I’ve agonised about what Wednesday should be. I was going to make it “Whingy Wednesday”, but I reconsidered, because bitching and complaining on the internet is never productive (hear that, vaguebooking Facebook friends????).
Saturday was originally going to be “Something New” Saturday – but it’s easy to find things that start with “S” – less so for “W”.
So, Wednesdays become my day to find new things and places to go to and do. Knowing me, it will probably involve hunting down strange new cuisines to try (there’s a Scandinavian bakery I’ve been dying to visit) and strange sports to try (underwater hockey? Yes please!).
But this month, because I’ve been a teensy bit lazy (also, working full time really kills my desire to do… well, anything), Wednesday is a list of books that I’ve read/am still reading these holidays.
1. Michael Kirby Biography – A.J Brown.
- I’m still not finished this one – but it’s absolutely fascinating to read. One thing that particularly hit me about this book are how many future powerbrokers Kirby was rubbing shoulders with while he was at uni. It’s also made me a bit more relaxed about taking an extra 6 months to finish my degree. Kirby took *years* to graduate, and was still active in the student union, even when he wasn’t a student anymore. A great read for all law nerds, and Kirby fangirls.
2. Sing You Home – Jodi Picoult.
- Shuddup. I know you can’t get a much bigger contrast between number 1 and 2, but I do quite enjoy Jodi Picoult books. They’re like… chicken nuggets of reading. This one deals with the conundrum of a lesbian couple wanting to use frozen eggs/sperm obtained while ½ of the lesbians was in a heterosexual relationship. Nothing too high brow or really, that “challenging” from my perspective, but I guess if I was a religious person I could have found it difficult. Also, the ending was a total cop out. Even by Picoult standards.
3. One Day - David Nicholls
- My uni friends have a book club and despite my best intentions, I’ve never been able to make it along, but I do try to read the books. One Day was one of them. I had fairly high expectations because the law girls had been raving over it, a couple even saying that they were on the brink of tears on the bus while reading the last few chapters.
- I have to say, until I got to the last few pages, I was pretty “smeh” about this book. The characters are very “real” (and “real” in the sense that they are both pretty flawed characters and have a propensity to really get on your nerves) and while the concept is excellent (the relationship of two people over 25years) I was a bit let down by the execution. But the last few pages - whoah.
- I won’t tell you what it was, even though I don’t think it would really give away anything, but it kinda… redeemed the entire book. There were these two kinda annoying characters who never quite fulfilled their dreams, but this one, seemingly tiny almost-thing when they first met had completely changed the course of their lives over the next quarter of a decade.
- I wouldn’t say that I “liked” the book, but I think it’s fair to say that it is excellent none the less.
4. A Song of Fire and Ice - George R.R. Martin
- Disclaimer: I’m not a fantasy reader, but I do love a good bandwagon. So when I heard from multiple sources that this series was “fantasy for people who don’t like/read fantasy” I decided to have a crack at it.
- I would say I’m enjoying the series at about a 7/10. Like I said, I don’t read fantasy, so it’s a bit of a chore to have to learn all these people’s families and genealogies and the maps of the various lands and who’s alliances are with whom etc etc, but I’m slowly getting a grip of it all, and the narratives are very detailed and engaging.
- I think my biggest complaint at the moment is that despite having read the first two books in the series, and have started on Bk3, Pt1, I’m not even half way through, despite having been reading for *ages*. And I have to finish reading the series before uni goes back, or I won’t read them until holidays and because of the detailed nature of the books, I would have to re-read them all before I could move onwards.
- I also saw a clip of the HBO TV series which threw me. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but creepy English accents was not it.
So that’s what I’ve been reading. I promise next Wednesday post will involve going somewhere/doing something.
Also, January is completed! I know it only says 6 posts, but the 1st of Jan was a Sunday but it hasn't appeared here for some reason, so I'm counting it. On another note, this is my dog being adorable.
Also, January is completed! I know it only says 6 posts, but the 1st of Jan was a Sunday but it hasn't appeared here for some reason, so I'm counting it. On another note, this is my dog being adorable.
No comments:
Post a Comment