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.

The Sunday Papers

For me, Sunday is all about the Sunday newspapers. Now this is a touchy subject amongst my companions and I. Are the Sunday papers the best papers of the week, or the worst? My opinion is whole heartedly the former; The Mail on Sunday, The Observer, The Sunday Times, all so much better than their weekday counterparts. Sunday papers mean a round up of the weeks news, scattered with ample amounts of arts and culture and plenty of supplements. Heaven.

There's always one book review from the Sunday papers that really grabs my attention, and this week its the review of Conversations with Myself, by Nelson Mandela, in The Observer. I'm quite keen on politics and history, and though I wouldn't by any means suggest I am a whiz on the subject, I generally know whats going on in the world of politics. I love history too, delving in to the past and reading all the different views of events. Rummaging through history is like a license to be nosey. Yet, I've never particularly looked in to the life of Nelson Mandela. It has suddenly occured to me that this is, in fact, some what of a disgrace. Afterall, he is widely regarded as the most significant leader in South Africa's history, he has a nobel prize, and he spent his whole life campaigning for rights. Of course I know the basics, and find him inspirational in as much as I know, but it seems that my lack of knowledge is set to change. After reading the review in The Observer I will certainly be putting Conversations with Myself on my 'to buy' list. The Observer describes the book as 'a literary album,  containing snippets of Mandela's life, shards from diaries, calendars, letters, and also transcripts from 50 hours of recordings by Richard Stengel, who ghosted Mandela's autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. It also contains passages from an autobiography Mandela had been working on himself, in moments snatched here and there, but has finally abandoned, and allowed to be folded into this volume.' It sounds like a fascinating read. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on it with you when I've finished it. If you want to read the review in full, just follow the link. Conversations with Myself by Nelson Mandela - review.

For now I must dash as there's a Sunday roast to cook. Take care.

Yearning for Cheltenham

This weekend is the last couple of days of The Cheltenham Literature Festival. A busy schedule means I haven't had chance to attend this year, and I'm particularly upset to be missing the line up for today and tomorrow. 

I would have loved to have taken my niece and nephew to see Nick Sharratt, I have always adored his illustrations. They remind me of a childhood reading Jacqueline Wilson, his doodles always perfectly matched her words and I spent many hours trying (and failing miserably) to recreate them. Dawn French is also there this evening, I am a huge fan of hers. I've always loved her as a comedian, but after reading her autobiography (Dear Fatty) my admiration for her only deepened, helped by the fact that her book kept my chuckling for hours. Tonight the festival also hosts The 1960 Cheltenham Booker Prize, the nominations are Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Lynne Reid Banks‘ The L-Shaped Room, The Ballad of Peckham Rye by Muriel Sparks and Edna O’Brien’s The Country Girls. My vote goes to To Kill a Mockingbird, who do you think should win?


Tomorrow see's Audrey Niffenegger's event, attending her talk is definititely my biggest lust. The Time Travellers Wife is such an incredible book and unique in its structure. Whilst her second book Her Fearful Symmetry is not so easy to love, I couldn't put it down and it crept around in my mind long after I'd finished the book. I'd really like to be able to put a person to the name, and someone that writes fiction like she does is surely a fascinating individual. 

Finally, I popped on amazon this afternoon to check out the bestsellers list and discovered the top three are all on my current wishlist. Jamie Oliver's 30-Minute Meals and Michael McIntyre's Life and Laughing: My Story, are both on my Christmas List, and I've just ordered The Finkler Question. I always try to read all the books from the Booker shortlist. This year I'm particularly behind as I've usually read the shortlist and decided on my personal favourite long before the winner is announced. I haven't read any this year so I've got some serious catching up to do.  


Well I'm off to relax with Marks and Spencer's Dine in for £10 and X Factor (I know, guilty pleasure, I'm sorry). Hope you all enjoy your Saturday evening. 

It's Just the Beating of my Heart by Richard Aronowitz - author interview

‘I wanted my second novel to be a love-letter, a paean, to Gloucestershire and to the English countryside’.

Many writers have declared that creativity cannot be rushed. Producing a work of creative genius is a process that cannot be hurried along by impatience, instead one must wait for the answers and inspiration to drift into one’s mind then patiently refine such ideas into a masterpiece. For Richard Aronowitz such a suggestion is certainly true as he spent over four years completing his latest novel ‘It’s Just the Beating of my Heart’.

 

Following a childhood in which Aronowitz fell in love with the rural idyll of the Gloucestershire countryside, he wanted his second novel to be ‘a love-letter, a paean, to Gloucestershire and to the English countryside’. In fact, so vital is the Gloucestershire landscape to the book, it is almost a character in itself. Aronowitz insists that ‘apart from those closest to me, nature and the English countryside are what I love most’.

But far from creating a romantic homage to all that is natural, Aronowitz realised that the only way to truly capture the essence of the English countryside in his work would be ‘through the eyes of a lonely and isolated man who drew solace from the landscape’. This lonely and isolated man comes in the form of John Stack, an alcoholic in denial, struggling to cope with his wife leaving him and only seeing his daughter on alternate weekends. Aronowitz succeeds in using nature to provide ‘a kind of solace and spiritual resource to John Stack’, much as it had in Aronowitz’s own life. Although Aronowitz never wallows in self pity, clearly stating that he ‘like almost every other adult’ has experienced loss, his mother died when he was twenty-one so he drew from the emotions of this and ‘the pain of past relationship break-ups, to conjure some of the numbness and detachment that John displays’.

For John Stack every aspect of his life has been lived, appreciated, remembered and endured alongside the Gloucestershire countryside. His daughter’s favourite walk is re-trodden every weekend leading ‘deeper and deeper into a no-man’s lands of pasture and rough ground’. He prefers to navigate ‘through the maze of high-hedged lanes, Cotswold dry-stone-walled roads and blind turns’ of country lanes than the quicker and more direct route of the main road. The scattered villages of Gloucestershire, which John chooses to walk between have ‘a feeling of otherworldly remoteness, of isolation’ that reflect his own inner turmoil.

Like a country walk that you love revisiting, that you need to finish as soon as possible because the best bit is just before you reach home, It’s Just the Beating of My Heart is an emotional meander through the countryside where the last chapter forces you to retrace your steps and take the walk all over again.

It’s Just the Beating of my Heart by Richard Aronowitz, published by Flambard Press, is available now.

I interviewed Richard Aronowitz a few months ago, and as the magazine it was initially written for as since ceased trading, I thought I'd share it with you. Aronowitz is a lovely man, and a talented author, if you haven't read any of his books yet I suggest you put buying one to the top of your to do list. If you have read this book and like it, Aronowitz is currently up for the People's Book Prize, follow the link to vote.

blog virgin

So here I am writing my very first blog, I know I'm rather behind the times, but better late than never in my opinion.

Seen as my name is book caterpillar it should come as no surprise that this is a blog about books. I am an avid book consumer, yet it seems to me that us book fiends are a dying breed. Books just don't seem to recieve the popularity they deserve at the moment, very few magazines cover any variety in terms of literature and sales are every decreasing. So here I am, an outlet for all types of literature.

My love is for literary fiction, but I'd be lying if I denied being guilty of dipping in to chick lit every so often, and I'm happy to munch my way through an autobiography or two aswell. I'm currently doing a masters in children's literature so I'm rediscovering a love of children's fiction too.

I hope you find my blog of interest, I'll be including interviews with authors, reviews of books, book awards, literary festivals and revisiting old favourites. Pop back every day and hopefully I'll be able to satisify your appetite for literature, and together we book caterpillars can munch our way through plenty of literary leaves.