B O O K S | A U D I B L E*

Amazon Audible Review – George R. R. Martin – A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

“Before Tyrion Lannister and Podrick Payne there was Dunk and Egg. A young, naïve but courageous hedge knight, Ser Duncan the Tall towers above his rivals – in stature if not experience. Tagging along with him is his diminutive squire, a boy called Egg – whose true identity must be hidden from all he and Dunk encounter: for in reality he is Aegon Targaryen, and one day he will be king. Improbable heroes though they be, great destinies lie ahead for Dunk and Egg; as do powerful foes, royal intrigue, and outrageous exploits. A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS brings together for the first time the first three official prequel novellas to George R.R. Martin’s ongoing masterwork, A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory”.

I only ever buy paper copies of books so I can help keep bookshops open. I like to buy from independent bookshops where I can but if not then Amazon, Waterstones or Foyles will suffice. However, Amazon just kept hounding me about this free Audible book trial so I thought I’d see what there was I could listen to.

Ordinarily Audible is £7.99 per month for one audiobook or £14.99 for two. I find it funny that when you try to cancel they offer you half price membership for three months.

So anyway, my free trial. I went for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Song of Ice & Fire Prequel).

B O O K S | T H E U N P R E D I C T A B L E C O N S E Q U E N C E S O F L O V E*

I haven’t done a book review in a loooooong, long time! What is wrong with me? Well, what’s wrong is that I haven’t read anything. Well, I read Harry Potter 1-7 at the beginning of the holidays but I don’t count that because I know the story back to front. When I get into these types of ruts where I just have no motivation to read, I start off with something light and easy to get me back in the mood to read things a bit more taxing. I was in ASDA and decided that a Jill Mansell book would do the trick, it was rolled back to £3. A whole saving of 50p!!! Whoop! ‘The Unpredictable Consequences of Love’ is nothing too mentally taxing and nothing that will require too much thinking. Jill writes those lovey dovey girly books that start off with a character that has some sort of problem or issue and a man comes along and suddenly solves that problem and everything is hunky dory.

M U S I N G S | C O C O N U T C H I L D H O O D*

Coconut Childhood. Memories and Reflections of Multi-racial Schools and Stereotypes in the Late 90's and Early 00's

As a reading assignment over the summer (one of many), we were set the task to read Maya Angelou’s first semi-autobiographical novel ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings‘, a detailed account of life growing up watching the ‘sweet little white girls’ as a ‘too-big Negro girl with nappy black hair’ (p.3). Continuing on through the first handful of chapters and being mindful of themes and of course the historic context of writing I was aware, as I’m sure many hundreds of thousands before me have been, that I felt so many overwhelming similarities with Maya’s thoughts and feelings. As a result it has taken me a long, long while to actually have the courage to begin reading again. During one of the lengthy pauses in reading I got to thinking about my own experiences as a little girl, feeling more or less the same way she did and it struck me that it was only after moving to a ‘whiter’ area that these feelings became apparent. 

B O O K | F I T Z G E R A L D – B E R N I C E B O B S H E R H A I R*

 

Book Review - F. Scott Fitzgerald - Flappers & Philosophers - Bernice Bobs Her Hair

 

Don’t you just love a good looking book? I love a good looking book. This, is a good looking book.

When I saw this in the gift shop at the British Library I had to have it. It wasn’t even until I was on the tube going home that I even looked at what I had bought. It was book lust plain and simple.

Apparently it was Fitzgerald’s collection of short stories entitled ‘Flappers & Philosophers‘.

Without being all ‘literary’ bout it, I’ll tell you why I love this story so much. During school there was always that one girl you thought was out to get you…. Right? And no one else saw it. They thought she was sweet as pie. Like butter wouldn’t melt. She did things to make you feel down and low and everyone thought you were exaggerating. She’d build  you up, only to drag you right back down all the while grinning like the Cheshire cat. Oh yeah, we’ve all been there. Keeping that scenario in mind, let’s look at Bernice Bobs Her Hair. 

B O O K S | C U R R E N T R E A D S*

As part of what is fast becomming a dissertation based on sexual murders and the numerous cases in Berlin during the Weimar period 1918-33, I have started to read ‘Lustmord’, the definitive secondary source on the German phenomenon and its portrayal in art, literature, film and popular culture. It’s disturbing, but then again I like that kind of thing. I should probabaly be nicknamed Macabre Mary.

So far, I’m finding this a very slow starter but an encouraging comment from Eye of Lynx on one of my previous posts has made me want to continue with the commitment to the book and finish what I started. So far though, the story isn’t half bad, it just drags a lot. I do however like the main character (always a plus) and the style of writing despite the snails pace. If you’d like to read a great post on why you should also read this, click here.

B O O K | M A R C H R E A D S*

I just thought I’d post a handful of the books that I’ll be reading over the coming months I’ll probably do full reviews during the A-Z Blogging Challenge if any of you are interested in the follow up. – There used to be a time where I could read all three of these books in a week but nowadays I rarely get to read for pleasure  what with my degree heavily focused on reading and individual learning. However, these are a few books that have really caught my eye and I hope to get stuck into them before exam season hits and I’m left with no time at all to do so.

B O O K | T H E C R I M S O N P E T A L A N D T H E W H I T E *

Book Review - The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber

(Please excuse my empty wine glass, I wasn’t feeling like wine red when I took the photo and that’s all I had in. There’s no point wasting it now is there?)

“So begins this irresistible voyage into the dark side of Victorian London. Amongst an unforgettable cast of low-lifes, physicians, businessmen and prostitutes, meet our heroine, Sugar, a young woman trying to drag herself up from the gutter any way she can. Be prepared for a mesmerising tale of passion, intrigue, ambition and revenge.”