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!
I haven't been doing much today as I have been without transport and feeling lazy. I've been watching TV, napping, reading and surfing the internet. I have started reading My Booky Wook by Russell Brand. When I'm reading it it's really strange as I can hear his voice in my head as it's written exactly as he speaks. The only other book I have experienced that with was Alan Carr's autobiography! Even though I find Russell Brand's stand up a bit much sometimes I can't help but like him for his flamboyance and his ability to make me smile!
I have seen a few adverts today for the Come Dine with Me Royal Wedding Special which will be on this Friday. I am really looking forward to it as in my mind it will be like the street parties I have seen so many pictures of for VE Day where it all looks so civilised and the whole community is having fun together and sharing. A little like this picture I have found:
I think I may be a bit disappointed by the street parties on the TV but only time will tell!
I have also bought two books from Amazon today. I bought The Crimson Petal and The White as I have been watching the series on BBC and really want to read the book. I also bought a book called Small Hands Clapping by Dan Rhodes. I'm looking forward to them arriving so that I can get stuck in! I'm hoping they won't take too long as I'm off to London for a day next week for a meeting and would like something to read on the train so I don't bore my colleague to death by talking at him all day!
Tomorrow I'm planning to make my own adapted version of the Chicken Pie in Jamie's 30 Minute Meals. Something I'd like to point out here is that I've made a few recipes from Jamie's book and none of them have taken 30 Minutes to cook, even when I've pre-prepared everything. More like 30 minutes to eat! Anyway, I digress. I'm going to swap the mushrooms in the pie with lardons (as I did last time I made it as Steve won't eat mushrooms) and I'm going to use thinly sliced potatoes for the top of the pie instead of pastry as I find pastry can be a bit filling and we both agreed that the pastry last time was a bit much, particularly when the filling was so yummy! I'm going to serve it with Jamie's minted peas and some green beans so will let you know how that goes!
I'm presently trying to decide what to do this evening but am struggling a little! I hope I think of something soon and don't have to resort to doing work!!
I've decided to set up this blog to document a few things and also as I hope I'm not too boring for a blog!
I thought I'd start by writing about what I've done in the last few days. I've read a couple of books whilst sat out in the sun and relaxing! The first book I read was the new book by Jo Carnegie called Dirty Tricks.
It was just as good as all of Jo Carnegie's other books. Its not a literary work of art but is enjoyable, trashy, raunchy fun! It was easy to read and I flew through it. The characters are likeable and I would thoroughly recommend it!
I've also read Michael McIntyre's autobiography, Life and Laughing.
I found it funny from beginning to end and now can't wait to see him on tour next year!! (Damn you August 2012 for being so far away!) It was different from other comedy autobiographies that I have read in that although Michael didn't have a hugely privileged upbringing it was far from average (particularly seeing as his mums best friend was Kenny Everett!) I don't hold it against him however and particularly enjoyed the way he recalled his early life.
On Sunday I went to watch Jimmy Carr in the Wales Millennium Centre with Steve. He was so funny if a little on the edge ( Jimmy Carr, not Steve) and it was interesting as it was my first live experience of a comedian who relies on gags rather than just observational humour. I have to say I think I do prefer the observational stuff but I can still enjoy the more traditional styles of just telling gags.
I've got a long day ahead so I may post again if I think of anything exciting to say (I'm not sure how likely this is, it may just be me chatting on again!) I may also change the name of the blog but will have a little think!!
