My Thoughts: The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein

There is one thing you need to understand about this book early on, the title is a deception. Gertrude Stein used this book to write an autobioraphy of herself as seen through someone elses eye. Strange, huh?
This autobiography is principly based in France, where the American Stein spent most of her adult life. She mingles with artists, writers, poets and other people of importance and nearly every page has 3 or 4 name drops. For the most part she hangs around in Picasso's artelier where other artists visit in the evening, exchanging news, gossip and work. She also buys up a lot of art and talks about the books she has written.
I found this book a strange one to get into, it often seemed like a list of events and meetings, with very few feelings or descriptions thrown into the mix. Once we arrived at the war period in the book things had picked up and it was a it more exciting but in general I found I was indiffernt to much of what she had written.
Having wrote my dissertation on T.S Eliot's 'The Wasteland' and cubism/futurism and the way that they mirrored the collapsing society of the time (Industrialism, the death of God, Darwinism, the move away from the extended family, tinned food, the media, photography etc) I was familiar with the names of a lot of the lesser known artists and could picture some of the art that she brought or viewed. If this hadn't been the case I think I would have struggled more. I was put off her even more (I disliked her from the moment she declared that she and Picasso where two of the only geniuses/genui(sp?) of the period) when she slated T.S Eliot and the fell out with Ezra Pound, two of my favourite poets of that time.
I'm including this for the Women Unbound challenge, because although I disliked her her strength of character, her sense of equality and power as a woman in her circles makes her a feminist of her time.

My Thoughts: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I've been reading about this book for ages in the blogging world, and finally got aroung to reading it during the 24 hour read-a-thon (I came across 4 other bloggers reading this for the read-a-thon as well).

The Hunger Games is set in a dystopian world consisting of 13 states, a long time in the past the states all went to war and misery and destruction fled through the area. The states all now exist seperately, each one varying in wealth, living conditions and the field of work. Once a year the states are joined when the Hunger Games start. The Hunger Games selects 2 teenagers from each state to battle it out - till only one is left alive - for glory. In the richer states the teenagers are trained and glamourised in their pursuit of being in the Games, whereas in the poorer areas being selected for the Games is seen as a path to death.

Our heroine is of course from the poorer regions, so we're fighting for the under-dog, something us English love. She, and her male partner should fight against each other, after all only one can survive, but as with any novel of this type their lives are entwined.

The ending shone out to me as soon as the selections for the Games had been completed, but like many books and films it is the getting to the end that is the exciting bit. I enjoyed this book a lot, the pace was good, the characters interesting and the Games kept throwing in the unexpected. It wasn't brilliantly written, but like Twilight great writing wasn't what was needed as the plot took over. I've reserved the next book in the triology from the library as I'm only allowed to buy one book between now and my Cambodian trip (Monster's of Men by Patrick Ness). I'm going to have to start taking the book buying ban seriously as I not only have the whole holiday to Cambodia and Vietnam to pay for but also spending money for school trips to New York and China early next year, plus whatever next years 5 week holiday is (poss Australia or Sri Lanka).

My Thoughts: Tales from Firozsha Baag by Rohinton Mistry

This is my third Rohinton Mistry read and I loved them all so far, yes they're certainly not cheery but they're are so well written and constructed that you can appreciate the beauty of the situations.
This is a much shorter output than some of his other work. Tales from Firozsha Baag is actually a collection of short stories all based on the lives of people livng in an apartment block. Unlike with most short story collections I read this one straight through as their was so many links that the stories blended together in a good way.
The stories, based in India, feature many elements you find in lots of Indian stories - families struggling together, neighbourly jealousy, the story tellers, parents aspirations for their children and children migrating and forgetting their families. But he does it really well. Despite being short stories based on different families each character and situation quickly came to life.
A great read, especially if you want an introduction to this fantastic author.

My Thoughts: Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

I first discovered Margaret Atwood when I was 17. I had to read A Handmaid's Tale for my A Levels along with 4 other pieces of protest literature (The Colour Purple, 1984, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest), it was this course which changed my degree choice from Law (I wanted to be a Legal Secretary specialising in family law) to English Literature, I can't imagine how my like would have turned out! As soon as read The Handmaid's Tale I went out and brought a stack of Margaret Atwood books which I've gradually read over the (12 -ouch!) years, I still have The Robber Bride to go.

Alias Grace is a fictionalised novel based on a real murderess Grace Marks, she was widely famous in Canada in the early 19th century being charged with 2 counts of murder at just 16. Alias Grace is a mismatch of narratives and writing regarding this women and those she came into contact with. The main proportion of the story are Grace's story to her Doctor, Dr Jordan. Claiming to be unable to recount the murders she details her life from him, from the journey from Canada to England, the methods of bleaching clothes and the details of her acquintances downfalls - she is certainly an unreliable narrator. Being shown her wondering what to tell Dr Jordan and how to phrase her story allows us to feel, but also know, that we are in the same position as he is, we are being fed a story - which elements are true or not we shall not discover.

The novel is also interspersed with Dr Jordan's complicated life, his desires for every woman he see's, his correspondence with his pushy mother, his friends and work collegues. As well as newspaper cuttings, quotations from Grace Marks' biographer, pshycoanalysists and poets who wrote about her.

Threaded throughout the story are refernced to patchwork quilts and their various patterns, especially those ones which turned one way show one image but looked at from a different viewpoint show a whole new picture. That is what this story is like, as a reader we sometimes feel she is guilty as sin, sometimes we believe her spiritual version of the murders and at other points her coyness leads us to believe she is just an innocent caught up in a crime. Well worth a read.

Read-a-thon Hour 24 and I'm finished

Time spent reading: 14 hour and 25 mins
Pages Read: 1174
Books Completed: Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (I had started this previous to the read-a-thon), Tales from Firozsha Bagg by Rohinton Mistry, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ash by Malinda Lo.

As the final hour of the read-a-thon begins I have finished my final book, Ash, a retelling of the Cinderella story. Rather than start a new book I've decided to go and cheer on some of the other readers. I'll be back at some point this evening with a Sunday Salon. Each of the books I finished was great and each will be getting its own review which I'll be writing up in the days to come.

The End of Event Meme:
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Randomly the first couple of hours when I was feeling really restless.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Ash by Malinda Lo and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Both great reads, nice sized font and well paced, exactly what's required for a long reading spell.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
It didn't seem to be advertised as much this year, I din't see the buzz surrounding it that I have on previous years - although that maybe because I don't use twitter, I get the feeling from the blogs I visited that that was the place to be.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
As of the other years that I have participated the updates on the blogs are always great as they keep you linked to the rest of the community.
5. How many books did you read?
I read 3 full books and finished another one.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
See the top of my post.
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Probably The Hunger Games, which was great as I brought it ages ago and kept putting it off so I could read it for the read-a-thon
8. Which did you enjoy least?
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? Not a cheerleader this year, I did this last time and had problems opening some of the blogs, this may just be my computer it is old and well used.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I'm very likely to participate again, I think again I would just be a reader but this time I will check out more bloggers who are participating and add them to my google reader. A lot of the blogs I read who have participated in the past weren't involved this year so I didn't have many posts to comment on.
I'm looking forward to getting outside for a while as today is another beautifully warm and sunny day.

Read-a-thon Hour 20: Another Book Read

Time spent reading: 11 hour and 15 mins
Pages Read: 883
Books Completed: Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (I had started this previous to the read-a-thon), Tales from Firozsha Bagg by Rohinton Mistry, The Hunger Games
Current Book: Not sure what to go for next '~'?

With hour 20 about to begin I'm off for a bath so I can feel more alive. Just finished The Hunger Games, an amazing read certainly one I'll be recommending in the future. I now want the second one, but may have to wait for a copy from the library as I'm on a book buying ban - I have a 5 week holiday to save for!

It seems awfully quiet around here, the people I follow on Google Reader who normally participate aren't joining in this time and there haven't been any cheerleading visits in ages in this part of town :(

Read-a-thon: Back and playing

It's twenty past five in the morning here, my alarm went off at half four but as I hadn't managed to fall into more than a slumber it took a while for me to get out of bed. I've read for the last 20mins while my computer has messed around with random messages and had to be rebooted - every read-a-thon it goes strange!
I'll quickly be checking Google Reader, sending a few messages then I'm back reading again.