One Foot Wrong by Sofie Laguna

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I received a copy of this book, but it certainly wasn’t what I got. It was better. This novel is unlike anything I have read before. It is uniquely captivating. It is so well written that from the very first sentence I was Hester’s head, seeing and experiencing things through her eyes, rather from the eyes of the omniscient narrator.

It is difficult to accurately describe Hester, not because Laguna has forgotten to include such details, but because Hester does not notice physicalities. It initially seems that Hester was born with disabilities that mean she sees the world in a way entirely unlike the average adult (whatever average may mean). But as the novel continues is becomes apparent that Hester is the product of a deranged mother and an abusive father, whom she calls Boot and Sack, and a society that continually fails her.

Perhaps the best way to depict the genius of Laguna’s prose is to provide you with an extract. I’ve chosen the very first paragraph so as not to reveal too much of the plot.

I slept at the feet of Boot and Sack. My one small bed went longways across the end of their big one. If I turned my head in the night and the moon was shining through, I could see the hill of Boot’s feet beside my face. Sack’s feet I couldn’t see but I knew they were there – no shoes, tipper-over and sleeping.

Yet despite the simplicities and abnormalities of Hester’s mind, Laguna manages to incorporate prose that subtly informs us that Hester is not as stupid as her parents believe, and is capable of feeling far more than they will ever realise. In addition Laguna cleverly reveals the reasons behind Hester’s differences.

Yellow wool wrapped itself around Cat’s black paws; she rolled onto her back, wool curled around her tum. It went round and around until Cat was in a yellow tangle. Every way she moved she tangled more. Cat was playing like the children at Christ’s feet when he made a visit to the marketplace in The Abridged Picture Bible.

As the plot thickens Hester is seemingly offered an escape in the form of school during which time, despite the cruelty of many of her classmates, she manages to nurture a friendship. Unfortunately for Hester her luck does not last, and soon her life takes a much more sinister path.

Not only does Laguna successful portray the thoughts and feelings of a young girl to whom society all too often turns a blind eye, she highlights inadequacies in society’s treatment of those with disabilities. This is a book that whilst revealing horrors, also finds sublime innocence. It is a unique, fascinating read.

One Foot Wrong has been nominated for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction.
One Foot Wrong by Sofie Laguna, published by Allison & Busby is available now.

Season's Greetings

I have been such a bad blogger! Time has been flying by so quickly that I didn't realise it had been over a month since my last post. I hope you have all been enjoying the festive season and I will be back in action in the New Year with lots of juicey literary titbits for you to feast on.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Green Books

Whilst scrolling through the many publishing related newsletters that land in my inbox everyday, I noticed the latest research carried out by the Rainforest Action Network. They recently conducted research on which children's publishers are most committed to rainforest protection, and have now published a simple guide based on these findings. According to their sources Hachette, Penguin, Simon and Schuster, Scholastic, Macmillan and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are all recommended. That is that these publishers 'are committed to the protection of Indonesia's forests, and forests worldwide. They have committed to phasing out controversial Indonesian fiber and suppliers APP and APRIL until reforms are achieved and have a comprehensive environmental paper policy or a commitment to create one'. Random House and Sterling Publishing recieved 'can do better' labels as although they are committed to improving paper practices, they have not committed to avoiding controversial suppliers. On the other hand, Disney, HarperCollins and Candlewick Press were all tarnished with the 'avoid' label as they have 'no commitment to protecting Indonesia's or other endangered rainforests. They do not have public, environmental paper policies'.

This got me thinking about how green I am with my book choices. I'd like to think I do my bit environmentally; I recycle papers, plastics, tins, glass and food waste; I have a garden waste compost bin, I buy my milk from the milk man (with glass bottles and an electric delivery float), I always buy recycled notebooks, cards and so forth. But when it comes to books it would seem I'm pretty ignorant.

I began by consulting my trusty friend Google, about publishers using recycled paper and I came across this rather interesting report from Eco-Libris.

Number of new titles published annually in the U.S.: 172,000

Number of books produced annually in the U.S.: 4.15 billion

Number of books sold annually in the U.S.: 3.09 billion

Annual net sales of books in the U.S.: $23.9 billion

Annual net sales of e-Books in the U.S.: $313 million

Annual Revenue of  European Book publishers: Euro 22.3 billion

Number of book publishers in the U.S.: over 80,000

Top 5 Book Formats: Trade paperback (35%), Hardcover (35%), Mass market paperback (21%), Audio (2%), E-book (2%), Other (5%).

Number of U.S. book publishers who signed the Book Industry Treatise on Responsible Paper Use initiated by the Green Press Initative to improve their ecological footprint: about 250

Market share of publishers with environmental policies in place and goals for increasing their recycled/FSC-certified paper usage: about half.

The number of trees that are cut down annually to produce the books sold in the U.S.: more than 30 million.

Percentage of recycled paper currently used by U.S. book publishers in the production of books: 5-10%

The carbon footprint of a book: 8.85 lbs, in cardbon dioxide terms.

The total carbon footprint of the book publishing industry: 12.4 million metric tons.

The biggest contributor to the industries footprint: using virgin paper.

National Book Awards

Beginning in 1950, the National Book Awards have recognised great creatives for sixty years. It 'continues to recognise the best of American literature, raising the cultural appreciation of great writing in the country while advancing the careers of both established and emerging writers'. From the 1,115 books submitted, the winners have been announced. For futher information and for interviews with all the winners and those shortlisted, go to the National Book Awards website.

Fiction

Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon

Nonfiction

Just Kids by Patti Smith

Poetry

Lighthead by Terrance Hayes

Young People's Literature

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine 

Costa Shortlist

The Costa book awards recognise the most enjoyable books from English and Irish based writers in the categories first novel, novel, biography, poetry and children's book. The shortlist was announced earlier this week, and the winners will be announced on 5th January. To find out more visit the Costa Book Awards website.

Costa First Novel Award

Witness the Night by Kishwar Desai
Coconut Unlimited by Nikest Shukla
The Temple-Goers by Aatish Taseer
Not Quite White by Simon Thirsk 

Costa Novel Award

Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty
The Blasphemer by Nigel Farndale
The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

Costa Biography Award

How to Live A Life of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell
My Father's Fortune by Michael Frayn
The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal

Costa Poetry Award

Standard Midland by Roy Fisher
The Wrecking Light by Robin Robertson
Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott
New Light for the Old Dark by Sam Willetts

Costa Children's Book Award

Flyaway by Lucy Christopher
Annexed by Sharon Dogar
Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace

Round Up

I always find it riveting to discover other people's favourite books and their reasons behind it. Reading is such a personal past time, and everyone has different tastes, views and opinions. Yesterdays Best Books of the Year: 2010 article in the Observer was therefore of particular interest. Containing a list of favourite books of key figures, the results were truly intriguing. Sam Mendes listed Freedom by Jonathon Franzen as his top choice, whilst Sabastian Faulks surprisingly chose The Big Short, a book about the world of banking, by Michael Lewis. Even more surprisingly, Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, chose Tony Blair's autobiography. The poet Wendy Cope claims that the tone of voice in Hitch 22 is exceptional, whilst Nick Hornby enjoyed How to Live a Life of Montaigne. The list continues as creative, academics, scholars and comedians each choose their favourite book.

The telegraph recently published an equally interesting article entitled Evolving English, a review of the British Libraries new exhibition. Apparently the English spoken in the Appalachian mountains of America preserves the language that Shakespeare would have spoken. There is a 1,000-year-old sole manuscript of Beowulf, still singed round the edges from being snatched from a fire in 1731. Furthermore, slang while being denigrated by those who feel above it, exercises a fascination on them because of a suspicion that slang-users are hiding something from them.

George Bush's autobiography continues to attract speculation, firstly because where is he going to be 1.5 million people that wish to buy his book and line his already rather full pockets, and also because there is now suggestions of plagiarism.

Finally, the Independent has published its list of 50 best winter reads, follow the link to see what you should be snuggling up with this winter.

Predicted Christmas Bestsellers

According to the lovely people who spend their time predicting the future, we will be buying the following books as Christmas presents.

The Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book) - A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race by Jon Stewart

The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values by Sam Harris

Conversations with Myself by Nelson Mandela

The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

A Simple Amish Christmas by Vanetta Chapman

Yet it will remain, and probably always will, that the Bible is the bestselling book of all time. A book that took over forty men hundreds of years to complete, and I haven't even read it! Perhaps thats what I should be reading this Christmas, after all, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ.

What a lot to say

I feel like I have lots to say today! Not that I'm complaining, sometimes I have to scratch my head for something of interest, but not today.

First and foremost today is, of course, Remembrance Day. Without dwelling on the subject too much, or becoming morbid, I would like to express my sincere sympathy to the families who have suffered the loss of a family member in all wars, past and present, and to thank our servicemen, whom do their job without the praise and appreciation they deserve. In the two minute silence observed this morning ' we remember those who fought for our freedom during the two World Wars. But we also mourn and honour those who have lost their lives in more recent conflicts. Today, with troops on duty in Afghanistan and other trouble spots around the world, Remembrance, and this two minute tribute, are as important as ever'.

On to literary news, last night was the annual Galaxy Book Awards, celebrating the very best of British publishing. Terry Pratchett and Martin Amis collected awards for outstanding achievement, Stephen Fry won the Biography category, despite competition from Tony Blair and Lord Alan Sugar. Andrew Marr received the More4 Non-Fiction Book of the Year award for 'The Making of Modern Britain', One Day by David Nicholls was named Popular Fiction Book of the Year and Hilary Mantel was honoured with the Waterstones Author of the Year award. The host of other awards can viewed on the Galaxy National Book Awards website, where you can also vote for the Galaxy book of the year. The ceremony will be televised in the UK on Saturday.

This morning I received an email from Red Room asking all bloggers to advocate the importance of freedom of speech. Coincidentally whilst watching the news this evening I was reminded of this by concern expressed over the murders of journalists and bloggers in recent times. We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard. –Voltaire, Dictionnaire Philosophique, 1764

The British amongst you have no doubt also been following the news of the student protests in London yesterday. Though I absolutely do not condone violence of any form, I was delighted to see such a huge number of students out protesting against the proposed university fee increased. All too often the British have a habit of sipping tea and complaining yet never actually doing anything about it. I hope that the government takes note of the public uproar. University should be available to all that have the ability and want to study, not an elite privileged minority.

Finally, I just thought I'd let you know, I'm thoroughly enjoying reading Suite Francaise and I can't wait to review it.

Christmas is Coming the Goose is Getting Fat...

... please put a penny in the old man's hat!

Christmas really is on the way now, and I've been giving some thought to what to buy people for Christmas. I always try to buy people books, I think a really well chosen book is a delight to unwrap, and it shows thought and sentimentality whilst also providing entertainment. So far I have bought my Mum A Simples Life by Aleksandr Orlov, she loves the adverts and I think she'll have a giggle over the book, and I've got my best friend the annual Ripley's Believe It Or Not book, which always provides hours of entertainment. Also, whilst perusing the internet looking for inspiration, I hopped on the the BookPeople website and found they have a deal on to buy all the books from the Booker Prize shortlsit for just £30, I can't decide whether I should buy this for someone or ask for it myself :)

Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan, illustrated by Sophie Blackall

I always find that at this time of year the bestsellers lists go a bit mad, and become crammed with all kinds of gift books, and much less literature. Not that I'm complaining too much as I love books in all forms; recipe books, autobiographies, picture books, annuals, not just fiction. But I'm always greatful for amazon's fiction only bestsellers lists.

The final delight I stumbled across today was the Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2010, as selected by the Book Review. All the winners looked great, but I particularly love Children Make Terrible Pets, Big Red Lollipop and Henry in Love.

News News News

Publishers have had a hard time of late. A decline in the sales of books and the rise of e-books started creating a problem, then the recession hit and publishers struggled to make ends meet. I had hoped that they were through the worst of it, but it seems that's not the case...

Doom and Gloom in the Publishing World

Overall there has been a fall over -4% in the total value of book sales.

Lagardere Publishing, Hachette's parent group, have seen their turnover fall by 5% in the first nine months of 2010. Though the plateauing sales of Stephanie's Meyers twilight series has been partly to blame, Hachette also cited 'challenging retail conditions' as a problem. Despite this Hachette continues to hold it's position as the leading publishers with a market share of 16.6%.

Penguin is the only publishers of the Big Four to have an increase in sales for the first three quarters of 2010.

Harper Collins saw the biggest decline with a drop of -7%, Bloomsbury too dropped by -7% but their market share dipped only slightly from 2.0 to 1.9%.

Although they managed to hold on the their market share of 13.2%, Random House sales were down by -4%.

Canongate dropped drastically by -45% despite digital sales being ahead of the publishers expectations.

On the plus side
Simon & Schuster and Quercus sales both increased, as did Pan Macmillan.

Moving on

There has been speculation in bucket loads this week about the possible return of Harry Potter. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, when asked about a potential for a new Harry Potter book, J K Rowling said: "They're all in my head still. I could definitely write an eighth, a ninth book." When asked if she would write another book, she replied: "I'm not going to say I won't. I feel I am done, but you never know." In the same interview Ms Rowling also revealed that she turned down an offer from Michael Jackson to turn the books in to a musical. Harry Potter fans are, of course, eagerly awaiting the release of the penultimate film on the 19th of this month.

Negations for a 'X-Factor style' television show entitled Britain's Next Bestsellers for the People's Book Awards are continuing. Current plans  involve thirteen one hour shows involving author discussions and celebrity guests with the hope of glamourising books and engaging more of the public in books.

The hugely popular and prestigious Hay Festival hits India for the first time this week, from 12-14 November. The literary festival makes its Indian debut in Kerala with over 50 authors in the line-up, including Mani Shankar Aiyar, Gillian Clarke, William Dalrymple, Tishani Doshi, Marcus du Sautoy, Simon Schama and  Vikram Seth.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and that your Monday isn't too depressing!

A Peek in to My World

I thought today, rather than my usual Sunday papers review, I'd give you a little peek in to my world. This is a snap of my desk and some of my books. I tidied my desk especially for you all, I hope you appreciate it.

I'm going to a firework display this evening. I hope you all enjoy your Sunday, take care.

Seasonal Prose

As it is bonfire night/ firework night/ guy fawkes night, I thought I'd share with you a few poems. The first is a more historical work, whilst the last two are fun little rhymes. I hope you enjoy them, and have a fun but safe night.

The Gun Powder Plot Poem

Some twelve months ago,
An hundred or so,
The Pope went to visit the devil;
And as, you will find,
Old Nick, to a friend,
Can behave himself wondrous civil.

Quoth the De'il to the Seer,
What the De'il brought you her
It was surely some whimsical maggot:
Come, draw to the fire;
Nay, prithee, sit nigher:
Heree, sirrah! lay on t'other faggot.

You're welcome to Hell;
I hope friends are well,
At Pareis, Madrid, and at Rome;
And ,now you elope,
I suppose, my dear Pope,
The conclave will hang out the broom.

Then his Holiness cry'd,
All jesting aside,
"Give the Pope and the Devil their dues;"
For, believe me, Old Dad,
I'll make thy heart glad,
For, by Jove, I do bring thee rare news.

There's a plot to beguile
An obstinate isle;
Great Britain, that heretic nation,
Who so shyly behav'd,
IN the hopes of being sav'd
By the help of a d--d Reformation.

We'll never have done,
If we burn one by one,
Tis' such a d--d numerous race!
For no sooner one's dead,
Like the fam'd Hydra's head,
Than a dozen spring up in his place.

But, believe me, Old Nick,
We'll play them a trick,
The like was ne'er hatched in France;
For this day before dinner,
As sure's I'm a sinner,
We'll burn all the rascals at onece.

When the king with his son
To the parliament's gone,
To consult about old musty papers,
We'll give them a greeting,
Shall break up their meeting,
And try who can cut the best capers.

There's powder enough,
And combustible stuff,
Inf fifty and odd trusty barrels,
Which will blow all together,
The Devil cares whither,
And decide at one blow all our quarrels.

But this was scarce said,
When in popp'd the head
Of an old Jesuitical Wight,
Who cry'd You're mistaken,
They've all saav'd their bacon,
And Jemmy still stinks with the fright.

Then Satan was struck,
And said 'tis bad luck,
But you for your news shall be thanked:
So he call'd to the door
Seven devils or more,
And they toss'd the poor dog in a blanket.

Watts, Isaac, Horae lyricae. Poems, By I. London, 1706

The next two are written by children, taken from www.bonfirenight.info

Fireworks bang
Bonfire sizzle
Laughter breaks through
A November drizzle
Sparklers burn down
Right down to the core
A sound of disappointment
But wait there is more
The fireworks ended
It’s time to go now
As the people hustle and bustle
In my head it’s still wow

 

 

 

Bonfire Night Poem

Look at the big Rocket, Mother,
Leaving burning, fairy flowers
Showering from the skies.

Watch the Roman Candle, Mother,
See it shoot and spark,
Why! There's fiery, golden rain,
Patterns in the dark.

Catherine Wheel, Oh, Catherine Wheel,
I love to see you spin,
Look at all the magic fire
Circling round the pin!

The sky is full of trees, Mother,
See their blossoms shake,
Painting all the dreaming air
Like a Magic Lake.

Oh, now look at the sad, old Guy,
He's very nearly gone,
His hat has toppled over,
But still he blazes on.

The Fireworks have all ended, Mother,
The Bonfire's nearly done;
But weren't the colours bright, Mother?
Didn't we have fun?

Childhood Horror

I think I am becoming slightly addicted to childhood literature. I'm hoping it is not just me that finds this riveting. The Daily Telegraph last week published an article entitled 'Early memories of horror' in which various authors and writers reveal the stories that gave them sleepless nights in their childhood. Jeffrey Archer reveals finding Bill Sykes from Oliver terrifying, Amanda Craig recollects 'absolute terror' at Alice in Wonderland. Emma Donoghue disturbingly remembers reading a Victorian novel in which a child is kidnapped and sold in to the white slave trade, she becomes a child whore and lays down and lifts her skirt whenever a man enters the room. Both Charlie Higson and Alexander McCall Smith both express utter fright at Der Struwwelpeter. For me, well I had was scared witless by Pinocchio, the thought of those children turning in to donkeys disturbed me permanently.

The article was of particular interest to me as I am currently studying how much unpleasantness can be embedded in to a fairy tale before it becomes damaging to the child. Fairy tales of modern society have been significantly watered down in comparison to their eighteenth century counter parts in which brutal revenge is common, and blood, gore and violence the norm.

What books or tales do you remember finding particularly terrifying as a child?

Crimson China by Betsy Tobin

Perhaps the appeal of this book is that, despite being a work of fiction, the idea is entirely plausible. So plausible, in fact, that I found myself wondering if one day the events that unfold in Crimson China will turn out to be factual.

Crimson China is based around the Morecambe Bay tragedy, when twenty one illegal Chinese migrant workers drowned and a further two went missing on 5^th February 2004. This tragedy haunted Tobin who ‘kept a file of clippings before eventually embarking on the novel in 2007, some three years after the disaster’.  Indeed she is finds it poignant ‘that you could journey to a strange land and perish without any lasting imprint of your presence seems unimaginably sad’. The story builds on the possibility that maybe the two workers who went missing did not drown, but survived, somehow evading death by the freezing waters that took the lives of their fellow cockle pickers. From one of the cockle-pickers whose body was never found Tobin creates Wen, an illegal immigrant who is miraculously pulled from the water by Angie who is attempting suicide. As Angie immerses herself in the water she is faced with Wen, seeing this as a sign that now is not the time to take her own life, she rescues him and takes him to her home.  Rather than relish in the fact that he survived when so many perished Wen is ashamed of his fate, believing that there are others who deserved to live so much more than him, that he allows the world, including his twin, to believe he is dead. Lili is Wen’s twin, and the other strand to this cleverly woven story. Devastated by the death of her brother she goes to London to find and free Wen’s spirit. Little does she realise that her brother kept many secrets from her, including the price he paid for his migration.

Although one would expect emotional melodrama, Tobin ingeniously manages to portray events with a tragic realism that doesn’t call for theatrics. Instead there is a deep rooted emotion here that doesn’t require fireworks, rather it is an aching throb that seeps through the novel. Wen, despite earning less than £2 an hour for most of the laborious jobs he is forced to undertake as an illegal immigrant, rarely complains, nor does Angie who despite being an alcoholic somehow manages to plod through life with minimal self pity. Within this patchwork of underground activity, often fuelled by desperation, is a struggle of identity. Tobin has ‘always been drawn to the notion of identity and culture’. For the Chinese immigrants in her novel, as in real life, living in the illegal Chinese community in Britain is extremely isolating. As one of the characters in the novel insists, the Chinese living illegally in Britain ‘are like shadows, and when a shadow disappears, nothing remains’.

Crimson China is well informed, it realistically represents life as an illegal immigrant and the risks involved. Similarly, even for those such as Lili who arrive with a visa and work as a teacher, Tobin successfully uncovers the mystery of British culture and the battle to maintain your own identity whilst also embracing a new one. At the same time she considers the many different faces of loss and how to deal with grief, whilst all the while creating a novel that oozes survival and maybe even contentedness, even when life is dealing you all the bad cards.

Tobin aimed to ‘create a lasting monument to those died: to carve into our collective memory so they would not be forgotten. But also to conjure a tale of hope, rather than despair’. She is successful both by her own standards, and by those of her readers, for she has created a captivating novel with a marvellous realism.

UK and US Bestsellers

It has come to my attention that quite a lot of the people visiting this blog are from America, so I decided to have a look at the bestsellers lists for Britain and for the USA and see how much of a difference there is. Quite a lot of difference it turns out. There are of course some similarities as the Millenium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson features in the top ten in both charts, as does The Confession by John Grisham and Worth Dying For by Lee Child. The Help by Katheryn Stockett appears in the top twenty in both too, though it is currently doing better in the UK. But other than that I found myself rather baffled by the US chart.

The UK Bestsellers list is fimiliar to me. I have read a good many of them, a good many more are on my 'to read' list. Even those that I have no intention of ever reading, I recognise the author and know the style. In comparison, from the US list I have never heard of Nora Roberts, Vince Flynn or J. D. Robb. I have no idea what I would be purchasing if I was to indulge in The Reversal, Shaken or Safe Haven.

I decided to do a little more delving in to the differences, but my finds weren't very illuminating. One source claims that American books are considerably cheaper than in Britain, but The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest, for example, is £3.86 and $9.99. Another academic source insists that in England novelists gradually become well known, but if they are fortunate enough become famous they will probably remain so. In America, apparently, fame is likely to wash over a writer overnight, but is equally likely to leave them in a second. Other sources claimed that British taste in literature is more limited, yet another claimed in fact the opposite was true with British tastes providing variety.

As I have only briefly travelled to America, and I do not have an American friend or relative to consider this with, I will leave to you, my dearest readers, to let me know your experiences and opinions. In the mean time, I am going to try to sample more authors popular in America, rather than just here in England.

A Good Many Things

There's almost too much to mention today, as my obligatory Sunday newspaper reading rituals revealed some great finds.

The author who created the memoir of a meerkat; A Simples Life: My Life and Times by Aleksandr Orlov, has been revealed as Val Hudson. For those of you who are not aware of the meerkat phenomenon (I'm not sure how global this craze is), the meerkat's shot to fame in a GoCompare advert have captured the hearts of a nation. To see what all the fuss is about I suggest you view the compare compare the market/compare the meerkat and jacuzzi meerkat adverts. So far the craze has not only made GoCompare a raging success, but Clinton's cards cashed in on a Meerkat range of bookmarks, mugs and other merchandise, and Boots offer an adopt a meerkat gift. Now Val Hudson, a former publisher for various publishing houses including HarperCollins and Headline, is set to make millions. Currently A Simples Life is number two in the bestsellers chart, rating higher than Tony Blair's and Keith Richard's autobiographies. Whilst I'm not convinced on the literary credentials of such a piece of work, I am curious to read the memoir of an infamous meerkat.

As most of you probably know, tomorrow marks the beginning of National Novel Writing Month. Not suprisingly, the aim is to write a novel in a month, that's 50,000 words in 30 days. Though not technically difficult, as this involves writing only 1666 words a day, surely few masterpieces can have been written in such a short space on time? Apparently not. Enid Blyton claimed to write, on average, 10,000 words a day, and according to Lindsey Grant who helps run NaNoWriMo (the site in which all the novels written during NNWM are uploaded) 55 of the books submitted last year were published, including Gruen for Elephants by Sara Gruen which spent six weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. As an article in the Independent today reveals, many masterpieces have been created in a short space of time...

A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens, written in six weeks in 1843

As I Lay Dying By William Faulkner, written in six weeks in 1930

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie By Muriel Spark, written in one month in 1960

The Tortoise and the Hare By Elizabeth Jenkins, written in three weeks in 1954

Devil May Care By Sebastian Faulks, written in six weeks in 2008

I also spied a couple of interesting reviews in the papers. The first, in the Daily Mail You Magazine Reading Group, is for Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. Reviewed in their Retro Reads section, the book offers an insight in to the limited opportunities for educated, middle-class Victorian Spinsters. As those of you who read my blog regularly will no, I'm interested in history, and I've also been trying to expand my literary horizon with a few older, classical reads, so this really appeals to me. Agnes Grey tells the tale of Agnes when her family plunges in to poverty and she is forced to take a job as a governess. The other that really captured my attention was in the New York Times, and is the third in a series by Dennis Lehane. Though I like to support the British Publishing market, this series could be worth investing in. Moonlight Mile, which continues on from Gone, Baby, Gone, and Prayers for Rain, tells of Amanda McCready's later teenage years as Patrick Kenzie is given the opportunity to put right his mistakes. The review claims that 'unlike the usual sequel writer who simply puts old creations through new paces, Mr. Lehane registers a deep affection for the Kenzie-Gennaro team and a passionate involvement in their problems. And he treats each book in this series as an occasion for wondering what kind of world can produce the depravity that each new plotline describes.'

And finally, I hope you have all enjoyed your Halloween. Don't watch too many scary movies this evening!

Good News for Books

I have been concerned about the demise of the book for a while. Throughout my time at university my lecturers were continually telling me that the age of the physical book was limited and that before long we would all be reading e-books on various contraptions (the kindle, nook, i-pad etc). Similarly, when I completed a publishing short course with the Publishing Training Centre, industry proffessionals all talked of the end of the book as we know it. Although I refuse to think that I will ever be reading books on a kindle or any other technical paraphernalia, I was rather concerned that soon I would be unable to add to my ever expanding book collection, and book shops would become a thing of the past.

However, this week Publishers Weekly revealed statistics that suggest the physical books are not loosing popularity to the same extent I first feared. In research of students, 74% insisted they preferred print, and only 13% had purchased an e-book within the past three months, of that 13% over half (56%) did so because it was a requirement of their course. And the facts get better, only 8% of students own an e-reading device, furthermore 59% of students who didn't own a device have no intention of buying one in the future. It seems to be that the death of the book has been somewhat exagerated, and thank goodness.

 I dread the day when rather than perusing a bookshelf, we flick through an electronic device. Imagine there being no libraries, instead just an online database. No fusty old books, no treasured, battered old editions that get passed round the family. As far as I am considered, the death of the book would be a crisis for literature as we know it.

Keep buying books!!!

A Very Merry Evening - The Merry Wives of Windsor

There cannot be an adult in the whole of the UK that was not, at some point in their education, subjected to endure hour after dull hour of Shakespeare. Typical experience seems to be of a monotonous teacher forcing students to read aloud from Macbeth, Twelfth Night or Othello in the hope that such dictation would bring to life Shakespeare’s plays. Of course Shakespeare’s plays were not written to be read, but written to be performed in an engaging and thought provoking manner. It is this true expression of Shakespeare that Shakespeare’s Globe aims to capture as it recreates the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century experience of his plays.

The Merry Wives of Windsor, a comedy believed to have been written in 1597, is currently beginning a six week run at Shakespeare’s Globe, before continuing on a tour across the UK. The performance tells the tale of Mistress Quickly, an entertaining busy-body who activates the plans of Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. Mistress Ford and Mistress Page both receive identical, not entirely poetically romantic, letters from the sexually frustrated and insufferable Falstaff. Reading ‘Ask me no reason why I love you... for you are not young’, continuing with ‘you love sack and so do I; would you desire better sympathy?’ before concluding ‘Thine own true knight, by day or night, or any kind of light, with all his might, for thee to fight – John Falstaff’. The two women, who coincidentally are best friends and both married, formulate a plan to humiliate Falstaff in to seeing the error of his ways. The truly outstanding performing of; Sarah Woodward, as Mistress Ford; Serena Evans, as Mistress Page and Sue Wallace as Mistress Quickly, follow Shakespeare’s narrative as they lead Falstaff on a merry dance in which he hopes his sexual desires will be fulfilled. But the mistresses easily deceive Falstaff who is blinded by his testosterone. They trick him in to hiding in a wash basket so he gets tipped in to the river with all the dirty laundry, they have him dress as a woman, a witch in fact, then battered by Master Ford, before finally hoodwinking him in to sitting on a tree stump with chains around his neck and antlers on his head as he is surrounded by fairies and pixies. A ridiculous narrative perhaps, but in the enchanting confides of the Globe the performance is entertaining, hilarious and jovial. The truly exceptional skills of all the actors, but particularly Christopher Benjamin who plays Falstaff for whom one cannot help but love, prove that Shakespeare’s prose is as engaging and entertaining as it was four centuries ago.

Intertwined within this narrative are the trio of admirers of Mistress Page’s daughter, Mistress Anne Page; Master Slender, Dr Caius and Master Fenton all of whom seek the hand of the young and beautiful Anne. Master Slender, dressed in luminous green and brilliant red, is so ludicrously dim witted that he is incapable of holding conversation with young Anne, yet he is her father’s choice of husband. Dr Caius, who is French and displays traits still stereotyped to this day, is Mistress Page’s choice of husband for her daughter, he is intelligent but firey and much too old. It is Master Fenton to whom young Anne’s heart belongs, but despite his family coming from the higher echelons of society he is poor, and therefore unsuitable. However the young lovers deceive Master and Mistress Page in order to marry, and the Page’s are forced to accept that ‘in love the heavens themselves do guide the state; money buys lands, and wives are sold by fate’. Despite the comedy of Master Slender’s stupidity and the farce of Dr Caius and his French ways, Shakespeare reminds the audience that love is an affair of the heart, it cannot be bought or sold or forced.

 Further embedded within the narrative are critiques of jealous husbands, for Master Ford is so blinded by green eyed envy that he cannot see his wife’s love for him. While the audience is entertained by Master Ford throwing dirty lingerie around the stage as he rummages in the wash basket for Falstaff he insists ‘I have reason to be jealous’. Shakespeare’s message was no doubt one of more sincerity. Additional social observations are entangled in the narrative as the audience witnesses the hypocrisy of Sir Hugh Evans, a Welsh Parson who drinks like a fish and is deceitful, and the almost homosexual kiss between Master Slender and the young man pretending to be Mistress Anne Page. This may be acceptable in the twenty first century, but four centuries ago Shakespeare was most certainly pushing socially acceptable boundaries.

The Merry Wives of Windsor excels itself in promoting Shakespeare’s lyrical genius, whilst providing an audience with laughs a plenty and a frivolous evening. In addition it proves that Shakespeare is just as relevant, absorbing and amusing now as it was when it was written. Shakespeare has certainly not lost his ability to hold an audience.

The Merry Wives of Windsor is currently on stage in New York, but will be touring the UK from 16^th November.

Awards and Festivals

As most of you will know I have joined the wonderful world of Twitter. Despite my initial scepticism I have become a bit of an addict. I'm not sure why I'm so surprised that I'm hooked, I am nosey my nature, and Twitter is a little snapshot of people's lives! With the exception of peeking in to other people's lives, Twitter is also proving to be very revealing in all aspects of literature.

My most recent discovering is the Lincolnshire Young People's Book Award. I'm rather embarassed to say, the despite living in Lincolnshire for my whole life, until four years ago, and my parents still live there, I had never heard of it! So I popped online and discovered that the Lincolnshire Young People's Book Award website is pretty out of date so I'm unable to share with you the longlist. I'd really love to learn some more about this award, so if anyone has any information, please let me know!

I also noticed an advert for the first Portsmouth Book Fest, which runs from Saturday 23rd October to Sunday 14th November. I always love hearing about new literary events, its restores my faith in the publics love of literature. The Portsmouth Book Fest only had a few events, but best selling authors Jacqueline Wilson, Josephine Cox and Louise Rennison are there, as well as other local author Isabel Ashdown, amongst others. I really hope the festival is a success, and returns next year.

Finally, this week (well ten days, 20th - 30th October) is the International Festival of Authors. Beginning in 1980, the festival aims to bring together the best writers of contemporary world literature, and its schedule certainly does justice to its mandate. Pulitzer prize winner Richard Ford opened the festival, Nicole Krauss hosted a discussion, and last night the festival celebrated 75 years of Penguin, and tonight it presents Roger Writer's Trust Fiction Prize. Later this week discussions include insights in to writing contemporary fiction with Eleanor Catton, Brando Skyhorse and Ali Smith, as well as a conversation about the influence of community and culture with Sandra Birdsell, Russell Wangersky and Michael Wex.

Bookmarks

As this is the very last week of October, and the shops have had their Christmas stuff in for ages already (especially Selfridges whose Christmas shop opens in August!), I have started considering Christmas presents. I love Christmas and I especially love Christmas shopping. Giving really thoughtful gifts is definitely the highlight of my Christmas. Beautifully wrapped gifts containing something sentimental, watching a friend or relative's face light up when they open it. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Anyway, whilst perusing some of my favourite sites this morning in search of the perfect gift, I stumbled across a selection of really fabulous bookmarks. There's a silver one that you can get your own message engraved on, another with your handprint moulded on to a charm, and loads of cute fabric ones. Simply adorable I think.

On another note, my books from amazon finally arrived yesterday so I now have plenty of books to  keep entertained. I still haven't managed to get down to the library though. Never mind, day off tomorrow so plenty of time for reading and the library then :)

Take care.

News Update

I thought it might be nice to begin the week with a my top five pieces of news from across the literary world.

1. Opinions on blogging are optimistic according to What's the blogging story? Apparently people think positively of social media.

2.  The agency pricing model is expected to be pushed through this week. Though Penguin claims that 'the agency model is more likely to provide authors with a just reward for their creative content, while establishing a fair price for the consumer', the issue remains controversial.

3. Random House has bought the rights to Salman Rushdie's memoir.

4. Alex Preston's debut novel This Bleeding City was announced as the First Book Award at the Edinburgh Book Festival .

5. Dawn French's A Tiny Bit Marvellous is out. The Spectator says criticising Dawn French feels like kicking a puppy, I vote they just don't criticise her then.

With the exception of A Tiny Bit Marvellous, which I will be reading asap, I'm also hoping to get hold of a copy of Children of Catastrophe by Jamal Kanj. In complete contrast to the lighthearted A Tiny Bit Marvellous, this tells the story of a palestinian refugee. From his life in a Palestinian refugee camp to living in the United States and working as an engineer. It promises to be emotional and enlightening.

Essential Reads

Flicking through the Sunday papers (as usual) I came across a rather interesting article by Rick Gekoski`, entitled What Happened to Essential Books? The gist of the article is the point that young adults now-a-days do not read together. We have lost the art of reading books then discussing them with friends and relations. That is not to say that young adults don't read, on the contrary we avidly consume books, rather that there is no longer a stack of essential must reads. The kind of books that cause a debate in the office or at a dinner party. And as much as I hate to agree, I think he may have a point. I read. A lot. I read literary fiction, historical fiction, popular fiction, chick lit, autobiographies... the list continues. Rarely, however, do I have the opportunity to discuss my reads, and when I skimmed through the list of 'essential reads' I was surprised to find I scored quite poorly. 

I have read Pride and Prejudice, a selection of Shakespeare and The Heart of Darkness. I forced myself through a bit of Thomas Hardy, Dickens and Emily Bronte. I enjoyed Angela's Ashes, The Colour Purple and Birdsong. And, I love To Kill a Mockingbird and Pygmalion. Not a bad selection of classics in my opinion. Until I discovered that the Penguin classics series is a collection of over 1,200 titles. I would love to find the time to read Jane Eyre, Moby Dick, Lady Chatterly's Lover  and Women in Love. I haven't read Catcher in the Rye or Lord of the Flies, nor have I managed to persevere through Lord of the Rings. I haven't read Dr Jekyll either, or One Flew of the Cuckoo's Nest, Crime and Punishment  or Bleak House.

But here's the problem. How am I supposed to read a good selection of classics when I also want to read contemporary literature. One day Child 44, The Kite Runner, The Book Thief, Lovely Bones and a whole host of other modern literature will be classics and essential reads. On top of that there's Booker prize winners, Pultizer Prize, Nobel Prize for Literature, Costa Books awards, the list goes on.

It seems to me that being 'well read', is a pretty impossible task.

The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard Morais - author interview

“I wanted a book that would marry Ismail’s love of film with his love of food. When I couldn't find a novel that fit the bill, I sat down and wrote one.”

Few people can claim to have experienced a life quite as professionally and culturally diverse as Richard Morais. Although Morais is a dual American-Canadian citizen, he was born in Portugal and spent his life until the age of sixteen in Zurich, Switzerland. Only then did he return to his homeland to attend the Sarah Lawrence College on the outskirts of New York. It was here that Morais began his professional career as a news intern, before joining the Forbes team in 1986. Three years after joining Forbe’s he convinced them to send him to London, where he lived for seventeen years becoming Forbes’ longest serving foreign correspondent. 

Whilst on this wonderfully varied journey, Morais happened to establish a firm friendship with the late Ismail Merchant, the founder of Merchant Ivory Films. Morais remembers Ismail as a larger than life character with a deep passion for food, who, even when he was your friend, was always working out how you could be of value to his many adventures and exploits. Morais recalls, for example, a perfect example of how Ismail’s intuition always ensured as much gain from a situation as possible. 

“Early on in our friendship, when I was living in London and writing a Forbes story about Merchant Ivory Productions, I informed Ismail I was going to drive down to the West Country manor house where Jim Ivory was filming Kazuo Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day. Ismail was delighted and said he would come with me and I should pick him up at Merchant Ivory’s offices in Soho the next morning. At the agreed upon time, I drove my Fiat Punto over to MIP’s Dickensian offices. Ismail came out and looked aghast at my tiny car. I soon realized why. He filled my Fiat to the rafters with paintings and pots and plastic bags of what have you, items all urgently needed on the set. When I was sure not a single additional item could fit into the tiny car, Ismail shoehorned into the backseat an unshaven and bleary-eyed Bollywood cameraman, right off the plane from Bombay. Plus a massive camera. We could barely move. Ismail himself then jumped in the front seat, smacked the dashboard with the palm of his hand, and said, "Let's go!" Within minutes, literally, Ismail was fast asleep and snoring and didn’t wake until I had pulled into the West Country film lot three hours later. Ismail woke up, fresh as a daisy and very pleased that he had just saved Merchant Ivory the expense of hiring a car and driver. That was all part of Ismail's great charm.”

One evening whilst dining at the Bombay Brasserie (London), following a viewing of In Custody which Merchant directed, Morais put it to Merchant that he should create a film that marries his love of the kitchen with his love of film making. Morais hoped to find a literary product that could be adapted in to a film, a novel where food was not just a strand of the plot, but so much a fundamental aspect of the novel that the food and the story are impossible to tear apart. When no story could be found Morais decided to write it himself.

The result was Morais’s suitably food driven debut novel The Hundred-Foot Journey, a feast of a book that provides the reader with charm, wit, and a thought provoking story of life’s lessons.

The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C Morais, published by Alma Books, is out now.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

As I am studying children's literature, and also because I seem to have spent a lot of time reading to my niece and nephew of late, I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite childhood books.

Carrie's War by Nina Bawden - I have read this numerous times as an adult and a child and it never fails to captiviate me. Despite being for children, Bawden writes with a depth of expression that captures adults and children alike. It's the story of Carrie and her brother who are evacuated from London to Wales in World War II. Unhappy in their new residence they spend time with fellow evacuee Albert at Druids Bottom Farm where adventures and stories are ample, and the reader can be enchanted by the mysteries world of Hepzibah Green and Mister Jonny.




Enid Blyton - It's impossible for me to reduce this label to any particular books as I devoured and loved virtually all of them. Whatever criticism she may recieve today about her sexism, or political incorrectness, as a child she provided dozens of magical worlds, each as enchanting as the last. Particular favourites included The Faraway Tree collection, and the Twins at Mallory Towers series.

Little Rabbit Foo Foo by Michael Rosen - Delving further in to the past of picture books and being read to, this is definitely a warm hearted favourite. To this day I know the book almost by heart, little rabbit foo foo riding through the forest...

Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume - I distinctly remember the day at the library when I picked this up. There was a particularly poor selection of books that day, and I'd read almost all the ones of interest, so I picked this up on the off chance it might be half decent. Little did I realise that this book would lead to a fascination with all of her books. Though the tragic loss of someone we love the most is at the heart of the story, perhaps of not today is that violent crime is too.

Elmer the Patchwork Elephant by David McKee - What could be more enjoyable than  reading a little story about  patchwork elephant. In this case a picture really is worth a thousand words as the illustrations in this book held a hundred other potential stories differing to that told by the printed text.







I love remembering and rediscovering old favourites. I was recently reminded of the story of The Indian in the Cupboard, which my teacher in Primary school read to us at the end of each day. I only vaguely remember the story, but I vividly recollect loving every minute of listening to it. I really must hunt it out and reread it. What were your favourite childhood books?

This and That

I can't believe I have now been a blogger for a whole week, it's gone so fast. I have learnt several things this week, firstly that the world of blogging really isn't as complicated as I initially feared. Secondly that the quality of literary blogs is quite staggering. I have discovered so many really great blogs, and loads of great book reviews. In my week as a blogger I have read reviews and added books to my 'to read' list that I would never of heard of or considered previously. BBC journalist Andrew Marr's recently ranted that bloggers are 'socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed young men sitting in their mother's basements', and citizen journalism is merely 'spewings and ranting of very drunk people late at night'. Mr Marrs has quite obviously never had the pleasure of stumbling across a really great blog, or else maybe he is just too stuck up to appreciate the amazing writing ability of the blogging public...

Anyway, a friend of mine recently told me that twitter is a great way to improve traffic to your blog, so this morning I joined twitter. I'm slightly concerned that I have nothing of interest to 'tweet' and to be honest I don't really understand the whole process. But this time last week I felt the same about blogging and I am now totally converted, so fingers crossed my twitter experience is just as enjoyable. I just have to figure out how to add a link from this page to me twitter page now.

Aside from my twittering endeavours, this morning I found that Khaled Hosseini, who is unquestionably one of my favourite writers of the decade, is not merely a writer but that he has a foundation. The Khaled Hosseini Foundation is nonprofit and 'provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. The Foundation supports projects which provide shelter to refugee families and economic and education opportunities for women and children. In addition, the Foundation awards scholarships to students who have migrated to the United States under refugee status and to women pursuing higher education in Afghanistan'. Following a visit to Afghanistan in 2007 Mr Hosseini was heart broken by what he saw, but insists 'the refugees I met did not ask for charity. They were a resilient, hard-working, and resourceful people, eager to rebuild their country and put the dark past behind them. What they asked for was access to some very basic resources, shelter and education foremost among them, so they could work to fulfill their own dreams and hopes. My Foundation’s goal is to provide the most vulnerable groups in Afghanistan –women, children, and refugees- with the opportunity to do just that. I know that providing them with shelter and access to education will give them a sense of control over their lives and allow them to begin rebuilding their broken country'. I now admire the author of A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner not only as a writer but as a person.

My adventures through literally the hundreds of blogs I have hopped between since becoming a blogger myself really has been a journey of discovery. I came across the PEN, now I had heard of them before but after accidentally following a blog link to their page my knowledge of them has significantly improved. PEN is a charity working to promote literature and human rights. From defending the rights of persecuted writers to promoting literature in translation and running writing workshops in schools, English PEN seeks to  promote literature as a means of greater understanding between the world's people'. This is an idea with which I whole heatedly agree. Was is not for the amount of books I happily consume set in different cultures and countries from across the globe, I would certainly be ignorant to the different customs, traditions and beliefs of the global community. Laurie Devine's Crescent and Saudi were invaluable in making those living in the far east individuals just like westerners, with emotions, ambitions and desires just the same as me. Similarly Khaled Hosseeini's work highlighted the plight of Afghans and Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea taught the importance of education. Literature provides me with a window to the rest of the world and allows me to understand the worlds people with a depth unobtainable by any other medium.

On the down side I am still waiting for my copy of The Finkler Question to arrive and last night I uncovered a library book that I fear I may have had for almost a year. This afternoon I have got the rather embarassing task of explaining to the library why I have such an enormous fine.

Take care.

Secrets She Left Behind

She set alight a church full of children, including members of her own family. Then she almost let her psychologically disabled brother take the blame. Yet Maggie Lockwood is impossible to hate. Led by her heart rather than her head, Maggie is a normal teenager who lived her life in the shadow of her brother.

Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain is the sequel to the highly acclaimed and incredibly popular Before the Storm. It tells the tale of Maggie trying to reintegrate herself in to the community and correct her mistakes following her release from jail. Much to the disgust of the community, Maggie’s sentence was just one year. On the day she is freed locals have gathered to demonstrate against her release; after all she killed three people in that fire and permanently scarred many more both physically and emotionally. What the community doesn’t realise is that Maggie’s conscience has sentenced her to a lifetime of guilt and regret.

Keith and his mother, Sara, are among Maggie’s biggest haters. From a cool, popular boy, Keith has become dependent on his mother. Following the horrendous burn scars that dominate his face and arms, his friends have deserted him and no girl is interested. The situation is made all the more complex when Maggie learns that Keith is her half brother. The father she thought was perfect had an affair with her mother’s best friend.   Then Keith’s mother disappears.

This is narrative full of twists and turns. Far from having an easy ride Chamberlain subjects each character to a rollercoaster of challenges, and each is harder to stomach than the last. Yet despite the complex plot Chamberlain’s characters have a depth that is refreshing for popular fiction. Her characters are multifaceted; they have a history and an array of persona’s akin to real life people. Despite Maggie’s actions Chamberlain allows her to be likeable, and Keith, even though he is a victim, has an irritating self pity. By not adhering to literary stereotypes Chamberlain provides memorable characters, a believable plot, and a story that follows a path of heart wrenching lows and tearful highs.

Buy Books Fight Poverty

Most of us are lucky enough to be able to enjoy books, they’re a relaxing past time, something to devour whilst sunbathing, or when curled up on a winters evening. For those with enough creativity, books are the way they earn their leaving, but few can claim that books are vital to their existence: a matter of life and death. But for many charities the selling of second hand books is essential.

Oxfam, for example, sells £1.6 million worth of books every month, enough to fund their education programme in Niger for over a year or buy safe water for 2.1 million people. On a smaller scale, the sale of one book in an Oxfam shop could pay for a school book for a child in Somaliland and provide safe water to a child in an emergency, for sixteen books Oxfam could pay for a school desk and chair, and a child’s health check, or eighty six books could pay for a teacher to be trained in Kenya. 

It is crucial for charities to maintain and improve its sale of books and remind people of the value of donating and purchasing from their shops, and to generate additional interest wherever possible. Charities are always thinking up new schemes to boost donations, using Oxfam as an example, last year their annual Bookfest, resulted in a staggering 750,000 books being donated in three weeks, and hundreds of thousands of pounds were raised in additional book sales. But charities often do not have the revenue to continually remind me people of the value of donating, so here’s a little plea from me.

Everyone of you undoubtedly has a bookshelf bulging with books, stacked high and wedged in. Do you need all of those books? I only keep books that are either of sentimental value, or that I would grade a 5/5. The rest get re-homed, re-used, and re-enjoyed at my local charity shop. Last week I dropped off eight books, which means thanks to me, there are eight extra children in Somaliland with school books.

Too Much Academia - and a spot of Disney

Usually by Monday I have happily spent my weekend immersed in a book or two, and when I emerge on a Monday morning I feel as if I've been on holiday. Escaping in to a book for several hours really does recharge your batteries almost as much as a holiday. This weekend however, I've had no such luxury. My first assignment for my Masters in Children's Literature is due in this week so I've spent the weekend ploughing through books and articles on New Historicism in fairy tales, rather than curled up reading a book of choice.

Despite this, my academic reading did turn up some interesting points. I was reading an article by Jack Zipes and he made me look at my childhood of Disney obsession quite differently from how I had previously. He says that Walt Disney 'employed the most up-to-date technological means and used his own "American" grit and ingenuity to appropriate European fairy tales. His technical skills and ideological proclivities were so consummate that his signature has obscured the names of Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and Carlo Collodi. If children or adults think of the great classical fairy tales today, be it Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella, they will think Walt Disney'. For me this is entirely true, had I not have studied literature so extensively I would never have known that Snow White is in fact a folktale retold across the globe centuries ago in varying versions, and that it was originally recorded in its more modern form by Brothers Grimm. Or that Cinderella has a similar history as an oral folktale, but was recorded in its written form in the sixteenth century by Charles Perrault, who also wrote other favourites including Sleeping Beauty. Yet no matter how much I learn, when I think of Cinderella, it is Disney's Cinderella that conjures in my minds eye. Disney captured by childhood, and not in a bad way. At the moment my research has not led me to any conclusions about any sinister ideological encoding of Disney's films. In fact, my research is making me want to spend an afternoon with my family watching Beauty and the Beast (Dad's favourite), Sleeping Beauty (Mum's favourite), The Aristocats (my sister's favourite) and Pocahontas (my favourite).

On the plus side I did begin reading Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain. I read its sequel, Before the Storm, over the summer and fell in love with Chamberlain's fiction. Before the Storm was the first of her books I had read, and I was literally over the moon when I discovered she is an established author with 19 (I think) books for me to devour.

Finally, whilst perusing the internet I came across these beautiful book ends from bombay duck. I'm currently not in need of any, but I'm tempted to buy them to replace some of my others, or maybe as an excuse to put up some more much needed shelves.

Anyway, I'm in need of a cup of tea before I do some more work on my MA then tootle of to work this afternoon. I hope there's a ray of sunshine in your Monday. Take care.