Love For Books

Real life

I love reading books about things that have happened in real life. I am not really a fan of fiction. When I am in a book shop, I usually head straight towards the auto biographies. I particularly love to read about famous people and the events in their lives which have helped shaped the way they have lead their lives and who they are as people. I think a lot can be learnt from reading about peoples journeys through life and how they handled what life has thrown at them. Often people who write books have had very colourful lives and they are just very interesting to read.

Threadless T-shirts: Nude No More

If you like books, and you like funky pictures, quirky slogans and groovy text, check out Threadless T-shirts.

Although they aren’t books, there are plenty of literary references on them, and there are many that would make us literary types have a chuckle or two, whilst leaving others confused as to what the joke is.

Here are a couple of examples of the text – obviously, not being quite so delicately designed as the actual t-shirts:

“Shakespeare hates your emo poems”

“Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator.”

“Movies: ruining the book since the 1920s.”

There are also plenty of literary references in picture. One is of Edgar Allen Poe in his grave, with a raven on his tombstone above, and another is a picture of books putting on jackets (get the joke there?).

Threadless only have certain numbers of each Tee printed, so if you see one you like – buy it!!

Orange Prize for fiction

This year is the 15th Orange Prize for Fiction and Waterstones are celebrating by deciding which book from the last 14 years’ winners lists is the top of the crop.

The shortlist includes some massive hits, from Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche’s Half of A Yellow Sun to Carol Shields’ Larry’s Party.

There are prizes up for grabs for voters too, including an HTC Desire Black smartphone and a pair of tickets to the Orange Prize for Fiction Awards Ceremony.

Check online and register a vote for your chance to win, and make sure you keep up to date with this year’s shortlist too, as Waterstones are offering a massive 40% off their RRP!

New Covent Garden and Co – Soup & Beyond

I picked up their recipe book for £1.99 from The Works, and have already made 6 of the recipes (in two weeks). They are easy to follow, written with a bit of flair and humour, and they have a good pinch of reasoning and background.

There are no pictures of the food (which would normally really turn me away from a cookbook) but, actually, I quite like not having to conform to a style.

Their other books are just soups, but this one covers falafel, risotto, crisp bakes, snacks and a whole heap of different breads. There are far more ideas than just soups and you can even turn some of their starters and sides into delicious main courses: like the Lemon and spinach chickpeas – with a little tofu, a few potatoes and some broccoli, it is a tasty, filling dish.

Austen – Chick Lit for snobs

Chick Lit is widely criticised by people in the writing world. English, Editing and Proofreading graduates are generally sure of one thing: the lack of substance in a Chick Lit novel.

There will be a central character who is probably doing pretty well for herself. Then something happens with her guy-friend, her sister is heartbroken and she doesn’t know who she can trust about what. She will probably end up getting together with a guy she never even considered, in fact, she probably started out hating him.

Sound familiar? Yep, hundreds of books a year are based on this and thousands and thousands of people read it. There are so many literary snobs who would rather burn it than read it as they can predict what is going to happen from the first couple of pages.

Many people like that believe in real women authors: Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, Jane Austen.
But – hang on – haven’t I just described Pride and Prejudice? The plots of Jane Austen are about as Chick-Lit as you can get, but it is the writing which makes it stand a huge way above the tripe. Austen’s characters are three-dimensional, the dialogue is believable and her witty descriptions and original ideas are a wonder to read.

But just remember next time you get on your high horse about someone reading Wendy Holden; if you have Austen in your hand, you should really think about what kind of criticism you’re going to give.

Relax in the garden with a good book

It may be a cliché, but that doesn’t really bother me. When it’s sunny, and the air is warm, I like nothing more than sitting outside with my sunglasses on, an ice-cold glass of rose and a good book. Whether it’s Tolkein, Fforde, Twain or Carter, immersing myself into another world with the comfort of the sun on my skin is like nothing else.

If you enjoy reading and you enjoy the sun, but rarely combine the two – make some time for them this summer. Treat yourself to an afternoon off with a glass of wine (or juice) and a good read.

But don’t forget – protect your pins with sun cream or you’ll look like a one-sided lobster by the end of the day!

Waterstones Petition Call

I am calling for a petition. To stop the Poetry and Classics section from getting any smaller, and to bring it back to the front of the shop – where the DVDs are. DVDs?! In a bookshop?! Really.

I used to love browsing the poetry section in Waterstones, and eventually choosing a title that I hadn’t heard of, from a poet who I didn’t know existed, to be either delightfully impressed, or expensively disappointed. But it didn’t matter. It was nice to read something new and fresh.

Now, though, I have to ask a member of staff where to find the poetry, because it is usually one tiny column, split between Poetry, Classics and Drama (including Shakespeare, no less) and it’s hidden away around the corner in the back of the third floor somewhere.

When I eventually get there, there is nothing new to be found. Although the poets there are fantastic, famous, and very certainly worth reading, I find no pleasure in looking through the section. I want to find something new, something I haven’t read before, something unexpected.

Is that just me?

Poetry is a wonderful thing

Is it not? Plenty of people ‘don’t get poetry’ or remember too much how it is taught in schools, and just the idea makes them shudder.

However, it is at this that I beg to differ. I adore poetry, and I always have. I trained to be an English teacher and I am still disgusted at the way it is taught in schools.

Schools teach people to destroy them, to tear them apart word by word until it is not even looked at as a whole piece any more. They are told that poets always choose every singe word intentionally, and that there are always at least three or four meanings to everything.

This is not the case. Yes, poets choose their words very carefully, but a poem can be a bit of fun, it can be a laugh, or a tongue-in-cheek comment. It doesn’t have to be about flowers, and sexuality, and innocence and growth and new life all at the same time. It may be, but that doesn’t mean it definitely is.

I remember once being told about what Shakespeare was thinking when he wrote one of his sonnets, and questioning the teacher about it. She said that we know that from studies and hundreds of years of learning about it. Rubbish! We don’t know what he was thinking, we don’t know how intentional every word was, and we don’t know what he thought of his social messages.

So, after a long-winded rant, my moral is this: ignore all the teaching you’ve had, and just read poetry for the poems. Read Philip Larkin, Paul Durcan, Vicki Feaver and Jo Shapcott if you want poetry that isn’t stuffy, overly worded tripe.

Go on, give it a go. Poetry rocks.

Stephen Fry in America

I know quite a few people who don’t much care for Stephen Fry, but I think he’s fantastic. I do think that playing Scrabble whilst having QI on in the background should officially be called cheating.

However, for those who like him as I do, reading the Literary counterpart to his hit Stephen Fry in America series, was quite an eye opener. With phrases like “I already look seven shades of twat, what else can they possibly do?” it is Stephen, through and through.

I learned plenty about the good old U S of A, and facts about states and cities that I had never comprehended.

If you have seen the TV series, and quite liked it – or haven’t seen the series – read the book. Sectioned into relatively small chapters, one on each state, it is an easy to get through, light hearted, tongue in cheek account of different peoples, cultures and traditions, all of which seem strikingly familiar, and yet so alien. It is quite bizarre.

Mslexia – one for the ladies

Unfortunately, if you’re male, this article won’t mean much to you as it is about the writing magazine Mslexia. Its tag line is ‘For women who write’, so that should give you an idea why.
For the ladies out there who love to write, for pleasure, for money, for fun, for friends – for whatever reason – this magazine is bound to be a good read.

It has interviews with well known authors in almost every issue, from Jodie Picoult, to U A Fanthorpe and Margaret Atwood and also runs regular competitions for both published and unpublished writers in poetry and fiction.

There are tips on successful writing, by published writers themselves, and examples of authors’ drafting processes. There are competition winners, new poetry and prose, flash fiction and a comprehensive list of writing groups and events all over the country.

So, if you’re female and you enjoy both reading and writing, pick up a copy, check out the website or head to the library for back issues.