Who wants a book?

If any of my esteemed readers would like one of the 38 books I have read, please let me know. I will be keeping a small few, however most will be shortly making their way to the local op shop unless you put up your hand.

The End

All's well that ends well, and on time (after a small but necessary extension). To be honest I wasn't sure I was going to make it, however thankfully the last few books in the pile were quite light and easy reads.

I feel a real sense of achievement looking at a pile of 38 books, all of which I have now read. I am also relieved that I can now put down a book if I'm not enjoying it, no more wasted hours reading ridiculous novels that should never have been published.

So where to now? I plan to continue reading and blogging, however this time without the self imposed time restraint.

Thank you for coming along with me on this journey. Looking back a lot has changed since I began, and all the books I have read in this time have become little markers in my life.

Day 324 – After that I took out a book and pretended to read (pg 177)

Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris wasn’t a bad book to end on. I liked it much more than Coastliners. The story and characters had much more complexity and didn’t feel like they had just been thrown together.

Overall it’s quite a sad story, told with flashbacks to German occupied France. Interestingly all tied together by a recipe book with diary entries scribbled in the margins. I really liked the characters too, thank goodness.

Not my favourite book of the 38 I have read over the past 325 days, but I’m glad it wasn’t painfully horrible like some.

‘I know what you’re thinking. You wish I’d get on with the story.’ pg 16

0 books remaining, 0 books to go!! WHoooooo

Day 324 – He had a small collection of books (pg 74)

The Dead ~ Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan actually didn’t seem to be so bad. A novel for young adults, but it’s more like the novels I remember reading when I was 14 or 15 than what I’ve read recently that’s aimed at the same audience.

The whole teen love saga was tedious, however I was willing to ignore it for the sake of the intended audience.

Then, about 2/3 of the way in, it turned into the book that wouldn’t end. The same things happened over and over, the story became stagnate and when it did actually end, it was to say ‘go out and buy the next book if you want to know what happens.’

Quite frankly I am happy to imagine that they all get eaten by zombies. To think I was actually enjoying and going to recommend this book, how people can ruin a good story.

1 day remaining, 1 book to go... eeeeep!!

Day 322 – Eddie felt lost if he didn’t have a substantial pile of reading matter on the bedside table so he could pick and choose (pg 43)

Ewe, yuck and gross all came to mind while reading Jail Bait by June Hampson. A story about London gangsters, prostitutes and a rather gruesome murderer. Oh and a dead cat’s eyeballs, lovely.

There were some almost likeable characters in this story, the problem was the story. It was all over the place, too many characters who were too much alike or completely unimportant to the ‘plot’. I also think it was attempting to push too far out of its league with a bizarre ending that didn’t really fit with the rest of the story.

3 days remaining, 2 books to go... almost there!!

Day 321 – Pausing to survey the shelves and the books available (pg 150)

Surprise, Love Bites by Lynsay Sands was not as bad as I was expecting. Judging by the cover (a big no no of course) the title and the androgenous author, I was expecting the worst.

I feel my lowered expectations helped to raise my esteem for this book. While I'm not about to go overboard with praise, it was nice not to be thinking ‘oh brother’ every time I turned a page. It was also nice to be reading a book obviously not aimed at the tween market.

Extremely raunchy, even more so than RSVP, it is a book for an audience who isn’t quite me. I did like however, that the topic of ‘vampires’, was actually dealt with in a way I had never encountered before. An interesting take on an old legend.

4 days remaining, 3 books to go

Day 321 – The family bookworm, her father called her (pg 70)

Once again I may not have been blogging, but I sure have been reading.

Dirt Music by Tim Winton, I went with it, although I wasn’t sure where it was going nor why it took me where it did. I liked it in parts, however was not tremendously overwhelmed by the story.

Yet another book where I didn’t like any of the characters, seems to be in vouge these days. Perhaps if you could class the setting as a character, I’ll admit to liking the nicer portrayal of Australia. The story being based in a fictional Western Australia fishing town.

A best seller, an award winning author... still I wasn’t enthralled. It’s not that I don’t like books that are popular with critics. I loved The Life of Pi, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Vanity Fair and many others that are ‘must reads’. I suppose it is important to remember that like there are differing tastes in music, so too there are differing tastes in literature.

4 days remaining, 4 books to go

Day 321 Bookmark

I have been looking at some older posts and realised that in a lot of my earlier blogs I wrote much more about what was going on in my life, as well as the books I was reading.

As my blog has progressed, writings about my ‘life’ have pretty much fallen by the wayside, and the books have taken the fore, which is how it should be.

If there are any ‘readers’ out there who are concerned about my life, I assure you all is well. I have been working odd jobs here and there and am very excited (as well as a little anxious) at the prospect of the job which I will soon have for the rest of my life, Motherhood. I haven’t forgotten about filmmaking and still hope to make one or two documentaries... one day.

I would also like to take this opportunity to note that my blogs are by no means a professional ‘critique’ on the books I have read. They are merely a report on my point of view, and how I did or did not enjoy the book.

Day 311 – I picked up one of my books, smoothing the crumpled pages (pg 108)

Coastliners by Joanne Harris is yet another story set within a small island community. Little did I realise when I began this task, that I had somehow gathered together a group of island tales.

This time the story is set on a French Island (as opposed to a Greek island).

Perhaps I am being a little biased, however this island fails to exude the charm or deliver the varied and fantastic characters that inhabited the islands in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and My Family and Other Animals.

It is nicely written and a very easy read, nothing terribly life changing or out of the ordinary though. Not a book I would recommend anyone go out of their way to read.

14 days remaining, 5 books to go

Day 311 – Charlie was rambling on about his book (pg 199)

I’m here. Married and honeymooned and even though I have not blogged for a month, I have been reading! Fear not, for this time I shall not fail.

The Trout Opera by Matthew Condon (a highly celebrated author) started promisingly enough. It opened warm, witty, humorous, with beautiful descriptions. It then migrated towards the Sydney drug scene, and as I started to feel the familiar sense of a contemporary ‘Australian’ story, my interest waned.

The descriptions did continue to be beautiful throughout. The past and the present, the beauty of the country and the grit of city life. I just found I wasn’t really engaged by the story.

My favourite character was by far the one that the story opens on. Wilfred Lampe, aged 6, dressed in his trout costume peering over the jetty and imagining himself as King of the Trout. This innocent, 6-year-old Wilfred doesn’t hang about for much more of the story, which is a real shame.

Another book that has failed to leave an impression on me.

14 days remaining, 6 books to go