3 Books That I....Liked...But Didn't Totally Fall For.
29 November 2015 • amreading, annabel pitcher, bblogger, book, book blogger, book reviews, bookish, books, David Levithan, Giovanna Fletcher, Goodreads, gracie actually reads, reading, reviews
Wow,
that's a long title. And not very appealing. It doesn't exactly hook
readers in... And that's kind of what I want to talk about!
I
recently donated a pile of books to my favourite cafe (Beanzz CoffeeHouse, 39 Grove Road in Eastbourne, aka the most underrated goldmine
that funny little seaside town and indeed the entire of East Sussex
has to offer. @beanzzcoffee on Instagram, check them out and thank me
later) where they had a book donate and swap shelf adjacent to the
bar. The books donated and money raised goes towards Matthew 25Mission Eastbourne, a local group dedicated to helping those in need
by any means necessary: food, clothes, even just a listening ear and
advice.
I
had been meaning to clear out my bookshelves, but couldn't bear to
throw anything away, so donating to this awesome cause was the
perfect thing to do. I found it so hard parting with even a tiny pile
of my books – but to be fair, these particular books were ones I
didn't necessarily dislike but didn't love either. They were books I
wouldn't read again, but wouldn't discourage anyone else from
reading! They were just not my style.
Now,
disclaimer: what I desperately want out of this post is responses.
Comment, share, tweet me (@GracieActually) and tell me if you agree
with any of the following, if you disagree and now hate me for not
totally loving your favourite read, or if you aren't sure, aren't
totally sold, just like me...then let me know.
Right,
now we've got that out of the way... Let's crack on. These are three
of the books I donated, with my reasons why...
I do
adore Annabel Pitcher. As a person and as an author. I have recentlyacquired Silence is Goldfish, her latest novel about a girl
named Tess who discovers some shocking truths and thus stops speaking
for fear of more lies coming out.
Ketchup
Clouds was the first work of
hers that I read. It tells the story of a fifteen year-old girl named
Zoe, who is telling an awful secret she cannot keep to herself any
longer to a murderer on death row – through a letter, of course,
not on the telephone in the visiting centre.
Things
I liked: The flashback feel –
every letter Zoe wrote was a different chunk of the story, and that
worked nicely, kept things interesting. The confused suspense – we
know someone dies, we just don't know whom, and that's always
exciting.
Things
I didn't love: That the love
triangle in this novel was between Zoe and two brothers...that's a
very awkward and uncomfortable thing, believe me I have been there myself! Also Zoe herself, the character – I didn't 'get' her the whole time, and
I wasn't on her side when the bad stuff went down, so that put a
downer on the story.
I
would quite like to read My Sister Lives On The Mantelpiece
although my younger sister says it is quite an upsetting read.
Maybe I should wait until I am 100% cheerful within myself, and have
a fun graphic novel to dip into between chapters.
You're
The One That I Want, by Giovanna Fletcher.
I
must start this by saying I properly whole-heartedly LOVE Giovanna
Fletcher. I'm subscribed to her on YouTube, I follow her on Twitter,
her marriage to Tom Fletcher is what ultimately unfailingly gives me
faith in and hope for relationships, and her son Buzz is the most
precious ingenious internet sensation I ever did see. Okay? I love
her. I do.
Hence
me buying her second novel. I somehow missed Billy & Me,
but I was intrigued by You're The One That I Want from the day
she revealed the cover online. So I was doubly devastated when I
didn't quite fall head over heels for this book.
This
is the story of Maddy, and Rob, and Ben. The three of them have been
best friends since childhood; they lived on the same street, they
grew up together, they kept in contact throughout uni and after. Rob
and Maddy became a couple at one point, while Ben has always been
secretly in love with Maddy. A wedding comes around and decisions
have to be made...
I
won't lie, the main reason I didn't fall head over heels for this
story was because I was on the wrong team. Giovanna started a
hashtagging thing on Twitter – you were either #TeamBen or #TeamRob
and my allegiances were well and truly with the guy who lost out in
the end (won't say which that was, no spoilers here, don't
worry!) I was immensely frustrated and slightly hurt when things
didn't play out the way they should have (in my opinion!). I also
didn't totally love Maddy, in fact I was furious with her for most of
the time I was reading.
Mind
you, the story was mostly very exciting and was peppered with fun
twists and turns!
Gi,
when we meet someday and have a cuppa, we must discuss this and
you'll have to cuddle me and reassure me that things worked out for
the guy who didn't 'win'.
I am
the biggest and most intense David Levithan fan. When I finally met
him a few months back, having spent years devouring a hefty portion
of his work (not the entirety of it yet because my gosh that man has
a long back catalogue!) I had no clue how to act cool, and nothing
prepared to say. Because nothing I could say would encapsulate my
adoration for him, surely!
I
also love the novel Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, which
he co-wrote with Rachel Cohn. Co-writing would be such a nightmare
for him, but Levithan seems to find it a total breeze. So I figured I
was in good hands when I picked this book up in Waterstones.
Naomi
and Ely's No Kiss List is the
story of two besties, Naomi and Ely, and the pacts they make when
they both fancy the same person. Naomi is straight, Eli is gay. Ergo,
they must make a list of their mutual crushes whom neither one of
them is allowed to get with. The catalyst for this story – for the
epic falling-out of these two best friends – is Ely kissing Naomi's
boyfriend, Bruce. It sparks off a high stakes war of sorts.
Oh,
another plot point: Naomi loves and is in love with Ely. Ely loves
but is not in love with Naomi.
What
I liked: The story is
written from two perspectives – the co-author thing is used well
here. Cohn & Levithan have done better, but they can work
together well.
What
I didn't love: Naomi's
demented desire for Ely – honey, he's gay and he definitely won't
be touching you in those places or marrying you and having kids, get
over it. Ely, stop kissing Naomi – your platonic friendship is
already a mess, you don't want to be with her, and yet you're happily
still messing with her mind. Actually, you know what? Naomi and Ely,
you are both as bad as each other.
I
won't lie, when I first looked up this book on Goodreads (foolproof
decider of the 'to read or not to read' in times of complete
confusion) and saw all the one-star scathing reviews, I did recoil
and spring to David's defence. However, now that I've read it I can
actually see where the harsh reviewers are coming from. My love for
David will always burn bright, my allegiance to him will not falter,
but this book was a disappointment.
So,
there we have it. That was hard... Whenever I dislike a book these
days, I keep quiet about it; I try to focus on the good points when
writing a tiny Goodreads review or if my friends ask me about it –
I hate bad-mouthing any book or author and never would unless they
perhaps included over one hundred different racist slurs in their
debut novel or got uppity about my generation and berated feminism.
Anyway,
that's irrelevant because I didn't dislike
these books. I just
didn't love them.
To Be Read: December 2015.
19 November 2015 • amreading, annabel pitcher, authors, bookish, books, fiction, Goodreads, gracie actually reads, Instagram, Matt Haig, proofs, recommendations, reviews, tbr, to be read, Twitter, YA, young adult fiction
I have an enormous TBR pile. Now
I'm aware an 'enormous TBR pile' may sound to an offline non-bookworm
like a completely disgusting symptom of a very dirty disease, but
rest assured that is not the case here.
No,
this TBR pile is the stack of books that is currently overwhelming my
entire desk. My 'To Be Read' beauties.
It
is both wonderful and heartbreaking to wake up each day and be faced
with a leering jeering bottomless heap of excellent texts that have
yet to be devoured.
Also,
it doesn't help matters that I still feel the need to buy books every
weekend in Waterstones, or take advantage of deals on Amazon, or
gratefully accept freebies or lenders from friends...
I
currently have approximately twenty-five books heaped up on my desk,
yearning to be read. Three of those were lent to me by awesome
friends Mel & Louise, a couple were given to me by the
super-lovely Lisa Williamson, and another three were given to me by
the totally rad Debbie.
Side
note here: I have realised that I LOVE proof copies. I feel like I'm
part of an exclusive elite club, seeing books behind the scenes!
So I
have a lot to get through. This is not even mentioning my list of
100+ Want To Reads on my Goodreads profile. Oh, dear.
I
have decided to a) put myself on a Book Buying Ban for a minimum of
two months, and b) make lists of which books to read per month. So,
here are the TBR beasts I will be tackling in December 2015...
- Lobsters, by Tom Ellen & Lucy Ivison.
I had really hoped after seeing the title of this novel that it meant 'lobster' as in the famous Friends expression: 'He's her lobster!' And my gosh it does! What joy. This book tells the tale of Sam and Hannah, and their summer spent searching for The One before they go off to uni. Apparently fate plays its part a fair bit in this story. On the back of the lovely proof copy Louise lent me, it says 'in the end, it all boils down to love...' Which is cute and clever. I'm in! -
The Lost and The Found, by Cat Clarke.
Six-year-old Laurel Logan was abducted, nineteen-year-old Laurel returned. This story is about how life is when the missing are found – it is centred around Laurel's younger sister Faith, who has been chased most of her life by what happened to her sister. I won't lie, I am reminded slightly of the exciting American series Finding Carter when I read the plot of this novel, but I won't let that deter me! (Thank you again, Debbie!) - Silence is Goldfish, by Annabel Pitcher.
I may or may not have been initially put off lovely Annabel after reading Ketchup Clouds (I'll be mentioning that one in a blog post soon), but I have heard only excellent things (mostly from my fellow Bookstagrammers!) about Silence is Goldfish.
Tess Turner has found something out. Through her dad's blog. She has been lied to and has been saying things her whole life because she felt she should...well, no more. Now she is silent. Now she is finding her place in the world.
I am immediately intrigued reading the blurb on Goodreads, and cannot wait to be absorbed once again by Annabel's brilliant style. (Thank you again-again, Debbie!)
And
while we're at it, here are my TBRs for the rest of November...
- Say Her Name, by Juno Dawson.
After reading her latest work All of the Above, then meeting her (and having her scrawl a message in my sacred scribbles notebook) at Young Adult Literature Weekender in the London Southbank Centre, I am officially a new fan of hers and need to read some of her 'back issues', if you will. One of these is Say Her Name, an especially spooky novel about Roberta 'Bobbie' Rowe who most definitely does not believe in ghosts – but after a jokey Halloween dare to summon Bloody Mary, she receives a message on her mirror indicating that ghosts are very real and should be feared.
I haven't read a ghost story in freakin' forever, so this excites me greatly. (Thank you again again again, Debbie!)
-
Professor Andrew Martin's dead body is now inhabited by an alien imposter. The alien has a mission, but is also accidentally learning all about human life... And about his host body, a man who was not much liked by anyone.
As mentioned in a recent post, I adore Matt Haig. I can never say it enough – that man reads my mind, and blows it, daily. Whether it's because I re-read a chunk of Reasons to Stay Alive, or I see a tweet of his about how important literature is in our day-to-day lives and in the grand scheme of things too...the other day it was because that awesome book Reasons to Stay Alive was shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year Award.
Anyway, The Humans will be the first fiction of his that I will read. I cannot wait.
Expect
reviews of at least three of these come January!
***Update
on my whole 'book reviewing/recommending' revival thing: I am loving
it! I knew I would. I am still nervous whenever I post a bookish
thing online, having been burned by criticism before, but I'm getting
there and getting better, I think...?! Comment below maybe, and let
me know how I'm doing, beautiful readers!***
Don't forget to tweet me! @GracieActually
Or check out my life in Instagram snapshots! @gracieactually
The 5 Great Reads School Introduced Me To.
15 November 2015 • amreading, book, books, education, feminism, gracie actually reads, learning, reading, Roald Dahl, simon stephens, The Twits
There
are certain books you come across in life that you wouldn't have read
otherwise.
I
mean, let's say a friend thrusts a book at you one day, says it's
their most recent read and begs you to read it too so they can
discuss it with you, or just simply so you'll share their joy over it
or join them in their hatred of it. Or maybe a significant other buys
you the complete works of an author you have never heard of (or
worse, one you utterly loathe) as a Christmas present.
Or,
or, or... You have had to read a book, a play or a collection of
essays for school/college/uni... Now this is where I'm coming from in
this post! I thought I'd list 5 of my favourite educational reads.
5 texts that I was set to study (a couple of which I had to purchase
myself before the course even started) and subsequently fell in love
with, learned so many important lessons from too – and to think, I
had no intention of reading them otherwise!
Nineteen
Eighty-Four, by George Orwell.
I
had been aware of this book years before I actually sat down and read
it – aware because for GCSE English we had to read the book (then
watch the hideously frightening film of) Animal
Farm.
My class were all briefed on George Orwell; his life, his work and
his love of the extreme and very blatant metaphors. It's one thing
reading about animals taking over a farm and soon becoming a
dictatorship, but Nineteen
Eighty-Four was
next level.
Nineteen
Eighty-Four told
the story of Winston Smith, a citizen in a totalitarian world who is
employed to rewrite the past to fit the desires of the Party and yet
deep down he is furious with the way things are and yearns for
change, to rebel. He is under the control of Big Brother, the mass
surveillance that acts as head of the Party.
We
used this book as stimulus when devising our piece for the third year
Drama module Group Project. There were eight of us – always a
dangerous prospect when working in a group, but we did alright –
and our aim was to portray a futuristic society under constant
surveillance and ordered to behave in a certain fashion. I missed the
group viewing of the film Nineteen
Eighty-Four due
to work, which was a real shame. To be fair, after properly reading
the book, the idea of seeing the film terrified me at the time. Maybe
I'll brave it in the near future.
The
Vagina Monologues, by Eve Ensler.
I
decided to read this incredible work around the time I was writing
about Feminism in my English Lit A Level – I tried to draw
parallels with the classic texts I had to read alongside it, but
nothing could quite compare to this. I ended up ditching my original
idea and instead wrote about something much more boring that would
get me a better grade, but I couldn't cast this book aside. I was
reading it on my trains to and from college – and getting some
strange looks or even titters and giggles from other passengers.
Those immature philistines.
This
book is a series of, well, monologues about life with a vagina. Women
tell Eve Ensler their stories, some hilarious and others horrendous;
their fears and fantasies, their answers to the most baffling
questions (my favourite was 'if your vagina got dressed, what would
it wear?' on page 15 – and my favourite answer was 'purple velvet
pyjamas') and she gives all of these things life and a voice. It's a
celebration of female sexuality 'in all its complexity and mystery'!
This
gorgeous important work also brought about V-Day in 1999, a global
movement to stop violence against women. Boom!
Bad
Feminist, by Roxanne Gay.
This
book came into my life through somewhat educational means – as in,
I wanted it and had been recommended it by several friends, but never
got around to getting myself a copy, and then quite astoundingly my
ex-Head of House from my high school purchased it and had it
delivered to my house as a nice 'get well' type present before my
second operation. When I asked him why he'd thought to get me that
exact book, the book I'd been so desperate to read for such a long
time but never mentioned to anyone, he said 'Well, it seemed like
your thing!' What a legend that man is.
So
yes, this book may not be of a strictly educational introduction into
my life, but damn it it's taught me so much I wish I'd studied it for
my degree because I could write an entire dissertation on it.
This book is a collection of
insightful and incredible essays about anything and everything that
Roxanne felt those feminist feels for. There's one essay about Orange
is the New Black, one about the hideous song Blurred Lines,
another discussing the faults with the Sweet Valley High book series,
and some guidelines on how to be friends with another woman.
I
just hope that someday I can meet this awesome author professor
genius woman, buy her a drink and rant at the world with her.
The Twits, by Roald Dahl.
Yes, I am starting with something light, easy and obvious. Also magical.
When I was younger I was definitely a big fan of Roald Dahl. I watched the film James and the Giant Peach almost every day one Christmas season and read the book cover to cover. Matilda was the same, one of my favourite films and the most perfect book – and early this year I was lucky enough to see the insanely ingenious musical in the West End (Tim Minchin is such a babe, his music blew my mind, and also I hated and loved that the stars of this show were all very young kids who have more talent in their teeny feet than I do or ever will in my entire body and life. Seriously!).
Anyway, The Twits was new to me when we were given free copies in Year Two for World Book Day.
The Twits is the story of Mr and Mrs Twit, an old married couple who spend all their time playing tricks on each other. Worms in spaghetti, frogs in beds, eyeballs in drinks. Walking sticks made taller so they think they're getting smaller. They hate children, they never wash, their house has no windows, and they trap live birds to make into pies by lining the branches of nearby trees with glue.
One day, the Muggle-Wump Monkeys (the family of monkeys the Twits keep in their garden as they used to be mean monkey trainers, obviously) are freed from their cage by the Roly-Poly Bird (the magnificent flying specimen that hails from Africa, same as the monkeys) and they set about having their revenge on the Twits.
This book was downright bizarre, in the best way possible. Roald Dahl is one of the authors, the gifted storytellers, who taught me to have an imagination as a child. I wrote a short story myself about Jake the grasshopper and Clarchi the cockroach who were trapped underground in the muck but met in an escape tunnel, fell in love and vanquished their evil families – all because of Dahl's imaginative influence, his teachings that having an imagination is important.
Also I happen to believe whole-heartedly in what Dahl has to say in this story about nasty personalities and bad intentions showing on a person's face..
Punk
Rock, by Simon Stephens.
Right,
so I've written about this play and its importance in my life before.
It got its own post! (Read it here, please and thank you!)
But
I can't not include it in this collection of texts that I studied and
adored – to the point where I bought my own copies, read and
re-read them countless times, and let them have their huge influences
on my life.
Punk
Rock is the story of a group of
well-to-do kids attending a private school and stressing about their
upcoming mock exams. One of the tag lines is 'intelligent,
articulate, fucked'. That about sums it up. The whole play takes
place in their school library, and between the same seven students
coming in and out – and some of them never out again by the end.
Intrigued? Well, bloody read it then. You won't be sorry.
I
played Cissy, the school bully's girlfriend. She is treated like dirt
by her boyfriend, who is deep in the closet and struggling with his
own personal issues, but she thrives on being popular and she puts up
a sassy bitchy persona front when with her peers. She has a killer
onstage kiss.
Performing
Punk Rock was one thing, reading it pre-performance was
something else entirely. I fell madly in love with the play, and it
inspired me to devour every single one of Simon Stephen's works after
that. Imagine my peeing-pants excitement when I wrote my Punk Rocked post last year and received a tweet from him telling me to 'never
stop writing'...? You're nowhere near.
***
So,
all of these books were brought to me through my studies. There are
so many other texts that I would not have discovered otherwise, many
more that I am delighted to have read or performed, but these are the
ones I have learned the most from and will forever hold a special
place in my heart. I must thank all the authors – but also all of
the teachers who decided to include these in their syllabus!
26.
• about me, facts, Gracie, GracieActually, me
Hi,
my name's Gracie.
I
make coffee for a living and coffee keeps me alive, I am
participating in NaNoWriMo this year, five tattoos is not enough,
Miss Patty is my spirit animal, I have a hat face, I enjoy weekends,
my bedroom is my haven, I am super proud of my eyebrows, I miss
studying, acting was always such fun, I dream of being paid to blog,
the news of the Gilmore Girls revival
got me excited and tearful, next year I'll be travelling, I rock a
headscarf, I'm on a health kick, I've finally worked up the
courage to book blog again, I've nearly finished radiotherapy, and I
have no idea what happens next.
I
do one of these posts every month every six months whenever I
remember.
5 Books That Changed My Life (in one way or another!).
11 November 2015 • amreading, Angela Carter, bookish, books, Caitlin Moran, feminism, fiction, gracie actually reads, how to be a woman, life, one day, recommendations, reviews, stargirl
The
gorgeous Lucy Powrie (@LucyTheReader, Queen of Contemporary, the
perfect vlogger and blogger and creator/host of #ukyachat) has written a post
entitled 'The 5 Books That Changed My Life'.
This
girl has inspired me – that's really nothing new, if anything it's
a daily occurrence – but this time it's to write my own post!
Without
further ado, here are 5 Books That Changed or Shaped My Life... In no
particular order, as they were all equally important for their own
reasons...
One
Day, by David Nicholls.
I
have all of David Nicholls books but this one will forever stand out
among the rest. I read this in 2012, while on holiday in Majorca with
rad friends – I say read, I mean consumed. I lapped up every word
for days lying on the beach, and then finished it at 2am while
playing Scrabble, several cocktails down. I cried my eyes out – I
howled hysterically for about an hour. I then thrust the book at my
best friend and demanded that he start reading it immediately. (The
next day he smacked it shut and cursed me for breaking his heart)
This
book reminded me of my childhood dreams to be an author. At uni I'd
been focusing so hard on perfecting my media writing skills so maybe
I could get a weekly column in The Times someday, or edit features
for Stylist magazine, or interview my idols after they did their
cover shoots for Vogue. I'd been frantically devouring and dissecting
scripts and dreaming of being backstage when my show opened in the
West End, or sitting next to a director on set for my latest
Hollywood smash hit.
Now
while those jobs still appeal to me, I cannot believe that I lost
sight of my original dream – to spend hours poring over a laptop
typing furiously, to have a novel in book stores all over the
country, to inspire readers and maybe, just maybe, make them cry.
Favourite
line*: “Dexter, I love you so
much. So, so much,
and I probably always will.” Her lips touched his cheek. “I just
don't like you any more. I'm sorry.”
(*I
knew I had to find this line when I dug out my ancient battle-scarred
copy of this book. I was totally prepared to flick through and pull
it out with my tired old eyes. But blow me, past-Gracie had folded
down one page. The page with this line on. Like she knew, when she
was at the dining table in Majorca weeping over her Scrabble tiles
and comforting herself with a fifth peach schnapps that someday she'd
need to reference her all-time favourite line in her all-time
favourite fiction book. So thanks past-Gracie, you romantic loser.)
How
To Be A Woman, by Caitlin Moran.
How
could I not include this – this masterpiece, this magical
mould-breaking part-memoir part-magniloquence – in a list of books
that changed my entire life? It played a huge part in my
becoming...me. Mind you, so did How To Build a Girl,
but this bad boy was next level. I read it on holiday with my family.
I laughed – and learned – so much in just a week spent sunbathing
topless around the side of the villa with this book balanced on my
knees (and at times shielding my top half from prying eyes, see this post for the ridiculous story there!). I then lent it to several of
the women in my family, and urged my friends to buy it for themselves
as surely fine educational literature like this is worthy of shelling
out precious pennies from the pissed away student loan...they all
loved it. Someday I will loan it to my sister, too. Or maybe I should
buy her her own copy as mine is well and truly broken in; the spine
is knackered and a few pages are now stapled in place.
This
book made me even more determined to meet Caitlin. Since reading it I
have seen her utterly marvellous live show twice (Brighton Theatre
Royal, 2014 & Hackney Empire, 2015) and been honoured to oblige
when she demanded the entire audience stand on their chairs (a major
health & safety risk on flippable plush theatre seats) and shout
'I AM A FEMINIST'.
Wow,
I am so close to launching into a part-review of these shows and
part-gush of love for this woman BUT I won't. Not this time. I'll
just link my previous review/gush posts about her here... Cool.
Favourite
line: ...and then a bat
flew through the window, into my face.
More
sensible favourite line: When a
woman says “I have nothing to wear!”, what she really means is,
“There's nothing here for who I'm supposed to be today.”
OR:
a) Do you have a vagina? and b)
Do you want to be in charge of it? If you said 'yes' to both, then
congratulations! You are a feminist.
OR:
I want a Zero Tolerance policy
on All The Patriarchal Bullshit.
Reasons
to Stay Alive, by Matt Haig.
I
have a broken brain. In every sense. I actually felt stupidly lucky
when I was hit with some hideous depression after my first brain op
(after the second one I knew to expect it) and I was told by nurses
that it was totally normal given
the state of my brain – the physical state, that is. I had an
excuse. I felt like I was cheating – many things contributed to my
depression, many things I needed help with and could easily be deemed
triggers, or problematic at the very least, but I was given a free
pass with my brain tumour and the operation which altered the
physical state of my brain. I still reckon that my personal
circumstances at that point contributed a fair bit too – I was
finishing uni, I had no idea where to go or what to do next, some of
my friends had faded away...
This
book read my mind – and also blew it. Constantly. I finished it
(after several days spent doing little else but drinking it all in,
and often happy-crying because Matt Haig just got it)
on the London Overground on my way to get a tattoo that for me
symbolised hope. I closed the book and hugged it close for the last
twenty minutes of my journey. It was perfect. It was eye-opening –
and it was me.
Favourite
line (in this case more of a paragraph): I
didn't totally fit in. I kind of disintegrated around people, and
became what they wanted me to be. But paradoxically, I felt an
intensity inside me all the time. I didn't know what it was, but it
kept building, like water behind a dam. Later, when I was properly
depressed and anxious, I saw the illness as an accumulation of all
that thwarted intensity. A kind of breaking through. As though, if
you find it hard enough to let yourself be free, your self breaks in,
flooding your mind in an attempt to drown all those half-versions of
you.
Second
favourite line (the infamous one): How
to stop time: kiss. How to travel in time: read. How to escape time:
music. How to feel time: write. How to release time: breathe.
Angela
Carter's Book of Fairy Tales, by Angela Carter (obvs).
I
had to read some Angela Carter for my English Lit A Level (The
Magic Toyshop), and then again
for my Textual Intervention II module in the third year of my Drama &
Creative Writing degree (The Bloody Chamber).
I figured it would make sense to go above and beyond the required
reading and buy her thick hardback of fairy tales. Little did I know
that this purchase – and the following nights spent reading every
tale before falling asleep – would not only help me determine what
to write for my assignment but also have such an effect on my overall
writing style.
One
of several projects I have on the go at the moment is a fairy tale,
and that is something I never thought I would say (or y'know,
type...). It is all down to Angela, my white witch inspiration.
Her
fairy tales are beautiful, unique, diverse and, well, downright
disturbing – in the best way possible.
Favourite
line: Stars on our door, stars
in our eyes, stars exploding in the bits of our brains where the
common sense should have been.
OR:
She was like a piano in a
country where everyone has had their hands cut off.
Stargirl,
by Jerry Spinelli.
Another
fiction. An American one! I came across this book in the study in my
family home when I was maybe ten or eleven years old. Now I won't
lie, the shocking warm pink hardback cover did draw me in
considerably. And the simple cover art – just a stick girl looking
like she'd been half-heartedly doodled, with a star floating above
her head. It was unlike any other book I'd seen at that point. I was
curious, so I grabbed it off the shelf and took it to school to read
under the table (I'll blame the book for my low grades in Maths that
year, not my disgracefully non-logical mind).
Anyway,
this story was extra special. Not only was it a damn fine and quirky
romance, but also the overwhelming theme was that of discovering who
you are. Stargirl Caraway used to be Susan – then she was Mouse,
then Hully Gully... Stargirl is a one of a kind character. She wears
what she wants, she does what she wants. She meditates. She is
mindful. She cycles out to the desert and finds the 'enchanted
places', where she can sit, bask and lose herself.
After
reading this, twice, it stayed with me. Then some time later when
Love, Stargirl came out, the book that told the next chapter
of the story from Stargirl's perspective instead of lovestruck Leo's,
I was enveloped in that beautiful strange world all over again.
Favourite
line: Like so many of Archie's
words, they seemed not to enter through my ears but to settle on my
skin, there to burrow like tiny eggs awaiting the rain of my
maturity, when they would hatch and I at last would understand.
So,
there you have it. Five important reads. Writing this post actually
got me thinking about another potential bookish post, would you
believe... Blame Angela Carter for that. Or rather, the way she came
into my life. I'm sure that post will be up soon – but until then,
dearies, I would LOVE to hear which five books (or one, or ten,
however many!) have shaped your life or changed your way of thinking,
even if only on one occasion or about one subject. Feel free to
comment, or tweet me @GracieActually !
Also,
of course, each and every one of you need to read these books. Pick
one, read it, see if you have the same reaction or a very different
response!
Book Blogging: a New Beginning.
2 November 2015 • As You Wish, authors, BBC, BBC World, Beautiful Broken Things, book reviews, bookish, books, friends, gracie actually reads, reviewer, social, social media, tweets, Twitter, UKYA, YA fiction, young adult fiction
Book
blogging is such an awesome thing. I am addicted to so many book
blogs and follow so many book bloggers. My two favourite things! Books and blogs. I use book blogs when I'm
stuck between shelves in Waterstones searching for a hot new read,
much more than I do my Goodreads app. I chatter with fellow bloggers and often find myself jotting down their latest recommendations - films and music, yes, but mostly books.
I've
always tried so very hard to do it myself. Reading is something I've
always been passionate about – at school I'd hide away at break
time and read in the library (I became a fully-fledged student
librarian in Year 9, not bragging or anything guys but yeah). I'd get
picked on and be made to feel freaky as I'd be hiding from the
playground goings on – I had no time for any of the pettiness or
popularity contests out there in that world. I wanted to disappear
into books. I remember so clearly when I was first introduced to
Hermione Granger and I felt like I'd finally found my soul mate, my
spirit animal and my literary sister.
Even
now, nothing makes me happier than sitting in a coffee shop and
diving into a book.
The
difference is that reading is making a major comeback in this day and
age. For a long while there it was a bit hard done by; it was deemed
'boring' by those who preferred to spend their free time gaming or
binging on TV (no disrespect, mind you – Sims 2 is my guilty
pleasure/ultimate calling, and I have been known to devour several
series of certain shows in a day or two, cheers for that Netflix),
and everyone was busy spending money on anything and everything else
– nobody had time for books.
I
would say I was true and faithful to the gorgeous literary world –
but alas, my degree didn't allow me much recreational reading time.
Especially with my course, it demanded I read all kinds of things –
plays, theatre company textbooks, gothic classics, general classics,
fairy tales, essay collections, poetry anthologies, and of course
every kind of script under the sun... In fact I think the only
me-time type reading I did, when I selected the book off the shelf
purely because I was interested in it and not because I had to
be, took place over the end of Christmas and Easter holidays each
year. I'd be taking a breather from assignments, often living at uni
when not many others were around meaning it was quiet and peaceful
everywhere, and for two years in a row I was rehearsing for upcoming
performances, so I found myself reading while sat still between my
scenes.
Since
uni, reading has been...everything! I read on breaks at work, on
trains (oh, I am always on trains these days), over a cuppa, and of
course right before bed for a good hour or so 'to tire my eyes
out'... Even in hospital. Especially in hospital. The second time
around, anyway. The first time I genuinely panicked and feared for my
life because after my operation I couldn't read.
As in, I would be sat there with a book in my lap, looking at the
words and turning the pages, but nothing would go in. I couldn't get
a grip on a plot, engage with characters, heck I couldn't even hold
on to a single sentence as I swept my eyes over it. It was horrible.
The books that I persevered with back then may need a re-read
someday; I was not in a good place when I 'read' them so my reviews
of them on Goodreads may have suffered because of that...
Getting
to the point now, I promise... I have recently found the most
wonderful friends in the UK YA community on Twitter. I have been
wowed by so many of my fellow bookish bloggers – they are all so
sweet, so friendly and so talented, all of them! They really care
about each other, and get such joy from reading and discussing their
reads! I am honoured to be in contact with these gorgeous people, and
so grateful that they have welcomed me into their awesome community.
I get so excited for events – the most recent of which was YA Shot
in Uxbridge, arranged by the amazing Alexia Casale, which was oh so
magical – and I am glued to my phone for #ukyachat almost every
Friday at 8pm.
A
lot of these guys work in the book world – be that writing,
publishing, editing, agent-ing – and I am beyond envious as that's
a dream career for me, for sure. I'd love to work at a publishing
house with a side gig as an author... Someday, maybe!
Also (yes, definitely getting to the point now) the majority of them interview authors and review books on their
blogs, or vlogs (BookTubers are so rad), which has totally inspired
me to get back to reviewing my reads.
Which
brings me back to my original aim for this blog post – which fast
became a gushing love story between me and the UK YA community, sorry
not sorry – I will be warming up my reviewing muscles with some
short 'n' sweet recent read recommendations... Ready? Here we go!
This
was the book that hauled me out of my reading slump. I was somewhere
deep in a murky emotional hangover after polishing off all of the
'New Day New Normal' tour books (The
Art of Being Normal by
Lisa Williamson, Only
Ever Yours by Louise
O'Neill, Another Day by
David Levithan – see this post for some more gushing on those beauts),
and because of this I didn't have high hopes for how many books I'd
need over the course of one weekend away. I had just two in my
backpack, but then one three-hour train journey later... Solitaire
was well and truly
devoured.
I've
always liked/been awed by Alice Oseman – she's my age, she has the
most brilliant mind and she's published before her degree is over.
Also her fan art is rather gorgeous. And it says 'professional emo'
in her Twitter bio. I feel like she and I could be the best of pals.
Solitaire
is
the story of Tori Spring, a blogger doing her A Levels and in the
'after' phase of some family drama. She is finding herself, and
definitely not getting feelings for a certain quirky guy.
The
story was leisurely to start with – there was a fair amount of
showing, not telling, which is always good – but the middle to the end was a real race.
Actually, that's how I'd describe the book; the storytelling. Real.
I
cannot wait for Alice's next release, Radio
Silence, in 2016!
Okay,
I'm a major fangirl when it comes to The
Princess Bride. It's a pathetic understatement merely saying it's my favourite film. I'm frankly
shocked that I've made it to 22 without getting 'as you wish' or
'inconceivable' tattooed somewhere.
For
months I was eyeing up this book in Forbidden Planet – all signed
copies, so therefore priceless, but somehow going for £5 less than
anywhere else! I was torn, having a TBR pile three stories high and
so on a self-inflicted book-buying ban, and yet yearning for this gorgeous account of the making of this perfect film written by the one and only
Westley... It's a first-person account but includes cute and
enlightening add-ins and comments from his co-stars, the writer and
director. It also includes photos taken on set and at the recent
twenty-fifth anniversary cast reunion, which made me so warm and
fuzzy.
This
has been the most delightful read between reads – a trusty hardback
that I can keep on side for when I'm between novels or just in need
of a break from one story. I don't think I'd actually commit to it
the same way I would a weighty fiction – and that's because I am
enjoying it so much I'm only allowing myself small doses so it won't
be over too soon!
I
got so so lucky here, guys. Once again I must thank Twitter – and
even pat myself on the back for my decision to start actually putting
myself out there and replying to people I admire now and
again. It's such a simple thing, makes total sense because it's one
of the best things about social media, but my gosh it took me ages to
finally tweet @ some of my favourite authors, journalists, TV types,
bloggers and vloggers. So many good things have come of being more
chatty and at times scarily forceful friendly on Twitter, and a proof
copy of Sara Barnard's debut novel (which she presented to me over a
cocktail on a school night in London so it was basically my dream
scenario, people) is one of the best of these things.
Beautiful
Broken Things is the story of
long-term besties Caddy and Rosie, and what happens when the
beautiful, exciting, reckless yet damaged Suzanne comes crashing into
their lives.
First
of all, I loved that this story took place in Brighton. I'm a Sussex
girl and Brighton is my sacred place. I also loved each character –
each sixteen year-old girl, their differing personalities and in one
case colourful and troubled past – they were written in such a way
that they came across so strongly and I became so invested and
attached to them all. I could identify with each of them, for one
reason or another.
Oh,
and I adored the fact that this was the tale of friendships, with no
romantic subplots – only the occasional mention of a boy and a wee
bit of kissing. Brilliant! I really feel like I've got a glimpse of something big, here. Just you wait, readers.
I
am so delighted with my proof copy, however I will be needing to
purchase the stunning blue and gold hardback when it's released
February 11th
2016. Because...pretty.
Okay, that's three recommendations done! That was nowhere near as frightening as
I'd anticipated, and actually got me so excited and tap-happy on my
keyboard, that after publishing this I will be steaming ahead with
the writing of my NaNoWriMo project (expect a post about this
soon!)...
So hopefully I'll be confidently posting reviews more frequently from now on! Hold me to this, please. I'm looking at you (pleadingly), my UK YA friends!
Also, following my mention of reading physical books making a comeback earlier on in this post somewhere amongst the nostalgia and gushing... I spoke to BBC World (wow, that sounds so uppity) at the Young Adult Literature Weekender in the Southbank Centre a few weeks ago about just that - books vs e-books, and why actual books will always win.
(I'll now add the disclaimer that I spoke to the camera for a good ten minutes and in the end they only used a few seconds) (See also: my fantastical friend Louise Jones talking more eloquently than me, and not Ryan Hutchings as he clearly didn't make the cut, your loss BBC!)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34463922 (Start 1 minute in...)
(You would not believe how hard it was to get a screenshot in those few seconds, never mind a half-decent face-wise screenshot...)
Just FYI...
Twitter: @GracieActually (if you enjoy manic chattering)
Instagram: @gracieactually (if you like books, cats and coffees).
[Full list of favourite book blogs and bloggers COMING SOON!]
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