I
t's been a while since my last book update and while I haven't had heaps of time for reading, I have been plugging away at several volumes. The first I polished off was Garbo Laughs by Elizabeth Hay. I absolutely loved Late Nights on Air and thought I would try another of her stories. Sadly, this one fell flat with me. The "jacket" described it as "a funny sad-eyed deliciously entertaining novel about a woman caught in a tug of war between real life and the films of the past. Inflamed by the movies she was deprived of as a child Harriet Browning forms a Friday-night movie club with three companions-of-the-screen: a boy who loves Frank Sinatra a girl with Bette Davis eyes and an earthy sidekick named after Dinah Shore". Sounds great, right? Not so much. It was very poignant but I didn't find much of it "funny" at all. Just sad. It didn't help that I really have never seen any of the movies that were referenced (though I'd love to) so I missed out on all of the references. Very ho-hum as far as I was concerned. Not writing off Elizabeth Hay though. I may try something else by her in the future.
After the disappointment of Garbo, I moved on to the next book in the "Earth's Children" series; The Shelters of Stone. I was nervous going into it after the Plains of Passage was so terribly disappointing and DREADFULLY boring. But Shelters provided at least a great deal more interaction with other characters. Still, for such a long book, very little actually happens. I think it can be summed up by this passage I read on a book review blog "Ayla is introduced to someone new. New person is wary about being so near to a wolf. Ayla explains they have to let Wolf smell their hand so they can be introduced. They do, and are charmed when Wolf licks their hand. Ayla explains the process of domestication. Then there's a good 3-4 pages about limestone rock formations or leather making or the habits of the woolly rhinoceros, then Ayla is introduced to someone else. Lather, rinse, repeat". That's more or less the jist of it. If you've read the first 5 books, go ahead and delve into this one, but don't expect miracles (even though it is a marked improvement over the last book in the series).
t's been a while since my last book update and while I haven't had heaps of time for reading, I have been plugging away at several volumes. The first I polished off was Garbo Laughs by Elizabeth Hay. I absolutely loved Late Nights on Air and thought I would try another of her stories. Sadly, this one fell flat with me. The "jacket" described it as "a funny sad-eyed deliciously entertaining novel about a woman caught in a tug of war between real life and the films of the past. Inflamed by the movies she was deprived of as a child Harriet Browning forms a Friday-night movie club with three companions-of-the-screen: a boy who loves Frank Sinatra a girl with Bette Davis eyes and an earthy sidekick named after Dinah Shore". Sounds great, right? Not so much. It was very poignant but I didn't find much of it "funny" at all. Just sad. It didn't help that I really have never seen any of the movies that were referenced (though I'd love to) so I missed out on all of the references. Very ho-hum as far as I was concerned. Not writing off Elizabeth Hay though. I may try something else by her in the future.
After the disappointment of Garbo, I moved on to the next book in the "Earth's Children" series; The Shelters of Stone. I was nervous going into it after the Plains of Passage was so terribly disappointing and DREADFULLY boring. But Shelters provided at least a great deal more interaction with other characters. Still, for such a long book, very little actually happens. I think it can be summed up by this passage I read on a book review blog "Ayla is introduced to someone new. New person is wary about being so near to a wolf. Ayla explains they have to let Wolf smell their hand so they can be introduced. They do, and are charmed when Wolf licks their hand. Ayla explains the process of domestication. Then there's a good 3-4 pages about limestone rock formations or leather making or the habits of the woolly rhinoceros, then Ayla is introduced to someone else. Lather, rinse, repeat". That's more or less the jist of it. If you've read the first 5 books, go ahead and delve into this one, but don't expect miracles (even though it is a marked improvement over the last book in the series).
Finally, I launched myself (somewhat nervously) into Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I remember buying a copy in my tween years and wanting to read the epic romance of Heathcliff and Catherine. Not going to lie, it was probably a good thing that I got bored with the language back then. I was grossly misinformed as to the content of this novel. It is not a romantic story of tortured love ala Rome and Juliet. Well, I suppose it sort of is... Heathcliff falls in love with Cathy who, not knowing he is listening to her conversation with a friend, says she could never marry him but loves him with all her heart. He only hears the bit about not being able to marry him and runs off for several years. She, in the meantime, being a fickle silly girl, marries some other guy. Heathcliff returns and is a fairly terrible person. He starts spending time with her again and she somehow goes utterly mad and dies. But not before having a baby. He also marries Cathy's husband's sister and she has a baby and runs off from evil Heathcliff. Heathcliff is horrible and cruel and tries to make everyone's lives miserable for the rest of the book until he goes insane and dies. That's about it. That being said, it was fairly entertaining, all the madness notwithstanding.
Mare sent me my next book for my Birthday (which hasn't come yet, but I opened the package early. Whoops!). Clinton Kelly's Oh No She Didn't. It's a style guide chronicling the 100 biggest style mistakes women make. The book was like a written version of What Not To Wear, which I always enjoy and filled with a much sassier side of Clinton than he lets out in the show. Definitely an entertaining read.
Following that I read Hide and Seek by Shayna Krishnasamy. This was a short story, which I typically don't read because I prefer something to really get into. I also don't know how to review short stories...it was short and well written, I'd say. Fairly dark and a little unnerving. I think it was for adolescents, but whatever. Every now and again everyone needs something simple, right?