Upcoming Bookclubs

I may have overextended myself on the book club front!

I now attend 3 bookclubs a month, one of which I am running. It might sound like fun, reading 3 books a month that you may never have normally picked up but I'm struggling to read all 3 and find time to read my favourites. 

In the last month alone, 3 books (Fuse by Julianna Baggott, Calculated in Death by J D Robb and The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead) have been released by authors whom I adore and I don't have time to read any of them.

On the plus side, I am running the Science Fiction and Fantasy book club so at least I am guaranteed one book I love a month (oh the power!).

And I get to socialise instead of being a book worm shut up at home all by myself, then there's all the wine too. 

Humm, maybe 3 book clubs a month isn't so bad after all!

Thursday Book Review

The style of writing spoiled this book for me. I know that's the author's style but I'd never read his work before and I found it really difficult trying to wade through his descriptions. In the end, I just scanned past the bits that were boring me. I had heard he started this book as a script idea for TV and I think it would work brilliantly as a TV show due to the wonderful conversations he's written 
in and there would none of the dullness and ramblings that bored me in the book.

From reading the blurb, I thought the idea of what the book was about was intriguing and it was. I loved the characters and once I'd filtered the annoying descriptions, I got a well rounded view of Telegraph Avenue and the fascinating characters that lived there.  

He definitely captured the everyday struggle of life although for a man writing about women, he didn't surprise in doing only an average job.

If you managed Franzten's Freedom then you'll cope with irritations of this book and it is a good story with great characters, so it's worth persevering if you have the patience.

Classics

I want to love the classics.
Don't get me wrong, Jane Eyre and Much Ado About Nothing are two of my favourite books but I really, really struggle with the writing!
I'm still going to buy them, cos I feel like I should read them, though the odds of me really understanding them is pretty much zilch!
I tried War and Peace and managed half of it before giving up out of sheer boredom! Emma (Jane Austen) just annoyed me and Wuthering Heights scared the crap out of me (I can't listen to Kate Bush anymore)!
My next classics on the list are Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and Parade's End by Ford Maddox Ford. I'm buying both because I have a read a few biographies and books on Henry James and Violet Hunt and so have heard a lot about these two books. It's probably going to take me a while to read them but dammit, I'm going to keep persevering !

Nerd Girl Problems

I have just discovered my new favourite blog to follow!

Every Wednesday I'm going to post one of their Nerd Girl Problems that I can relate to. 

They could be literary or geek world related, depending on my mood.

And hopefully, they'll make you giggle a little!

Rainy Days

It's another rainy day outside (my favourite, of course!) but I wish the store wouldn't rain inside, it makes the books sad.

Not a picture of my books below, but not far off if this roof doesn't get fixed soon.

Monday's Book Review

Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman

The two main characters are sisters, Jess and Emily. They could not be more opposite but are still loyal and loving to one another.

Like baking a cake, different characters from the sisters’ lives get slowly folded into the mix, one by one, until the world of rare book collecting, Jewish mystics and computer programmers all become entwined.

Each character in this book has depth and flaws; you become frustrated, pitiful, excited, devastated and fall in love with each of them, even the more irritating characters!

This book is an easy, enjoyable read, perfect for the summer holidays    

Novel Writing ... or attempt of

I started writing a novel during November's National Novel Writing month. I lasted 2 weeks!! And wrote 8623 words. If you take into account the amount I re-edited, it was probably more like 20,000 words. The goal is to write 50,000 words in a month-oops!




For some reason, I haven't continued on with it and I don't know why. I was enjoying writing it, I had some great ideas and the writing was flowing but one morning, I didn't get up and open up the locked (yes, locked, I don't want anyone to have to see how terrible it is just yet!) file and I haven't since.


Every so often I say to myself, tomorrow I'll sit down and write some more, but tomorrow comes and I forget about it. Guess I'll never fulfill my dream of being an author this way! Oh well, another dream goes by the way side because I'm lazy and have no will power!