When it Snows ... Stay in to Read or Watch TV!

The Gift - Cecelia Ahern

What an interesting, thought-provoking concept this book operates on!  It keeps the reader guessing as it moves from the 'now' - a teenager being held in custody by the police on Christmas morning to the past - in the form of a story the duty sergeant tells him.  It moves from the streets - a homeless man grateful for small change and a cup of coffee from a stranger - to high flying business and a man who works constantly, juggling his family and work commitments yet always short-changing everyone, including himself, a fact about which he is unconcerned and unaware at the start of the tale.

A small, out of character, act of kindness makes everything in their world shift out of kilter, and Lou - the businessman - finds himself swinging from a feeling of power, where he is the  captain of his 'ship' to a position where he is suspicious of his colleagues' motives and struggling to present himself in a good light.  His wife is already distrustful of him and he hardly know his own children - something has to change ... and then quite dramatically it does.  I found myself reminded of It's a Wonderful Life and the timing of the tale around Christmas does nothing to distract from that parallel.   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/

Having read & enjoyed Thanks for the Memories - another book by Cecelia Ahern -and having cried buckets each time I watch PS I Love You I was totally prepared to suspend reality and shed a few tears - The Gift did not disappoint me!  http://uk.cecelia-ahern.com/books/Books/The-Gift/

Recent TV Recommendations:

Suits [Dave] They have re-run all of Series 1 on consecutive nights so that viewers are ready for Series 2 which starts this week.  It is an american legal drama - it's fast paced and witty - the 2 main characters are like chalk and cheese, yet somehow they are yin an yang to each other.  Harvey is rich and successful, well respected but his boss is worried that he has not got enough heart or conscience to be really good for the legal practice.  Harvey takes a winger and hires Mike as his up-and-coming assistant - Mike has not even been to Harvard (a closely guarded secret which could topple his career) but he has a wonderful gift:  he only has to read something to remember it and he has an intense eye for detail.  Mike is also full of empathy and heart and - although it often looks like his achilles heel - it proves the tipping point time and again to winning their cases.  (Strangely enough I could 'see' Harvey and Mike as Lou and Gabe respectively when I was reading the Gift!)

The New Normal [E4]  Really liking this - it is funny and the wit is cutting - it airs out-moded prejudices and renders them ridiculous (if you watched Glee you will see that Grandma is cut from the same cloth as Sue!)  It is just a short show but it really brightens up my week.

My Mad Fat Diary E4 pushed this very hard over Christmas - the trailers were on all the time - so having seen a lot of clips I thought I knew what to expect, and yet it surprised me. The subject matter - a 16 year old girl with a weight problem and mental health issues - was dealt with sensitively and yet with humour.  The viewer is privvy to Rae's thoughts and counselling sessions, Rae is brutally honest about her sexuality - horny thoughts bombarding 24/7 - and her uncomfortable relationship with her mother "She's a Nightmare!"  It is set at the height of Cool Brittania and Rae - who loves music - is getting out there and trying to make new friends and feel more comfortable with herself and her size.  Anyone who has read the fantastic Swallowing Grandma by Kate Long might see some similarities, but I think its likely the plots will veer off in different directions.

www.katelong.co.uk/index.htm

Vampires, Were-creatures and Steamy Bedroom Action!

Anita Blake - Vampire Hunter - Laurell K Hamilton http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/

There are a lot of books in this series (music to your ears if you like a badass necromancer like Anita who helps the police with their supernatural cases in this parallel world where humans and supernatural beings co-exist in society).  I had already read books 1, 2 & 3 when I was given Blood Noir for Christmas - although I don't normally read books out of chronological order - I cracked open No. 16 in the series and was immediately struck by how the style had changed since the early books - a bit more fun and playful - certainly more racy - LKH was giving Charlaine Harris http://www.charlaineharris.com/ & her Sookie Stackhouse series a bit of competition.

One of the main things you need to know about Anita is that she is very 'chippy' - she has mexican heritage and so is very anti-prejudice, she works with the police, but cant stand the 'good ole boy' mentality, she is friends with a lot of supernatural creatures: were-rats, were-leopards and (in later books) is part-of a were-wolf pack, she's even reached some kind of truce with the vampires - in fact she is the main squeeze of  Jean-Claude the Master Vampire.  Anita never makes promises she can't keep and almost never leaves home without her Browning (loaded with silver bullets) and at least one knife - her  cross helps to protect her, but so does the voo-doo magic she inherited from her grandmother.  Anita thinks like a cop, but also like a monster and it seems that it is this particular intuition which helps her outwit the 'bad guys' every time - she has friends and colleagues who have taught her martial arts and weapon skills, but often it's her affinity with the monsters which helps her the most .... & gets her into the worst trouble! 

There is a lot of racy action in Blood Noir - Anita has developed ardeur which means she needs to 'feed' on sex in the same way that a vampire would need to feed on blood - and it seems as if this gives her a large appetite for sex, with multiple partners, sometimes more than one at a time!  So probably not the book for sheltered young teenagers to read! but nothing more shocking than people will have seen if they watch the True Blood series on TV.  There was a little more emotional soul searching than I would have liked, it held up the action in places, but hey! perhaps that is to make sure the reader does not view Anita as a slut!  Anyway I found it a fast paced read, and was curious to see what had happened in between this book and where I had left off, so next I read The Lunatic Cafe (4th in the series).


This book did not disappoint:  Anita was still working for her agency and assisting the police in their supernatural cases ~ in this story there seems to be a serial killer wreaking vengeance on were-creatures ~ Anita and her training partner Ronnie are both investigating from different standpoints.  Jean-Claude is still trying to get close to Anita but she is beginning to fall for Richard ... until she accidentally stumbles across his biggest secret.  At the Lunatic Cafe Anita meets a variety of were-creatures, some she has already befriended and several she would rather never meet again, but for some reason the pack leader wants to hire Anita for an assignment.  The plot is complex and unpredictable and kept me guessing to the end - the only thing I could be sure of was that Anita would come out on top!  Book 5 is already calling to me!

Regarding TV - there are a lot of good series starting in January.  I am loving Mr Selfridge  ITV1- it is like Downton Abbey or Upstairs Downstairs meets Mary Portas!!  It is glamorous, gossipy and has costumes to die for!  Revenge is back - series 2 - how delicious!  I am also very keen to see The New Normal and My Mad Fat Diary - both on E4 - I'll let you know what I think when I have watched them.

Dipping into the World of Witchcraft

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES - Deborah Harkness

I had this book recommended to me a few months ago [thank you Jo!] but now I am the proud owner of a Kindle [thank you Richard!] it was child's play to order the book on Christmas Day!!  Reading it, I was immediately drawn into the scholarly world of Oxford University, but from the viewpoint of a witch!  O but she doesn't like to use her powers ... well not often ... and she has had NO training ... but she comes from a very old family of witches (they can be traced back to Salem).  To further whet my appetite she becomes aware that a handsome Vampire (yum!) is watching her with avid interest.

My only criticism of this book is that the story is slow - there are a lot of details to impart to the reader, and a lot of back story to incorporate - I think this is often the way with  book 1in a series (this is the first book of the All Souls Trilogy).  I also found the central character Diana a little hard to get close to, but I loved the intense vampire Matthew who she teams up with, in fact I found him irresistible!  By the last 20% of the book I was truly hooked:  the 'team' has scattered to the four winds - different places and times - and I really want to know how they fare and who will survive the battle they are embarking on (sounds a bit like the premise for Lord of the Rings huh?) and, of course, what further secrets will come to light.  So long as the vampires feature heavily ... I'm in!!  Shadow of Night is already available in the UK.
http://deborahharkness.com/all-souls-trilogy/



A GREAT & TERRIBLE BEAUTY- Libba Bray

I have been wanting to read something by Libba Bray ever since I began reading other people's reading blogs in July 2012 - she was recommended on my favourite blog http://www.readingrants.org/
My local library had trouble getting me a copy to read ... Kindle to the rescue!  Within minutes I have a copy in my hand, and just a few pages into the novel I am on the edge of my seat!!

The novel is set in 1895 - at first the central character Gemma Doyle is living in India but longing to come to England and attend parties and tea dances and meet potential husbands - but a terrible tragedy brings those dreams crashing down. Very soon she is bundled off to a remote english boarding school to be 'finished' according to the requirements of polite society.  But Gemma is different, what happened in India has left its mysterious mark on her.  She sees visions she doesn't understand and sometimes seems to 'go places' without actually leaving the moment.  The girls at her newschool are cliquey and unkind, they try to 'test' her - the teachers seem rigidly bound by the rules of society and their spinsterhood - and a mysterious figure she first saw in the marketplace in India is now  watching her from the woods bordering the school grounds ... how much stranger can things get? Well throw in a dead girl's diary about dabbling with magic, a secret society of new friends and Gemma's growing ability to use her 'powers'  and you will see.  

The action is fast paced and the social commentary on a young girl's place in society, as she moves into woman-hood, is in sharp contrast to our modern world full of choices and options.  I shall definitely be getting my hands on the sequel very soon, and looking out for the film (but regular readers already know my feelings about films made of favourite books ... erk!  can go either way!!)

I shall also be reading The Diviners - the novel (recommended in the Reading Rants blog) which first whetted my appetite to read books by Libba Bray.  Check out the hilarious video on YouTube of Libba acting out the beginning of the book.
http://thedivinersseries.com/
     

Jack Reacher - a hero for us all!

My lovely Dad George is a devoted reader of Lee Child's novels about Jack Reacher - the 'kick ass' ex- army hero who notices everything and faces it all head on.  Each novel  is a stand alone story and they can be read in any order because  Jack doesn't carry  any baggage - he has no home address (he was born to army parents and has been in the army his whole adult life) and his friends are contacts he calls on for information as and when he needs them.  There is just something about Jack - he will not let injustice ride, he does not feel outnumbered when most tough guys would and even his romantic entanglements are not very 'tangled' by most people's standards.





I read The Affair & Worth Dying For in quick succession - and I loved them! I was waiting for an operation myself, and then later recovering from the procedure and what a welcome distraction these books offered.  You are grabbed from the first page, suddenly you ARE Jack, noticing everything, calculating the motivations and reactions of everyone around you.  How fast can you hit them, where will you most effectively rain your blows to make sure your combatant doesn't get up and cause you any more trouble?  How many rounds are there left in your opponent's gun and will be he be able to hit you from that distance in these weather conditions? - you are thinking on your feet and weighing every consideration along with Jack.



I shall be very interested to see the film which comes out this Christmas featuring Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher - not only am I wondering how he is going to convey the sheer 'presence' and toughness that is innately Jack without being 6'5" and built like a brick outhouse, but how are we the audience going to 'see' all the complex thinking and weighing up that Jack does every moment of every conflict to be sure of the optimum outcome - will we see each possible move before it happens - similar format to Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films?  Will there be a 'CSI like' following of bullets and fists as they shatter bones and damage flesh?  I am sure Tom Cruise will own the role but I do wish they had chosen an actor with a more imposing physical demeanour.

Well - this will be my last post before Christmas, so I wish all of my blog-followers a very happy and peaceful festive season.  Be kind to each other and I toast you all - I hope this Christmas brings you health, happiness and what you need in your life to feel fulfilled.  This year my family and time spent with them mean everything to me - my big operation has really changed my perspective on what is needed for a good life.

A Book About the Rocky Road of Relationships

After the Party by Lisa Jewell

I am a big Lisa Jewell fan - I have read many of her books (http://www.lisa-jewell.co.uk/books/ )

My favourite is The Truth About Melody Brown and I loved the comedy of 31 Dream Street.  The nice thing about After the Party is that it is the sequel to Ralph's Party  written with 'real years' left in-between so that we readers can truly feel that time has passed and Ralph & Jem have taken the journey - falling in love, living together, having children and have now begun to feel the dead weight of 'taking each other for granted'.  

Have you ever sat with a girlfriend and one of you is moaning about your other half and it really seems like the girl of the partnership is so 'right' and the guy does everything 'wrong' and you find  yourself wondering what is the matter with him?  Can't he see what he is doing wrong and how badly he is 'reading' his partner? Well read this book! Jem is having a mid-life crisis - she is ripe for a 'wobble' of an infatuation with another guy; Ralph wishes he was unfettered by responsibility, & has not involved himself very closely with his children, but a trip to stay with a friend in California brings Ralph a connection with his spiritual side and an 'almost' moment with a beautiful girl who becomes his e-mail confidante. 

 

Hearing the story from both sides gives the reader a far greater understanding of how easily things can go wrong when couples are not communicating properly - Jem & Ralph mis-read each other's actions and motivation - no matter that they have been together for 11 years.  I could relate to so many points in their relationship dilemma, sometimes from my own experience and often from that of my friends.  It is a beautiful story, with some dark moments which may bring a tear to your eye, but so worth the read.

I urge you to give at least one of Lisa's novels a try - her characters are so well observed, real people not overly sugary or perfect.  She is also very good at writing the male viewpoint - fairly rare in the 'Chick-lit- genre.  I particularly like the way her stories often have a start point back in the 'teenage years' of at least 1 of the characters and then they come 'full circle' in their conclusion.

The quote at the start of the novel, from Mignon McLaughlin carries a piercing truth: "A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person."

Breaking Dawn - part 2

I love, love, love the Twilight saga - for me the books more than the films - but I had to see the last in the series and it was a good representation of the book but with the usual Hollywood requirement of a slight change of ending to get more (male) bums on seats!!  I am still very disappointed by the cgi special effects - I don't find the werewolves very convincing, and there was something very odd about Renesmee's mouth when she was a tiny baby (presumably to give a 2 week old baby all her teeth!) but lets not quibble.  Bella makes a righteous vampire  and she and Edward are a beautiful couple.  The film has been very sympathetically adapted and Twi-hards and those who just watch the films without reading the books will be equally satisfied I imagine - my husband (non-reader except on holiday) certainly found both Part 1 and Part 2 compelling viewing!

I now want to go back and re-read all the books - particularly my favourite 3rd book "Eclipse" where we start to see the story from Jacob's standpoint as well as Bella's.  Thank you Stephanie Meyer for this beautiful love story and for giving Vampires & shape-shifters the kudos they deserve - I fully believe she and Charlaine Harris [The Sookie Stackhouse novels] charlaine harris are responsible for kickstarting mainstream folk's interest in these other-worldly beings and the alternative reality in which they exist.

I see from the movie magazine which I picked up, that another novel by Ms Meyer is being made into a film: "The Host".  I can highly recommend this book also, although trust me when I tell you Stephanie has written a completely different kind of tale.  Much more futuristic and sci-fi but still a beautiful love story told from a female viewpoint, with lots of 'internal dialogue' so I hope they are able to convey that on the silver screen, otherwise it will not work.

Beautiful Prose - a book that will probably make you Cry!

Artichoke Hearts

Sita Brahmachari has written a beautiful, poignant story about a month in the life of a shy girl called Mira.  It is written a lot like a diary - following Mira as she tries to steer a safe path through the trials of being part of a hectic family, being tormented by peers at school and preparing to lose her Nana (with whom she has a very special bond) to terminal cancer.  Mira learns about keeping secrets, observing the world like a writer, and she starts to fall in love - getting stronger and braver all the while.

Mira's grandmother is a very complex and wise woman, with a lot  to teach us all;  she faces death with great dignity and I definitely - as Sita warned in her Foreword "disappeared" into this book and came out "a slightly different person".  The characters in this book are vividly drawn and the reader is likely to find him/herself completely drawn into Mira's chaotic family life as they watch Mira grow in confidence and begin to spread her wings as a teenager.

This book is a winner of the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize - but it is a valid read for grown ups - particularly helpful if you are coping with a loved one who has a terminal illness.  Sita has so clearly written this book from personal experience and I found her outlook on the experience both grounded and spiritual - and that's not any easy combination to achieve.

TV Recommendations -  I have 2 quite light, humorous ones for you:

Me & Mrs Jones [BBC1] - which is a lot like the Slummy Mummy column, or the book I told you about in my previous blog.  A single mother - primary school age kids and an older son from a different relationship, an ex-husband who still treats the house like his home (he has an odd, controlling Swedish girlfriend) and there is a single date she meets at the school date who is keen to get to know her better.  If this wasn't enough to juggle with- her son has brought home a friend and the sparks are flying between Mrs Jones and him too (the gorgeous grey-eyed Nathan from Misfits!!! woo hoo!)

Second is Switch [ITV2]  which is about 4 girls in their early 20s, living in a flat in Camden and doing witchcraft in a modern world.   Using withcraft to take short-cuts and fix relationship troubles gets them into all sorts of scrapes.  If you've got half an hour to spare, either of these is worth a watch!

Snuggle up with a book & a cuppa!

Laugh out Loud Reading Matter!

I am making no apologies for the 'chick lit' genre of the book I have just finished reading "Confessions of a Demented Housewife - the Celebrity Year" - it is great to just drop into a book like this, it is the literary equivalent to putting on your comfy trackie bottoms, cosy socks or slippers and curling up in an armchair with your favourite cuppa in your hand.  This book will make you laugh, it will probably give you glimpses of yourself lurching through your own 'juggling' life none to serenely and - the way it is told - it will make you want to shout out to warn the heroine (Susie) that something bad "is behind her" as if you were watching a pantomime!!

Susie doesn't entirely enjoy being a housewife and mother, she is always looking for something more exciting round the corner - in the first book "The Secret Diary of a Demented Housewife" she got a little more excitement than she bargained for when she began to exchange pleasantries with Lone Father at toddler group and is soon tempted to by his smouldering texts and his flirtatious ways.  In this, the sequel, Susie - being the kind of person who is always measuring herself up against her 'peers' and finding herself slightly lacking - is determined to get pally with the new celebrity mum at her children's school.  As the reader, you hear all the alarm bells ringing  which Susie does not,  the glamorous new mum using her as unpaid babysitter, her husband changing careers as part of a mid-life crisis, yet you watch as she deals with it all in her own enimitable style - plenty of times events seem to take a turn you could not have visualised, but Susie bobs to the top again, like a cork on choppy seas.

The First book - True in So Many Ways!

If you like Sophie Kinsella's 'Shopaholic' series and laugh out loud when reading 'Bridget Jones' Diary' I think this novel will be right up your street, and if you have  a child who thinks it would be more fun if he/she was a dog (as I did with my second) you will feel instantly bonded with Susie!




Boo Hoo!!  No more Revenge on TV - as I watched the season finale of it last  night!! Wow!  It certainly went out with a bang!!  Some loose ends tied, some left hanging and a few new twists of plot to worry about until the next season begins.   I wont spoil the plot for devotees of the series who haven't seen the last one yet, but I will confess to having a big old crush on Nolan now - I never could see the appeal of Daniel but now Nolan has replaced Jack on my list of people about whom I want Emily to 'wake up and realise how much he loves her' - especially as his people interaction skills have improved 100% during the season!!  Can hardly wait till it is back on screen again.