Keris Stainton's Blog, page 60

Name and (maybe) shame your unread books

Day 32 of the 40 day book challenge is 'a book that has been on my shelf unread for more than 5 years'.

I've been quite good at culling my book shelves over the past couple of years so I don't have any at the moment, but the one that guiltily pops into mind is Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres.

I was so excited to read it – since I not only loved Captain Corelli's Mandolin, but all de Bernieres' other books as well – that I bought it from one of those postal book club things (like Britannia Music), probably paying well over the odds for it in all the monthly selections I never got round to refusing or returning.

It was still sitting on my shelf when the paperback came out and I think we even moved house and I still hadn't read it. I felt guilty whenever I saw it and so I gave it to the charity shop, still unread.

Anyone read it? Should I have read it? (Don't worry, I won't buy another copy – I'll get it from the library. Probably.)

A book that everyone loves but me

Day 31 of the 40 day book challenge is 'a book that everyone else seemed to love except me'.

I can't think of one, I'm afraid, so I'm going to direct you to Scott Pack's recent post about Disappointing Classics (and the many, many comments!).

Classics-wise, I hated Middlemarch when I read it at uni, but I know lots of people adore it so I feel a bit bad. Maybe I'll try it again one day. (But probably not.)

Friday favourites

Blimey, I've hardly had time to do anything today – Joe didn't sleep and then we had the Phineas & Ferb movie to watch, and then Harry stayed up late. I haven't read, I haven't written, and I'm just trying to squeeze some blogging in before (early to) bed. Anyway. Here are some things I've loved this week.

Apart from today, this week I've been mostly writing – or trying to write – so this graph, found on Inside a Story is very appropriate.

These Ten Rules for Fat Girls made me cheer (via Lisa Clark).

I read this article about how mice sing – no, really – in O magazine a while ago. I was reminded of it when we watched Stephen Fry's excellent documentary about the history of language, Fry's Planet Word.

Earlier this year I read Lisa Lynch's book The C Word. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me follow Lisa on Twitter. Last weekend I read this post on Lisa's blog and I still can't quite believe it. I've been trying to think of something to say to Lisa, but I can't find the words – at least none that have more than four letters. And then I read this, by one of Lisa's friends and… well, you just need to read it.

A favourite sensational novel (which isn't a novel)

Day 30 of the 40 day book challenge is 'a favourite sensational novel'.

What constitutes a "sensational" novel, do you think? I immediately thought Valley of the Dolls, Peyton Place, something that, you know, caused a sensation, but I don't really know, since lots of books cause a sensation when they come out, but wouldn't be called "sensational" today. So I thought I'd tell a little story instead…

When I was 16 we went to Lanzarote as a family and stayed in a villa owned by some friends of my parents. There was a shelf of books and I found this one – The Happy Hooker by Xaviera Hollander (it's not a novel, but it's certainly sensational). I sneaked it off the shelf and read it in my room after everyone else had gone to bed and then sneaked it back onto the shelf before it could be missed in the morning. I did this a few times and then, one night, it had gone. I assumed my parents had noticed I'd been reading it and had confiscated it and I felt guilty, embarrassed, and a bit ashamed.

It was seriously only in the past couple of years that it occurred to me that, rather than my parents confiscating it, one of them (or, you know, both) may have just taken it to read themselves. Gosh.

What's your favourite book with animals in? (???)

Day 29 of the 40 day book challenge is 'a favourite book with animals in'.

One of my first favourite books featured animals – My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara. It obviously has a fancy new cover, but this is the one I remember. I remember standing in my nan and grandad's kitchen (which they, for some unknown reason, called the "back kitchen" even though there wasn't a "front kitchen") reading it. I remember reading Thunderhead too and then going on to read a series of pony trekking books. This may also have been the time I had my imaginary horse… What?

One of my more recent favourite books – or favourite series, actually – with animals in is the Hermux Tantamoq series by Michael Hoeye, starting with Time Stops for No Mouse. These are anthropomorphic animals – Hermux's love Linka Perflinger is an aviatrix – and there's a definite touch of The Rescuers about the series, but they're really lovely, sweet and funny books. And I could be wrong, but they may also fit as a best-kept book secret.

A book I loved but nobody else did (sort of)

Day 28 of the 40 day book challenge is 'a book I loved that nobody else did'.

Nobody else? I can't think of one. So have another best-kept book secret instead.

It's just as yummy as it looks. Here's my review from Trashionista. (Wow. Even lazier than yesterday!)

What's your best-kept book secret?

Day 27 of the 40 day book challenge is 'a book I love that deserves to be better known'.

Now you're going to mock, but it's Feel by Chris Heath. I reviewed it for Trashionista and this is what I said (yes, I know I'm lazy):

A few years ago I read Literally, a biography of The Pet Shop Boys by Chris Heath. It was utterly compelling, brilliantly written and totally transporting. And so is his biography of Robbie Williams.

I was a bit worried it wouldn't meet the high standard set by Literally, but Feel is everything I expected and more. It's not just a biography of a star, it's a meditation on – and expose of – celebrity and modern culture. And it's really very funny.

Chris Heath got to know Robbie extremely well and has captured brilliantly the contradictions that, in my opinion, make Robbie such a fascinating character. For example, if Robbie values his privacy as highly as he claims, why did he agree to a journalist spending a year with him and writing a book which includes intensely private moments and emotions? You don't get any answers (well, not many), just more questions about why anyone would choose to be famous in this age of total celebrity obsession.

Feel is a brilliantly written, thought-provoking, gripping, funny book. Whether you love, like, hate, or are indifferent to Robbie Williams, I highly recommend you read it.

Do you read science fiction?

Day 26 of the 40 day book challenge is 'a favourite science fiction book'.

Oh dear. Now we're struggling. I can't think that I've read a science fiction book for years. I read Virtual Light by William Gibson as part of the Popular Fiction module at uni (the one I keep going on about) and really enjoyed that. And I read Brave New World at uni too and thought that was brilliant, but SF isn't something I'd generally just pick up.

Oddly enough, one of the very few novels I can remember getting from the library as a child – and I read a LOT of library books – is Science Fiction: The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes. Looking it up now, it seems quite familiar and it also sounds really interesting, I think maybe I should reread it. Anyone read it?

(Not SF, but one of the other library books I remember is The Summer-House Loon by Anne Fine. Pretty sure I read that one a few times.)

My favourite chick lit book

Day 25 of the 40 day book challenge is 'your favourite chick lit book'.

Just one? That's unpossible!

    

    

What's your most unputdownable book?

Day 24 of the 40 day book challenge is 'an unputdownable book'.

A few books I've already mentioned would fit into this category: The Hunger Games, Misery, The Woman in White, the Tales of the City books…

I tried to think of books I'd read in one sitting, but the only ones I could think of were in exceptional circumstances – Misery (again) on a very long coach journey from London to Liverpool, Bread Alone by Judi Hendricks when I had glandular fever and couldn't get up off the sofa, so then I searched Trashionista to see if there were any books I'd reviewed there and described as "unputdownable". And there was.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I took it to Paris with me when me and David went to see the final stage of the Tour de France. I remember reading it at the airport. I remember reading it in the hotel room (while David watched an extremely weird French film and tried to work out what on earth was going on without the benefit of subtitles). I remember reading it leaning against a lamppost while David went to get some cash. And I remember reading it sitting on the ground on the Champs Elysee, waiting for the cyclists to arrive. So I think that fits the bill.

(I can also remember arranging to meet a friend in The Moon Under Water in Manchester at 7pm and standing round the corner, leaning against the wall and reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire until exactly 6.59.)

How about you?