Diving straight in, the pile looked
like this,
with the addition of three Christmas books (see previous blog
entry).
Book of the Season immediately went to If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch, which
blew me away. It’s the story of a girl brought
up in the woods for ten years. I don’t want to give too many spoilers away,
because much of the skill in this book lies in the information unfurling. The book starts as she’s coming out of the woods and covers her initial
rehabilitation into normal life while keeping a dark secret. I loved it and had
to reread it straight off. It had me on the brink of tears at various times, it
was heart-breaking and tender without resorting to any melodrama. I’d say it
was a YA mix of Emma Donoghue’s Room
and Sara Dessen’s Lock and Key.
All
the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven looks at teen suicide
and bipolar disorder. It was touching and sad, but more than that it really
brought across the mystified feelings of grief and loss that those left behind
experience in cases of suicide, while sympathetically showing that those who choose
to leave us are unable to help themselves do otherwise. Again it's hard to write
about without spoilers but the excellent dialogue meant I genuinely loved a
key character, and couldn’t feel angry at them for doing what they do,
which conflicted with my previous feelings on the subject. That is very
vague- sorreee- but The Spoilers!
Being
Billy by Phil Earle. This one did
actually make me cry. Set in a children’s home, it’s a whole book of anger and
frustration, yet has you rooting for the MC; despairing with him at the unfairness
of his situation and cheering with him in his small victories. Utter
rollercoaster.
Landline by Rainbow Rowell was a pleasure to read. She gives a
snap shot of what is the scenario for many 40-something women, who get to
reflect on their marriages and see that they have slipped, provoking them to
consider what they really want. On top of the accurate observations, she writes
and details sooo enviably well.
The Anatomy of Curiosity by Maggie Stiefvater, Tessa Gratton and Brenna Yovanoff is a book I’d recommend if you have any interest in creative writing yourself, especially short stories. I’d suggest reading its predecessor, the short story anthology The Curiosities first, as you'll get a feel for the varied style of these three writers. Here they each have just the one story, but they deconstruct them to show how they got the ideas and what they focused on during writing. All good stories in themselves, but with an added layer of writing craft which was fascinating.
The other thoughts;
One of these turned me off in chapter one. My negative
reaction was to the premise of the book. I did read to the end, as the form was
interesting; one half being one character’s POV and the second being the other character’s
POV taking the action forward, but I couldn’t get past finding the story line
itself unappealing.
One of these books I wanted to love very very
badly, because I think the writer is a goddess with a turn of phrase to die
for. But I didn’t love it and I’m still trying to work out why. The POV wasn’t
always consistent and that felt kind of sloppy.
One of these books has had a lot of hype in the UK but I found it an uncomforatable read, partly because I felt I’d read the same kind of thing before
and partly because I felt I’d lived some of it before. The familiar story was personally
painfully familiar.
The Spring pile is building and I’ll
post it next week. Anyone read anything good lately?
