So, I went to my new book club this month. It was amazing. Lucky though, because my other one has now broken up. Some women just have to cause trouble! Anyway, I love my new group and we talked about last months book for ages. I was so pleased. Yes there was the obligatory exchange of the latest gossip, but in small doses it's harmless, right?
The book chosen for the next meeting is the above mentioned Matilda is Missing. Basically it's a battle between a feuding couple for full custody of their daughter, Matilda. When a family court judge dies of cancer, he leaves all the files for this case to an old friend, Barry. Before he died he told him that he may have made a terrible mistake in the ruling of the case and needed his help to rectify it. Once the judge dies, Barry is left to sift through the mountains of paper work to figure out exactly what the judge was talking about. The story of Garry and Softie (yes, Softie) is told mainly through recordings of their sessions with a psychologist. We learn how each of them viewed the relationship and how each of them resented the other for different reasons. Towards the end it is then made apparent what mistake the judge had made.
This novel frustrated me to no end! But, that was the point. Up until about three quarters of the way into the book I kept asking myself: 'What about Matilda?'. There is hardly any mention of her or her welfare by Garry or Softie. It shows just how selfish parents can be when a marriage dissolves. Apart from that frustration, I did love the book. The character of Softie was great in that the author got me to despise her and I eventually warmed to Garry and his bogan ways. It was Garry in the end who I felt actually cared more about his daughter than himself, something that I thought was a given as a parent.
It was another easy read and I really enjoyed it. The next book for book club is The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. It gets rubbish reviews online. Fingers crossed I disagree.
Sunday 25 March 2012
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Me Before You - Jojo Moyes
I attend a book club near my house once a month and I have started to feel that once a month isn't enough to feed my reading addiction. It has nothing to do with the women who attend or the enjoyment I get out of meeting with them every month. I just need to read more novels. Simple as that. So, I asked a friend of mine (who has lived here for fourteen years I believe) where I could find another club to attend. She told me to go to hers. Easy. So, I ordered their book for this month and yesterday, while it was teaming with rain outside, I curled up on the couch (in my warmest pyjamas) with a cuppa and read it.
The novel was Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I had never heard of her before and I didn't even read any reviews on the novel before it arrived in my mail box. I don't think I have ever done that before. I always know what I'm in for. So read the back of the book when I pulled it from it's package and complained to my husband that I was sick of boring and predictable characters and from what I read I could have told you what both of the main characters were going to be like and how the story was going to end. Here is what the back said:
"Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows the might not love her boyfriend Patrick.
What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing whats coming keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now, and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. "
Back to me now. Basically after Lou loses her job she is employed by Will's mother to care for him and generally keep his spirits up. Her contract is for six months and she quickly finds out why her contract is so short. Will want's to travel to Dignitas (an assisted dying organisation) in Switzerland where, with the assistance of doctors and nurses, he can end his life. Don't worry, that wasn't a secret.
Anyway, as one of my best friends could tell you, I can usually tell from the first page or two if I'm going to like a book. She would always get so mad at me for putting a novel down only a chapter in and moving on. But that's just how I read (although for the sake of my blog, I do push on a little more these days). It just seemed like a typical boy meets girl (or vice versa), but...after the first page I was hooked. I didn't do much else yesterday because I couldn't put it down. I loved Lou. I could totally relate to her desire to just stay in the one place and have a quiet and predictable life. I move around a lot and I wish so hard that I didn't have to. She is a bit quirky and just a generally loveable character. I did like Will as well, but I have never been in his situation and found it harder to relate. I felt sorry for him, but I didn't enjoy his character as much as Lou. That being said, his character was still great.
The book was so easy to read (I have noticed that easy books are becoming a theme for me. I must challenge myself more) and unputdownable. It mad me happy and it made me sad and the best part was the ending. I knew what was going to happen and I'm so glad it did. I can't really say why I liked it without giving much away, so I'll leave it be. But it was a great ending.
Another reason why I loved the book is because I am a big supporter of euthanasia. Many don't agree, and that's fine, but I just don't think anyone should have to continue living in pain and discomfort if they don't want to. It's their life and their choice.
It did have elements of typical chick lit, but it didn't bother me so much. When I was constantly reminded that one of the main characters wanted to kill himself, I just forgot about the typical side to this novel. I really, really enjoyed it. And I am pretty keen to hear what is on the list for next month. So far, so very good.
Sam I Am x
The novel was Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I had never heard of her before and I didn't even read any reviews on the novel before it arrived in my mail box. I don't think I have ever done that before. I always know what I'm in for. So read the back of the book when I pulled it from it's package and complained to my husband that I was sick of boring and predictable characters and from what I read I could have told you what both of the main characters were going to be like and how the story was going to end. Here is what the back said:
"Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows the might not love her boyfriend Patrick.
What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing whats coming keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now, and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time. "
Back to me now. Basically after Lou loses her job she is employed by Will's mother to care for him and generally keep his spirits up. Her contract is for six months and she quickly finds out why her contract is so short. Will want's to travel to Dignitas (an assisted dying organisation) in Switzerland where, with the assistance of doctors and nurses, he can end his life. Don't worry, that wasn't a secret.
Anyway, as one of my best friends could tell you, I can usually tell from the first page or two if I'm going to like a book. She would always get so mad at me for putting a novel down only a chapter in and moving on. But that's just how I read (although for the sake of my blog, I do push on a little more these days). It just seemed like a typical boy meets girl (or vice versa), but...after the first page I was hooked. I didn't do much else yesterday because I couldn't put it down. I loved Lou. I could totally relate to her desire to just stay in the one place and have a quiet and predictable life. I move around a lot and I wish so hard that I didn't have to. She is a bit quirky and just a generally loveable character. I did like Will as well, but I have never been in his situation and found it harder to relate. I felt sorry for him, but I didn't enjoy his character as much as Lou. That being said, his character was still great.
The book was so easy to read (I have noticed that easy books are becoming a theme for me. I must challenge myself more) and unputdownable. It mad me happy and it made me sad and the best part was the ending. I knew what was going to happen and I'm so glad it did. I can't really say why I liked it without giving much away, so I'll leave it be. But it was a great ending.
Another reason why I loved the book is because I am a big supporter of euthanasia. Many don't agree, and that's fine, but I just don't think anyone should have to continue living in pain and discomfort if they don't want to. It's their life and their choice.
It did have elements of typical chick lit, but it didn't bother me so much. When I was constantly reminded that one of the main characters wanted to kill himself, I just forgot about the typical side to this novel. I really, really enjoyed it. And I am pretty keen to hear what is on the list for next month. So far, so very good.
Sam I Am x
Tuesday 7 February 2012
On Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn, being home and snoring.
Towards the end of my husbands hospital stay (when we were both a bit more confident that everything would turn out ok) I decided to sink my teeth into a book with a bit more depth than Celeste by Virginia Andrews (not that that was going to be a hard task). My book club chose to read Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn over the Christmas break but I honestly didn't think I'd get around to reading it. As hubby got better I didn't feel the need to beg the nurses to let me stay longer than their strict visiting hours, and I ended up with a bit of 'me' time where I could finally start on our book club pick.
Nicholas and Sheryl are a husband and wife team who have won a Pulitzer Prize in journalism, and through their work as journalists and foreign correspondents for the New York Times they witnessed the horrific way that women in under-developed countries are treated. Half the Sky is an account from various women about the way they have been sexually, physically and mentally abused and how they overcame this atrocious treatment. Many of them (through micro-loans and generous donations) became successful business women who campaigned for womens rights to education and medical care. Nicholas and Sheryl are firm believers that educating women would eradicate a lot of these problems and now, I am too.
This book was overwhelming. It probably didn't help that I read it in hospital, but still. I felt like a burden had been placed on my shoulders and I needed to do something about it. I still don't know what, but it's something I can't ignore. The stories of these women broke my heart but it is a book I think everyone should read. You know, we don't have it as bad as we think. These women had every reason to give up and stop fighting, but they didn't. It was amazing and inspiring and I'm enjoying spending the time thinking about what I can do to help.
On another note, we're home. After three weeks living in a hospital, we're finally back and sleeping in our own beds. It's been the worst four or five weeks (I've lost count) of our lives so far and we are really embracing the small comforts of home. Who knew that being able to wash dishes in my own sink versus the sink in my apartment at the hospital would bring me so much joy? Things at home have changed, but now we appreciate the little things like being able to go for a walk around the block.
The other night I was laying in bed waiting for hubby to fall asleep (I've found that since coming home I can't sleep unless he is) and after tossing and turning to try and get comfortable, he finally fell asleep. Then something weird happened. He started to snore and that sound made me feel immeasurably happy. He has snored for as long as I've known him. I can't say that it bothered me that much, I would just have to poke him sometimes so he would change position and quieten down. But on this particular night when he started snoring I didn't feel annoyance or frustration. I just smiled and knew that for the next few hours he won't be in any pain and everything is ok. I think I may be the only woman I know who (now) loves the sound of her husband snoring.
Now that we're home and settling into a routine, I have the time to get back to reading like I used to. So, the posts should be way more regular... I hope.
Sam I Am
Nicholas and Sheryl are a husband and wife team who have won a Pulitzer Prize in journalism, and through their work as journalists and foreign correspondents for the New York Times they witnessed the horrific way that women in under-developed countries are treated. Half the Sky is an account from various women about the way they have been sexually, physically and mentally abused and how they overcame this atrocious treatment. Many of them (through micro-loans and generous donations) became successful business women who campaigned for womens rights to education and medical care. Nicholas and Sheryl are firm believers that educating women would eradicate a lot of these problems and now, I am too.
This book was overwhelming. It probably didn't help that I read it in hospital, but still. I felt like a burden had been placed on my shoulders and I needed to do something about it. I still don't know what, but it's something I can't ignore. The stories of these women broke my heart but it is a book I think everyone should read. You know, we don't have it as bad as we think. These women had every reason to give up and stop fighting, but they didn't. It was amazing and inspiring and I'm enjoying spending the time thinking about what I can do to help.
On another note, we're home. After three weeks living in a hospital, we're finally back and sleeping in our own beds. It's been the worst four or five weeks (I've lost count) of our lives so far and we are really embracing the small comforts of home. Who knew that being able to wash dishes in my own sink versus the sink in my apartment at the hospital would bring me so much joy? Things at home have changed, but now we appreciate the little things like being able to go for a walk around the block.
The other night I was laying in bed waiting for hubby to fall asleep (I've found that since coming home I can't sleep unless he is) and after tossing and turning to try and get comfortable, he finally fell asleep. Then something weird happened. He started to snore and that sound made me feel immeasurably happy. He has snored for as long as I've known him. I can't say that it bothered me that much, I would just have to poke him sometimes so he would change position and quieten down. But on this particular night when he started snoring I didn't feel annoyance or frustration. I just smiled and knew that for the next few hours he won't be in any pain and everything is ok. I think I may be the only woman I know who (now) loves the sound of her husband snoring.
Now that we're home and settling into a routine, I have the time to get back to reading like I used to. So, the posts should be way more regular... I hope.
Sam I Am
Monday 16 January 2012
Celeste - Virginia Andrews
Celeste included many of the same ingredients used to cook up all novels by Virginia Andrews; a crazy and or long lost parent/guardian and sexual/physical/mental abuse. How there is still demand for work by Andrews, I don't know. When Virginia Andrews died 25 years ago her death her family hired a ghost writer to continue publishing novels under her name. I'm sure many people will agree when I say enough is enough.
The plot for Celeste goes a little like this:
Celeste and her twin brother Noble live with their mother who is a little loopy. She believes in spirits and lives to please them. When Noble dies, Celeste's mother cuts her hair and makes her dress in boys clothes to try and keep Noble alive (shocking!). Celeste is so eager to please her mother that she plays along. That is until a boy moves into the house next door and finds out everything. This encounter has devastating consequences (of course).
Andrews dribbled on about the characters yet they still had no depth. Nothing that happened in the novel came as a surprise because I've read it all before. It was utter rubbish. I remember the enjoyment (and guilt) I used to get out of reading V C Andrews trash and thought it was exactly what I needed to get me through my husbands hospital stay, but I was wrong.
Celeste isn't even worth the time it took me to type this. But for all who may pick it up off the shelf and contemplate reading it, you have been warned.
And for all those who are interested, my husband is still pretty unwell but he's getting better. The doctors have found out what was wrong with him and have done everything they can to fix it. He is in the best possible place. I know that he reads my blog and when he's up to checking his emails again I want him to know that I love him.
Sam I Am
The plot for Celeste goes a little like this:
Celeste and her twin brother Noble live with their mother who is a little loopy. She believes in spirits and lives to please them. When Noble dies, Celeste's mother cuts her hair and makes her dress in boys clothes to try and keep Noble alive (shocking!). Celeste is so eager to please her mother that she plays along. That is until a boy moves into the house next door and finds out everything. This encounter has devastating consequences (of course).
Andrews dribbled on about the characters yet they still had no depth. Nothing that happened in the novel came as a surprise because I've read it all before. It was utter rubbish. I remember the enjoyment (and guilt) I used to get out of reading V C Andrews trash and thought it was exactly what I needed to get me through my husbands hospital stay, but I was wrong.
Celeste isn't even worth the time it took me to type this. But for all who may pick it up off the shelf and contemplate reading it, you have been warned.
And for all those who are interested, my husband is still pretty unwell but he's getting better. The doctors have found out what was wrong with him and have done everything they can to fix it. He is in the best possible place. I know that he reads my blog and when he's up to checking his emails again I want him to know that I love him.
Sam I Am
Tuesday 10 January 2012
The Time of My Life - Cecelia Ahern
Seeing as I'm going to have a bit of spare time over the next week or two, I went to Dymocks and purchased a supply of books to see me through my husbands extended hospital stay (unfortunately some of them were Virginia Andrews, but I need something so trashy that it makes me smile). I'll read where I can and try reviewing them to keep my mind off of things.
I'll start with a book I read over Christmas that I wasn't going to review until I got home from 4 weeks away. I don't know when we'll be home now, so I may as well get started.
I started reading Cecelia Ahern when her novels became popular maybe 5 or 6 years ago. The first few were great (P.S I Love You, If You Could See Me Now, Where Rainbows End) but when I got to A Place Called Here I stopped reading. It was BAD. It's been years since I read anything she has written and when I was in Target (picking up very last minute Christmas presents) I noticed The Time of My Life and thought: it's time for a second chance.
If you don't mind, I'll use blurb from the publisher (Harper Collins) for this one as I read it about 2 weeks ago.
'Lying on Lucy Silchester′s carpet one day when she returns from work is a gold envelope. Inside is an invitation - to a meeting with Life. Her life. It turns out she′s been ignoring it and it needs to meet with her face to face.
It sounds peculiar, but Lucy′s heard of this before. Anyway, she can′t make the date: she′s much too
busy despising her job, lying to her friends and avoiding her family.
It turns out that Lucy′s life isn′t what it seems. Some of the choices she′s made - and stories she′s told - aren′t what they seem either. From the moment she meets the man who introduces himself as her life, some of these stubborn half-truths are going to be revealed in all their glory - unless Lucy learns to tell the truth about what really matters to her.
From a big family dinner to an extraordinary work crisis, from chasing after a long-lost boyfriend to learning what home really is, Lucy Silchester has an appointment with her life - and she′s going to have to keep it.
Touching, warm, funny and poignant, Cecelia Ahern′s new novel explores what happens when you ignore your life.'
I'll be blunt and say the first few chapters almost made me throw it in the trash. I was filled with
disappointment. But I persisted and it paid off. I was so surprised. It wasn't a knock out, but it was very funny, thought provoking and pretty well written. The main character Lucy was very believable and it was hard not to like her.
After P.S I Love You and Where Rainbows End, Cecelia took her novels in a bit of a different direction and wrote stories that were a bit out there. If You Could See Me Now was the first of her books following this direction and she pulled it off. A Place Called Here is where I called it quits. But it seems she's got her groove back. I suppose I can't judge too much because I haven't read all of the books she's written, but these are my observations from what I have read. I may go back and try the others again.
I would definitely recommend reading The Time of My Life. It was well worth it, and I'll be reading more of her work from now on.
I have to shuffle my hubby back to the ward now for his night time tablets, so I'll leave it there.
Until next time...
Sam I Am
Monday 9 January 2012
Heartbreak
My husband is in hospital. We don't know what's wrong yet and while I waited this morning to be let in to see him, I quickly typed this. It's not a poem or a story. It's just words. It made me feel better. I haven't edited it. It just came out and if there are errors, I apologise. It just doesn't seem to matter.
Heartbreak.
How do I sit beside my husband and watch him suffer? How do I take the pain away?
I watch his face screw up in agony and a knot of worry grows in my stomach. For an hour or so each day it seems like he’s getting better, but then it comes back and I’m devastated all over again. What am I supposed to think when the doctors only give the worst-case scenario? Why don’t they give other suggestions to placate the doubt and anguish? It may not be true, but it may help him sleep at night.
In times like these I cant help but imagine your life without him. There aren’t words to describe what that feels like. Half of me would be taken away and I’d be left wandering, lost and lonely, for the rest of my life. I feel heartbroken and empty just thinking about it.
While he’s here I will not leave him. I am staying as close as I can. I stay in a room by myself on the 13th floor of the hospital and I sleep on his side of the bed. Stupidly, it makes me feel closer to him when I can’t be by his side.
My best friend and husband lays in agony and I don’t know how to make him feel better. I want so badly to talk to him and tell him what I’m feeling, but I don’t want to make it worse. I feel like I haven’t taken a breath in 5 days. My heart has stopped and until I hear that he’s going to be ok, it won’t start beating again.
Sunday 25 December 2011
Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
The other night my hubby and I met with some of my best friends (and their partners) for our annual Christmas dinner. I couldn't think of anything I wanted more for Christmas off them than books, so I put my requests in a while ago. About 3 months ago I was contemplating writing a novel about depression as I have suffered from it on and off since I was 15, and in my research I discovered a book that screamed at me to be read. It was called Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and I asked Rach to get it for me for Christmas. She did. I have since moved away from the idea of depression as a theme for a novel, but that's not relevant. I may revisit it at another time.
Anyway, I had to take my husband to hospital 2 nights ago (he's fine now) and while we waited the agonising eight hours in emergency, I dug out Speak and started to read it.
Here is the blurb off the cover of the book:
'Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-school party by calling the cops, so her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't know hate her from a distance. It's no use explaining it to her parents; they've never known what her life is really like. The safest place for Melinda to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she admitted it and let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have no choice. She would have to speak the truth.'
Oh. My. Goodness.
I haven't read a book this good in a very long time. I know what it's like to have a tough time at school and this touched me deeply. The way Anderson captured the internal and external voices of high school students (especially Melinda) was phenomenal and the way she wrote the book was superb. I love books that are written a little differently.
This novel covers some very important issues that plague children at school and have done so for a long time. It's even being studied at schools now I think, which is wonderful. Speak was sad, dark, funny, and witty and had me captivated from the first word, to the last. It was amazing.
I won't be posting many reviews over the next 4 weeks or so due to Christmas/New Years festivities, but I am still reading and will post my reviews when the holiday season comes to a close.
Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!
Sam I Am
Anyway, I had to take my husband to hospital 2 nights ago (he's fine now) and while we waited the agonising eight hours in emergency, I dug out Speak and started to read it.
Here is the blurb off the cover of the book:
'Melinda Sordino busted an end-of-school party by calling the cops, so her old friends won't talk to her, and people she doesn't know hate her from a distance. It's no use explaining it to her parents; they've never known what her life is really like. The safest place for Melinda to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that's not safe. Because there's something she's trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she admitted it and let it in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have no choice. She would have to speak the truth.'
Oh. My. Goodness.
I haven't read a book this good in a very long time. I know what it's like to have a tough time at school and this touched me deeply. The way Anderson captured the internal and external voices of high school students (especially Melinda) was phenomenal and the way she wrote the book was superb. I love books that are written a little differently.
This novel covers some very important issues that plague children at school and have done so for a long time. It's even being studied at schools now I think, which is wonderful. Speak was sad, dark, funny, and witty and had me captivated from the first word, to the last. It was amazing.
I won't be posting many reviews over the next 4 weeks or so due to Christmas/New Years festivities, but I am still reading and will post my reviews when the holiday season comes to a close.
Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!
Sam I Am
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