April Rounded Up

While the weather outside might have being pretty miserable in April there was a silver lining in that it created the perfect setting for a month of reading hibernation. Don’t you just love it when the rain is beating down outside and the wind is howling but inside your tucked up with a great read, immersed in a completely different world?

I began the month by reading Home To Roost by Tessa Hainsworth. This non-fiction delight charts Hainsworth’s real life transformation from busy business woman in London to a post lady in rural Cornwall. The book is a charming and transporting story which may even inspire it’s reader. I soon forgot our own gloomy weather and felt lost in Tessa’s world on the beautiful Cornish coast.

Next up I stuck with the Cornish theme reading what is now firmly one of my all time favourite books. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.  It seems that it wasn’t only my favourite, judging by everyone else’s reactions you all loved this book too. I now can’t wait to read some more Du Muarier titles. Thanks everyone for your recommendations.

I was fortunate enough that the next book I picked up was another true gem. Getting into the 2012 Olympics I read the powerful and moving Gold by Chris Cleave. Please keep an eye out for my review which will appear very soon. I can’t wait to share my thoughts on this unique and engrossing story.

Finally I finished of the month reading Night by Elie Wiesel. The tone was certainly more sombre and at times difficult to digest, but then aren’t these books sometimes the best? I’ll be posting my review soon and look forward to sharing my thoughts on this one also.

So that was April for me, what about everyone else? Did you read anything special? And what about May any big plans? I don’t have any solid plans. There’s too many books, too little time. But fingers crossed it will be just as exciting a reading journey as April.

Happy Reading Everyone.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

You may remember that I recently pondered the question can too much praise spoil a book? I mused on the idea that over hyping of a novel could leave a reader susceptible for server disappointment, and while this may be the case with some books I was recently reminded that some books simply deserve all of the praise they get.

I’ve always put off reading Rebecca perhaps because it came so heavily recommended, surely it would never live up to my by now high expectations. But then Rebecca is so unique and worlds apart from any other novel that I need never have feared disappointment, from page one I become enthralled and by the end of the novel I was unable to put it down.

The novel opens when our heroine is working as a ladies companion to a wealthy but tiresomely trivial American lady. Shy and introverted but detached and bored with her life in Monte Carlo she finds her attention instantly piqued when she meets the handsome Max De Winter, a rich widower with a dark and brooding past.

Within just two weeks our heroine agrees to be Max’s wife and return to his grand country home; the beautiful Manderley. This may be the escape from dreary companionship that she craves  but the new Mrs De Winter will also learn fresh challenges in this ultimate tale of ‘the other woman’.

Arriving at Manderley it is clear that whilst the late Mrs De Winter, Rebecca, may have died a year ago her presence still lingers in every corner of their home. From flowers in the morning room and letters in the writing desk to the examining glance of strangers our heroine feels herself constantly sized up and compared to the perfect Rebecca. Mrs De Winter feels shy were Rebecca was exuberant and fascinating. She feels plain and ordinary were Rebecca was glamorous and beautiful and worse than anything she feels inadequate in her duties as lady of Manderley where Rebecca was so respected and revered.  Chipping further away at her resolve is the strange and forbidding Mrs Danvers Rebecca’s former maid who makes clear with her hostile manner that Rebecca can never be replaced.

Maybe it’s female sympathy on my behalf but I really felt for and connected with the novels heroine whose real name we incidentally never learn. Du Maurirer seems to be hitting home the ambiguity of her identify and how isolated and insignificant she feels.  As she shrinks further into the shadows suffocated by Rebecca’s memory a deep despair weaves itself into the Novel. Du Maurirer details acutely the heartbreaking reality of her characters life in Manderley and the impossibility of living in the overbearing shadow of Rebecca.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It has everything, a slow burning plot with a dark gothic feel, detailed and engaging characters and a heroine whose journey will have you on the edge of your seat so intimate and real is her plight. I waited too long to read my first Daphne Du Maurier but I’m keen to rectify this. Which books by her would you recommend?

Goodbye August…Hello September

Yes believe it or not it’s that time again. The time to say adious August and welcome in another month which as always will hopefully be filled with many bookish delights. But before I get too excited about the month ahead and all the books I can’t wait to read, it’s time to look back on the books that made August for me.

Sadly this month was a slow one for me, probably because I did something I never do and re read a book, well half a book actually…I will explain. You may remeber that last month I read The God Of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and had a very mixed reaction to it. Whilst on the one hand I was able to appreciate the intelligence and effort that went into this novel I was on the other hand left bereft at my lack of ability to connect with the book. I felt strangely detached from all that happened in the book, slightly defeated by the fact that I had not had the same awe inspiring reaction to it as so many other readers seemed to have had.

When reading the first half of the book I took pain staking time to make sure I fully absorbed every sentence and detail. About half way through though I really gave up and forced myself to fly through the story which is something I never do.

So with this in mind I endevored to read the second half and the result was still a little disapointing. Sadly I didn’t finish the book a true convert to the novel, nor did I feel that I could honeslty say I had discovered the magic of Roy’s work. However I did manage to relax a little, take my time and appreciate certain events and messages within the book that previously had evaded me. I won’t be compltely changing my opinions on this book but I can say the ending was more touching the second time round and for that reason slightly more enjoyable.

So after this slow and rather frustrating read I moved onto something far more uplifting, Witch Light. A story of the atrocious witch hunts in the Seventeenth century and one womans story of survival. The novel was quite unlike anything I usually read and made for a pleasurable story. Especially given that this book describes beautifully the world of Glencoe and all of the majesticy of the natural world. A refreshing change to the rainy days I have been spending in Manchester.

Next up was the wonderful Before I Go To Sleep which I will be reading as part of a  book group tonight…I can’t wait. Until then I will hold back on my thoughts and share them with you in the next few days. I can’t wait to see what everyone else though though and report back to you all.

So what about September, well thankfully I will be enjoying a much needed holiday this month and whislt it might mean a fairly quiet blogging month, for which I apologise in advance, it will hopefully give me the space to catch up on some much needed reading time.

What do you think of my reading choices, I’ve selected Never Look away by Linwood Barclay, I became a fan after reading No Time For Goodbye earlier in the year. A good crime thriller should, fingers crossed, be the perfecr partner for afternoon’s spent by a pool enjoying the sunshine.

I’m also contemplating The Girls by Lori Lansen’s which is the story of conjoined twins. The book comes highly recommended and it seems like a sad but inspiring story so this may well find it’s way into my suitcase. Has anyone else read this book?

I also picked up Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier at a steal of a price from a second hand bookshop. Whilst this might not make it to Spain with me I do hope it makes it onto my reading list in September as I finally have a copy and can’t wait to read it.

And last but not least I picked up a book by an author that I hadn’t even heard of till I saw it’s attractive silver and pink cover. It’s called White Mice and is written Manchester born writer Nicholas Blincoe which I admit also added to the novels appeal. It seems completley different to the type of literature I usually go for and for that reason it’s top of the TBR list.

So that is August summed up for me and thats my plans for September. So what about everyone else? What are you reading and what did you discover in August? What do you think of my selection? Are there any books on there that you have already read or plan to read? I’d love to hear what reading you have been getting up to?

Also if anyone can recommend some great books suitable for a book group then they would be greatly apprecaited. Tonight is our third meet and as of yet I have no suggestions. Any thoughts?

Happy reading everyone, I hope September brings many treasures your way.