August Reads

 

August was a good reading-month with eight books from a variety of genres and in two different languages. What's more, there wasn't a bad story among these titles.

MURDER IN AN IRISH VILLAGE (Irish Village Mystery #1) by Carlene O'Connor (3.5*)

After her parents’ untimely death in a car accident, Siobhan O’Sullivan is trying to keep the family’s bistro afloat and her siblings under control when a man is found sitting in the bistro with pink scissors protruding from his chest. When her brother is accused of the murder, Siobhan decides to investigate. I liked the book well enough but didn’t love it. For starters, it could have done with an extra round of editing. It also read like a book written specifically for the American market. The Irishness of the characters and the language they use felt like a parody.

A RECIPE FOR MURDER by G.S. Revel Burroughs (5*)

A clever, well-written, and captivating mystery. I enjoyed the book from start to finish and found it difficult to put my Kindle down.

A SUNLIT WEAPON (Maisie Dobbs #17) by Jacqueline Winspear (4.5*)

Much more than ‘just’ a mystery as what starts out as a local investigation into somebody taking potshots at spitfires and shooting at least one out of the sky meets international intrigue involving Eleanor Roosevelt. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed this Maisie Dobbs story.

ONE BAD APPLE by Jo Jakeman (4.5*)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing is smooth, and the story captured my attention from the start. The characters in this book were recognisable as were the interactions between them. At times reading the book was a little like watching a car crash in slow motion as slowly but steadily relationships and reputations unravel. All of it kept me captivated from the opening paragraphs until the surprising and unconventional ending.

A FRONT-PAGE MURDER (Poppy Danby Investigates #1) by Fiona Veitch Smith (4*)

Previously published under the title The Jazz Files. While this is more a crime caper than a mystery and I did roll my eyes on quite a few occasions while reading A Front Page Murder, I had a hard time putting this book down. This story is pure entertainment for anybody who enjoys their mysteries with a generous helping of shenanigans. And while I think I prefer the Miss Clara Vale mysteries by this author, I’m pretty sure I’ll return to Poppy Denby’s adventures before too long.

FRIENDS OF DOROTHY by Sandi Toksvig (5+*)

I adored this book. It’s almost certainly going to be (one of) my favourite book(s) this year and goes straight to my ‘extra-special’ list. There is so much to love on these pages. Quirky and charming characters, lively dialogue, and not a boring moment, make this a memorable read. Friends of Dorothy is a delightful book! So much so that I want to live in Grimaldi Square, be part of that world, and become one of Dorothy’s friends.

WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart (4*)

A story about four teenagers told by one of them, Cadence, as she tries to remember what happened two years previously. As the title of the book indicates, we’re dealing with an unreliable narrator; one who isn’t telling the (whole) truth, even to herself because her memory fails her. When the truth eventually emerges it comes as a huge shock, both to Cadence and to the reader. The writing was a bit flowery and over-descriptive to my liking at times but, given that the story is written from a teenager’s perspective and that teenagers are prone to exaggerating, I guess it fits the story.

GA JE ER OVER SCHRIJVEN? (ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE ABOUT IT?) by Herman Koch (4.5*)

A memoir/autobiography inspired by the author’s diagnosis with terminal prostate cancer but about so much more than just the disease and how he deals with it. I recognised a lot in what he wrote and not just in the passages about cancer but also in those about his parents, grief, and writing to name but a few.

Four of these titles have release dates in September and longer reviews can be found by clicking on the titles.:

A Recipe for Murder - September 9

One Bad Apple - September 19: 

A Front-Page Murder - September 24: 

Friends of Dorothy - September 26: 

 

Constellations by Sinéad Gleeson

244 pages

Book club read

Blurb

I have come to think of all the metal in my body as artificial stars, glistening beneath the skin, a constellation of old and new metal. A map, a tracing of connections and a guide to looking at things from different angles.

How do you tell the story of life that is no one thing? How do you tell the story of a life in a body, as it goes through sickness, health, motherhood? And how do you tell that story when you are not just a woman but a woman in Ireland? In these powerful and daring essays, Sinéad Gleeson does that very thing. In doing so she delves into a range of subjects: art, illness, ghosts, grief, and our very ways of seeing. In writing that is in tradition of some of our finest writers such as Olivia Laing, Maggie O'Farrell, and Maggie Nelson, and yet still in her own spirited, warm voice, Gleeson takes us on a journey that is both personal and yet universal in its resonance.

Review

…and then there are those times when I feel totally unprepared and even less equipped to write a ‘worthy’ review. Never mind that I’ve been sharing my thoughts about the books I read for at least fifteen years. Maybe fiction is easier because it gives you a linear story to follow, but I think that’s not really the issue here.

For starters, Constellations and Sinéad Gleeson are in a league of their own when it comes to language—beautiful language, fluent language, descriptive language, emotive language, efficient language… I could go on, but you get my  drift. Every single word on these 244 pages has a purpose, and most of them left me in awe. The book as a whole left me in no doubt that my ‘second language’ English is just not up to the task of doing Constellations justice.

But it’s more than that. I recognised so very much in this book, despite the fact that my background couldn’t be more different from the authors. My (medical) history doesn’t compare to Gleeson’s but many of her thoughts and feelings about dealing with a chronic condition and its life-long consequences struck home. But despite all the ‘oh yes, me too’ moments, there were at least as many where my reaction was the almost exact opposite of what I found on the page.

I’m not sure I have ever taken as long to read 244-page book. Nor did I ever stick as many sticky notes between two covers or fill as many pages with quote after quote after quote. You’d think that those notes would make writing a review easier but most of those ‘highlighted’ paragraphs and quotes are strictly personal to me, food for thought that will keep me thinking for days, weeks, months to come and may even encourage me to write that book I’ve been thinking about for the past twenty-odd years. All of them are fascinating, while none are helpful when it comes to giving an objective overview of this breath-taking book.

January hasn’t quite ended yet, but I think that with Constellations I may have finished the best book I’m going to read this year. Thought-provoking, enlightening, and touching this deeply personal memoir resonated with me in a way other people’s experiences rarely do. I have no doubt others will go through the same process of recognition and reflection—about being female, about life and death, and about learning to live with a chronic medical condition—I experienced and for that reason alone I’ll probably never stop talking about this book and recommending it to anyone who asks for my opinion.

The Bend for Home by Dermot Healy

307 Pages

Book Club Read

The blurb

One day, years after he's moved away from his childhood home in rural Ireland, Dermot Healy returns to care for his ailing mother. Out of the blue she hands him the forgotten diary he had kept as a fifteen-year-old. He is amazed to find the makings of the writer he has become, as well as taken aback at the changes his memory has wrought upon the events of the past. Here is the seed of his story-the vision of the boy meets the memory of the man-which creates a stunning, illusory effect.

The strange silhouettes who have haunted his past come back to inhabit these pages: his father, a kind policeman who guides him back to bed when he stumbles down the stairs sleepwalking; his mother, whose stories young Dermot has heard so often that he believes they are his own; or Aunt Masie, whose early disappointment in love has left her both dreamy and cynical. In this billowing and expansive series of recollections, Healy has traced the very shape of human memory.

My thoughts

‘What happened is a wonder, though memory is always incomplete, like a map with places missing. But it’s all right, it’s entered the imagination and nothing is ever the same.’

This was a fascinating read, and I have no idea what I want to say about it, or how to say it. The Bend for Home is as much a book filled with memories as it is a reflection on what memories are and what shapes them. It reminds us that memories can’t be trusted.

‘Language, to be memorable, dispenses with accuracy.’

But it also shows us that sometimes memories are better off staying hidden because not all our moments were such that we can be proud of them retrospectively.

‘Are you reading about the good old times? asked my mother.

I am, I said, wincing.

Aren’t you glad I kept it? she said.

Oh yes, I agreed.’

But, maybe more than anything this story is proof that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Families have always been and will continue to be a wonderful blessing interspersed with moments of pure frustration. Teenagers have always and will continue to push boundaries, try to spread their wings before they’re really ready to do so, and experiment with attraction, lust and love.

This is a book about beginnings and endings. Most of the book deals with Dermot Healy’s childhood and teenage years; the time when others looked after him, or tried to do so. The last section of the book tells of the time when Healy took care of his now elderly mother and aunt and life has gone full circle. He whose antics had been frowned upon but lovingly dealt with, now finds himself having to find the same patience while he looks after two strong minded but no longer able bodied women. This last part of the book was heartbreakingly honest.

‘Looking after mother is like watching language losing its meaning.’

If I had to label this book I’d call it a combination between memoir and philosophical essay. I enjoyed the historical look at Cavan, the county I live in, and the towns where I do my shopping, but I loved the all the statements and observations that made me stop reading and think. I could have filled this post with endless amounts of quotes and had a hard time limiting myself to those I did use. If you like a thought provoking and somewhat poetical memoir I recommend you pick up The Bend for Home.

‘What has happened repeatedly turns into a ritual. What has not happened turns into the mystery.’

WICKED GAMES

TITLE: WICKED GAMES

           My Year of Submission

AUTHOR: KELLY LAWRENCE

Pages: 244

Date: 08/07/2013

Grade: 4.5

Details: Non-Fiction

            Received from Black Lace

Own

“I can, without hesitation, thoroughly recommend nipple clamps.”

When Kelly, a twenty-six year old adult literacy teacher, meets Alex the attraction between them is instant. But even on their very first date it becomes clear that Alex isn’t like the men Kelly has dated before. He tells her to wear something red – a request (or is it an order?) she ignores - orders her drink for her without asking what she wants and shows her what happens to girls who don’t do as they’re told as soon as they get back to her house. A spanking isn’t what Kelly was expecting at the end of her first date and she knows she should put a stop to it, but:

“…and as much as part of me wanted to jump out of his grasp and demand he leave, my body was a purring kitten under his touch, she wasn’t going anywhere. My inner slut was well and truly taking over.”

It is on subsequent date that Alex explains to Kelly that his passions are far from what is considered regular. He is into BDSM, wants to dominate the woman he is with and needs her to submit to him. Kelly is confused about what he has told her and doesn’t really know what any of it means but:

“I couldn’t lie to myself: I was intrigued. I wanted to know exactly what he had in mind, to experience the secrets his words hinted at.”

A visit to a local fetish club and talk with the professional Dominatrix she meets there, clarify some aspects of this lifestyle for her but no amount of watching or talking can prepare her for the things she will experience once she decides that she does want to explore this world. Her attraction to Alex is too strong and her curiosity has been aroused by the way she reacted to that first spanking. And after her first full play session with Alex she has to admit that:

“Even if I never saw Alex again, I knew I wouldn’t be the same person, at least sexually, as I had been before I stepped into that bedroom.”

It isn’t long before both Kelly and Alex have to admit that what they are experiencing is more than just sexual attraction and compatibility. Kelly falls completely under Alex’ spell:

“The way he could switch from being the perfect gentleman to looking at me like he could strip my clothes from my flesh with just the force of his gaze made my mouth go dry.”

But their relationship and growing feelings don’t leave the far more experienced Alex unaffected either:

“…I feel like I’m losing myself in you. I was planning on keeping the orgasm denial going until tomorrow but as soon as I was inside you, I lost all thought. It was remiss of me.”

But just as it seems that Alex and Kelly have found their way to happiness, a blast from Alex’ past emerges to throw a spanner in the works; a spanner of such magnitude that it may just put an end to Kelly’s happiness and newly discovered pleasures.

As you may have noticed, I’ve been reading a lot of erotic books lately. And quite a few of those books had stories about a character being somewhat sexually frustrated for reasons they couldn’t identify, meeting someone who turns out to be into BDSM, recognises their need/want and sets out to seduce them and introduce them to the pleasures of submission.

The story in this book runs along those lines as well. Except that it isn’t a story that sprung from someone’s imagination. No, according to the cover this is “a real-life erotic romance”. While reading this book I couldn’t get over how much fact – or real life if you will – imitates fiction. And then I had to give myself a good face-slap. Fact imitating fiction? I don't think so. It is far more likely that the people who wrote the erotic novels I have been reading and enjoying actually knew what they were writing about and got it so right that by the time I read a factual account of submission I had a hard time remembering that it wasn’t fiction.

This book reads as easy as a good work of fiction does. The story is as gripping and as hot as any work of erotica should be while the characters - well they aren’t really characters of course since this isn’t a work of fiction - are fascinating. In fact it is because this book isn’t fiction that the story is so intriguing. While Kerry does resemble a lot of the newly submissive characters you find in novels, Alex is a bit more realistic than most Doms you find in erotic fiction. He’s no billionaire for starters and does make mistakes, can’t always keep his Dom persona up and is as vulnerable as Kerry when the relationship is under threat. And, more importantly, he’s not afraid to share those mistakes and doubts with Kerry.

This book fascinated me as did Kerry. I loved everything she discovered about herself and how she continued to explore her boundaries even while questioning herself.

“And so there was another line crossed, and yet more territory he had conquered.”

I smiled when Anna, the Dominatrix gives Kerry some literature to learn more about BDSM: “The Story of O” and “Exit to Eden”; two works of fiction I’m well familiar with and which do, indeed, provide a lot of insight into the lifestyle.

I think this is a wonderful book for anyone who has been reading erotic novels and, like me, has found themselves wondering how realistic they actually are. This book does prove that the line between fact and fiction, like the one between pain and pleasure, is indeed a very fine one.