In Which We Discuss Books I Read in my 27th Year, Week 45/52

Only three books last week - the 19th to the 22nd of June.  You'd think I'd have been quicker writing the post, huh?

Uglies is the first of a trilogy by Scott Westerfeld which I've read before.  I enjoyed the audio-performance, especially since the main characters name, Tally, is pronounced almost the same way as mine.

Past Mortem is another I've read before, though this time it was as an audiobook.  The performance wasn't particularly noteworthy, which at least means it wasn't bad.  I wish I could get Dead Famous as an audiobook.

Finally, Foodist.  It's another one of those books which begins by declaiming all diets and then suggesting new food rules which are totally a lifestyle change and completely distinguishable from a diet.  In fairness, this is one of the better ones.  Most of what I took from it was "buy good ingredients", "make your plate at least half vegetables" and to have some "home court" habits which will work to maintain your weight when everything else goes crazy.  Mine is mostly walking; I've found if I walk more than 15,000 steps a day I consistently lose weight.  I imagine 10,000 per day would be suitable for maintaining a low weight.  I'm also trying to eat more vegetables and go to farmer's markets, and I've found a local bakery where they actually mix up the dough, don't add any preservatives or e-numbers, and just go ahead and bake it right there.  It tastes amazing.  I'm also trying to chew each mouthful 20-25 times, which I find does help me to appreciate food more and to notice when I'm full sooner.

In Which We Discuss Books I Read in my 27th Year, Week 44/52

Seven books this week - Thursday 9th June to Wednesday 15th!

Four audiobooks, all of which I'd read before, though I hadn't listened to The Colour of Magic or The Lottie Project before.  I used to own paperback copies of both.

Evil Games I read for a bookclub which I didn't attend.  It was pretty good!  Marsons used 'female' and 'male' a little less, and her sentence structure was more grammatically correct, though still not perfect.

How to Win Friends and Influence People is another one I've read before.  I love Dale Carnegie's writing style, and I've found the advice in the book to be very useful.  Some of it may seem obvious to someone who is good at talking to people, and I'd say that's a compliment.  Some of us need to be told these things!

Finally, Northanger Abbey.  I'm reading this for a book group; I suggested something by Austen, as I've never gotten along with her, but I know lots of people love her books, so clearly I'm missing something.

I loved Northanger Abbey.  It amazed me how little has changed, socially speaking.  

In Which We Discuss Insomnia, Rose Madder, and the Green Mile

I've been getting really behind on these posts, huh?

Recently, I've read Insomnia (on Kindle) and listened to Rose Madder and The Green Mile as audiobooks, hence the speed.  Audiobooks always go quicker, now I've gotten used to listening on 3x speed.

All three were books I'd read before.  Insomnia only once; I remembered being surprised that someone as old as Ralph could be the protagonist, something James Smythe echoes in his own article on the book.  I also hadn't read any of the Dark Tower series when I first read this book, so all of those references went totally over my head.  They're a lot more meaningful now, and I'm sure that will be even more true once I've read all of the Dark Tower novels.

Rose Madder, as I've mentioned before, is my favourite of Stephen King's novels.  I've read and listened to it several times.  I love the life-building aspect of it, how Rose escapes and builds something good for herself.  I also love Blair Brown's performance.

I'd forgotten how horrifying The Green Mile was, particularly Delacroix's death.  I have the film on dvd as well, though I've not rewatched it yet.  Hearing the description was somehow worse than watching it or just reading it.  Delacroix, despite being a rapist and a murderer is the closest thing the novel has to a clown, and his death is utterly heartrending.

The Green Mile was published, Dickens-style, as a series of short novels, with the ending unknown even to the author as they were written and published.  I've always liked Dickens; for his tenacity - there's a lovely story in How to Win Friends and Influence People about how, as a poor teenager, he wrote his first novel and sent it to a publisher in secret, because he was so embarrassed about thinking his work might be good enough to be published -and for the fact that he was always blatantly in it for the money, at least in part.  I don't think creating art for the money is a bad thing.  Nor do Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, or Terry Pratchett.  I like that Dickens responded to audience reactions as the novel went along, and that he set up his own magazines to self-publish.  Dickens was a pretty cool guy.

There's a reference to Dickens in Rose Madder.  I remember noticing it, but I can't recall what it is.  I remember it seemed interesting, in light of the Dickens-style publishing of The Green Mile.  I also hadn't realised that Dickens was a big deal in America, especially at the time he was publishing, not until I listened to the introduction.

I've started keeping a bullet journal, which I love, so I've added a Stephen King page (or three) to it.  It's taking me about a year and a half to read a decade of his writing, so I should be done by 2020 - apart from the books he'll write between now and then!

The next one is Desperation; I haven't read it before.

In Which We Discuss Books I Read in my 27th Year, Week 43/52

Five books last week - 2nd June to 8th June.

Ghost Moth, Silent Scream, and The Double Clue (the book with no image) are books I all read for bookclubs which I didn't end up attending.  I didn't really get Ghost Moth; I didn't understand why Katherine had any dilemma.  She wasn't really into her fiance, so why not just leave him for the guy she liked?  There was never an explanation given for that.

The Double Clue was the first collection of Hercule Poirot stories I've ever read.  I'm definitely a Holmes girl, but they were pretty good!

Silent Scream is set in the Black Country, and I do wonder if it was self-published.  The story-telling is excellent, but the author's grammar isn't brilliant.  She uses commas incorrectly quite a few times, and she's got a really irritating habit of referring to people as "males" and "females" outside of biological concepts.  i.e., "the female corpse" would work, because you're identifying the characteristics of something that is now inanimate, in a biological context, but "the female walked into the room" sounds weird, because you're now talking about a human, in a social context, while identifying her biologically.  It's a weird tic.

The Devil Wears Prada is a book I keep reading, even though it annoys me.  Something about the experience appeals to me, clearly.  I got the audiobook this time.

The Green Mile I'd read before, but I'd forgotten how utterly horrifying it was, particularly Delacroix's death.  While we know he's a rapist and a murderer, that's offscreen; onscreen, he's the closest thing we have to a clown, which makes it particularly heart-rending, quite apart from the sheer horror of what happens to him.

I have this as both an audiobook and a kindle book (because I forgot about one when I bought the other) but I only listened to the audio.  I really need to write an update for my Stephen King project; I'm three books behind!

In Which We Discuss Books I Read in my 27th Year, Week 42/52

 Six books between the 26th May and 1st of June.

Three audiobooks, all of which I'd read before, though I hadn't listened to the audiobook of Americanah before.  The Rules I'd read previously.  The Butterfly Club I hadn't.  It's aimed at very young readers, but still quite enjoyable; I read it over one night.

In Which We Discuss Books I Read in my 27th Year, Week 41/52

Eight books last week!  That's the 19th to the 25th of May.  Four audiobooks, one on Kobo and three on Kindle.

I finished off the Girls series, one of my favourites from Jacqueline Wilson.  Speaking of favourites, Ring, Rose Madder, and Gibbons Decline and Fall are all books I've loved for years.  Soldier Girl is a bit newer; I've read it three times over the past five or six years, and I love the character of Molly.

Finally, Not Your Mother's Rules and Why Men Ask Dumb Dating Questions.  I recently went through a break-u - hence the comfort-reading - and a friend lent these to me.  They were interesting.