I, like my mother, have an obsession with books. Once I have read something, I find it extremely hard to part with it. Therefore, this results in me having floor to ceiling bookshelves that are full and piles of books beside my bed. They are my friends. There is something lovely about holding the pages of a book and completely immersing yourself in a story that is not your own. As a child my mother would read me a story before bed every night and if I was staying at my grandma’s (another staunch book collector), she would read to me as well. I can’t remember a time where I have not sought out at least a couple of pages before I am accosted by the sandman and sprinkled with the magic dust of sleep. Even if I have been out on the town and had my fair share of gin, I will always give reading a go. It is not just at night that I seek this comforting past time – on the bus, on the train…I love to read.
I thought I would share a small list of books that I have thoroughly enjoyed and have earned a place in my heart (/bookshelf).
1. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
Josey Cirrini was the first character I had encountered by this amazingly talented author. ‘Josey, is sure of 3 things – winter in her North Carolina hometown is her favorite season, she’s a sorry excuse for a Southern belle, and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her hidden closet’. Then there is ‘Chloe Finley, a young woman who makes the best sandwiches in town, is hounded by books that inexplicably appear whenever she needs them’. Who doesn’t want books to appear when we need them?! Okay, so the book is a little fluffy and laced with the tiniest amount of magic…so subtle you may think it possible. It is beautifully imagined and easy to read. I was never a major fan of ‘chic lit’ before I read Allen’s work, but since the first page she has had me hooked.
2. I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells
‘John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous, and he knows it. He’s spent his life doing his best not to live up to his potential.’ This is the first book in a wonderful trilogy. Although marketed as a young adult book with a teenage protagonist, it is well written and adult enough to cross over and be an enthralling and appealing read to those with a few more years handed to us by father time. I just wish there had been more in this series.
3. Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult
‘In anger and fear, Jane leaves with their teenage daughter, Rebecca, for a cross-country odyssey charted by letters from her brother Joley, guiding them to his Massachusetts apple farm, where surprising self-discoveries await.’ I have read 18 of Picoult’s books, I find her moral and legal dilemmas captivating to read. From the title of the book I didn’t expect to love this as much as some of her others, but boy was I wrong. It is beautifully written, if not a little unusual. The story is told by five different voices and Rebecca’s story told backwards. It sounds complicated, but you quickly get the hang of it and realise this is part of the beauty of the book. It is peaceful and summery and filled with people as lost and deaf to their own hearts as you and I.
4. Bookends by Jane Green
Easily one of my favourite books I have read and I can’t really explain why. This was my first foray into the world of Chic Lit and it didn’t disappoint in that category. However, it had a little more depth than I was expecting from something I thought was going to be mostly froth. This book was also the impetus for my long term longing to have my own bookshop. For around 8 years now I have dreamed of opening my own little second hand book store – with a select few from the top sellers chart. And then, just in the back, would be the most divine little artisan tea and cake shop. It is all planned out and ready to go – in my head (when some fantastically rich and handsome benefactor wants to sponsor such an idea). But, back to the book, it is full of friendship, love, heartbreak and loss. Wonderful for those who don’t like pure fluff.
5. The Bitch Goddess Notebook by Martha O’Connor
‘Set in a small-town high school in Illinois in 1988, three misfit girls join forces with devastating consequences’. I picked this book up purely because I needed something to read and the book shop was really limited on anything that was grabbing my attention. It took a little while for me to get into this but when I did I thoroughly enjoyed it. ‘They swear to stick together, whatever life throws at them, until one night at Porter’s Point when something so horrific happens it shatters their friendship forever’. It’s about overcoming their past and fixing their futures with some sex and bloodshed thrown in for good measure.
6. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
A semi-autobiographical book about the struggle Frey had with his drug addiction. ‘At the age of 23, James Frey woke up on a plane to find his front teeth knocked out and his nose broken. He had no idea where the plane was headed nor any recollection of the past two weeks. An alcoholic for ten years and a crack addict for three, he checked into a treatment facility shortly after landing’. This first book of 2 are the accounts of the author’s six weeks that he spent in rehab and the fight he had with life to be able to make it to 24 and be a different person. Not written in the traditional way books are (with paragraphs and full punctuation and such), it is truly one of the best books I have ever read. It made me laugh and cry and never want to put it down. If you are looking for something to read right now, I would highly recommend this. The people he meets in rehab and the obstacles he over comes are something magnificent. Everyone I know that has read this book has fallen completely in love with it. Plus, the cover is ever so pretty.
7. Looking for Alaska by John Green
I could write wonderful things about John Green all day long. Not only is he a wonderful author he is a super smart super funny Nerd Fighter. Accompanied with his brother Hank, they have several YouTube channels that are educational, inspiring and so very funny. Anyway, back to the wonderfully written book. This is the first book that I had read by John Green and I was prompted to do so by Tumblr. There are always quote floating around the Tumblrsphere and one caught my eye – “So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane.” Once I had found which book this was from I ordered it immediately. Three days later my copy arrived and I couldn’t put it down.
Miles Halter is in search of ‘The Great Perhaps’ when he starts at a new school. Chip “the Colonel” Martin soon takes Miles (Pudge) under his wing and introduces him to the beautiful catastrophe that is Alaska Young. As the events of the story unravel and a twist I hoped would not come, we all learn the lesson that is “The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.” Truly one of my very favourite books written by one of my favourite authors. I have now read everything John Green has written, including the stratospheric The Fault In Our Stars (I am very excited for the film). Again, a YA book that transcends age and just tells a beautifully heart achingly wonderful book.
8. A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff
Phoebe has always wanted to own her own vintage clothing shop ‘Her dream has come true, but a secret from her past is casting a shadow over her new venture. Then one day she meets Therese, an elderly Frenchwoman with a collection to sell, apart from one piece that she won’t part with!’ Therese’s story is terribly sad but helps her to put the past at rest as well as aiding Phoebe to overcome a secret that has cast a shadow over her life for a long time. Love, loss and vintage clothes, especially the cupcake dresses make this book a quiet, quaint and all around lovely story.
9. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
When I picked this book up in the shop I thought it was another book that I wanted to read. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. Obviously I wasn’t the only one who fell in love with this book as they soon made a blockbuster movie out of it starring Dominic Cooper and Jenifer Lawrence (although I am yet to watch this). ‘Pat has a theory: his life is a movie produced by God. And his God-given mission is to become physically fit and emotionally literate, whereupon God will ensure a happy ending for him — the return of his estranged wife Nikki’. Pat has just come home after a stint in a mental health facility and everything feels a little odd. No one will talk to him about Nikki and there is a strange and intense woman named Tiffani who is pursuing him. All of that teamed with his oh so beloved Philadelphia Eagles, continuously losing, is something that Pat is trying to contend with. The story is heart-warming and you instantly feel a connection with these (varying degrees of) odd characters. ‘Matthew Quick takes us inside Pat’s mind, showing us the world from his distorted yet endearing perspective’.
10. Ravens by George Dawes Green
‘The Boatwrights just won 318 million dollars in the GeorgiaState lottery. It’s going to be the worst day of their lives.’ Shaw McBride and Romeo Zderko are on a road trip to escape the monotony of their everyday life. But when Shaw overhears that the Boatwrights have won the lottery ‘he hatches a ferociously audacious scheme: He and Romeo will squeeze the family for half their prize’. In a book, there is usually someone that you like. That can’t really be said about this book. All the characters are deeply flawed and there is just no one to like in this one. ‘For each character, the unrelenting tension and danger of their trapped lives forces them to confront their own unnatural fears and yearnings’. This psychological thriller has sprinklings of dark humour and an ending that I wasn’t expecting. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was filled with suspense and the reminder that we are all looking for a way to escape our lives…although admittedly, most of us don’t go around coercing our best friend to be an “angel of death” or taking whole families hostage in the hope of some adoration and money. However, it is well worth a read.
I am currently reading Insurgent by Veronica Roth after reading the first in the series, Divergent. Once I have finished the series I am hoping to read Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen and Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. If you have any recommendations for me, please leave them in the comments.
Songs
Food
Drinks
Detectives
The perfect place to conclude my list making…now to take the dog out in the pouring rain. Boo. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my lists and maybe found something new to watch, listen to or read.
Belle of the Bluegrass 