My Thoughts: The Hours by Micheal Cunningham

I wasn't overly impressed by the film for this, but it was on my challenge list for both the Pulitzer prize and the 1001 list so I thought I had better give the book a go, and it was so much better, much more rounded.

The book spans across the day in the life of three women, each at a different point in history.

Virginia Woolf, in London in 1927, trying to start writing Mrs Dallloway, but also struggling with the pressures of depression and a desire to just slip away from this world.

Mrs Brown, in America in 1949, a housewife with the perfect little family, but they just don't satisfy her. She wants to escape, to a different life, to the book Mrs Dalooway, and also contemplates commiting suicide.

And Clarrisa, nick named Mrs Dalloway, who is preparing a party for her dying friend in modern day New York.

All the women are feeling seperated from life in some way, and suicide comes up a lot. Not agood novel for if you are having a bad day!

Challenges:

20th century Reads: 1999

Pulitzer Prize Challenge

1001 Reading Challenge

Book Awards 2 2/10

Booking Through Thursday

What was the last book you bought?
I brought a few books in a charity shop, Unless by Carol Sheilds, The Dream Lover by William Boyd, All Quiet on the Wesren Front and the Count of Monte Cristo. I don't buy many books now because I get a lot through bookcrossing.

Name a book you have read MORE than once
The book I have read the most as an adult is The Time Traveller's Wife, as a kid I read all my books over and over again.
Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?
Not that I can think of

How do you choose a book? eg. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews
All of the above, in bookshops it is the cover that grabs me fist, the more boring looking books stay on my shelves for ages

Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?
I read nearly all fiction, I keep meaning to read more non-fiction but never quite make it.

What’s more important in a novel - beautiful writing or a gripping plot?
I appreciate both, but probably plot.
Most loved/memorable character (character/book)
Herny and Clare - Time Traveller's Wife

Jane Eyre and Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?
The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas and Fragile Leaves by Neil Gaiman, and The Wooden Sea by Jonathan Carrol which is my next read.
What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?
I finished The Hours last night
Have you ever given up on a book half way in?
If I'm not enjoying it I'm unlikely to get to half way, with Cloud Atlas I struggled through the first half, loving some sections and hating others, I gave up at the half way point when I realised that the second half was the follow up stories to the first half.

A Neil Gaiman Double Whammy!

So much for an afternoon marking, I devoured 2 Neil Gaiman books, both for the RIP III Challenge and both were great.

I've read Coraline before, but last time it just kind of passed me by, this time I was in the right mood and I loved it.

Coraline is a modern fairytale. She is a young girl living in a house, with two overly busy and unattentive parents. The holidays are dragging and Coraline's life as an explorer is starting to get a bit boring. In the back of their flat is a locked door which leads to a brick wall. Well, being a fairytale we know that doorways such as these only lead to danger, and that our heroine will have to go and explore.

Behind the locked door, is Coraline's other family, all scarily with buttons for eyes (despite being grown up, one of the pictures I had to cover as I read the page, her eyes were just too freaky!). This alternative world is created by the mother, who appears to steal children's souls. And that's the intention she has for our main character, but as this is a fairytale we watch Coraline in her war against this adult.

I want to get the graphic novel version of this in the near future.

Other Reviews:

Booknut

An Adventure in Reading

The second Gaiman book was a gorgeous graphic novel which I spotted in the library and had never even heard of. Creatures of the Night includes 2 stories, The Price and The Daughter of Owls.

In The Price the narrators home is basically a home for stray cats, all manner of cats turn up to stay in the house, and all settle in fine. Until the Black Cat arrives, he sleeps on the porch but every night he is covered in cuts and welts. Once brought into the house to protect him from whatever is harming him, everything goes wrong for the family, from losing work, to accidents and srguments. When he is returned back outside, his owner sets out to discover just what it is that is attacking him.

The Daughter of Owls is a strange little tale, about an abandoned child believed to be the daughter of an owl. She is feared by the villagers and banished to live in the old convent. As with all feared female children she grows up to be a beauty and her actions cause havoc for the village which rejected her.

The pictures in this book are stunning, not at all like cartoons. The picture I really want to show you I can't find on the net, and I have no digital camera or scanner to capture it with.

100 Shots of Short

I really enjoyed Short Story September, but find I'm not very disciplined at reading short stories, but I discovered this ongoing challenge 100 shots of short at robaroundbooks. You just have to read 100 shortstories and you have as much time to do so as you like.

1. Gold Boy, Emerald Girl By Yiyun Li (can be found online here).

2. Lamb to the Slaughter, Dahl (can be found on-line here)

3. The Red Room, H.G Wells (can be found online here)

4. Country Lovers, Nadine Gordimer (Review here)

5. Veronica, Adewale Maja-Pearce

6. Instructions, Gaiman

7. Diseasemaker's Croup, Gaiman

8. Goliath, Gaiman

9. A Stone Woman, A.S Byatt

10. The Duc De L'Omelette, Poe

11. Pages from a Journal Found in a Shoebox on a Greyhound Bus Between Tulsa, Oklahoma and Louisville, Kentucky, Gaiman

12. The Day the Saucers Came, Gaiman

13. Raw Material, A.S Byatt

14. The Pink Ribbon, A.S Byatt

15. The Ostler, Wilkie Collins

16. The Pit and the Pendulum, Edgar Allan Poe

17. Samuel Lowgood's Revenge, Mary E. Braddon

18. Lost Hearts, M. R James

19. An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge, Amrose Bierce

20. A Vendetta, du Maupassant

21. Open Arms, Robert Olen Butler

22. Mr Green, Robert Olen Butler

23. The Trip Back, Robert Olen Butler

24. Crickets, Robert Olen Butler

25. Letters from My Father, Robert Olen Butler

26. Love, Robert Olen Butler

27. The Gold Cadillac - Mildred Taylor

28. A Stench of Kerosene -Amrita Pritam

29. The Parade of You, Barth Anderson. (Copy can be found here)

30. Face, Alice Muro (Copy can be foud here)

31. The Ladies of Grace Adieu, Susanna Clarke

32. On Lickerish Hill, Susanna Clarke

33. Mrs Mabb, Susanna Clarke

34. The Moor, Russell Banks
35. Dundun, Denis Joohnson
36. Timothy's Birthday, William Trevor
37. The Birthday Cake, Daniel Lyons
38. Turning, Lynda Sexton
39. Maybe Not Yem, Etik Juwita
40. Forever Overhead, David Forster Wallace
41. Angel of Mercy, Angel of Wrath, Ethan Canin
42. The Birthday Present, Andrea Lee
43. The Bath, Raymond Carver
44. A Game of Dice, Paul Theroux
45. Close to the Water's Edge, Clare Reegan
46. Birthday Girl, Murakami
47. The Lottery, Maria Edgeworth
48. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fitzgerald
49. Jelly-Bean, Fitzgerald
50. Godmother Death, Jane Yolen
51. Crocodile Tears, A.S Byatt

The Sunday Salon: A Review - Two Tractors by Marina Lewycka

I woke up this morning to yet another cold day, not only cold but a day full of rain and dreary skies, I quickly rolled over wrapped in the duvet and missed the swimming session I was going to do. When I crawled out of bed I allowed myself to read the last 50pages of Two Caravans. Since then I've done a bit of studying, which I'm supposed to be continuing now with research into Polari a gay slang language, but I thought I'd type up this review first. Once thats down I have 30 homework pieces to mark, then I will either start Coraline or The Hours - both need reading this week.

Two Caravans is the second novel by Marina Lewycka, her first A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian was a massive hit with most people, but I personally wasn't overly impressed, and certainly not gripped. However, I thought I'd give this next book a go, and I wasn't disappointed.

Two Caravans is about a goup of illegal immigrants trying to survive in England. They are initially brought over to pick strawberries, existing on minimum wage, food not even worthy for a cat and living in two tiny caravand between 9 people the workers are disinterested but stuck in this world of exploitation. The job at the strawberry farm soon disintegrates when the farmer is caught having an affair, and run over by his wife, and the immigrants split up.

From this point onwards there are many strands to the story, but the main one follows Irina and Andriy, both from the Ukraine but seperated by politics and class. As a young and attractive virgin, Irina is seen as a key commodity and is pursued by a man with a desire in proffiting from her body. Andriy is quickly falling from her, and out to protect her every step of the way. They have jobs in restaurants and a chicken farm (it will put you off eating chicken for life), and gradually make their way through London and up north.

I have to say England is portrayed as a pretty nasty place, there are 2 shootings, lots of expoitation and the few English people in the novel and mean and cruel to the outsiders. They also manage to make their money go a lot further than it possibly could.

But, this novel is funny, witty and sharp. Give it to a lot of the narrowminded people who exist and they would take it as gospel, as this England seems to be populated only by immigrants something that the Tabloid press would have us all believing.

Has anyone else read this? How did you think it faired to Tractors...?

Challenges:

Fall into Reading Book 3/24

2nds Challenge Book 2/4

Other Reviews:

Heatseeker

Omnireader

Have you reviewed this book? If so add your link and I'll add you to this list.

My Thoughts: The Stolen Child by Keith Donoghue

The Stolen Child tells the story, in alternate chapters, of two 'boys'; one a changeling who has stolen the other boys life. A group of changelings live in a forest in North East America, they were all once children who were stolen, and now live amongst the forest, scrabbling for food and warmth, whilst waiting their turn in line to become children once again.

In the 1940s they steal Henry Day, a quiet child, who is easy prey as he is feeling left out after the birth of his twin sisters. The changelings study his life and personality until an opportunity arises to steal him away. Once stolen he is wrenched from his body, and the changeling takes his place.

The changeling replacing Henry, was in a previous life an excellent musician, and when he swaps into Henry's life he is unable to hide this great talent and quickly the new Henry's life becomes filled with music lessons and practice, pretty much cutting him off from his contemporaries. This love of music also creates tension in his relationship with his father, who can never quite accept that this boy, who went from being tone deaf to pitch perfect is really his son. As a changeling imitating a child he has to remember to change his body as he grows up, and try to forget the past, something which both he and the real Henry Day struggle to do.

Through the real Henry Day, now named Aniday we see the changelings fight to survive, for food, to avoid detection and the desire to return to their previous life. One of the female changelings takes Aniday into her care, and slips him into the library each night, snuggled up amongst the books they discover friendship as well as reading a vast array of books, reminding them of human life.

Challenges:

Fall into Reading Book 2/24

Other Reviews:

The Octogon

Eclectic Closet

On My Bookshelf

The Genre Challenge: Nov 08- Nov 09 & Go Gothic

Bookworms and Tea Lovers is hosting The Genre Challenge:

The goal:To read one book in the following genres:

crime fiction, (drop)
detective fiction,

mystery fiction, Mystery Stories of the Nineteenth Century, ed Robert Etty

horror fiction,

thriller fiction,

romance fiction,

science fiction,

action/adventure fiction,

fantasy fiction,

realistic fiction, (drop)

historical fiction, Sea of Poppies, Amitav Ghosh

western fiction.

Specific definitions of these genres can be found in this post.There are three options if you want to join:

A: Read 10 books, drop the genre you read the most and one of your own choosing

B: Read 11 books, drop the genre you read the most

C: Read 12 books

The rules

You may not read more than 1 book per genre

All books must be read within the challenge period

No crossovers within the challenge, each genre should have a separate book

Crossovers with other challenges are allowed

Audio books are allowed, graphic novels are not

You may make a list of books, but that’s not mandatory and you can change your picks at any time before or during the challenge.

I'm also participating in Go Gothics readalong of Northanger Abbey, I have a copy somewhere, will hunt around and start reading tomorrow. The reading schedule is:

Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen
THUR Oct 02 Chapters 1-3

TUES Oct 07 Chapters 4-7

THUR Oct 09 Chapters 8-10

TUES Oct 14 Chapters 11-14

THUR Oct 16 Chapters 15-17

TUES Oct 21 Chapters 18-21

THURS Oct 23 Chapters 22-24

TUES Oct 28 Chapters 25-28

THURS Oct 30 Chapters 29-31