I've just been having a think about how much I love reading and how much it's a big part of my life. I wish I could put my reading to more use or share my thoughts with others.
I was thinking what attracts me to a book. Sometimes its reviews that I read in magazines but more often than not it is the cover. They say you should never judge a book by its cover but rightly or wrongly this is often how I discover new authors. I love book shops and could spend hours in them. To me they feel like art galleries, with each book displaying its own work of art which will appeal to individual artistic tastes and then draw you in. Even seeing two books which are exactly the same, I will always choose the cover which is most attractive to me.
Here are some of my favourite book covers:
Mister Pip is a brilliant and upsetting book. I really enjoyed it although found parts quite distressing. I was originally attracted by the cover.
I also love this cover and it introduced me to one of my favourite authors;
I have been hoodwinked by my method of choosing books in the past. Once by this book:
I found it had no real substance and not much of a storyline. It was a bit fluffy. I was expecting a robust story about the land of my fathers but was brutally disappointed. It ended up in a charity bag. Another book that failed my book choice method was The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.
This book has recently been made into an ITV drama. I have to be honest and say that I did not enjoy either. I found both very slow to start and couldn't really get into the story. I understand that it is a real story but did not find it as exciting as the murder mysteries I am accustomed to. Maybe this comes from being a Midsomer Murders addict but it didn't thrill me.
I've spent a lot of the last week or so reading, watching DVDs and making my Amazon wishlist even bigger than it was!
I'm currently reading The Crimson Petal and The White by Michel Faber. It was recently made into a BBC series which was really good and I decided to give the book a go. Its an 850 page tome with fairly small font which makes it a luttle harder to read than an average novel but is really moreish and really well written.
I'm about a third of the way through, but I already know I want to read more of Michel Faber's books. I love discovering new authors, particularly when they write so well. I felt the same last year when I discovered Sarah Waters' work. It is so easy to read and yet so compelling, I had to buy the collection! My favourite book is her latest release, The Little Stranger. I literally could not put it down! I've really enjoyed all her other books and have found that Fingersmith has been made into a drama. This is on my Amazon wishlist as I really want to see how it was adapted.
My favourite adaptation of a book for TV is White Teeth by Zadie Smith. This is one of my favourite books, discovered when I watched it on Channel 4 a good few years ago.I've read the book loads of times over the last 8 years and recently rediscovered the series on 4od. I haven't seen anything new from Zadie since On Beauty. I hope she continues to write.
I have also spent a lot of time watching an American TV series which my friend has leant me on DVD. Its called Fringe and I was a little sceptical when I first started watching it. I am now hooked and have it on my wish list as I want to watch them all!!!
My favourite character is Professor Bishop (The guy in the middle in the picture). He is brilliantly cast and has a definite mad professor feel to him but is also really likeable. His son is played by Joshua Jackson which is nice.
I'm a football widow at the moment so gonna do a bit of online window shopping for random stuff. Then I might read some more of my book. That all depends on how much lager I drink though!! Haha.
I haven't been on for a while as I've been so busy in work and extremely tired but need to make the effort!
In the last two weeks I've been to London (on my first train and tube!) and here is one of the things I saw there.
I thought I was seeing things when I saw this horse!! The area where the conference venue was located was full of diamond shops which I would have liked to have had a look in!
I also got to see the Eurostar waiting at St Pancras station which was very exciting and the station itself was beautiful. I'm hoping to go back soon to take lots of pictures and explore.
I also stayed in a hotel this week which was nice. It was full of rich people and people playing golf. I was glad to get home to be honest.
I'm reading the Crimson Petal and the White at the moment. It's taking me a while as I've been so busy but is beautifully written and I can't wait to get more into it!
Hopefully this week will be more exciting!
