it referred to as Harry Potter for adults, you can make up your own mind about that!). Though entertaining in parts it just didn't do enough to really hold my attention for long so it took me almost a fortnight to get through it (which actually isn't bad considering it's a whopper of a book - over 1000 pages!). To allow myself some time away from this beast, I also read The 39 Steps by John Buchan (sadly I don't own a copy of this as I read it on Google Books at work) and Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson. These were two very quick and easy reads and were by far my favourite books of the month. They were both so much fun; my heart was in my mouth for the majority of Buchan's thriller, whilst Miss Pettigrew was a more light-hearted affair that managed to make me smile despite the wind and rain outside. So after a shaky start to the month, all seemed to be going well.

Then I picked up To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf.

I. HATED. THIS. BOOK!

Nothing I've ever read has caused me such pain and frustration! If it had been much longer then I certainly would have just put it down and forgotten about it, but at just over 200 pages I thought I'd persevere. I tried to get my head around the 'stream-of-consciousness' writing style, but I just never managed to connect with it and, although I hate to admit it, I did skim the last section of the book in order to get it done and out of the way. Eugh *shudders*

Finally, off the back of a recommendation from my mom, I read Headlong by Michael Frayn, the story of a man who believes he has discovered a missing artistic masterpiece in his neighbour's breakfast room. This was a massive step up from To The Lighthouse - it had an actual plot for a start - but it unfortunately let itself down in the middle where it almost morphed into an academic essay on the history of art and the Netherlands!

So that was January! I'd love to know if anyone else has read any of these books and what you thought of them if you did. Should I turn my back on Virginia Woolf and never let her darken my bookshelf again? What else have people been reading?

And, most importantly, what should I read next?!

Lou x

Review: Headlong by Michael Frayn

My tone's going to sound inappropriately light minded at times. But that's the way it was. The tone of most of the things we do in life is probably going to turn out to have been painfully unsuitable in the light of what happens later.

In a bid to escape the diversions of London, philosopher and would-be art historian Martin Clay heads to the countryside with his wife and daughter so that he might finally knuckle down to work on writing the book he should have started several months ago. Yet he stumbles upon an even bigger distraction in local landowner Tony Churt's breakfast room when he is invited to cast an educated eye over some paintings languishing within; a missing masterpiece he believes to be worth millions. The oblivious Tony Churt hopes he can salvage a few thousand pounds out of his acquisitions and needs Martin's help in finding a buyer; and so an opportunity presents itself. If Martin can prove that he has discovered a lost Bruegel and, more importantly, if he can keep his unwitting neighbour in the dark as to its worth, then not only would he be performing a great public service by bringing it to light, but he might also find himself a couple of million richer!

Up until maybe a quarter of the way through Headlong, I was thinking this was going to be a 4 or possibly 5 star read; humour, tension, a bit of adventure, it seemed to have everything! However, once Martin embarked upon his mission to prove the painting was indeed a missing Bruegel the book seemed less and less of a fiction and more of an intricate (not to mention lengthy) study into art interpretation and European history! I found this interesting up to a point, but once lost there was no way back, and more often than not I was hankering to get back to the 'real-time' action which was gloriously entertaining on the whole. If this balance had been fine-tuned then I could have seen this being a new favourite!

RATING: ★★★☆☆

Lou x

Review: To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

“What is the meaning of life? That was all- a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years, the great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead, there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark; here was one.” 

Eugh even making it to the end of this book feels like an achievement so I'm going to make this brief.

To The Lighthouse is unlike anything else I've ever read. Virtually devoid of plot, the book is a portrait of the Ramsay family and their friends during summers spent at their holiday home in Scotland. In the absence of action and dialogue, Woolf's focus is on the emotions, thoughts, and observations of the book's multiple narrators. This is achieved by way of a free-flowing stream-of-consciousness narrative style (i.e. wordy, incomprehensible ramblings) which was impossible to follow without an insane amount of effort that I just wasn't able to muster. In the end I found myself skimming through page after page in a bid to finish the thing (which is probably why I'm finding it so difficult to come up with much to say about it!). Needless to say, the devout adoration this novel and its author receives is completely beyond me.

I don't even care enough about To The Lighthouse to hate it, such is my complete apathy towards this book.

RATING: ★☆☆☆☆

Lou x

Review: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

“Can a magician kill a man by magic?” Lord Wellington asked Strange. Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. “I suppose a magician might,” he admitted, “but a gentleman never would.” 

It is 1806, and most people believe English magic to be dead. Magicians may study magic, much like a historian studies the past, but the time of the practical magician is over. There is talk, however, that one true magician still remains; and when the reclusive Mr Norrell is called upon to display his alleged powers it soon becomes clear that magic is far from being a mere historical footnote (more on footnotes later!). Before long, and much to the indignation of Mr Norrell, another magician, the young and carefree Jonathan Strange, presents himself on the scene. Though opposing in character, the two magicians join forces to restore magic to England. Yet problems start to arise when it becomes clear that the two magicians have very different ideas about magic and the way it should be practiced in England today. 

First and foremost there's no escaping the fact that, standing in at a whopping 1,006 pages, this is by far the longest book I have ever tackled. At a glance, this hefty beast seemed more than slightly intimidating! And yet the writing style was so light and enjoyable that I found myself whizzing through this book in the time it would take me to read something half its length (not to mention the fact that a considerable chunk of this book is dedicated to lengthy and extraneous footnotes). Having said this, it wasn't a huge page-turner for the most part. Very rarely did I find myself finishing a chapter then immediately wanting to launch straight into the next one. The plot was incredibly slow to the extent that at regular periods throughout the book I was forced to question what the story actually was! The main problem I had was that I seemed to be forever waiting for the main plot to start and for everything to fall into place - it was only when I reached the 700-page mark that I finally conceded that the story I was waiting for was never going to happen! Overall, I found Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell had an engaging writing style with some entertaining plot lines, but it didn't turn out to be something I felt I could really get my teeth into and relish as I'd hoped!

RATING: ★★★☆☆

Lou x

Review: Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson

In all her lonely life Miss Pettigrew had never realised how lonely she had been until now, when for one day she was lonely no longer.

On a morning much like any other, not-very-good-governess Miss Pettigrew walks into her employment agency having almost resigned herself to the workhouse. However, today happens to be her lucky day; a Miss LaFosse is looking for a nursery governess, and so with a great deal of relief, Miss Pettigrew nervously makes her way to the home of her potential new employer. However, nothing can prepare her for what's in store when she arrives. From the moment the door is opened by a glamorous young women in a silk neglige, Miss Pettigrew steps into a decadent world she has only ever known through her weekly escape to the cinema. In a whirlwind of makeup, men, parties and...sherry(?!) we see Miss Pettigrew live for a day, but her life is changed forever.

This book was charming, farcical, ridiculous, and so much fun. I found myself relating (almost painfully!) to Miss Pettigrew's self-deprecating opinions of herself - 'permanently seeking a new job, nervous, incompetent, dowdy and shy.' Now if that's not me in a nutshell then I don't know what is! At the other end of the spectrum is the beautiful, vivacious party girl Miss LaFosse. An unlikely friendship in real life, but one that works terrifically in the absurd context of this little gem! I loved the novelty of the story taking place over the course of a single day, with each chapter dividing the book into blocks of time of varying lengths. This lent the story a surprisingly swift pace so that before I knew it, the day was almost over. As much as I loved this book, it was let down in places by some troubling social attitudes which made for rather uncomfortable reading. The utterance from one of Miss LaFosse's suitors that 'Delysia's a little devil and there's times I could flay her alive, and obviously she needs a little physical correction, but I'm the only right man to do it' is more than slightly worrying, whilst Miss Pettigrew's own opinion that 'when it comes to marriage it's safer to stick to your own nationality' in reference to a Jewish beau of her companion is equally unsettling. Setting these aside as an unfortunate bi-product of the pre-WWII era in which the book was written, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day is an otherwise fantastic introduction to the Persephone Books collection which I shall undoubtedly be delving into again!

RATING: ★★★★☆

Lou x

Review: The 39 Steps by John Buchan

I believe everything out of the common. The only thing to distrust is the normal.

One day last week I found myself with a few hours to kill whilst sitting in front of the computer. And upon noticing that I was scrolling through my facebook news feed for the ninth time in the space of twenty minutes I decided to go on the hunt for another distraction. After a stop at ebay, amazon, goodreads, pinterest, and yes another quick scroll through facebook, I landed on Google Books and thought I'd have a look at what was available to read in full. Though I was understandably tempted by The History of Silk I eventually settled on John Buchan's The 39 Steps as, being in the region of 110 pages or so, I thought I could probably get through it in the time I had available. And so I did!

Having spent thirty years of his life in South Africa, Richard Hannay is finding England comparatively dull. That is, until an American stranger comes knocking on his door in fear for his life. Franklin Scudder has come to know of a plot to assassinate a leading Greek politician - knowledge that has put his own life at risk - and has therefore had to fake his own death. Hannay agrees to let Scudder hide in his flat, but a few days later, Hannay returns home to find his companion dead with a knife through his chest. Hannay realises he needs to escape fast, for not only will he surely be the police's main suspect for the murder, but his life is now also in danger from the spies who killed Scudder. And so our hero heads to Scotland where the real adventure takes place. The story that follows sees Hannay evade capture through quick-thinking, physical strength, and a series of cunning disguises! But can he also stop the assassination and prevent Europe from plunging into war?

I thought this was a great fast-paced thriller, packed full of action, suspense and mystery. Time and time again I'd wonder 'how's he going to get out of this one?!' with my stomach leaping and my heart in my mouth. There were possibly a few instances in which our hero managed to find his way out of a sticky situation a little too easily, but not to the extent that they made the plot unbelievable. The one part of the story which I did find slightly implausible was the ending, which was a great shame as I felt it let down what had otherwise been a 5-star read. Overall, however, I thought this book was great fun and shall certainly be rejoining Richard Hannay for the next of his adventures in the Richard Hannay series!

RATING: ★★★★☆

Lou x

Review: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

All children are heartless. They have not grown a heart yet, which is why they can climb tall trees and say shocking things and leap so very high that grown-up hearts flutter in terror.

When the Green Wind arrives at 12-year-old September's kitchen window and offers to whisk her away to Fairyland she doesn't have to think twice - what child would?! Upon her arrival, however, there are no mermaids or flying dragons as one might expect. Indeed, dragons are banned from flying! For Fairyland is currently suffering under the harsh rule of its new Marquess who is quick to set September a task which puts the fate of Fairyland and its inhabitants into the young newcomer's hands. With the aid of some of Fairyland's most fantastical creatures, September adventures across the land in order to complete her mission. But will she succeed? Can September save Fairyland?

Sadly, I didn't enjoy this as much as I'd hoped which was really disappointing considering how many rave reviews I've seen singing this book's praises! It was just a bit too surreal for me which meant that I wasn't able to take the story seriously for the most part. I understand that this is a book set in FAIRYLAND so I should have known to expect some quirky characters but a golem made of soap? A wyvern who claims he was fathered by a library? Maybe it's my lack of imagination that's at fault, but it was all a bit too much for me! It did become more enjoyable once I knew what to expect but by this time I was 3/4 of the way through the book and it was just too late for me to start getting into it.

If you're into whimsical, surrealist fantasy then you'll probably enjoy this book a lot more than I did! As I suggested before, there are many many people who LOVE this book so there must be something about it to have stolen so many hearts. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland is the first of five in the Fairyland series, but I think my own adventure is unfortunately going to end here.

RATING: ★★☆☆☆

Lou x