Jay Asher - Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why (7/10)
If you're a fan of John Green, then you'll love this.

Thirteen Reasons Why isn't a difficult, complicated novel - I read the whole thing in less than 8 hours - but it's not wholly predictable either! I can't say it raises any great questions about life or mortality that haven't been posed before, but Asher never reveals too much too soon, so we have to keep reading to find out exactly what her secret is...


However, I found this on Amazon and was struck because it didn't sound like the regular troubled-teen suicide story... Asher presents 7 cassette tapes which are sent to 13 seemingly unconnected people, slowly revealing 13 reasons as to why her teenage protagonist, Hannah, killed herself. Like I said, not complicated. But I'm sure you'll agree it has to the potential to be incredibly gripping - or so I thought when I first come across the book...

This book works ultimately with empathy, that verges at times on cruelty, as Hannah tells her story in her own words, forcing the people who tried to write it for her to walk her path for themselves.

Hannah pretty much says the biggest ever "Fuck You" to adolescence. I don't know where Asher got it from, but this is for teenagers everywhere...

Rox
xx

Think...

'Amazon' it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thirteen-Reasons-Why-Jay-Asher/dp/0141328290/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407528684&sr=1-1&keywords=thirteen+reasons+why

Aldous Huxley - Brave New World

Brave New World (6/10)
If asked to, I'd list books such as 1984, The Hunger Games, and The Handmaid's Tale among some of my favorites but, having read and loved these stories, I didn't tackle Brave New World with much enthusiasm. Having known of the book for quite a while (years in fact) I never made any effort to want to read it, until a friend at work told me how she's discovered it whilst preparing for her dissertation, and about how much she loved it. So I bought it (99p off eBay!!!). But that didn't mean that I was brimming with excitement to start reading it. In fact, it sat on my shelf for a good 6 months before I even considered it (though those of you who are familiar with my book collection will understand that that's actually not a long time!!!)

But why??? Since I love Orwell and the like so much?? Well, the way I see it is that once you've read one novel from this genre, reading another one doesn't really bring anything new to the table...Orwell was my first and so I devoured him; The Hunger Games were done in 36 hours because they were gripping and young and exciting; Atwood felt like a breath of fresh air after a year of slaving over the likes of Shakespeare and Austen; but when it came to Huxley, I couldn't help having the overwhelming feeling that I was going to be reliving something that I already knew...

To a certain extent, I can't say that I was wrong, the perfectly controlled world that Huxley creates is the double of those such as I have listed. However, there was something different about this one - not in the story, not really - but in the way I responded to Huxley's world. This might be more a reflection of changes in myself as a reader, rather than any difference the actual writing of Huxley when compared to, say, Orwell, but when reading this novel I felt for the first time that the futuristic, controlled world that Huxley imagines might actually be more ideal than the reality that we live in - and that the novel has all but destroyed.

I opened this novel expecting to find a story about rebellion again conformity and power, and that is present, but it is overpowered by an overwhelming sense of community that is so notably absent in our contemporary society. Huxley really makes you think...

(also, I can't resist a good Shakespeare reference!)

Rox
xx

'Amazon' it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brave-New-World-Aldous-Huxley/dp/3425048570/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407528752&sr=1-2&keywords=brave+new+world

John Green - The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars (8.5/10)
As I sort of implied in my post on the fabulousness of Cecelia Ahern, I'm not a huge fan of reading books because they suddenly become amazingly famous because someone's making a film about them....Having said that though, this is exactly what I did with novels such as the Twilight saga and The Hunger Games trilogy and (and I can't stress this enough) the books are ALWAYS waaaaay better than the films! Nevertheless though, I had mixed feelings approaching this novel...

I read John Green's Looking for Alaska a couple of years ago, and it was the first book that I can really say truly haunted me. An English teacher I once had said that she'd only ever call a book 'haunting' if she dreamed about it; if her subconscious was so engrossed that it just wouldn't let go. I never quite knew what she meant until I read Alaska; the story stayed with me loooong after I closed the cover, and still today I often find my mind wandering off towards it - but I'm not going to ruin that one for you! Because of Alaska then, I wanted to read more of Green, and with all the hype about The Fault in Our Stars I caved...


However I still had my reservations. For one, I try to avoid cancer stories or sad endings, not because they're sad, but more because I have a reputation as an emotionless robot to uphold and if I'm found blubbing over page 30 of a book (of all things, shock horror!) then I'd be ruined. Seriously, I didn't even cry when Hayley died on Corrie - call me heartless, you wouldn't be the first!!!! But still, I was found, in the garden, sniveling over this particular paperback because it tells such a beautiful story! The way Green embraces the subject of death, transforming it from something fearful to something that we should all embrace - cancer or no cancer - is just so powerful.

This book is not a book about death; it is a book about life, with a message that we can all embrace. Okay? Okay.

Rox
xx

'Amazon' it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fault-Our-Stars-John-Green/dp/0141345659/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407528842&sr=1-1&keywords=the+fault+in+our+stars

Cecelia Ahern/P.S. I Love You!! (11/10)

I will (begrudgingly) forgive you if you're reading this wondering who the hell Cecelia Ahern is, but that won't stop me tutting at you... *tut tut tut*

Ahern is, hand down, the best author I've ever read! (And that's a big thing...I have a lot to choose from!!) Her writing isn't complicated or unrealistic, instead she's created this blend of reality and magic which comes across as completely natural - as though every day you might find a diary that tells the future, or inherit someone else's memories after a blood transfusion! It sounds totally absurd to write it like that, but her novels are so magical and yet so totally and utterly real at the same time! Don't make the mistake of assume she writes for children though!  Her books are 100% targeted at older readers, and yet still bring that child-like, innocent, fantasy element; she sort of creates an ideal 'grown up' world, where the fantastical elements of childhood can remain, amongst the dull office backgrounds of real life...If I ever meet a person who's not massively into reading, or has never managed to really enjoy a book, the first person I direct them to is Ahern - her plots are unconditionally gripping, yet with that aforementioned innocence and magic; which is who you should also go looking for RIGHT NOW! (Well not right now...read the blog first, if you would! Ta!)

What did I do with...

I'm not going to talk to you here about just one Ahern book, because they're all so wonderful that it would take me an age to choose just one, and then I'd end up writing about the others anyway! However I will say that Ahern is probably not quite as unfamiliar to you as you assume! Ever watch P.S. I Love You??? Seriously! Who hasn't? (Unless you've been living in a cave or on a desert island...) P.S. I Love You is the story that made Ahern famous (though I have to admit that it's one of the few books of her's that I haven't actually read!) but please don't just go and watch the film!!!!!!!! Her writing is so much more magical than that; pick any book with her name on the cover, and I promise you you won't be able to put it down!

One hell of a letter!

At Rainbow's End is written entirely in the form of letters, emails, text messages, and party invitations, telling the unrequited love story of two friends, right from the age of 5 until they're in their 80's. It's crazy how well Ahern can tell a story in such a restricted format - you can't get that from a film!!!

Have you ever inexplicably lost something?? Like a sock that you swear was part of a pair when you put the washing in? Ahern has, apparently spend a great deal more time exploring this universally frustrating issue, and she creates a comically unbelievable, yet powerful, response in A Place Called Here - with 'here' being the land that all the lost things go to (including missing children! It really is a very well thought-out story!!)

I could go on and on and on about Ahern, but I'd never do her justice so I'd rather let her speak for herself. She's a fabulous writer, and it's a shame that I know some people will only go as far as to read the book that made her famous, when she has sooo much  She's a truely gripping, unique and more to offer!!If I could recommend ONE though - to start you off at least - don't go for P.S. I Love You!!! My favorite by far is The Book of Tomorrow, and I promise you, you won't stop reading!!

Rox 

xx

If I were you, I'd just look for myself...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_6?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=cecelia%20ahern&sprefix=cecili%2Cstripbooks%2C353

Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale and Cat's Eye

I only stumbled across Atwood recently whilst prowling Keele's library for something on trauma and oppression in Plath, or Woolf, or Shelley, or someone who obviously made much less of an impact on my life at that particular moment (not that Plath is not an absolute GENIUS but that's for another post...). They say you should never judge a book by it's cover (another cliche! I'm so sorry!) but I should confess now that that is something I do A LOT! Not because I'm picky about what I read...the exact opposite in fact; I will read absolutely anything within reach, and so I've fallen into the habit of picking out the most attractive cover I can see (in shops and libraries!) and then having that book as the one I shall read! On this day then, I can't tell you exactly why I picked up The Handmaid's Tale and Cat's Eye, it was probably by chance that they had particularly striking spines amidst the hundreds of battered, over-read, dust collectors that inhabit Keele's library... But so it happened that I was cast under the utterly enchanting and enthralling spell that is Margaret Atwood!

Both of the novels are (to me, anyway) totally different and so I feel like I should address them separately, but I will say this: what I find so brilliant about Atwood is that, though both novels are completely different in the stories they tell, both captivated my attention and my imagination, and from cover to cover and I kept clinging on!! (Cat's Eye has been on more bus rides and train journey's with me than I care to admit! Even before I started it, I was reluctant to leave it anywhere...just in case I might get a change to quickly peak inside!)

The Handmaid's Tale (9/10)

Having just come out of a year where my entire life seemed to revolve around Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales, I was feeling particularly cynical towards anything that boasted any kind of "Tale" *shudder*, however just a scan of the blurb of this book told me that Atwood would be the exception to my new, irrational, fear. With echoes of the apocalyptic foresight that we see in Orwell's 1984, and the  merciless barbarity of the more recent Hunger Games trilogy, Atwood's novel imagines a female experience that will haunt any woman, and leave them reeling in gratitude of their freedom and their sexuality. For anyone wanting to read this book - and I seriously recommend that you DO ALL NOW GO AND FIND A COPY AND READ IT IMMEDIATELY, I won't spoil the ending, other than to say that it will stay with you and keep to thinking (hoping!) for a long time after you've closed the cover...

Personally, I've always loved a plot twist...and a happy ending!!!

 Cat's Eye (7/10)

So, it definitely took me slightly longer to get into this one than it did The Handmaid's Tale, but I think that's because I was expecting another futuristic, outside-the-box, parallel universe kind of story, and that's just not what this is... This novel exposes the very real, and often very cruel interactions of women and girls, and gives an almost too real insight into the mind of a troubled artist, who tells us her story as she experienced it. Whilst reading this novel I felt so connected with Atwood's narrator and her experiences that it's difficult to explain just what's so great about these books; again, Atwood has created something that draws the reader in and has them hooked - last time it was because of the sheer unbelievable barbarity of her world, but here the raw 'realness' of her plot and her characters is what demands our shocked attention.

To anyone who's ever been bullied, or felt isolated, or different...this is book you won't regret reading!

Rox
xx

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handmaids-Tale-Contemporary-Classics/dp/0099740915/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407528958&sr=1-1&keywords=the+handmaids+tale 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cats-Eye-Margaret-Atwood/dp/1853811262/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407528989&sr=1-1&keywords=cat%27s+eye

The horribly cliche post that must begin every new blog...try not to cringe too much!!

I've never been very good at diaries and 'thought journals' and DEFINITELY not dream diaries (much to the great disappointment of one art teacher!!), so blogging's always been something I've avoided...like the plague if I'm being quite honest! Though I do have enormous respect for the people I know who do it, and manage to keep it up and write about something new that's at least mildly interesting on a pretty regular basis. However, since I'm 110% sure that my family are going nuts at me leaping into their rooms at odd hours to share the wonderful (yet greatly under-appreciated) literary journey that I've just been on that day with them, I'm gonna give it a shot! Not that I expect anyone's going to read this spiel!!

But first, who am I? (Yes, cringe though you may, this is happening!)
A Printer and a Librarian get together - what do you get?? ME!!

Honestly, with parents like mine it's no wonder I turned out the way I did... I swear to you, I popped out reciting Shakespeare...

So....

Keele - it's honestly the MOST beautiful place!

I study English and American Literature at Keele University (to those who don't know where that is, don't think you're alone. The place is like Hogwarts; unless you've been - or know someone who has - you'll never be able to find it!) On the side I'm a tutor in English (and maths, despite my endless protests) to students of all ages and levels, and though I do complain about heavy work loads, late nights, and the bus fares which slowly eat away at my student loan like caterpillars at leaves (!!), I do seriously love my job and the amazing people I meet through it!


As a (pretty self-explanatory) part of my degree I do a hell of a lot of reading, but I'm not about to sit here and review the finer points of the great English classics...I wouldn't put anyone through that who wasn't being paid (or bribed)! No, I'm here because I want to write about the books that I read for me for a change... and believe me, there are a few!! And so this is for anyone who's ever asked me for a book to read on holiday, or on the train; and it's especially for those who tell me they'd like to read but have never found that one book that really got them hooked!!

Firstly and lastly though, well done for getting this far! Since you're here you might as well continue...what's up first??

Rox
xx