Two more challenges (and some rambling)

Well, apparently it seems I can't resist the the temptation of signing up for another couple of challenges for 2015! The first is the Back to the Classics Challenge, hosted at Books and Chocolate. This one appeals to me as I have a lot of unread classics on my shelves, some of which have patiently been waiting to be read for a number of years, as I mentioned in my last post. The challenge is to read at least six classics that fit into one of twelve categories (e.g. a 19th century classic, a classic in translation). I am tentatively going to aim to read a classic from nine different categories. I have always enjoyed reading classics in the past, but often get distracted by other things, so this challenge is just the thing to inspire me.


The next challenge is the What’s In A Name Challenge at The Worm Hole. This one looks like lot of fun! The aim is to read six books that fit into the following (title-based) categories: a word including ‘ing’ in it, A colour, A familial relation, A body of water, A city, An animal. I love that these categories allows for a lot of creativity, and I look forward to seeing what books I can find to fit each. I can't think of many from my shelves that fit the categories, so I'll probably be relying on the library for this one. Any suggestion welcome!

That's it (I think!) for the challenges I will be signing up for this year, though I do have one or two other personal reading aims I am going to persue (in addition to my book-buying ban). More on this soon. For now, I want to write a little about the challenges I took part in last year, but have decided not to this year, namely the Goodreads Challenge and the Chunkster Challenge.

Last year, I challenged myself to read eight "chunksters" (which the challenge defines as books over 450 pages), and managed to read nine. While I enjoyed taking part in this challenge very much, I did at times find it hard to balance with my Goodreads goal of reading 50 books in 2014. Some of the chunksters took me three weeks+ to read, so I had to follow them up with a few much short books to get myself back on track. Not that this was an entirely bad thing by any means (it did mean I finally got round to reading Philip Pullman's Lyra's Oxford and Once Upon a Time in the North), but I did find it a little frustrating at times. Anyway, below are the nine chunksters I read last year:

1. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor (513 pages)
2. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (622 pages)
3. The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by G.W. Dahlquist (768 pages)
4. Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb (880 pages)
5. The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway (464 pages)
6. Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor (613 pages)
7. Someplace to be Flying by Charles de Lint (544 pages)
8. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson (526 pages)
9. Fool's Assassin by Hobin Hobb (630 pages)

My favourite of these was Life After Life, closely followed by Ship of Magic. It was also a joy to read the last two books in Laini Taylor's wonderful Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. My least favourite (also my least favourite book of the year) was The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters. I really enjoyed this book for the first few hundred pages, but after that I found the plot got a little repetitive and ultimately felt like quite slog.

In total, I read 51 books last year. My favourite of the year remains (by far!) Hannah Kent's breathtaking Burial Rites. (If you haven't already, I implore you: READ THIS BOOK!!) I have decided not to tie myself down to an "I will read x number of books in total" challenge this year, but instead look forward seeing what the year brings and what adventures my other challenges take me on.

Signing up for "The Official 2015 TBR Pile Challenge"

Since I have decided to work my way through my TBR pile this year, it just seems rude not to sign up to The Official 2015 TBR Pile Challenge. The goal for this challenge is nice and straight-forward. "To finally read 12 books from your “to be read” pile (within 12 months)." Should (I hope) by a good challenge for me given my personal goal of not buying any more books until I have worked my way through all my unread ones.

The challenge asks for list of the 12 books to be read, so here is my list below (with a few ramblings...) I will be returning to this post throughout the year to add updates and links to reviews, etc. Good luck to everyone who is taking on this challenge too!

1. Villette by Charlotte Brontë (1853). This one has been on my shelves for over ten year. About time I finally got round to reading it. A friend of mine said she preferred this one to Jane Eyre - high praise indeed!

 2. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847). Another one I have had a while. I'm ashamed I have never read it (might have something to do with the fact that every time I consider it, I just want to dance around listening to Kate Bush instead. Who doesn't!?)

3. The Wood Wife by Terri Windling (1996). This one has been on my shelves for a much shorter time, probably only around 18 months. I haven't read anything by this author before, though I have read a great collection of short-stories she edited (Queen Victoria's Book of Spells).

4. The Dreaming Place by Charles de Lint (1990). This is the last of the Charles de Lint "Newford" books I have on my shelves waiting to be read. I have been slowly working my way through this series, but skipped this one out. Finally going to go back to it this year.

5. The Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys (2007). I first read about this book of vignettes on a blog (I wish I could remember where) and found the idea so enchanting I brought a copy straight away. Should be a good winter read, just need some really chilly weather.

6. Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897). I have a shameful confession to make: this one has been sitting on my bookshelves ever since I stole it from English class at secondary school. I feel incredibly guilty not only for stealing the book, but for then not reading it! Time to make amends (and perhaps I'll post it back when done).

7. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (2002/2005 - in English). Another one that has been gathering dust quite a while. It's a hardback copy and I remember buying it new, so I'm guessing it dates back from around the time the English translation was first published in the UK. (I have a vague recollection of buying this one in the long-gone Borders in Brighton.)

8. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (2001/2004 - in English). Also had at least ten years. I tried reading it when I first brought it, but either couldn't get into it or was distracted by something else and never went back to it.

9. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (2012). I have had this one on my to-read list ever since it was published, though the copy I own is only a few month "new to me". My husband finished reading it recently and thoroughly enjoyed it.

10. A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire (2008). I adored Wicked, really enjoyed Son of Witch, but couldn't get into this one when I first tried it. Time to give it another go.

11. The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb (1998). I brought the entire Liveship Traders trilogy secondhand about 18 months ago and read the first book last year. I can't wait to get started with the rest of this series.

12. Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb (2000). And the final book in the same series! Since Robin Hobb's storytelling is something that makes me insanely happy, these two are the books I am most looking forward to on this list.

An honorary mention should go to my current read: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (2004), which has been on my to-read list ever since my sister gave me a copy during my first year at university (which I am terrified to realise was now over ten years ago!) I started this one before the end of 2014, so I can't count it as part of the challenge, but I thought it deserved a mention as a long-standing member of my TBR pile, and also because it's fabulous! Nearly half-way through and loving every minute of it.

P.S. Oh! I almost forgot to list a couple of "alternates". Mine are: 1) The Meri by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff (1992), and 2) Automated Alice by Jeff Noon (1996).

A new year, a new book-buying ban

Happy New Year one and all! I hope you had a good festive period and warmest wishes for a 2015 filed with books, tea, cake and all things lovely. It's that time of year again when we are all setting ourselves book-related resolutions and goals for the year ahead, and I can't resist joining in the fun and good intensions with my own personal reading challenge.

This time last year, I embarked on a six month book-buying ban, which turned out to be the perfect thing not only to help keep my bookshelves under control a little, but it also broadened my reading horizons considerably. Through using the library instead of bookshops, I discover new authors, tried out (and loved) new genres, and generally had my reading spirits rejuvenated.

This year, I am going to embark on a similar challenge, but I am upping the stakes a wee bit: I will not buy any new books until I have read all the unread fiction on my bookshelves (or wherever else I have books lurking). I'm not sure how long this will take me... it could be 3 month, it could be 3 years (though hopefully not!) To kick this challenge off, I have decided to accept the TBR Double Dog Dare over at James Reads Books:

"All you have to do to win the TBR Double Dog Dare is to read only from your TBR pile between January 1 and April 1. You can still buy books, you just can’t read them until the TBR Double Dog Dare is over. (You can make exceptions for books clubs, arcs, and other things you really want to make exceptions for. The TBR Double Dog Dare is all about having fun. So if you join in for a week or a month, no worries.)"

I'll ignore the bit about buying books of course, but I do love that you can make exceptions. Mine will be that I am permitted to read any books I have already placed a reservation for at the library that arrives during this time period. There are a couple I am very keen to read. (In particular, I can't wait to get my hands on Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven, which I have seen glowingly reviewed numerous places.)

At the end of the dare, I will allow myself "free rein" with library books, but will keep going with my book-buying ban until all books in my TBR pile have been read (or donated to charity in the case of those I really don't think I'll read). I should admit that my TBR pile isn't as insurmountable as some. It's probably more resembles the Pennines than the Himalayas, but nonetheless I would still like to climb it.

Another confession is that rather than being scared of this challenge (a perfectly rational reaction for a bookworm to have to a book-buying ban), I am excited. After my experiences last year, I have learned how invigorating these challenges can be, like a breath of fresh air ruffling my leaves of my dusty book brain. I can't wait to see what this year's challenge brings and what new discoveries I make.

So, that's my little bookish New Year's Resolution. What goals have you set yourself and what challenges have you signed up for? Anyone else trying aiming to take on their whole TBR pile this year? I'd love to hear from you!

Review: "The Rabbit Back Literature Society" by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen

Pushkin Press, 2013. 346 pages.
Rating: ★★★★ (4 stars)
Source: The Ceilidh Place, Ullapool 

Summary (via Goodreads): "Only nine people have ever been chosen by renowned children’s author Laura White to join “The Rabbit Back Literature Society,” an elite group of writers in the small town of Rabbit Back. Now a tenth member has been selected: Ella, a young literature teacher. Soon Ella discovers that the Society is not what it seems. What is its mysterious ritual known as 'The Game'? What explains the strange disappearance that occurs at Laura White’s winter party? Why are the words inside books starting to rearrange themselves? Was there once another tenth member, before her? Slowly, as Ella explores the Society and its history, disturbing secrets that had been buried start to come to light..."

My thoughts:

The Rabbit Back Literature Society was first published in Finland in 2006, and published in English last year (translated by Lola M. Rogers). Set in the delightfully bizarre town of Rabbit Back (which one review describes as "where Twin Peaks meets the Brothers Grimm"), home to reclusive children's author Laura White, this is an odd, dark, charming novel brimming with mystery. In short: everything I hoped it would be when I first picked it up.

I should be honest, however, and say that it did take a me a while to warm to this book, and to many of the characters. I liked it well enough, but didn't love it. But this is one those special books that creeps up on you, then all of a sudden wins you over. As the book progresses, the mysteries surrounding Laura White, and the circle of talented young writers she selects to form The Rabbit Back Literature Society, deepen and become stranger. It's almost impossible to resist their pull. It also asks lots of interesting questions about writing, inspiration, reality, childhood memory, and the relationship between writers and the world around them.

For me, the real turning point in this was when Ella starts to play "The Game", a creepy, ritual-like part of the Society, where members challenge each other to "spill" their most raw, intimate thoughts and memories. Through The Game, Ella starts to explore the weird, knotty history of the Society. Each member has their own secrets to spill, which often stir up something new out of the Society's mysterious past. At this point the book really opens up into something magical and intriguing, a real page-turner. I particular loved the mystery surrounding the Society's original "tenth member", who no-one seems to be able to properly remember.

I think it is impossible to review this book without talking a little about the ending. (I'll try to keep this spoiler-free, but please feel free to skip this paragraph if you'd prefer a complete surprise!) There are some books you read, that when you get to ten or twenty pages from the end you start to wonder (and worry) how it will wrap the story up with so little space left. I had that feeling here, and started to fear an unsatisfactory ending, but thankfully I was proved wrong. This isn't a book that sets out to neatly weave in all the loose ends. Any reader going into this book with that expectation will be disappointed. For me, this book is much more about Ella's journey, and about the mystery itself, rather than the solving of it. Overall, I found the ending satisfying and charming, a strange and magical ending to a strange and magical book.

I highly recommend this book if you are looking for something a bit different, particularly if mystery and magical realism are your cup of tea. It's an addictive read, dream-like, nicely paced, and subtly thought-provoking. You might have to persevere for the first few chapters, but personally I think it's worth it. I hope you like it too :) 

Reviews by others:
A Fantastical Librarian. "...an interesting story, with some fascinating exploration of the human psyche and an intricate narrative structure. If you’re looking for something speculative outside of the norm, then The Rabbit Back Literature Society comes highly recommended."

Fantasy Book Review. "With a large cast of characters and back stories to delve into this book will not leave you disappointed, but will hopefully leave you as surprised and satisfied as I felt upon finishing the story."

Review by Catherine Taylor for the Telegraph. "Part philological study, part winter-bound magic realism, Jäaskeläinen has created a world where all is not quite sane; beneath the cosy cups of coffee there is horror at its heart, “a blanket of unending dusk fringed with bad dreams”."

Review: "My Real Children" by Jo Walton

Corsair, 2014. 317 pages.
Rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars)
Source: Amazon Marketplace

Summary (via Goodreads): "It is 2015 and Patricia Cowan is very old. ‘Confused today’ read the notes clipped to the end of her bed. Her childhood, her years at Oxford during the Second World War – those things are solid in her memory. Then that phone call and…her memory splits in two. She was Trish, a housewife and mother of four. She was Pat, a successful travel writer and mother of three. She remembers living her life as both women, so very clearly. Which memory is real – or are both just tricks of time and light?"

My thoughts: My Real Children is a beautiful, immersive and thought-provoking read. I found it effortlessly absorbed both the mind and emotions, and I felt myself instantly caught up in the lives of Pat and Trish. Each time I picked this book up, even if only intending to read a few pages, I found it hard to put down. I stayed up well past my bedtime three nights in a row while reading this book, perfectly content to go to work tired if it meant getting the chance to read just one more chapter.

The chapters of this book alternate between the lives of Pat and Trish, but unlike other books I have read with a similar structure, I didn't find myself preferring one over the other (which I find always spoils the reading experience just a little, no matter how wonderful the book is otherwise). With this book, I found each story was equally intriguing, though for very different reasons. Trish's life is one of personal unhappiness, but set in a world that is much more peaceful than Pat's, or indeed our own ("The world had become quietly socialist, quietly less racist, less homophobic." - Chapter 34). Pat's world, by contrast, was one of violence, destruction and tyranny - a terrifying world of nuclear war, fallout, destruction and death, alongside the accompanying terror of intolerance and a political slide to the right. Yet this is the world in which Pat has such powerful, beautiful happiness of her own. Rejecting Mark's dubious marriage proposal in this world, Pat becomes a successful travel writer and finds true, lasting love in her partner Bee. I found the contrast between the two worlds, on their individual and global levels, a very powerful component of this book. There is a deep sadness in holding the two sets of memories side by side, as each lacks happiness on the level where in the other it shines brightly.

This book is one that really tugs the heart strings. It made me cry a number of times. And despite at times skimming only lightly across the lives of Pat and Trish as time passes, this book still made me care so very deeply for many of the characters, for all the children and grandchildren, for the friends and loved ones in both lives. It also made me feel intensely angry at times - angry at Mark's hateful, bullying treatment of Trish, angry at the senseless violence and destruction in Pat's world, angry at the fact the Pat and Bee could never marry or be officially acknowledged as a family in their world. This book, Pat's world in particular, also stirred up a sense of fear - what would it take for our world to get that bad and would we be powerless to stop it? It's a kind of fear that makes you want to go out and do something - speak up, protest, rage against injustice until the tide turns. Because what if, as Patrica wonders in her final days, it really is just one little thing that makes all the difference? ("Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..." etc.)

While this book definitely falls strongly into the categories of alternate history and speculative fiction, it also has a very domestic focus. I loved this mix. It puts me in mind a little of Kate Atkinson's wonderful Life After Life, which I read earlier in the year. Both are family dramas told in a unique, magical way, and both make you ponder the importance of choices and the power of individual decisions. Both I also found to be deeply captivating, drawing me in deeper with each turn of the page. My Real Children isn't necessarily a flawless novel, but I found the reading experience so rich and charming that I can't help but give it five stars. Quite simply, I adored this book.

Other reviews:
My Real Children review – a high-concept modern fairytale. A review by Gwyneth Jones for The Guardian. Gives a great overview of the book and speculates on what questions it might be raising.

Review by Alix E. Harrow on Strange Horizons. A lovely review. I particularly liked this bit: "My Real Children invites us to wander down the illusory spiderwebs of our own pasts, to find our own breaking points."

Review by Ana on her wonderful blog things mean a lot. This review is a wonderful, thought-provoking exploration of the ideas and questions this book raises. I am very grateful to Ana for her  review, as this was how I first heard about this book (and discovered Jo Walton's writing). Thank you!

April to June round-up (and a few ramblings)

Oh dear, I have been neglecting my blog again. But I have not been neglected my reading, I promise! Since my last update (January to March) I have read nine more books. And here they are:

• The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence
• Gretel and the Dark by Eliza Granville
• Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
• Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
• Girl Reading by Katie Ward
• Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb
• The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
• Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

All of these I really enjoyed, with the exception The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, which I had high hopes for, but it ended up so tedious and repetitive I wanted to scream. Still, this has been the only book so far this year I haven't enjoyed, so I mustn't grumble.

The end of June is rapidly approaching, and with it the end of my book-buying ban. And I have to say, with all honesty, it's been amazing! It has completely altered my attitude towards owning books, and I feel my attitude towards reading them has been enhanced as a result. I feel I have cut my ties to the materialist nonsense that made me feel that I have to buy lots of books to prove I love reading. Instead, I now love going to the library, browsing for new things to read, books I might have never considered reading before. And I love returning them, knowing that someone else will soon be reading and (hopefully!) enjoying those same pages.

June also means the weather been turning warmer and I've been reading outside a lot. While I'm not a fan of very warm weather (makes me grumpy), I've enjoyed being able to sit out in the garden, in the shade, listening to the birds singing and wind whispering through the trees. With a good book and a nice cup of tea, of course. Very peaceful.

I hope you have been having a fabulous June too. Xxx

Review: "Gretel and the Drak" by Elisa Granville

Penguin, 2014. 368 pages.
Rating: ★★★★ (4 stars)
Source: Library

Synopsis (via Goodreads): "Josef Breuer - celebrated psychoanalyst - is about to encounter his strangest case yet. Found by the lunatic asylum, thin, head shaved, she claims to have no name, no feelings - to be, in fact, not even human. Intrigued, Breuer determines to fathom the roots of her disturbance.

Years later, in Germany, we meet Krysta. Krysta's Papa is busy working in the infirmary with the 'animal people', so little Krysta plays alone, lost in the stories of Hansel and Gretel, the Pied Piper, and more. And when everything changes and the real world around her becomes as frightening as any fairy tale, Krysta finds that her imagination holds powers beyond what she could have ever guessed . . ."

Gretel and the Dark is a captivating, dark and thought-provoking gem of a book about war, stories and escapism. I found it to be a real page-turner that kept me reading well beyond my bedtime on more than one occasion. Always a sign of a very good book for me! I particularly loved the way the two storylines wove in and out of each other to create a rich and powerful tale.

Krysta's story is an intertwining of (often dark) fairytales with real-life horror (it put me in mind of Pan's Labyrinth). It is told in first person, allowing the tragic, monstrous events that take place to unfold though the naivety and innocence of a child's eyes. It felt this added to the power of the book, and made Krysta's experiences feel utterly raw, shocking and devastating. I also loved the way in which Krysta's voice matures throughout the book, as she grows older and her world more terrifying.

The other storyline is a captivating, dark mystery. The Vienna captured in these pages feels very real and provides chilling foreshadowing for the events of Krysta's timeline, like a small but telling window of European history. (The way in which it ultimately links to Krysta's story is very clever, but impossible to comment upon further without giving away any spoilers!)

I highly recommend this book, it's one of my favourites of the year so far. To sum up, there are a couple of quotes I would like to share. I found each to be very thought-provoking and also feel they capture the essence of the book very well:

“Yes, life is hard,” whispers Erika, “but knowing about other people, other civilisations, other ways of living, other places – that’s your escape route, a magical journey. Once you know about these things, no matter what happens, your mind can create stories to take you anywhere you want to go.”

“...soon I shall go from here and everything that I have seen or heard, felt, smelled, tasted, enjoyed, loved, will be extinguished and forgotten. There will be nothing left of me but a number on some ledger. And so, I give the Earth my memories.”