The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Having seen Toni Morrison in person at the Southbank Centre, talking about her new book, A Mercy, and about the upcoming American elections (I hope she didn't, after all, hide under her bed, but was pleased with the outcome!), I thought that I should get round to reading her books. After all, she is H's favourite author, and he raves about her all the time. He suggested I should start with The Bluest Eye, her first book.

I found this to be a very sad book. I enjoyed reading it, and thought it was very well written, but very bleak. I look forward to reading more.

I finished this about a month or so ago - I am still in the process of reading Song of Solomon, which I think now I will finish in the new year. I am a bit worried that I may have read another book or two since I last updated this blog, but I think I have just been so busy at work that my reading has died off. Ah well.

The Tailor King: The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Munster by Anthony Arthur

This book has certainly been a different sort of read from usual! I seem to read a lot of memoirs and a variety of types of fiction, and I suppose this could fall under autobiography, but it is certainly more historical non-fiction, a bit more academic, with references etc. However, despite being a more factual book, it has been a very easy read, and it has been very interesting to learn more about Jan Van Leiden, the Tailor-King of Munster. He was involved in trying to being about a kind of New Jerusalem on earth, but had such rules as polygamy; many people were also executed during this time. Some fascinating stories, such as the soldier who was on siege duty outside the city who used to bare his bottom towards the city at the same time every day. One day, he discovered the folly of such a practice, as the cannons in the city were all aimed at him and set off at the same time. Ouch!

Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka

I have to confess that I put off reading this for ages. I had quite enjoyed A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, although I had felt that it had not lived up to its expectations, and had been overhyped. This book also had the twin enticement/put off of a Malawian character. I had picked up the book a long, long time ago, and had been both entranced by references to Zomba, but also concerned that this character would be some sort of patronised cliche.

I needn't have worried. The character is a very warm one, and since the other characters are also immigrants, is not picked out for special patronisation. All the characters are funny, curious, independent and individual. The settings are poignant with many causes for black humour. Lewycka deals as much with chicken farming as she does with developing love stories, and the book is all the better for it.

I would highly recommend this book - it is much better than Tractors.

When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin

I have to begin by pointing out that I finished this book in the summer. However, it has been so busy since then that I have become quite far behind with updating my blogs.

I read this book at a particularly poignant time, as the Zimbabwe elections were still being contested and there was violence being reported from that country. I finished it before the joint power sharing agreement between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangarai was worked out.

Peter Godwin sets this book after the Zimbabwean war of independence, and is as much a discovery of his family's secrets as it is an exploration into the struggle for Zimbabweans, black and white, to survive and farm. It is a very vivid and moving book. I'm sorry I didn't write the review when it was still uppermost in my mind! However, once again it is highly recommended.

Fearless Fighter by Vera Chirwa

Reading Vera Chirwa's autobiography brought to life some of the events surrounding the transition from Nyasaland to Malawi. She describes the beginnings of self rule, the hopes and the struggles of the people, and the jealousies and intrigues surrounding the key players, particularly Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda, her husband, Orton Chirwa, other Malawian politicians such as Aleke Banda, Masauko Chipembere, John Tembo, Gwanda Chakuamba and so on. The main focus of her book is on the kidnapping, imprisonment, trial and death sentence of her and Orton, and the abuse and suffering they faced in prison. It describes the death in suspicious circumstances of her much loved lawyer husband, and her life as a free woman who sees her role as being one to criticise the government in order to keep them on track.

The book is simply written in a generally chronological, descriptive and matter-of-fact way, and Vera comes across as being very active - appropriate, since she is an activist. Some random quotes:

"'How can I forget you, when we suffered together?' I asked, and went out to form the League of Malawi Women."

"He thought that he was going to make fun of me, but the stupid man did not know that I was a woman activist. As a barrister you are trained to carry yourself in a very proper manner and I continued unmoved by his rudeness."

"When I came out of prison, I was encouraged more or less immediately to stand for President ... But I was weak and felt it was madness to run for President so soon after 12 years in prison. When nominations were up I deliberately left the country. ... In 2004, I thought the time was ripe."

Vera describes studying for her law exams while pregnant, and giving birth on one of the days in between her exams. The examiner has to chase her driver away from the exam hall when her newborn's crying disturbs Vera in one exam. You do get a sense of a woman who does not let things like pregnancy, birth, child rearing get in the way of fighting for the human rights of all Malawians, and women in particular. She is obviously a determined woman, a fighter, as she describes herself. Occasionally, she seems a bit too good to be true! But, overall, it was very interesting hearing about this time in Malawian history from another point of view, and from the perspective of someone who was intimately involved at the time.

The Freedom Writers Diary by the Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell

I really enjoyed this selection of diary entries written by teens from the Bronx and other such places. Their teacher, Erin Gruwell, discovered in her first year of teaching that many of her difficult students had never heard of Anne Frank and her diary. When she shared it with them, they found similarities with their own lives: and the idea of writing a journal to share their hopes and fears with was born. In her second year of teaching, Erin shared the journal of a young girl from Bosnia, Zlata, and the students were so encouraged by this that they decided they wanted to meet her. And so began an inspiring journey that lead the majority of Erin's students to being the first in their families to go to college. On the way, they met Zlata, Miep Gies, other Holocaust survivors, and many others who would encourage and inspire them. The diary entries in this book are all anonymous, and through them we learn not only about the life-changing meetings with the people mentioned above, but also about the daily trials and tribulations the teenagers face in their daily lives. All have experience of friends, family or acquaintances being shot, they experience racism or the effects of the schisms between different races in their communities, they write about the poverty or the violence they have to content with in their homes and they reflect on their relationships with boyfriends/girlfriends, families, and other students.

This was a really eye opening and inspiring read, especially for a teacher teaching in an inner city school. I'm glad I encountered it in an independent bookshop - it caught my eye as I stood in the doorway, the first book I was drawn to, and I'm glad I picked it up and bought it!

Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

... Also known as Bobo.

Quite a bizarre book, really. I actually read and finished it a while ago, about the middle of July. This is the memoir of a girl growing up in Rhodesia, Malawi and Zambia, with a family who want to live in a white-run African country, and who are seeing that desire falling around them. The palpably racist views of Bobo's parents are presented without reflective comment or discussion; however, the book does not become unreadable or unbearable. Bobo's parents obviously suffered personal tragedies, losing two children and descending into, at least in her mother's case, apparent alcoholism and depression. The stories told are presented in a vaguely chronological order, but they are presented as titbits rather than as a coherent whole. I should point out that I have enjoyed the book, and have found many of the stories very interesting. It is just told in a rather unconventional way. Which makes a nice change, of course ... Just a bit bizarre at times! I would like to read more from her at some point.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

We will be reading this in school next year so I was doing a bit of research. A boy moves to a lonely old house in a bleak place, far from his friends. But he enjoys exploring, and eventually follows the fence that goes for miles until he finds another boy. The strength of this book lies in what is not said. I'm not sure how I'll manage this with my class; I surely have read this as an adult, and fear talking about it before we get to the end may spoil it!

Apache: Girl Warrior by Tanya Landman

I borrowed this from the school library on the recommendation of the librarian. To be honest, I didn't really fancy it too much, and as I was reading it, the "tell" rather than "show" writing sometimes niggled me a bit. However, it was a very haunting and insightful tale of the life of the Apaches in North America, facing conflict from the Mexicans and then the white settlers. Some of the twists could be seen from over the hill, unlike a good Apache warrior, but all in all this was an enjoyable if sad story.

Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa by Peter Godwin

Peter Godwin grew up in Zimbabwe (well, Rhodesia) and was in the police during the 1974-79 civil war. Very interesting to finish reading this book on the day that Zimbabwe "voted" again; I hadn't known much about how Mugabe came to 'be', so I know feel somewhat more informed. A well written and informative memoir. Very moving in places. And shocking, when he almost shoots a youth in anger, but in cold blood. And there are moments when it seems as if he has met a guardian angel. How did he manage to survive?

I look forward to reading the follow up, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun.

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

I have been meaning to read this for some time. Was glad to find it in the school library. Ishmael enjoyed rapping, and he had gone to rap and dance with some friends on the day that the rebels reached his village. So he had to run, and he ran, with friends, then by himself, then with other boys he met on his journey, until he finally reached a village where he could stop for a while and feel safer. A village protected by the army.

At first, I felt relieved that he was with the army, and had not been captured and 'brainwashed' by the rebels. But then I realised that the army was going to be just as bad; it doesn't matter what side you are on if you are being filled with hate for the others and taught how to use the serrated side of your bayonet to cut someone's throat to inflict the most pain as they die. Beah recounts a few incidents from the time that he had to fight with the army in order to not be caught be the rebels, and to kill those who had invaded his village and dispersed and destroyed his family.

However, although these passages are amongst the most graphic, they make way for the story of Beah's rehabilitation. He is sold by the army to some aid workers who are trying to rescue child soldiers. It is not an easy journey, but the final third of the book describes the path from soldier to international speaker on child soldiers and rehabilitation.

The book was not an easy one to read. Reading at night, I was glad to finish a chapter and put it away knowing that Beah was not yet a soldier, and that I had not had to read about the atrocities he had committed. I read about some of his acts on the tube, where my faced curled up and my feet folded under each other at some of the painfulness of the actions described. It was not necessarily 'unputdownable' because of the writing, although the writing was good, but I did feel that it was a book I had a 'duty' to read. However, in the end, it was a book that I was glad I had read, and it is a good book for someone to read to know about the horrors of the child soldiers - in fact, of anyone called to be a soldier in such a civil war, full of atrocities. And with Refugee Week upon us, the book should be read so that we can understand why some people leave a country and are scared to go back.

The Raphael Affair by Iain Pears

Another fun and gripping art based Jonathan Argyll mystery! A quick, light and entertaining read - I managed to get the first in the series this time round! Even though I know how some of the characters end up, the enjoyment wasn't diminished. I liked the twist as well ... didn't see it coming.

Boy by Roald Dahl

I really enjoyed this autobiographical novella by Dahl. Some funny incidents involving mice and sweets and schools ... No wonder he came up with the stories he wrote! Highly recommended.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

Another Man Booker nominee, and another great read. A very interesting book, made more so in that it is one side of a long conversation over a meal between the narrator, Changez, and the American he has joined for dinner. We only hear Changez speak, and much of the tale is his story of going to university in America and working in America before, and just after, 9/11. However, there are interludes, where Changez orders food or replies to the unheard question of the stranger.

It is a melancholy story, a bit bizarre in places, and sad ... and with an ending full of possibilities ... which leaves you wondering.

I have to confess that I have never really read many Booker Award shortlisted books before ... but this year, there has been an excellent selection!

• Darkmans by Nicola Barker (Fourth Estate)
• The Gathering by Anne Enright (Jonathan Cape)
• The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (Hamish Hamilton)
• Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (John Murray)
• On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape)
• Animal’s People by Indra Sinha (Simon & Schuster)

So far I have read the four in red ... I have been keen to read Animal's People for some time, and if the standard of the ones I have read is anything to go by, I need to read Darkmans as well!

The Medici Secret by Michael White

Another ancient secret, crime thriller. I bought it on purpose to have something light and easy to read, that might entertain and partly educate at the same time, although educate is perhaps not exactly the right word to describe the effect of these ancient conspiracy books! But it was fun to lie in bed this morning and read about the Medici family and an ancient mystery while trying to solve puzzles along with some non detective or police heroes. It fitted the bill well.

Fallen Gods by Quintin Jardine

I'm not entirely sure where to start with this one! It was lent to me by a colleague. I'm not sure if that was because he realised I would be familiar with some of the places described in the book, which covers Edinburgh, Buffalo, Perth, Pitlochry and Gullane Bay. Certainly was interesting! The only thing was that, like my last read, this book also seems to come in the middle of a long Bob Skinner series! Another whodunnit, every chapter covers a different part of a multifaceted story that ties together (a little bit implausibly!) at the end. It's great to be on holiday - after having read the opening chapters on the tube in the past couple of days, I woke up reasonably early today and stayed in bed until I finished the book at lunchtime! Another easy read, enjoyable, fun, not too taxing. Would read another - perhaps an earlier one! I do think I now know a little bit too much for the earlier ones though!

The Immaculate Deception by Iain Pears

When we visited the National Gallery, I decided to pick up a book. On artworld crime and mystery. A bit like The Da Vinci Code. So I opened a couple of books by the author Iain Pears, discovered this particular title at the top of the list, assumed it must be the first one in the Jonathan Argyll series, so bought it. As I read, I quickly realised it was not the first, so looked it up on the web ... it was the most recent one! So now I have met characters from earlier books that will make some of the mysteries a lot less mysterious! Never mind, I enjoyed this as a lighthearted good tube read, and do plan on reading the earlier ones - hopefully in the right order this time!

An interesting side note ... having finished the book, I overheard one of the key paintings being talked about on a DVD from the National Gallery - Claude's "Cephalus and Procris". Interestingly, the link I have just given leads to a picture at the National Gallery where this couple are reunited by Diana ... however, it refers to another picture where Claude depicts the death of Procris, which apparently is now missing, and it is this painting that is referred to in the book (and I thought they might have handed it back!).

Carnegie Award Winners

I have read many children's books in my time, but I wonder how many have been award winners? Here is the list of Carnegie Award Winners from the last 70 years ... the ones I have read are highlighted.

2007 Meg Rosoff, Just in Case, Penguin
2005 Mal Peet, Tamar, Walker Books
2004 Frank Cottrell Boyce, Millions, Macmillan
2003 Jennifer Donnelly, A Gathering Light, Bloomsbury Children's Books
2002 Sharon Creech, Ruby Holler, Bloomsbury Children's Books
2001 Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, Doubleday
2000 Beverley Naidoo, The Other Side of Truth, Puffin
1999 Aidan Chambers, Postcards From No Man's Land, Bodley Head
1998 David Almond, Skellig, Hodder Children's Books
1997 Tim Bowler, River Boy, OUP
1996 Melvin Burgess, Junk, Andersen Press
1995 Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials: Book 1 Northern Lights, Scholastic
1994 Theresa Breslin, Whispers in the Graveyard, Methuen
1993 Robert Swindells, Stone Cold, H Hamilton
1992 Anne Fine, Flour Babies, H Hamilton
1991 Berlie Doherty, Dear Nobody, H Hamilton
1990 Gillian Cross, Wolf, OUP
1989 Anne Fine, Goggle-eyes, H Hamilton
1988 Geraldine McCaughrean, A Pack of Lies, OUP
1987 Susan Price, The Ghost Drum, Faber
1986 Berlie Doherty, Granny was a Buffer Girl, Methuen
1985 Kevin Crossley-Holland, Storm, Heinemann
1984 Margaret Mahy, The Changeover, Dent
1983 Jan Mark, Handles, Kestrel
1982 Margaret Mahy, The Haunting, Dent
1981 Robert Westall, The Scarecrows, Chatto & Windus
1980 Peter Dickinson, City of Gold, Gollancz
1979 Peter Dickinson, Tulku, Gollancz
1978 David Rees, The Exeter Blitz, H Hamilton
1977 Gene Kemp, The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler, Faber
1976 Jan Mark, Thunder and Lightnings, Kestrel
1975 Robert Westall, The Machine Gunners, Macmillan
1974 Mollie Hunter, The Stronghold, H Hamilton
1973 Penelope Lively, The Ghost of Thomas Kempe, Heinemann
1972 Richard Adams, Watership Down, Rex Collings
1971 Ivan Southall, Josh, Angus & Robertson
1970 Leon Garfield & Edward Blishen, The God Beneath the Sea, Longman
1969 Kathleen Peyton, The Edge of the Cloud, OUP
1968 Rosemary Harris, The Moon in the Cloud, Faber
1967 Alan Garner, The Owl Service, Collins
1966 Prize withheld as no book considered suitable
1965 Philip Turner, The Grange at High Force, OUP
1964 Sheena Porter, Nordy Bank, OUP
1963 Hester Burton, Time of Trial, OUP
1962 Pauline Clarke, The Twelve and the Genii, Faber
1961 Lucy M Boston, A Stranger at Green Knowe, Faber
1960 Dr I W Cornwall, The Making of Man, Phoenix House
1959 Rosemary Sutcliff, The Lantern Bearers, OUP
1958 Philipa Pearce, Tom's Midnight Garden, OUP
1957 William Mayne, A Grass Rope, OUP
1956 C S Lewis, The Last Battle, Bodley Head
1955 Eleanor Farjeon, The Little Bookroom, OUP
1954 Ronald Welch (Felton Ronald Oliver), Knight Crusader, OUP
1953 Edward Osmond, A Valley Grows Up
1952 Mary Norton, The Borrowers, Dent
1951 Cynthia Harnett, The Woolpack, Methuen
1950 Elfrida Vipont Foulds, The Lark on the Wing, OUP
1949 Agnes Allen, The Story of Your Home, Faber
1948 Richard Armstrong, Sea Change, Dent
1947 Walter De La Mare, Collected Stories for Children
1946 Elizabeth Goudge, The Little White Horse, University of London Press
1945 Prize withheld as no book considered suitable
1944 Eric Linklater, The Wind on the Moon, Macmillan
1943 Prize withheld as no book considered suitable
1942 'BB' (D J Watkins-Pitchford), The Little Grey Men, Eyre & Spottiswoode
1941 Mary Treadgold, We Couldn't Leave Dinah, Cape
1940 Kitty Barne, Visitors from London, Dent
1939 Eleanor Doorly, Radium Woman, Heinemann
1938 Noel Streatfeild, The Circus is Coming, Dent
1937 Eve Garnett, The Family from One End Street, Muller
1936 Arthur Ransome, Pigeon Post, Cape

The books I read in 2007 ...

I don't want to lose the list, but since it's on my other blog, I thought I'd copy it over here too. Also, I wondered how many I had read ...

(This is in reverse order ...)

28* From Ganglands to Promised Land - John Pridmore
27* Chicken with Plums - Marjane Sarpati
26* Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
25* A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
24* The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
23* Disgrace - JM Coetzee
22* The Outsider - Albert Camus
21* A Burnt-Out Case - Graham Greene
20* The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
19* The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
18* Northern Lights - Philip Pullman
17* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
16* Don't Tell Mummy - Toni Maguire
15* Knocked out by my nunga-nungas - Louise Rennison
14* The Boy Who Lost His Face - Louis Sacher
13* Checkmate - Malorie Blackman
12* Just in Case - Meg Rosoff
11* Dangerous Reality - Malorie Blackman
10* Wild Swans - Jung Chang
9* Nights at the Circus - Angela Carter
8* Fear of Flying - Erica Jong
7* After the Quake - Haruki Murakami
6* The Breast - Philip Roth
5* Silk - Alessandro Baricco
4* A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
3* Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
2* Like the Flowing River - Paulo Coelho
1* Cry, the Beloved Country - Alan Paton

So, 28 books. Plus those academic books that I read for my Masters (Pass with Merit!) and other courses that I completed throughout the year. Which is not too bad, I suppose - about one a fortnight. And some real gems among them. I'm glad I decided to use "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" as an inspiration. Although some were better than others! Anyway, I wonder if I can beat that this year. Must read at least 30!

Misadventure in the Middle East by Henry Hemming

Henry Hemming is an artist who decided to travel around the Middle East with a friend, Al Braithwaite, and a car called Yasmine, not long after 9/11. They wanted to make art about the Middle East ... and soon discovered that there was not just one "Middle East" that could be summed up in the work. The book is a discovery of the vastly different people and places that Henry, Al, and, intermittently, Stephen and Georgie, made while passing through and exploring Turkey, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Iran, to name a few. It charts their adventures and misadventures. Being mistaken for terrorists, tramps, spies, and sometimes recognised as artists, meeting princesses, poor, soldiers, students, Hemming describes each step of the way as he and his friends find out more about Islam in the Middle East, and the artists who live and work there. Since the Second Iraq War started while they were out there, the book also contains some interesting political and cultural observations as well. Eye opening and informative.

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

I finished another excellent book this morning. Matilda lives on an island which is under threat from Redskin soldiers and Rebels. She goes to a school run by the one white man on the island, Mr Watts, and which has one book - Great Expectations. Matilda and the other pupils get to know Pip very well, as Mr Watts rereads them the story over and over, interspersed with practical advice from their mothers and grandmothers. I did not see the twist in the story coming at all, so was quite taken aback. Highly recommended!

Best of the Booker

I was interested to read that the Man Booker Prize is going to award a Best of the Booker Award for the best Booker winner from the past forty years. It got me wondering how many of these books I have actually read ...

The list below was found at Times Online:

1969 P H Newby, Something to Answer For (Faber & Faber)
1970 Bernice Rubens, The Elected Member (Eyre & Spottiswoode)
1971 V S Naipaul, In a Free State (Deutsch)
1972 John Berger, G (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
1973 J G Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
1974 Nadine Gordimer, The Conservationist (Cape) and Stanley Middleton, Holiday (Hutchinson)
1975 Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Heat and Dust (John Murray)
1976 David Storey, Saville (Cape)
1977 Paul Scott, Staying On (Heinemann)
1978 Iris Murdoch, The Sea, the Sea (Chatto & Windus)
1979 Penelope Fitzgerald, Offshore (Collins)
1980 William Golding, Rites of Passage (Faber & Faber)
1981 Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children (Cape)
1982 Thomas Keneally, Schindler’s Ark (Hodder & Stoughton)
1983 J M Coetzee, Life & Times of Michael K (Secker & Warburg)
1984 Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac (Cape)
1985 Keri Hulme, The Bone People (Hodder & Stoughton)
1986 Kingsley Amis, The Old Devils (Hutchinson)
1987 Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger (Deutsch)
1988 Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda (Faber & Faber)
1989 Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day (Faber & Faber)
1990 A S Byatt, Possession (Chatto & Windus)
1991 Ben Okri, The Famished Road (Cape)
1992 Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient (Bloomsbury) and Barry Unsworth, Sacred Hunger (Hamish Hamilton)
1993 Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (Secker & Warburg)
1994 James Kelman, How Late It Was, How Late (Secker & Warburg)
1995 Pat Barker, The Ghost Road (Viking)
1996 Graham Swift, Last Orders (Picador)
1997 Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things (Flamingo)
1998 Ian McEwan, Amsterdam (Cape)
1999 J M Coetzee, Disgrace (Secker & Warburg)
2000 Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin (Bloomsbury)
2001 Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang (Faber & Faber)
2002 Yann Martel, The Life of Pi (Canongate)
2003 DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little (Faber & Faber)
2004 Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty (Picador)
2005 John Banville, The Sea (Picador)
2006 Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss (Penguin)
2007 Anne Enright, The Gathering (Cape)

Okay, so not many ... four of them! Hmmm. Ten percent ... maybe not that bad! And out of those four? Well, not Disgrace, which was okay, but not that great. I enjoyed Rites of Passage very much - I studied it at uni, and found the twists fascinating - The God of Small Things, which I read some years ago, was excellent, and I have recently enjoyed The Gathering. So I think it could be a hard task!

Not Without My Sister by Kristina, Celeste and Juliana

This multiautobiography tells the intertwined tale of three sisters (one father, two mothers) who were brought up in the Children of God, now known as The Family International. An interesting insight into their lives, exposing the abuse they had to face in different ways as they were moved around the world as countries began to chase the Family out. As an RE teacher, it is interesting to see examples of many of the indicators of a cult being described - the charismatic leader, the almost Scriptural additional writings, the exclusion from the world, the bizarre and sometimes illegal practices. The one slight criticism is that the title is obviously meant to conjure up "Not Without My Daughter", but the girls were often separated, and in many ways had to leave the Family individually, so even though there are similarities, it does feel as if they are drawing on the fame of the first book! But it's a good read anyway.

On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

I finished this earlier in the week. I also enjoyed this, although I think I would agree with giving the Booker Prize to The Gathering instead - I think it has the slight edge. However, I did enjoy reading this novella; the first three chapters at least. The build up to the consummation of the marriage, the intrepidation, nervousness and fear, I thought was very well presented, interspersed with memories of the courting leading to the marriage. However, I was a bit disappointed with the anticlimax, which seemed a bit of a cop out. I would have been interested to see how McEwan handled the fall out if things had turned out slightly differently.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

A colleague lent me this short and thoughtful book, warning me to be prepared to cry. Well, I was a bit disappointed that I didn't, although perhaps the tube is not the best place to be emotional. I did enjoy this little book, the idea being that when you die you meet five people whose life touched yours in some way when you were alive, who teach you a lesson, to help you understand the purpose of your life; I would be interested in reading Albom's other book. But I am disappointed I didn't find it more of a weepy!

The Gathering by Anne Enright

I finally finished this Man Booker Prize winner yesterday. It's taken a long time - although it's my second book of the year, I have been reading it since I finished Chicken with Plums! However, this is not because it has been a drag, but instead because the writing has been so good I've been reading it little by little and enjoying it very much.

I can understand why Enright won the prize (although I have not read any of the others yet, although I do have Ian McEwan's Chesil Beach by my bedside). It's a bittersweet tale, full of memory, re-readings of recollections, everyday observations, descriptions of mundane family routines. Some beautiful lines.

Inside the church they passed the paschal flame from candle to candle until it looked like the whole place was on fire: then they switched on the fluorescent lights.

How true, how true!

The Gathering refers to the funeral of one of the narrator's brothers, but most of the book, although it keeps touching back on that event, covers many years and many events. I was given this book as a gift from a book person ... it's been a great read, and I recommend it.

My Booky Wook by Russell Brand

What a change from my last completed book of 2007 and my first completed book of 2008! Russell Brand's life so far couldn't really be further from John Pridmore's! Unless of course you include the fact that they were both involved with drugs at one stage in their life.

My Booky Wook is a very well written and interesting book - I read it very quickly, and enjoyed it. Had a long discussion about it with H on the way south yesterday. It definitely starts off well, and Brand's voice is very clearly heard, but the language seems to become flatter towards the end, although that could simply be because we are used to the style by then. One thing I noticed was that there seems to be very little introspection of his circumstances, although they are well described, and the reader can see the connections between different events in his life without the need for much reflection on Brand's part. I suppose writing the book in itself is the reflection.

One of the good things about the book was that it clearly was not one of those ghost written autobiographies, which can be very interesting and informative, but can be quite flat in tone. This seemed to be very obviously Brand's book.

Brand's actual life has been drug and sex filled, so it's not exactly a book to read if you want to be inspired in an uplifting type of way, but it is a good read and I would recommend it.

From Ganglands to Promised Land by John Pridmore

I read this autobiography in preparation for meeting the man himself in a week's time when he will come to speak to our pupils. I read it really quickly because I wanted to find out what happened. John Pridmore was an East End bouncer, involved in gangs and criminal activity round about the time of the Krays. After almost killing a man, he found God and became heavily involved in Catholic youth work. An inspirational story, and unusual for me because although I've read lots of similar stories of conversion to evangelical Christianity, I've never read one which has such an emphasis on the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Adoration of the Eucharist before. Very enjoyable, and I'm really looking forward to meeting the man himself!

Chicken with Plums by Marjane Sarpati

This book was a real treat. It's a poignant story of an Iranian tar player who dies, and is unusual because it's a graphic novel. Definitely following in the footstops of Where the Wind Blows rather than Superman. The story covers the week or so leading up to the narrator's death ... Very beautiful, very moving. Five stars. Go and buy it now! (Or at least borrow it from a library or something!)

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick

I much preferred this to Blade Runner! A funny futuristic story about cloning. I like that sort of stuff. He's got to kill the clones ... but is that ethical?! And all to get a real sheep ...

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

Another funny and well written book from Mark Haddon. Really enjoyed this story of a wedding and all the thrills and spills that go with it! Highly recommended.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Another of Richard and Judy's books. I did enjoy this one. Two babies are born on a cold winter's night, one is supposed to be given up for adoption but instead is kept by the nurse, who keeps the memory of the birth until ... Well, the end is a little hazy because I read it months ago, but that's probably just as well, don't want to give anything away!

Disgrace by JM Coetzee

It's now some time since I read this, but I can still recall it fairly clearly. A lecturer has an affair with a student, this brings about a disgrace, so he goes off to live with his daughter ... at some point her home is broken into, so the narrator has to deal with the consequences of that as well. An interesting read, neither enjoyable nor unenjoyable. Well written, I'd probably read another Coatzee at some point, but I wouldn't go out of my way to do so.

Happy New Year!

Well, it's another new year, and I haven't updated this blog since August! Which is dreadful, since I have still been reading books ... And my Mum got me a book for Christmas which I read earlier this year, but she pointed out that she had looked at my blog and I hadn't mentioned it so she assumed I hadn't read it yet, so if the blog is being used in a nice, practical way like that it's only reight that I use it properly! So I will try and update it a bit just now, then have a new year's resolution to try and keep it in better order this year!!