Book Review: One True Thing by Anna Quindlen

On the cover: Ellen Gulden is a successful, young New York journalist. But when her mother, Kate, is diagnosed with cancer, she leaves her life in the city to return home and care for her. In the short time they have left, the relationship between mother and daughter – tender, awkward and revealing – deepens, and Ellen is forced to confront painful truths about her adored father.

But in the weeks that follow Kate’s death, events take a shocking and unexpected turn. Family emotions are laid bare as a new drama is played out, and overnight Ellen goes from devoted daughter to prime suspect, accused of the mercy killing of her ‘one true thing’.

One True Thing is the devastating story of a mother and daughter, of love and loss, and of shattering choices.

This was a really emotional read, and one that gave me a lot to think about. I think it would make a great book club read as there is plenty to discuss and it really makes you question what you would do if you were in Ellen’s situation. I lost my dad to cancer when I was 18 and it all happened very quickly – he passed away 13 days after he had been diagnosed and only 3 months or so after first having symptoms. While at the time it was heartbreaking, looking back I am very thankful that it happened so fast. I can’t imagine how horrid it must be to endure a long battle with cancer. I can’t imagine how horrid it must be to watch a family member endure a long battle with cancer.

Unlike the blurb would have you believe, the book is less about Ellen’s arrest for the alleged mercy killing of her mother and more about the difficult relationship that Ellen had with her mother and it was beautiful, heart-wrenching and intriguing to see how this relationship began and to watch it develop into so much more as the book progressed. It’s also interesting to see the degeneration of Ellen’s relationship with her father, whom she had once so adored and had been so eager to please. Quindlen manages to capture the complexities of relationships so well with her writing and although the plot doesn’t really go anywhere, this book is never dull.

Unfortunately for me I saw the movie first and so I knew what was going to happen but, as is usually the case, the book completely blows the movie out of the water. I’m writing this review months after I finished the book, and it’s still with me.

Info for this edition:
Paperback, 309 pages
UK Publisher: Windmill, September 2011
Source: I received this book for review through Amazon Vine.
My Rating: 5 Stars

 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year blogosphere!!!!

It’s fair to say that, for me, 2012 was a tough year. I’ve had some personal stuff going on, my mum has had a couple of major health scares, and, only last week my Grandad spent Christmas in hospital with kidney failure. So yeah, 2012 was a bit of a washout. Because of all of this, my blog has been neglected. In fact, my online presence in general has been neglected. I have a ridiculous number of reviews to write, as I’ve been reading but just haven’t felt like writing about them. I failed all of my challenges last year too. But, I’m not going to dwell on all of this negative stuff.

2013 is here, and I’ve decided I’m not going to make any formal resolutions. I usually do, but then when I look back and realised I haven’t achieved most of them, it just makes me feel bad. So this year, although I have some things I want to do and some things I want to change, I’m not going to write them down anywhere and I’m not going to approach them as ‘resolutions’. I’m going to look at them more as goals, without a set time limit to achieve them. I realise that to some people resolutions and goals are the same thing, but to me they do differ.

I’m not going to commit to any extra reading challenges this year. I’ve set my goal on Goodreads to read 100 books. I managed 60 last year, which was down 15 on the year before, but I’m hoping to read more this year. I’ve also decided that I have a ridiculous amount of books unread on my shelves and it’s actually starting to stress me out, so I’m going to be trying really hard not to buy new books and to read what I already have. To aid this, I’ve decided I’m going to have a ‘Year of Reading Randomly‘. Basically this means that I will be selecting my next read randomly using my books spreadsheet and a random number generator. I’m hoping it’ll mean I end up reading some of the books I’ve been putting off for various reasons. It’ll also mean that I rediscover books I’d forgotten about. I’m looking forward to it!

Have you made any resolutions this year? Are you doing any challenges you’d like to share? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

 

Mailbox Monday 2

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia to showcase new arrivals on your shelves (both purchased books and ARCs) and is currently on tour throughout the blogosphere. This month’s host is Kristen over at BookNAround.

I’m a little late in posting, but better late than never right? No physical photo this week, as my camera battery died, so just some covers. Unless stated otherwise, I have purchased all books mentioned below.

Physical Books

The Proof of Love – Catherine Hall

Catherine Hall is another author whose event I’ll be attending at Manchester Literature Festival and so I bought her book in the hopes that I’ll be able to get to it before then. It’s actually been on my radar for a while after hearing about it last year when it won the Green Carnation Prize (a literary prize for any form of the written word by an LGBT writer). The book follows Spencer Little who escapes to a village in the Lake District, hoping to leave behind the term he just spent at Cambridge. His quest for anonymity is disrupted, however, when he befriends a ten year old girl and he suddenly finds himself being drawn into the lives of those around him.

The premise sounds intriguing, I can’t wait to read this one.

Haunted – James Herbert

I bought this for no other reason than it was on offer at the counter when I bought The Proof of Love. I like Herbert’s work though, and I do like to read darker novels as the nights grow longer over the Autumn/Winter months. This one seems to be a standard ‘man stays in old house, spooky things happen’ kind of novel. It’s pretty short so I’m hoping it’ll be something to curl up with and lose myself in for a couple of hours.

The Lucky One – Nicholas Sparks

I didn’t buy this one, my mum won it in a competition (along with the DVD and a notebook/journal type thing). My mum doesn’t read often (maybe like one or two books a year) and so she gave it to me. It wouldn’t have been one I’d have picked up on my own but, who knows, it might be interesting. I know that a lot of bookish people look down on Nicholas Sparks, but I like to make up my own mind and so I’m willing to give this one a go. I do also own Dear John, which I bought after seeing the movie, but I’ve never gotten around to reading it. The Lucky One is about a U.S. Marine who comes across a photo of a woman in the dirt whilst serving in Iraq. He puts it in his pocked and his luck begins to change. When he gets home, he can’t shake the thoughts of war and decides that maybe this woman is the answer, so he sets off to find her…

Downloaded Books

The following books were on Amazon for 20p each and so I figured, why not?!

Zero Day – David Baldacci

This sounds similar to In Cold Blood – the protagonist, military investigator John Puller, is sent to a rural area where someone has murdered an entire family in their home. He teams up with local detective Samantha Cole and, as the book plays out, a big mess of lies is uncovered.

Ash – James Herbert

I can’t actually believe I got this brand new book for 20p. This is Herbert’s latest and is still out in hardcover! Score! Although it turns out this is the third in a trilogy. I hate when that happens. Luckily for me the first in the trilogy is Haunted (the one I mentioned above), so I only have the second one to buy. This one seems pretty spooky too – a man is found crucified in a locked room in an old castle. It seems that the castle has had reports of hauntings. David Ash is called to investigate and finds that no-one wants to talk about what they’ve seen.

The blurb promises this will be ‘truly shocking’. I hope so!

The Expats – Chris Pavone

I was really pleased when I saw this was on offer. It’s one I’ve had my eye on for a while. It’s about a woman, Kate, who moves to Luxembourg with her family when her husband is offered a great job. She’s settled in and is getting used to life as an expat when another American couple arrive on the scene. This couple, though, don’t appear to be who they say they are and Kate is worried that her ‘past’ is catching up with her. So she starts digging…

The Psychic Tourist: A Voyage into the Curious World of Predicting the Future - William Little

I’ve always been fascinated by psychics, mediums and everything else paranormal and so when I saw this book on Amazon’s daily deals I thought it sounded fun.

What new books have arrived on your shelves this week? 

 

Mailbox Monday 1

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia to showcase new arrivals on your shelves (both purchased books and ARCs) and is currently on tour throughout the blogosphere. This month’s host is Kristen over at BookNAround.

I haven’t done a Mailbox Monday post before, but I’m a regular reader of the posts from bloggers who do take part in this meme. I’ve added lots of books to my TBR from these posts and so I decided to start participating. I don’t get new books every week, but I’ll be posting as and when I do.

Unless otherwise stated, all the books I post about here are books I have purchased.

 

 

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon

I’ve had recommendations for this book from so many people and I finally bought it! I’ll be reading this soon as Michael Chabon is coming to Manchester Literature Festival and I have a ticket to the event (a reading from his new book and an interview). I’m so excited! Rather than try to sum up this up in my own words I’m just going to copy the cover synopsis, as I’ll probably make it sound boring!!

One night in 1939, Josef Kavalier shuffles into his cousin Sam Clay’s cramped New York bedroom, his nerve-racking escape from Prague finally achieved. Little does he realise that this is the beginning of an extraordinary friendship and even more fruitful business partnership. Together, they create a comic strip called ‘The Escapist’, its superhero a Nazi-busting saviour who liberates the oppressed around the world. ‘The Escapist’ makes their fortune, but Joe can think of only one thing: how can he effect a real-life escape, and free his family from the tyranny of Hitler?

Bumped – Megan McCafferty

I’ve picked this up a few times in the bookstore but never bought it. I decided this week was the time to do it. I loved Matched and heard that this is similar. I guess I’ll see for myself. It’s a dystopic novel, set in a world where teenagers are prized because once a girl turns 18 she becomes infertile. People bid for ‘conception contracts’, showing girls with gifts, in exchange for a baby. Melody is one such girl. All is going well until her strictly religious sister decides she’s going to save Melody from her sins…

Crossed – Ally Condie

Talking of Matched, this week I also bought the second book in the series, Crossed. I’m not going to do a synopsis for this one, as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read the first book. If you haven’t read the first book you really should. It’s awesome.

Once – Morris Gleitzman

I like to read books about the holocaust. I’m not really sure why – it’s a dark subject and it’s definitely not something that’s easy to read about – but I like books that tackle tough subject matter. I like books that talk about things that most people don’t talk about. This book was recommended to me by a friend a while ago.  This one doesn’t give much in the way of synopsis, I guess because to say too much would be a spoiler, so again I’m just going to quote from the cover:

Once I escaped from an orphanage to find Mum and Dad. Once I saved a girl called Zelda from a burning house. Once I made a Nazi with toothache laugh. My name is Felix. This is my story.

Rumours – Anna Godbersen

This is the second book in the Luxe series. I read the first one on my holiday last year and really enjoyed it. I like historical fiction and I like a little scandal and the first book combined the two perfectly. Again I’m not going to say anything about the plot for fear of spoilers, but I’m looking forward to some escapism with this one!

 

What new books have arrived on your shelves this week? 

 

Book Review: An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

Lacey Yeager is young, captivating, and ambitious enough to take the NYC art world by storm. Groomed at Sotheby’s and hungry to keep climbing the social and career ladders put before her, Lacey charms men and women, old and young, rich and even richer with her magnetic charisma and liveliness. Her ascension to the highest tiers of the city parallel the soaring heights–and, at times, the dark lows–of the art world and the country from the late 1990s through today.

I’ve watched a fair few movies featuring Steve Martin and loved them all. His comic timing is perfect and never fails to make me laugh, so when I saw he had a new novel out I thought I’d give it a go and see if his writing was as good as his acting. An Object of Beauty follows the life of Lacey Yeager as she makes her way in the art world – starting in the basement of Sotheby’s and working her way up to the top… meeting (and bedding) various men on the way.

The plot of this book is not its strongest point, but it meanders along and doesn’t go too slowly so I was happy to keep reading. The thing that makes this novel a good read is the characterisation of Lacey. She’s not the most likeable of people, but you can’t help but be fascinated by her life, her choices and her sheer ambition. Martin’s writing makes you want to know more about her. She will literally stop at nothing to get what she wants and is definitely what some would class as ruthless. He doesn’t go for all-out comedy either, preferring subtle, satirical humour, and it works really well. Another thing to note is that there is a lot of information on art history included in the narrative. Some may find this interesting, others not so much. I was somewhere in the middle.

Overall though, I found this to be a fun, entertaining read. I’ll definitely be picking up his other novels.

Format: Paperback, 311 pages
Publisher (this edition): Phoenix, 2011
Source: Free review copy provided by Newbooks Magazine
My rating: 3/5

 

Challenges: an update

Well. I think it’s safe to say that challenges have completely fallen off my radar this year. I guess it goes hand in hand with being away from my blog, because there’s been nothing to remind me about them. A confession: I actually had to click on my challenges post before writing this, to remind myself which challenges I’d committed to. Now that’s bad!
I started out with the best of intentions. I didn’t update my challenge page, but for my 12 in 12 challenges I did buy a new book each month up until May, and then kind of lost track. I have read a couple of non-fiction titles, but nowhere near 12. And as for the classics. Well lets just say that was a non-starter.

 

My goal to read 100 books has had to be revised, as life has gotten in the way and I’m finding that I’m so tired when I settle down at night that I’m reading maybe a chapter and then falling asleep. This is meaning it’s taking me a LOT longer than it normally would to get through a book. I’ve revised it to 75 books which was my total for last year. If I can hit that many then I’ll be happy. Not that it’s looking likely at the moment, as according to Goodreads I’m 8 books behind, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to pull some back somewhere.

I’m not doing too badly with my audio books. I’ve read 7 so far and almost done with my 8th, so I think I’m on track to meet my goal. Being a member of Audible has really helped with this task, as I’m always keen to download my next book when I get my credit each month. I mostly listen to audio books on the way to work so, despite not reading as many physical books this year, I’m still listening to audio books regularly. I’ll be posting reviews of the ones I’ve listed to so far at some point – there have been some that I would highly recommend!

I’m not sure where I’m at with the Off The Shelf challenge if I’m honest, as I’ve bought a fair few books this year as well as borrowing from the library, and I can’t remember when I bought some of the books I’ve read. I have definitely read from my shelves, but I think I’m going to have to write off this challenge as I just haven’t tracked it properly.

 

Another challenge I may have to write off is the What’s in a Name challenge. So far I don’t think I’ve read anything that can be counted towards this. However there are still 4 months of the year left, so who knows, I might be able to find some books to fulfil the categories for this. I’ll keep you posted!

 

 

So how are you all doing with your challenges? Are you on track or are you like me – wishing you were but not quite hitting the mark?

 

Book Review: I’ll Be There by Holly Goldberg Sloane

On The Cover: Everyone whose path you cross in life has the power to change you.

Emily believes in destiny. She’s waiting for the moment her real life begins.

Sam wishes he could escape. He’s spent his life being dragged from place to place by his father. But he could never abandon his little brother. 

Then everything changes. Because Sam meets Emily.

This tender story of star-crossed love is both romance and thriller, and a compelling exploration of the power of human connection.

This book captivated me from start to finish. You’d never know that this is a debut novel, as the writing is so compelling and flows beautifully. It’s sparse, but I feel that it really works with this story as it’s essentially a modern-day fairy tale and so the style doesn’t really lend itself to complexity. There’s so much packed into what is a relatively short novel, but none of it feels rushed – the plot moves along at a comfortable pace and there weren’t any slow parts for me. It did require a little suspension of belief as some of the things came together a little too easily, however this fits in with the general style of a fairy tale and so it really didn’t matter too much to me. The thing that makes this novel, though, is the characters. The main characters, Emily and Sam, are complete opposites, yet they are perfect for each other. It was really heart-wrenching to watch their relationship develop so quickly and then be torn apart. The main star of the show though, for me, was Riddle – Sam’s younger brother. I couldn’t help but feel protective towards the kid and he instilled in me a real emotional attachment to the story as a whole. After these three main characters came a host of other characters who had smaller, but still important, parts to play. The chapters in the book move around, telling the story from the perspectives of the different characters in the book and, where a new character is introduced, we find out how they came to be where they are before we find out how they fit into the story. I liked this, because it made for more believable characters and therefore a more believable story.

I loved this story and I took from it a message of hope and of faith in humanity. I will be on the lookout for future books from this author.

Format: Paperback, 312 pages
Publisher (this edition): Piccadilly Press, 2012
Source: Free review copy provided by Newbooks Magazine
My rating: 5/5

 

Quick update – Wakefield Lit Fest

Just a quick update for those who are interested. Wakefield Lit Fest have announced the programme for the festival and their site is now live (the previous site I linked to was the main website of the group running it, rather than for the festival itself.

You can view the site here. If you’re in or around the Wakefield area you should definitely check it out! 

 

Exciting times ahead!

So, there’s a few things I’m currently looking forward to and I wanted to share them with you…

The first thing is a major life event for me… I’m going back to education! It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while and I’ve decided to take the bull by the horns and have registered for a course with the Open University! For those outside of the UK, the OU is a highly respected distance-learning institution offering higher education courses in lots of different subject areas. You can study with them towards a higher eduction qualification or you can just do a standalone course. After changing my mind many times over the last few years, I’ve decided that this year is the time to go for it. A couple of things pushed me in the right direction – first is that the laws have changed regarding student loans in the UK and now part-time students can get a loan in the same way as full-time students, whereas previously if you wanted to study part-time you had to fund it independently. Secondly, the OU are offering an Access program where, if you meet certain criteria, you can get the first level and half of the second level of study (worth £3000) for only £75. I figure not only is this a great bargain, it means that I get to see how I like it without a big financial risk. So on the 1st September I will be taking my first steps towards a BA Hons in English Literature! The modules I’ll be taking as part of the Access program are more of a broad grounding in the Arts as a whole and so I’ll be studying things like Poetry, History, Art, Music and so on. Once I’ve finished the initial program I’ll then move on to the English Literature modules. I’m really excited! I’ve always loved to learn and I can’t wait to get started!

I’m also really looking forward to some bookish events:

The first is the Wakefield Lit Fest. This is the first Literature Festival to be held in Wakefield, Leeds and will be running between 22nd and 30th September. If you click the image above it’ll take you to the organiser’s website, or you can view the dedicated Facebook page here. My friend Becca over at The Book Whisperer lives in Wakefield and brought the festival to my attention, as she’s going to be partnering with the organisers and will be selling her amazing cupcakes at the Book Swap event! If you’d like to see Becca’s cakes, you can check out her Facebook page here. So I figured the festival was the perfect excuse to head over to check out the festival, visit Becca and sample her creations at the same time! They haven’t released the programme as yet, but if you go to the site via the image above, you can sign up to their mailing list. They are planning to release the programme on Monday 20th August.

As if that wasn’t enough book-based fun…

 

Manchester Literature Festival will be happening in Manchester from 8th to 23rd October and features a whole host of authors and events. I must have spent previous years living under a rock as, although it’s been running since 2006, I only heard about it last year. I didn’t get chance to go as I heard about it too late, however this year I’ve actually booked a week off work so that I can make the most of it! I spend a lot of May being EXTREMELY jealous of those of you who go to BEA and so I’m hoping this will make up for it a little. The programme has been released and you go to the site by clicking on the image above. I haven’t decided which events I want to go to yet – I’m having trouble narrowing it down as I’m like a kid in a candy store – but I guess I have a little time to figure it all out. One event I’m definitely going to be signing up to is the North by Northwest Literary Coach Tour, which is a tour of various points of interest in the literary world, with a guide who will be reciting extracts, poems, anecdotes and such like. Oh, and it ends at the graveyard where Sylvia Plath is buried – which I think is pretty cool. I’m looking forward to immersing myself in a week of literary endeavours!

Does anyone else have anything exciting to look forward to?

 

I’m back

Time flies, huh? I can’t quite believe that the last post I made was just short of 7 months ago. I never intended to be away for so long, but after I hadn’t posted for a while it seemed harder and harder to get back into it and then some stuff happened and I went on holiday and a whole bunch of other things got in the way. So yeah, it took me until now to find my mojo and post again. I realise this isn’t the first time I’ve been on hiatus, and I can’t promise that it will be the last, but all I can say is that I’m back right now, at this moment in time.

And I’d like to say a big sorry to any followers that I’ve upset by not being around…

This puppy isn’t mine, but I wish he was… he’s so cute!

If you’re reading this it’s either because you’re new to my blog (Hi! Grab a cup of coffee, make yourself at home!) or you decided to stick around to see if I’d return. Either way, I’m glad to be back and I’m glad you’re here. It may be hard to believe but I’m actually not a flaky person ‘In Real Life’. I’m rarely, if ever, late for things; I hate to cancel any kind of plans unless I absolutely have to and when I put my mind to something, I make it happen. So I have no idea why this doesn’t translate into the blogosphere. Actually, that’s not true. I’ve done some thinking whilst I’ve been away and, whilst I hate to use my illness as an ‘excuse’ for something, I actually think it has a lot to do with my anxiety disorder. There are so many amazing blogs out there, that I worry that mine doesn’t live up to them. I worry that my content is boring and that no-one will want to read it. I worry that I’m not posting often enough, that my content isn’t varied enough, yada yada yada. Basically, I worry. A lot.

Then I read this post on Makeshift Bookmark and it was so refreshing to read that Jen was feeling the same things as me. Her Makeshift Commandments really made me sit up and think YES, I can do this. They made me realise that the only person I should be writing for is me. If other people read it then it’s a bonus, but it’s not the end of the world if I don’t get X amount of hits every day. As long as I’m having fun, it’s all good. The post (and the comments underneath it, in full support of Jen’s return) made me want to start posting again.

So here I am. The puppy and I are very sorry and hope you’ll forgive us