Pride and Prejudice - Adaptations etc.

OK, so I realise that at this point it's kind of a cliche to gush about how much you love Pride and Prejudice, but you guys, I really love Pride and Prejudice. Shamefully I only read it for the first time about 3 years ago, but since I was raised on a diet of BBC miniseries I was already familiar with the story thanks to the 1995 adaptation.

A lot of people dismiss Pride and Prejudice as a girly book (I don't have time to rant about people dismissing things they perceive to be overly feminine as inherently frivolous and lacking in value right now, so let's just skim over that for the moment) but it's so much more than that. Firstly - Pride and Prejudice is funny as hell, Elizabeth Bennet is a beloved character for a reason, and that reason is that she's a sassy BAMF - if you want any evidence of that just check out pretty much any of her interactions with Mr Collins, Lady Catherine, Caroline and Whatsherface Bingley, or her mother. Secondly - Mr Darcy. I know I'm venturing even further into cliche territory here, but Mr Darcy is an adorable socially awkward uber-man and if you're not in love with him then you're wrong.

OK, now I'm going to get into the actual point of this post, which is adaptations. LET'S GO!

BBC Miniseries, 1995

Let's be real - this is the only acceptable answer to the question of which is the best adaptation. With 5 and a half hours of Darcy-y goodness to offer, I don't think the other versions on this list can really compare to the thoroughness of this adaptation, 90 minutes of screen-time just isn't long enough to do justice to the subtleties and slow development of Darcy and Lizzie's relationship. Also - Colin Firth.

Joe Wright Film, 2005

The first time I watched this film, it didn't really have an impact on me and I promptly forgot all about it, but I re-watched it a couple of months ago and loved it. For starters, this film is absolutely gorgeous, every shot is like a freaking work of art, and the music fits perfectly and is amazing. As an adaptation I'm not that crazy about this one, but as a film in its own right it’s stunning and brilliant. Adaptation wise, it doesn’t cover everything (obviously) but it does a really great job of picking and choosing all the essential moments and it is cast perfectly – I have a special spot in my heart for ginger Bingley. One of my favourite moments in this film is when Bingley is practicing proposing to Jane by roleplaying with Darcy, UGH! THESE TWO GOOFBALL ROMANTIC BFFS! So cute.

Lost in Austen, 2008

Another miniseries, this one isn’t exactly an adaptation but I’m including it anyway because it almost is, and I love it so I want to talk about it. In Lost in Austen a 21st century woman (Amanda Price) who is bored out of skull with her crappy call-centre job and even crappier boyfriend somehow ends up switching places with Elizabeth Bennett and finds herself trapped in the world of Pride and Prejudice. Essentially, every Pride and Prejudice fangirl’s fantasy - it all gets very meta when Amanda actually asks Mr Darcy to come out of the lake with his shirt on a la Colin Firth, and I love me some meta. This series is pure escapism and wish fulfilment and I enjoyed every minute of it, Jemima Rooper is charming as usual as the often idiotic Amanda, Alex Kingston kills it as Mrs Bennett (I bloody love Mrs Bennett) and Darcy is perfectly Darcy-like, what more could you want!?

The Lizzie Bennett Diaries, 2012 – 2013

I’ll be the first to admit that I was super sceptical about this adaptation – Pride and Prejudice told through video diaries? I even watched the first few episodes when the series started and made the decision not to keep up with it, but I came back to it a few months later when it was over two thirds of the way through and I am so glad I did. I think this series really benefits from being watched in several long sittings, rather than watching each of the ~ 5 minute episodes individually, and I think that’s why I didn’t really get into it when I first tried to watch it. This adaptation is definitely not for everyone, and by not for everyone I mostly mean it’s not for Austen-purists who will be bothered by the modern setting, which obviously necessitates a lot of changes in the plot. However, if you can get past the modern setting and the plot changes it’s so worth it, mainly because the story is evidently told with a lot of love, and I think that's what makes a great adaptation. Also this adaptation gives us a really great insight into a lot of the characters through seeing the story from their point of view. Lydia and Charlotte Lucas in particular really benefit from this re-telling, and become complex characters in their own right, with their own stories, rather than just plot devices to advance Lizzie’s storyline. Also I have a soft spot for Mary as a socially awkward emo-kid.

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So there you go - my favourite Pride and Prejudice adaptations. I know I said that the BBC miniseries is indisputably the best adaptation but to be 100% honest if I had to pick a favourite from these four I don't know if I could do it, they're all very different and I love them all!

Books About Books

I love books and reading (obviously), so I love love love reading books about books. These are some of my favourites, and by favourites I mean just the ones that I can think of at this precise moment.

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Summary: Set in an alternate version of 1985 Britain where the Crimean War never ended, Thursday Next is a "literary detective" who gets mixed up in an elaborate plot involving blackmailer and all-round evil guy Acheron Hades. The two of them end up facing off inside the world of Jane Eyre and inadvertently impacting the lives of the characters.
Why I Recommend It: The whole Thursday Next series is pretty great, later books involve the amazing organisation of "JurisFiction" - a collection of special literature agents who also happen to be fictional characters (notable mentions go to Miss Havisham and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle). Overall it's just a silly, fun series and I'd definitely recommend it, especially to anyone who loves Jane Eyre.

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
Summary: The Book of Lost Things is the story of David 12 year old boy who, after his mother dies, begins more and more to retreat into the world of fiction. Strange things start happening and soon he finds himself literally inside the world of the books he's been reading. The story has a lot of fantasy and fairy tale elements and can get quite creepy at times.
Why I Recommend It: This one is a must read for anyone who loves fairy tales (which I really do). I know the whole "dark re-telling of a fairy tale" thing has been done to death, but this take on that genre has a really original feel to it, and one of the things about it which I really loved was that it looks at the ways in which the stories we love as children shape the adults we grow into.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Summary: This story follows a young graphic designer in San Francisco who gets a job in a 24 hour bookstore and starts to notice that the place is more than a little odd. This book deals a lot with conflict between the old and the new, and whether we should embrace technology or hang on to the past. It's also just a really fun mystery/adventure.
Why I Recommend It: I would recommend this to anyone who loves bookshops, this book creates a really vivid picture of this weird, slightly creepy store and I totally want to go there. Also all the characters are just, for want of a better word, adorable and the story is exciting as well as being funny and sweet.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Summary: Margaret Lee is a bookish loner, who works in a bookshop, who is hired to write a book about a prolific (and famously private) author. Bookishness all round! In the course of interviewing the mysterious author 'Vida Winter' Margaret learns a lot about her dark past and uncovers various different family secrets, which also prompts her to take a closer look at her own life.
Why I Recommend It: Because it's crazy and exciting! I love a good dark past, and this book is all about the dark past. If you like books and storytelling and shocking twists then definitely check this one out.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
Summary: Ugh, this book! OK, let me get my emotions in check. So this story is narrated by Death and tells the story of a girl named Liesel and her life during World War 2 - I realise that probably sounds like the most depressing thing ever, but it's actually just lovely and heartfelt and unforgettable and brilliant.
Why I Recommend It: Well, I just gushed about it plenty while I was meant to be summarising, so I can't really think of anything else to add apart from - READ IT!

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Summary: I already talked about this book in this post if you want to read that. 84, Charing Cross Road is a really lovely little book collecting the letters between Helene Hanff - American, book lover, anglophile, and Marks & Co - an antiquarian bookshop on Charing Cross Road. The letters span a period of 20 years and Helene develops a really touching friendship with nearly everyone who works in the bookstore, as well as some of their friends, family and neighbours.
Why I Recommend It: Because it's just sweet and lovely and a really feelgood story, also it's less than 100 pages long, so you've got no excuse not to read it!

My Favourite Bookshops

I love bookshops, they are my churches, and I can happily spend at hours at a time browsing every shelf, regardless of whether or not I have any intention of buying any books (spoiler alert: I always end up buying books anyway). This is a list of my top 3 favourite bookshops, just because:

1. The American Book Centre, Amsterdam

Photo from here

Ugh, be still my beating heart! This place is incredible, four beautiful floors of books, the selection is incredible and they have every genre of book you could possibly hope to find. The Netherlands doesn't have a whole lot of English language bookshops so every time I'm in Amsterdam I spend at least an hour in here (as documented in this post).

2. Waterstones, Birmingham

Photo from here

I love this bookshop. I've only been there a few times because I'm only ever in Birmingham to visit one of my lovely friends who used to live there, but every time I went to see him I would drag him in here and he would traipse around after me while I stroked all the books. The building itself is amazing (as you can see) and there's a bunch of sneaky little hidden rooms off to the side which I love to explore.

3. Selexyz Dominicanen, Maastricht

Photo from here

I had heard about this bookshop online and seen a lot of pictures of it, and I had my heart set on visiting it for a long time, but I only finally went last weekend - which you can read about here if you're so inclined. The place is obviously just incredible and it's really awe-inspiring just to wander around it. Unluckily for me there isn't a huge selection of English books, but the place itself totally makes up for it.

BONUS ROUND - A bookshop I want to visit:

1. Shakespeare and Company, Paris

Photo from here

Because duh. This one is definitely on my bucket list, just look at it. I've never been to Paris before but as soon as I do this will definitely be my first stop. Wait actually no, that's a lie because I'll be in Paris for the first time in my life at the end of the month....for an hour in the airport while I change planes. What a bummer.

February Wrap Up

Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Book 1 in the Lunar Chronicles Series)
I had heard a lot of people raving about this series online for ages, but had always dismissed it because the premise sounds ridiculous - Cinderella, but in the future and with cyborgs...what!? I downloaded book 1 onto my kindle on a whim because it was cheap and I kind of wanted to see what the fuss was all about. I was not expecting to enjoy it at all, but I picked it up one night just to flick through the first few pages and see what it was like, and then I ended up staying up until 3am and reading two thirds of it in one sitting. I normally love fairy-tale re-tellings, but combining that with the whole dystopia sci-fi thing just made the story seem a little silly to me, but if you ignore all the Cinderella stuff (which isn't really a huge part of the story anyway), it's actually a really good and exciting sci-fi adventure story. I mean, robots, cyborgs  aliens, mind control powers, a mysterious plague, what more could you want!? I would advise anyone who is inclined to scoff at the premise of this series (like I was) to just give it a go and take it for what it is - a fast-paced, exciting read set in a really intriguing world.

9 out of 10

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (Book 2 in the Lunar Chronicles Series)
Luckily for me the sequel to Cinder came out just 2 days after I finished it, score! I liked this one a little less, but it was still really good. Cinder ends on a pretty tense cliffhanger but the second book, rather than picking it up where it left off, starts by introducing a new character. The book is divided between carrying on with Cinder's story, and telling Scarlet's which at times was irritating because as soon as you get really into the plot you'll suddenly be reading about a completely different set of characters. That being said, by about halfway through I was really engrossed by Scarlet's story too, it just took a while to get to that point.

7.5 out of 10

The New Hunger by Isaac Marion
This is a novella and the prequel to Warm Bodies which I read last month. I was expecting this to be a little disappointing because I'm much more interested in the sequel (expected publication date: 2014, woohoo!) than in the events before Warm Bodies takes place, but it was actually really good. The prequel does a good job of expanding on an already established world and giving all the characters some back story which fleshes them out a lot more. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading Nora's bits since she was a character I didn't previously find very interesting.

8 out of 10

Bright Young Things by Scarlett Thomas
I loved this book. It's about a group of intelligent 20-somethings who have all recently graduated and are now doing nothing with their lives, something which hits uncomfortably close to home for me and definitely may be part of why I liked this book so much. Anyway they all get stranded on a desert island together (which I didn't relate to quite so much) and hijinks ensue. The hows and whys of them being on this island actually aren't particularly significant, it's more like an exploration of what would happen if this group of people were all stuck in an isolated place together, very similar to the tv show Big Brother, although this book was written in like, 1999 before Big Brother came out. This book isn't for everyone, there's not a whole lot going on in the way of plot, it's mostly just about the characters getting to know each other, but I raced through it in one day and really, really enjoyed it.

9 out of 10

Love Among the Chickens by P.G. Wodehouse
I love Wodehouse for all the usual reasons, but also because when I was a kid, whenever we went on holiday we would listen to a Wodehouse audiobook in the car. Because of this, reading anything by him just makes me instantly happy because from the very first page I'm immediately transported back to being 8 years old with scabby knees, excited to go on holiday and laughing with my family. There's not really much to say about this book that you couldn't guess yourself - it's silly and hilarious, I embarrassed myself a couple of times by chuckling aloud when I was reading it on the plane home. Despite the fact that this isn't a Jeeves story I still think it's fantastic and would recommend it to anyone.

10 out of 10

A Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
I read this as part of my mission to make it through the complete works of Shakespeare (10 down, 34 to go!), I started with this one because it's the shortest, and also because I'd seen it performed at the Globe so I was pretty familiar with the story. I enjoyed it, it was funny, but it did kind of challenge my suspension of disbelief with how freaking stupid almost every single character is. The plot is centered around two sets of identical twins who have been separated since birth...and for some reason have the same names. Nearly every character in the story is aware of the whole long lost twin situation, and yet when everyone starts getting very confused at people accusing them of things they didn't actually do etc, not one person puts two and two together until they actually come face to face with each other and even then the freaking DUKE is all "which one of you is real and which one of you is a demon?" He's literally just been told the story of how these twins were separated, but yeah, probably a demon. Anyway, it was still great obviously, and there's a pretty good fart joke in it too - 'A man may break a word with you, sir, and words are but wind. Ay, and break it in your face, so he break it not behind'.

6.5 out of 10

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
This book was just adorable and funny and lovely and I had a huge smile on my face the whole time I was reading it, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone, especially anyone who loves books. It's only about 90 pages long so I do feel a bit guilty including it as part of my 100 books challenge, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. Although it is literally just a series of letters between a bookshop and a woman ordering books from them, which doesn't sound entertaining in the slightest, it really is, everyone go and read it! I'm going to read the sequel, the Duchess of Bloomsbury, tonight and hopefully it'll be just as good.

10 out of 10

100 books challenge progress: 2 books behind

On E-readers

I've had many a reddit argument about the various pros and cons of e-readers, but since they generally deteriorate into pointless insult flinging, and also since arguing with basement dwelling neck-beards is not a super productive use of my time, I thought I'd write about it here instead.

I'd like to start off by saying - if you don't like e-readers that's fine. If you have no desire to own one I'm not going to tell you you're wrong or stupid or force you to get one or anything. I fully understand that e-readers versus paper books is a matter of personal taste.  My issue is this - if you don't like e-readers, no problem, but don't be a dick about it (similarly if you think e-readers are better, don't be a dick about that either). There are a few recurring themes in this argument that I want to talk about:

The either/or argument
I don't understand why this is apparently such a difficult concept to understand - you can use both books and e-readers. Anti-kindlers always seem to say "I could never get a kindle, I like books too much!" - these are not mutually exclusive things. When you buy an e-reader the world doesn't revoke your book reading license, you aren't going to get kicked out of bookshops or libraries. Personally, I tend to buy things on my kindle when I'm not sure if I'll like them or not, then once I've read them I might choose to buy a physical copy, this actually means that I read a lot more than I did before.

Books are "better"
If your hobby is book collecting (a compulsion I fully understand and do engage in), then yes, books are better. However, if your hobby is reading, then the medium is irrelevant. The actual story has the same value no matter how it got into your brain and to suggest otherwise is clearly ridiculous. The people who are proponents of this particular argument tend to be misguided snobs. In my opinion if you are a lover of reading, then you should be glad to have people share your hobby, no matter how they do it. Regardless of whether or not you prefer e-readers or physical books, if you look down on something that makes books accessible to a wider range of people (e.g. larger prints for people with bad eyesight) and encourages people to read more, then you're kind of a dick.

E-readers are killing books
So this is just really not true. Amazon is killing books, not e-readers. People still buy vinyl even though iPods exist, and as much as I love my kindle, it's never going to kill my desire to collect books. The fact that this debate is still happening all over the internet and that there are all these people going "I hate e-readers because they are killing books" clearly shows that there are people out there who will continue to buy books. I mean, obviously I can't actually predict the future but I can't see actual books going anywhere for a long time.

So, that's my take on the whole thing, rant over!

Book Haul!

Is it weird to do a blog as opposed to a video book haul? Well, whatever, I'm doing one anyway. I was just back in the UK for the weekend, and I had ordered some books to be delivered there, and I also went on a bit of a spree at my local second hand bookshop, so I have lots of lovely new books to read.

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
I ordered this off Amazon after seeing it mentioned by WordsofaReader on YouTube. I love books about books and this seems like it'll be a pretty quick read which is good for my 100 books challenge!

PopCo by Scarlett Thomas
I read The End of Mr Y last year and absolutely loved it, but for some reason didn't pick up another Scarlett Thomas novel until about 2 weeks ago, I guess because I was slightly worried her other stuff would be a let down. Luckily the next of her books that I read (Bright Young Things) was similarly amazing so I am now determined to read all her novels. I've just started this one and it seems like it's going to be good. Also I'm a sucker for books that have coloured-edged pages (is there a term for that?) and this one blue and gorgeous.

Our Tragic Universe by Scarlett Thomas
The other Scarlett Thomas novel I bought, this one is beautiful  as well. I'm going to try and hold off on reading this one for a bit so I don't end up racing through everything by Scarlett Thomas in a month and then suffering from withdrawal.

Bagombo Snuff Box by Kurt Vonnegut
I've only read one book by Vonnegut (Breakfast of Champions), but I really liked it and have been meaning to read more of his stuff for a while. Sadly my copy of Slaughterhouse Five is AWOL (translation - I lent it to a friend who then lost it) so I was pleased to find this in the second hand book shop.

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
This one has been on my wishlist for years and I have just never gotten round to buying it because I never see it in bookshops, but I did this weekend so I had to buy it, it was fate!

Ghostwritten by David Mitchell
I read Black Swan Green last year and absolutely loved it, and I've been meaning to read Cloud Atlas for ages (I actually already own it in flipbook version), so I couldn't resist picking this up when I spotted it for only 2 pounds.

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
I've never read anything by Murakami but have been meaning too for so long. This was actually recommended to me by a friend about 5 years ago, so I hope it's worth the wait!

Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy
I barely ever read non-fiction any more, but when I do it's usually feminist stuff. I did a lot of reading on feminism over the course of my degree, but it's pretty easy to get bogged down and overwhelmed in complex literary theory about écriture féminine etc. I picked this one up because I thought it looked interesting, and also like a nice change of pace from the non-fiction I usually read.

Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
Another recommendation from WordsofaReader - apparently I am extremely susceptible to booktube videos - I am really excited to read this one, I think I'll start it after I finish PopCo. I don't know a lot about this novel or Evelyn Waugh (I thought he was a woman until about 2 years ago) but I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy this.

Japanese Fairy Tales by Juliet Piggott
I am weirdly obsessed with fairy tales (I wrote my dissertation on them), so I was pretty excited to add this to my collection. One of my favourite books that I own is a book of Norwegian Fairy Tales which was my mum's when she was a kid and I recently found it that it's part of a whole collection called the World Fairy Tale Collection. This one was one of the only ones I could find on Amazon, sadly it's not as pretty as the Norweigan one because the dust jacket is missing, but I'm looking forward to reading it.

The pile.

January Wrap Up

I read 7 books in January which I am pretty pleased with since it kept me on track for my 100 books challenge (although I am now 2 books behind, oops!) I actually really enjoyed every book I read in January which is nice, although a lot of them were very different to each other, and a couple were a bit different to what I would normally read.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

The Historian is about a girl and her father, and their pursuit of the real life Count Dracula. I have mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed reading it, but I think that may mainly be because I love Dracula, rather than because it was actually that good. I'll admit that the ending and the final reveal seemed a little anticlimatic, though I guess when you spend 600 pages building tension in anticipation of the ending, it's always going to be a little bit disappointing. The characters were a little bit one-dimensional, and I didn't find myself caring that much what happened to them, but the story was still very exciting, and I loved reading all about their travels around France and Eastern Europe - this was one of those books that really immerses you in the setting and makes you want to travel (anyone want to take me to Istanbul?). Also the switching perspectives and use of letters and diaries to tell the story reminded me a lot of Stoker's Dracula (which in case I hadn't mentioned: I love). Overall I enjoyed this book, but it might not be everyone's cup of tea, especially since it's really long.

6.5 out of 10

Pure by Andrew Miller

This was one of my Christmas presents (thanks Mum and Dad!), I actually raced through the first 100 pages or so on the morning of Christmas day and I found it really gripping. The story is a little odd - it's set just before the French Revolution, but isn't actually about the political situation at the time (not really, anyway). It's about a struggling engineer who takes a job clearing out an overcrowded graveyard in Paris. Plot-wise, not a whole lot actually happens in this novel, but the writing is really beautiful, and compelling despite the fact that there's not very much action. This book isn't one I would normally pick up, but I found it really interesting and it made me want to read more novels set in that time period.

7 out of 10

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

I absolutely loved this book. Most people have probably heard about it now since the movie is out this month (not in the Netherlands though, so I haven't seen it yet). I went into this with pretty low expectations, since the premise is pretty silly - a zombie romance? What is that even called, rom-zom? I've heard this book called a rom-zom-com which is just... I have no words about that. I think most people have been pretty sceptical about this story (I've heard it called 'Twilight with Zombies' - though definitely by people who haven't actually read it) - the romance stuff puts off the zombie fans, and the zombie stuff puts off the romance fans, but since I love both zombies and romance, I decided to give it a go. First of all, the writing is just really great, the prose is beautiful, it's funny, but actually pretty deep at times too - lots of introspective stuff on the nature of humanity and what it means to actually be alive... basically it's just all around great. As for the story itself, it's actually very interesting when thinking about the zombie genre as a whole - it reminded me a lot of I Am Legend where SPOILER ALERT the zombies actually evolve into a new (intelligent) form of humanity. The zombie apocalypse story has been played out so many times over the past 30 years or so, and it tends to be the same story every time - end of the world scenario, small group of survivors, someone is elected leader, maybe they turn on each other etc etc. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love The Walking Dead, but it's interesting to see the zombie apocalypse scenario played out in such a different way. This is a quote from the author when asked what he would say to people who compared Warm Bodies to Twilight - 

It's completely different in tone, style, content, and themes. Warm Bodies is dark and satirical, has a nasty sense of humor, is full of blood, sex, drugs and foul language, and is not about romance so much as the meaning of being human. A love story is the engine for all of this, but the destination is not "Aw, they're going to fall in love!" it's, "Aw, they're going to crack the code of humanity's spiritual entropy and try to revive civilization!"

I think that pretty much says it all!

10 out of 10

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
This is another one that I absolutely loved. I got it at the airport when I was flying back to the Netherlands after Christmas (because I was sad and buying books cheers me up), I started reading it then and there and had finished it by the time I got home. I really enjoy reading books narrated by someone with some kind of psychological problem (is that weird?) - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and The Perks of Being a Wallflower are the ones that spring to mind, and this novel actually reminded me a lot of Perks, a more adult version anyway. This book was just great, it's a really quick read, the characters are complex and flawed and interesting, and it's very easy to get invested in the story. I'm not ashamed to say that I cried more than once. I have seen the movie as well, and I think I'll post a book and movie comparison some time in the next couple of weeks.

10 out of 10

Batman: Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison (Illustrated by Dave McKean)

This was another Christmas present (thanks Toby!) and it was freaking awesome. Despite the fact that I love superheroes in general and Batman in particular, I don't actually read a lot of graphic novels, mainly because they're SO expensive. The only other Batman graphic novel I've read is Year One, which was great but this was WAY better. I've played the Arkham Asylum video game though, so I was already familiar with the story and I knew the twist (which I kind of wish I didn't). Like I said, I haven't read very many graphic novels so I don't have a huge basis for comparison, but the artwork in this was absolutely incredible, overall Arkham Asylum gave me more of a sense of flipping through a book illustrations than reading a story. There wasn't very much text but it still managed to get the story across really effectively, and be very disturbing. My only criticism of this would be that most of the writing was absolutely minuscule and really difficult to read.

8 out of 10

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

I read this because I had just ordered The Child Thief by Gerald Brom, which is sort of a dark re-imagining of the whole Peter Pan myth, and I wanted to be familiar with the source material before I read it. I'm not sure if I ever actually read this as a child, but I really enjoyed reading it as an adult. I found it really interesting, because most of the stories which have kind of permeated our cultural consciousness and popular culture in the way Peter Pan has tend to be are fairy tales which can't really be assigned to one author (apart from Alice in Wonderland I guess...and probably others that I can't think of right now). Anyway, this book is just a little gem, it's actually really funny and I'm sure if I had read it as a child most of that would have gone over my head, but it's also very sweet and a little weird and just great in general. Also I found myself rooting for Captain Hook rather than Peter, and also a little bit in love with him, is that weird? I don't care.

8 out of 10


The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Yet another book that I really enjoyed! Since I graduated my reading habits have been a little more towards the low-brow end of the spectrum, so I thought I'd give this a go to try and break that slump, and I ended up loving it! Chopin's writing reminds me a lot of Katherine Mansfield, who I studied at university, so I found it interesting to compare the two of them. Another reason that I enjoyed this was that I love reading novels which are set in the deep South of America, their culture is just so weird to me that I find it really fascinating. The prose in this was really lovely, and it's a very short book so I think I finished it in a day.

7 out of 10

So that's all for January! I've finished 4 books in February so far, so I have some catching up to do for my 100 books challenge, but I have some new books that I'm really excited to read so I should be able to do that soon!

The Shakespeare Challenge

Lately I've been thinking about resolutions and ambitions and reading challenges...I've set myself the challenge (again) of reading 100 books this year. I only managed 75 in 2012, but I'm feeling good about 2013 so far. Right now I'm on 11, so 89 to go!

Anyway, that got me thinking about some other reading resolutions I could make. The main one that came to mind was to read everything by one of my favourite writers (or more than one). I've decided I want to read everything by Jane Austen, but since she only wrote 6 novels that's not really much of a challenge. So instead I've picked Shakespeare. It's a bit of a mammoth task, and I'm not going to attempt to complete it in one year (especially since my copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare is at home in England), but it's something I'm going to try and do in my spare time, and we'll see how it goes.

This is the list as it stands, I've crossed out the ones I've already read (though I may re-read them as I go through this):

Poetry:

1. The Sonnets
2. Venus and Adonis
3. The Rape of Lucrece
4. The Passionate Pilgrim
5. The Phoenix and the Turtle
6. A Lover's Complaint

Plays:

1. The Tempest
2. The Two Gentlemen of Verona
3. The Merry Wives of Windsor
4. Measure for Measure
5. The Comedy of Errors
6. Much Ado About Nothing
7. Love's Labours Lost
8. A Midsummer Night's Dream
9. The Merchant of Venice
10. As You Like It
11. The Taming of the Shrew
12. All's Well That Ends Well
13. Twelfth Night
14. The Winter's Tale
15. Pericles, Prince of Tyre
16. The Two Noble Kinsmen
17. King John
18. Richard II
19. Henry IV Part 1
20. Henry IV Part 2
21. Henry V
22. Henry VI Part 1
23. Henry VI Part 2
24. Henry VI Part 3
25. Richard III
26. Henry VIII
27. Troilus and Cressida
28. Coriolanus
29. Titus Andronicus
30. Romeo and Juliet
31. Timon of Athens
32. Julius Caesar
33. Macbeth
34. Hamlet
35. King Lear
36. Othello
37. Antony and Cleopatra
38. Cymbeline

I'm not a big fan of the histories, so I think that's going to be the toughest part. But anyway, wish me luck!

2012 in Review

I know that 2 thirds of the way through February is not exactly the prime time to be posting a 2012 wrap-up, but I like to chase after bandwagons, wildly flailing, rather than to jump on them while they're still going strong. It's just how I roll. I liked most of the books I read in 2012 so this post is a little heavy on the favourites, but oh well, without further ado:

My Favourite Books of 2012

The Help by Katharine Stockett
A lot of people have criticized this book as being another classic case of white saviour syndrome (see also The Blind Side, Avatar blah blah blah) where a story about black people is told through the lens of a white protagonist who we are supposed to be able to relate to. This did bug me a bit (I probably found Skeeter’s parts the least interesting), I really enjoyed this book. It made me laugh, it made me cry. Fun for all the family. The movie is pretty good too.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Jane Austen is a babe. Nuff said.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
I actually listened to the audiobook of this (which is loooong) on a bunch of long train journeys and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t think it was that great (I did like it, I’m just not as nuts about it as some people are), I prefer Neil Gaiman’s short stories to his novels, but it was one of those books which I kept catching myself thinking about for a long time after I finished it. I’m really interested in like, fairytales, folktales, myths, fables, etc etc, so I think that’s why this book played on my mind for a long time.

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
I absolutely loved this book. It’s just sweet and good and lovely. It took me quite a while to get through, because the story itself isn’t super gripping, but the characters and the setting just feel really real and the prose is really beautiful. It also made me super glad I’m not 13 anymore. I definitely want to read something else by David Mitchell soon, I have Cloud Atlas lined up and I want to read it before I see the film.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson
This was probably my favourite book that I’ve read this year, I know I’ll read it again. I don’t really feel qualified to express how great this book is, it’s just funny, and clever, and awesome. I love it, and I think Thompson is a crazy genius.

The End of Mr Y by Scarlet Thomas
I’ll admit that the main reason I bought this was because it looked really good (I can’t resist buying books with black-edged pages), but I ended up really enjoying it. There were a lot of times reading it when I was like “this is stupid, this is pretentious” but I still couldn’t help but love it, and I really couldn’t put it down. It’s kind of a strange book, and there are times when everyone starts doing a lot of rambly philosophising which is kind of annoying, but its super exciting. RECOMMENDED.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
This is another one that I couldn’t put down (and also that I bought just because it had black-edged pages…I’m sensing a pattern here). I think I just powered through it in an afternoon actually. It’s about circuses, magic, and the 1890s, and I love ALL OF THOSE THINGS. There’s a lot of flowery description in it, so if you’re not into that then this probably isn’t for you, but I loved it. Also there’s the whole fated true love thing which normally makes me want to puke, but it didn’t really bother me that much in this book. Definitely one my favourites from this year.

Lady Oracle by Margaret Atwood
I did this for my Contemporary Women’s Writing module and I really liked it. Also I wrote an essay on it and wasn’t even sick of it after that so it’s got to be pretty good. I’ve read two other novels by Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale and Alias Grace, and Lady Oracle is not at all like either of those. It’s really funny and sweet, it’s kind of a coming of age tale in a way, I really liked it. Also it’s quite interesting when you’re thinking about genre fiction and fiction aimed at women, which unless you’re doing a Contemporary Women’s Writing module, you probably aren’t. But oh well, you should still read it. It’s good.

Union Street by Pat Barker
Another one from my Contemporary Women’s Writing module. This book is horrible but really really good. If that makes sense. It reads more like a collection of short stories than a novel, but it’s about a group of working class women in the 1970s, and they all have really grim lives and horrible things happen to them. Not a cheery book by any stretch of the word, but it’s really compelling.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I read this in one sitting and I cried pretty much all the way through. I’ve read all of John Green’s books except Will Grayson Will Grayson and this was definitely my favourite. I don’t really know what to say about this other than it’s really sweet and lovely and heartbreaking, and really easy to read too.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
This is the only one of Neil Gaiman’s books that I’ve never really heard anyone talk about, and I had no idea what it was about when I started it. This is another one that I listened to the audiobook of, it’s read by Lenny Henry and it’s great. Normally I don’t normally like reading books where I dislike all of the characters, but in this book pretty much all the characters are super annoying but I really enjoyed it. It’s just funny and kind of weird, pretty standard Neil Gaiman.


The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
This was by far the best Young Adult book I read this year. I read YA books all the time, they’re like my comfort food. I normally pick one at random that’s cheap in the kindle store and then power through it in one sitting, and I’m pretty sure that’s how I found this one. I know YA dystopias have been done to death (thanks a lot, Suzanne Collins) but this one is really really good. To be honest I think it’s more aimed at like…13-16 year olds but whatever, I don’t care. It’s set in a world where people have had to abandon Earth and move to a new planet, but for some reason their society has really regressed. Also on this new planet there’s some kind of chemical in the atmosphere which means that everyone can hear each other’s thoughts (I know it sounds stupid). It’s told from the point of view of a 13 year old boy called Tom who lives in this creepy village where there are no women. It sounds kind of cheesey and stupid, but it’s really interesting.

My Least Favourite Books of 2012

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor 
Ergh, this book. This is another YA book I bought on a whim (partly because the cover was pretty) and powered through in an afternoon. I guess I did technically enjoy reading it, but this book sucks. I read quite a lot of stuff about it on the internet and people seem to fucking love it, but trust me. It is terrible. I would compare it to Twilight in that it’s about two like…fated loves or whatever. And also in that both these characters suck and are super annoying because they’re just the author’s idealistic fantasies, and in that their super special magical love is total bullshit. Every time the main character is described (which is often) it’s like OH SHE’S SO COOL, OOH SHE HAS BLUE HAIR, OOH SHE’S SO GOOD AT DRAWING, OOH SHE KNOWS SO MANY LANGUAGES, EVERYONE LIKES HER SO MUCH. Enough. Shut up. And then the love interest, oh my god. He is literally an angel. And people are all ooh I’m blinded by his beauty and then it’s all ooh he’s so damaged, he’s so troubled, he’ll never love again. GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? To sum up: this book can suck my dick.

Blonde Roots by Bernadine Evaristo
I read this because I needed to write an essay on it and it really really annoyed me. This book is telling the story of slavery but with the sides switched (if that makes sense), so white Europeans are the slaves and black Africans are the slave owners and traders. Essentially, the whole moral and point of this book is - SLAVERY IS BAD. I'm just like, dude, I knew that already. You don't have to make it about white people for me to be like, oh I get it now! Being owned by another human would suck! Thank god someone told it from my perspective so I can finally empathize. NO! Not a fan.

Endgame by Samuel Beckett
God I hate postmodernism. That's pretty much all I have to say about this one.

The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch
I bought this book shortly after I moved to the Netherlands, it's by a Dutch author and set mainly in Amsterdam. I wasn't sure whether to include it on my least favourites list because I mostly enjoyed reading it, but I found the ending so annoying that the cons outweigh the pros. The first 200 pages or so were really great, and mainly focused on the friendship between the two main characters, Max and Onno, but then a girl comes into the picture and the direction of the story kind of changes, and after that it started to drag a lot. The second half of the book focuses on Max's son Quinten who is a total pain in the ass and I found him really annoying. The ending of the book ties up all the loose threads in a way that feels very sudden and strange and it ended up just really frustrating me and making me wish I'd never read it in the first place. Although I enjoyed the first half of this book a lot, overall it just really wasn't worth it.


So that's it for my 2012 wrap-up, hopefully I'll be able to make it to 100 books this year!