It's been a busy fortnight. I've been working full time for almost a month, I'm a year older, and I have a new boyfriend. I call him Trix. He makes me smile and go all pinky and giggly.
Anyway, books.
Crunchy Betty's Food on Your Face is a book I've wanted to read for a while. Crunchy Betty, aka Leslie Martin is a beauty blogger who uses all natural beauty products, mostly of the edible variety. The book in particular is focused on oily skin, and mine is dry, so a lot of the info wasn't applicable. That said, some of it was, and I'm happy to support her. On a practical level though the blog stands on its own merits. 4/5.
Big Brother is by Lionel Shriver, who also wrote We Need to Talk About Kevin. This one focuses on a business woman whose brother has suddenly put on an extra 200 or so lbs, and how utterly horrific this is. I was eye-rolling throughout much of it. There are so many ignorant assumptions; that big people must be binging like pigs, that no one would ever find them attractive, that it was such a huge trial to have one of them in your home, being related to you, etc etc. I agree that a huge change in a family member's appearance would be a cause for concern if they also showed signs of depression, but, really? How petty. I quite enjoyed the middle section, when the heroine decides to help her brother lose weight, but that was quickly undone by the ending. 3/5.
Richard Bacon, as some of you may remember, was the Blue Peter presenter who was fired for snorting cocaine. I was nine or ten at the time, and I remember having a bit of a crush on him, so I thought it would be fun to see it from the other side.
I loved A Series of Unrelated Events. Bacon is deeply, deeply sarcastic, and the book is hilarious. It's like the way I imagine my little rants sound in my head. It really is written more as a series of broadly unrelated events, rather than a narrative, and it really works. 4/5.
Dana Bane's The Secret Supper Club was about a woman who has always wanted to be a chef, but has been discouraged by her parents, partner, etc etc. Having lost said partner, she is convinced to cheer herself up by hosting one of those pop-up restaurants. In many ways it reminded me of Sophie Kinsella's The Undomestic Goddess, particularly the parts about a career woman finding peace in the joy of cooking. Lots of loving talk of food and fluffy drama. 4/5.
The World According to Humphrey is a children's book I found on Kind of Book which was reduced to free on the Kindle store. It's a children's book from the point of view of a classroom hamster. I quite liked it; 3/5 stars.
How Many Socks Make a Pair? was a lovely little book about recreational mathematics. The author writes that he wanted to demonstrate the ah? Aha, and haha! of mathematics. I think he succeeded. It's fairly short, but it was interesting, and I went on about it all afternoon. My coworkers enjoyed it. They didn't say otherwise, anyway. 4/5 stars, and here's a little logic puzzle for you. A woman is 21 years older than her son. In six years, she will be five times his age. Where is the father?
Finally, The Basic Eight. This is a book I've read before, and is, in fact, one of my favourites. I bought myself a digital copy and gave the paperback to Trix. I hope he likes it.
The Basic Eight is written as if it is a true crime novel inside a fictitious universe. That is, Flannery writes as if the audience is fully aware of the murder she's commited, which leads to an interesting little bit about a photograph. You'll understand if you read it.
Daniel Handler also writes as Lemony Snicket, and his dark humour comes across here too. The book reminds me, more than anything, of Heathers, the movie with Christian Slater and a fifteen-year-old Winona Ryder.
I'm too tired to be descriptive. It gets 5/5 stars, obviously. Trust me, read it, it's awesome.
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