Welcome to 2019

Happy New Year to one and all. Let's hope for a better one than 2018 turned out to be! During the last 12 months, I have been working my way through The Popsugar Reading Challenge, which contained 40 book prompts designed to broaden your reading. The prompts ranged from "a book about feminism" to "a book with alliteration in the title". Whilst I didn't get through all 40 of them (there were a couple of really, really long books in there which slowed me down!), I did manage to finish 31, so not too bad. It helped me find a new author (Madeleine Miller) whose books were a delight, and rediscover the work of an author I haven't read in years (John Irving). I read books I wouldn't have gone near without the Popsugar prompts, so the goal of expanding my reading horizons was achieved. HOWEVER, what this has now meant is that the pile of unread books in my house has not gone away and so this year, I will be delving back into those patiently waiting tomes in the hope that I can reclaim some much needed storage space.

Bring it on ...

Snow - or should that be "Slow"?

Any form of art is, as we all know, subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that. So, if Snow, by Orhan Pamuk is one of your all time favourite books, then please look away now. Highly lauded with multiple 4 and 5 star reviews, I was hopeful that, despite my husband's warnings, this was a book I could get my teeth into. It's opening premise is great - we journey with Ka, a poet and political exile, as he travels on the bus to Kars, a town on the Turkish border. It is snowing hard and memories of his childhood in this place bubble up. He has been assigned to write a story about a worrying "epidemic" of young religious girls who are committing suicide, supposedly as a result of being forbidden from wearing their headscarves. However, when the town is cut off due to a blizzard, Ka finds himself caught in the middle of religious and political turmoil, including a theatrical coup. In the midst of this, Ka falls in love with the beautiful Ipek, who he tries to persuade to come back to Germany with him when the roads reopen again. Obsessed with the snow and his burgeoning love, Ka starts writing poems and hits a creative goldmine over the three days that the action takes place. But Ka cannot ignore the politics and is unwittingly caught between both sides. Needless to say, this doesn't end well. When I read what I've written so far, it sounds like a good story, and the bones of it are, but unfortunately, for me, the execution of telling this tale was dreary, depressing and dull. There is so much focus on the snow that it starts to get really irritating. Ka has no backbone. Other characters feel incredibly shallow. There is a lot of sitting around expounding on the beliefs of the different sides. Repetitious, confusing and frustrating. It left me not caring about any of the characters at all. It took me ages to read because I just couldn't get into it, which made me dislike it even more! I don't think I've ever given up on a book before, but this one was pretty close. If it hadn't been for trying to get through the PopSugar challenge, I probably would have put it to one side and moved on! So glad it's over!

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 24: A book with a weather element in the title.

My STAR rating: TWO.

Length: 448 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from my husband (he did warn me!)
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, audio CD, ebook.

The Go-Between - Sublime!

From the famous opening line - The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there - to the very last word, The Go-Between by L P Hartley is an absolute corker of a book. The story is narrated by Leo Colston, who is around 60 years of age, but whose memories of childhood are brought into sharp focus by the diary he kept during the year 1900. We first see Leo at school where he is bullied into misery until the bullies are vanquished by, so he believes, a magic spell he casts on them. This gives him a bit of celebrity and when one of his few friends, Marcus Maudsley, invites him to stay over the summer, he is thrilled. Leo is desperate to fit in with the Maudsley's whose circle includes a Viscount who is about to propose to Marian, Marcus's older sister. When Marcus becomes ill, Leo has time on his hands and the beautiful Marian pays him such lavish attention that he would do anything to please her, and so he begins to act as a messenger between her and local farmer, Ted Burgess. Set in a more innocent time, Leo is blissfully unaware that he is aiding an illicit love affair. As events unfold, Leo finally realises what's going on, and the bitterness he feels at the betrayal to both himself and the Viscount (who he very much admires) comes to the surface with devastating results. This is a sublime book that cannot help but affect the reader. You can really feel the heat of the summer, the rawness of the betrayal and the utter sadness of the characters who are locked into what is expected of them, but desperate to somehow find a way out. This is a beautifully observed study of class, and childhood, at the turn of the 20th Century. There wasn't anything I didn't like about this book, and as an added bonus, I used the audio edition narrated by the sublime Sean Barrett.

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 20: A book by a local author.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 336 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.99.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, audio CD, ebook.

The Diary Of A Bookseller - I wish my diary was so amusing!

When Shaun Bythell, owner of the largest second hand book shop in Scotland, decided to start noting down his thoughts about books, customers, his employees and life in general, I'm not sure he envisioned it turning into a book that might appear on his own shelves. However, that's exactly what happened. This memoir is a day to day account of the trials and tribulations of running his shop in a place called Wigtown. If you've ever worked in a shop, cafe, or call centre - indeed anywhere you have to deal with people using your service - you cannot fail to empathise with the author. The many and varied anecdotes - from the banal to the exotic - are at times hilarious and at others, deeply touching. I never thought I would become fascinated by the number of online orders received, customers who visit the shop and the till receipts logged for each day ... but I did. Boy were there some slow days! The Diary Of A Bookseller, should become compulsory reading for anyone contemplating life as a bookseller. There are some sobering passages and it's clear that you have to develop lots of different strings to your bow to make ends meet ... mostly thanks to the all-consuming behemoth that is, Amazon. Buy direct from the high street where you can! Each month is prefaced by a quote from George Orwell's Bookshop Memories - an essay about his time in a second hand bookshop. It's scary how little seems to have changed! A slice of life showing the best and worst of humanity, all within the confines of a drafty, literary sanctuary, where the customer is definitely NOT always right! A really enjoyable book that is still making me smile as I write this blog as I keep remembering "Foodie Fridays", where Shaun's skip-diving employee would offer a weekly treat foraged from a supermarket bin. Delicious!

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 39: A book that involves a bookstore or library.

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 320 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.98.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

Close Range: Wyoming Stories Volume 1 - Brokeback Mountain

Close Range: Wyoming Stories Volume 1 is a collection of short stories about the hard life experienced by the people of Wyoming, both in the past and the present. The landscape may be beautiful but it is also harsh, and to make a living from the land you need to be tough. It may be cowboy country, but the romantic image that type of lifestyle may conjure in the mind is far removed from reality. Drought in summer, deep snow in winter and a new breed of landowner who doesn't actually want to work the land are the foes faced by those who have lived and breathed Wyoming for generations. Annie Proulx has not made this an easy read, and it is full of grisly incidents, bad behaviour and unneighbourly treatment. I found it hard to like any of the characters and felt little sympathy for most of them. The highlight of the book is, unsurprisingly, Brokeback Mountain, which had an element of tenderness and love which didn't come across in any of the other stories. One summer, Jack and Ennis are sent to look after the sheep on the mountain and almost instantly, are drawn together. They spend more time with each other than the sheep, but at the end of summer, they go their separate ways thinking that is that and get on with their own lives - including marriage and children. But when the opportunity to meet up again happens, the old feelings emerge and the short time they get to spend with each other over the ensuing years is more precious to them than anything else. I can see why this story is placed at the end - I might have given up on the rest of the book if I hadn't known this was coming! Not my favourite book of the year, but it was nice to see where the inspiration for an excellent film came from.

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 1: A book made into a movie you've already seen.

My STAR rating: TWO.

Length: 320 print pages.
Price I paid: free, borrowed from library as an ebook.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.

Life Without Limits - where does she get the energy?

I took a bit of a punt on this book as it was in a 2-for-1 sale on Audible and I needed a book about a sport for one of the Popsugar Challenges, so I thought I'd got for something I knew nothing about. A Life Without Limits is the autobiography of Chrissie Wellington, a sporty girl from Norfolk, who, in 2007, became a world champion Ironman, almost from nowhere. Why is this so remarkable ... well, an Ironman is a long-distance triathlon consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and finishes with a marathon length run! I have absolutely no idea how anyone can complete such an epic race, so let me say here and now that I am in total awe of people who participate in such sports. This book takes you through Chrissie's life, beginning in Norfolk, where, as a sporty child, she enjoyed swimming and did compete at school level, but was not what you would call an outstanding talent. As a young adult, she developed an eating disorder that stayed with her for several years and despite this, continued to push herself physically in the sporting world - although she preferred the social side of it more than anything else. She had a thirst for travel and was interested in overseas development, which took her to Nepal, where she started to ride a bike. Over time, she drifted towards the triathlon, where she realised that she might actually have a talent. She started to train more seriously and took the brave decision to become a professional athlete and aim for the Olympics. The training was brutal, but she strangely enjoyed it, but began to realise that Ironman was really what she was built for. With almost no race experience behind her, she became the world champion in Hawaii in 2007, completely smashing the best time by a woman. And from that point on, she was virtually unbeatable until her retirement in 2011, beating record after record. This is a remarkable story of a remarkable woman. On display is her incredible drive to push and push and them push herself some more - almost beyond the edge of her physical and mental capabilities. I don't know why, but I found this to be a bit of a dry read. I was longing for a bit more  depth in terms of the feelings and thought processes rather than what, at times, felt like a list of spectacular achievements from around the world. Many people will find this an inspirational book, but I fear it left me feeling totally inadequate in some ways - which I'm sure says more about me than Chrissie. However, what it did make me think was that we all have our own strengths - it's just a matter of finding what yours is and then striving to keep on improving to become the best you can be. You never know, this book might spawn more world champions in the athletics sphere, but sadly, I won't be one of them.

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 19: A book about or involving a sport.

My STAR rating: THREE.

Length: 352 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.98.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, MP3 CD, ebook.

Americanah - an eye-opening love story

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a novel centred around a deep love that endures despite years of separation. Ifemelu and Obinze meet when they are teenagers and still at school in Lagos, Nigeria. They soon fall in love and seem destined to remain a couple, and after university, and following the path set by their peers, they plan to move out of the country to free themselves of its military regime. Ifemelu goes to America, but finds it hard to adapt to her new home where she experiences racism for the first time in her life. Obinze was to have followed her to the States, but in post 9/11 America, he cannot get a visa. He goes to the UK instead and finds it equally challenging to find his place in London, where he is living illegally, and finally gets deported back to Nigeria. Ifemelu struggles to make ends meet and during a particularly desperate time, takes on a job which she immediately regrets and enters a period of depression. She cuts off all contact with Obinze, who is devastated. Over the next 13 years, they form new relationships and develop differing careers. However, Ifemelu is increasingly drawn back to her homeland and finally gives up everything and returns to Lagos, with the hope that one day, she will be able to meet Obinze once again. This is a huge novel, full of emotion and heartache, and is sometimes hard to read. There are lighter moments too, of course. I really cared about the main characters, who were ably joined by a fascinating supporting cast. It's also a study of immigration - the challenges, threats and abuse suffered by people who are just trying to live their lives in a new country. It's also an eye-opener for anyone interested in cultures that may not be familiar to them. An enjoyable, expansive read that I would be more than happy to recommend to anyone.

POPSUGAR Challenge 2018 prompt 32: A book from a celebrity book club (Reese Witherspoon).

My STAR rating: FOUR.

Length: 400 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.98.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, MP3 CD, ebook.