Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Books 20-22

No.20. "The Slap" by Christos Tsiolkas, (Atlantic Books, 2010)

This is the book that everybody seems to be talking about and it's place on the Man Booker longlist will undoubtedly secure a fresh surge of interest. So let's begin by saying it's worthy of all this hype surrounding it...

It begins at a barbecue, friends and family have gathered, too much food has been prepared and as the drink begins to flow, differences of opinon are aired and tempers start to fray. And then a man slaps a (particularly precocious) child - the child is not his own. From this moment the lives of a host of characters are thrown into turmoil as the slap revererates through relationships and tests (some already rather shaky) family ties.

Tsiolkas focuses each chapter on a different voyeur present at the opening barbecue scene, creating an array of utterly believable and wonderfully complex characters. A cast that ultimately leaves the reader grappling with the indecision of who to side with.

I really admired the honesty with which the author portrayed contemporary Melbourne as a vibrant, culturally diverse city that is still struggling to embrace this diversity. Tsiolkas introduces Greeks, Indians and Australians - all with their unique and evolving beliefs about the concept of the family and epitomises these beliefs without falling into the trap of oversimplifying or generalising.

This is a truly remarkable and though-provoking novel that captures with great tenderenss how one brief moment can send lasting ripples through the lives of so many different individuals. Definitely one of the best books I've read this year so far.

Started: July 6th Finished: July 10th

No.21. "Brazil" by John Updike, (Penguin, 2006)

A tragic love story with a good old-fashioned dose of smut!

Brazil begins on the steamy sands of Copacabana beach, where Tristao - a black boy from the slums of Rio - spots wealthy white girl Isabel. From the almost the moment the pair meet they believe themselves destined for one another and both are quick to pledge their commitment to their relationship. However, as their families and complete strangers make repeated attempts to separate the couple it becomes apparent that their being together has condemed them both to a lifetime of fighting for their relationship.

The result is a life on the run, across some of Brazil's wildest landscapes, where Tristao and Isabel's physical differences always eventually prevent them from living the peaceful life together that they so badly crave.

Updike muddles travel, sex, love and some really top quality writing to create a concoction as irresistable as a caprihina! I love the slightly mystical twist near the end of this novel, which seemed to intensify all of the trauma of the lovers's journey in such a simple fashion.

This book made me weep like a baby and swoon like a total girl!

Started: July 11th Finished: July 16th

No.22. "Jezebel" by Irene Nemirovsky, (Random House, 2010)

My first taste of Nemirovsky and probably not the most natural place to begin! "Jezebel" was one of two items found in the safe of Fanny Nemirovsky (Irene's mother) when she died in her nineties. Nemirovsky had a famously troubled relationship with her mother so it seems rather fittting that one of the objects Fanny secretly saved is a novel about a woman whose increasingly volatile relationship with her own daughter leads to her final demise!

"Jezebel" begins in a courtroom, where Gladys - a self-obsessed socialite - is on trial for murdering a young man believed to be her lover. As the case unfolds, more and more witnesses take the stand and we are drawn into the life history of the accused. Gladys is revealed as a slave to vanity as her fixation with her appearance and how it is changing as she grows older leads her to the point of insanity.

Gladys's cruelty is heartbreaking throughout as she continues to turn her back on those around her in a desperate ploy to protect the secret of her age.

This isn't the most dynamic book that I've read this year, but the unfaltering poise of the Nemirovsky's prose has certainly awoken a desire in me to read another of her titles.

Started: July 18th Finished: July 19th

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - Whatever Happened to the Classics (episode 2)

Zeitoun put me in the mood for some more page-turning reading so I went back to the classics but in "short-boys-classics" mode. Here were the next quick-fire three with very brief assessments:

Book 5 - Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger - No idea, given my obsession with American fiction, how I managed not to read this until now. Still, judging by sales since Salinger's death, I'm not the only one. Anyway I loved it. I can see why lots of people don't mind you. It doesn't go anywhere and Holden is infuriatingly contrary at times. But he's well-meaning and there's such a captivating mix of emotions as you follow his scattergun thought processes and movements for the book's short time frame. I can only imagine (distantly) ho

w fabulous this novel must be if you're reading it as a 15 year old book addicted boy.

Book 6 - 39 Steps by John Buchan - Thoroughly enjoyed finally reading this. I find myself with little to say about it though - it really is just the quintessential British boys adventure story - I preferred the opening sequences and the initial train/highland chases to the later sections. It's dated but

it remains a great recommendation for any teenage boy showing worrying signs of reading ambivalence!

Book 7 - Farewell my Lovely by Raymond Chandler - Genius. Never read Chandler (to my brother-in-law Harvey's disgust). From the moment Marlowe follows

Moose Malloy into a grotty bar in the first couple of pages saying something along the lines of "it was none of my business, so I followed him right in". I was addicted to Chandler's infamous dialogue style. The plot is ridiculously twisty but it's the characters and their conversations (particularly between Marlowe and the many dangerous women he hangs out with) that makes it such a page-turner for me.

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - Whatever Happened to the Classics (episode 1)

Somewhere along the line I stopped blogging about my year of reading the classics that you'd have thought a bookshop owner had already read. I think it was shortly after I stopped reading them.

Here's what happened......Episode 1.

Still reeling from the miserable experience of reading the first half of Wuthering Heights, my fourth book of the year was a recent book instead of another classic. I read "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers which is a fascinating, compelling and often depressing account of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

At the time of the hurricane the eponymous hero - originally from Syria - was an upstanding member of the New Orleans with an 11-year old building contracting business with an excellent reputation. After sticking out the hurricane in the top floor of his house he took to the deserted waterways that were once the streets of his neighbourhood in a small metal canoe. In those first days after the hurricane he spends his time feeding abandoned dogs, saving neighbours trapped in their homes and checking up on his properties and those of his friends. That is until, whilst making his daily attempt to call home from the one functioning telephone in the area, he is taken into custody by the National Guardsmen who were "helping" "police" the city at that time.

And that's where it gets really ugly. I won't give away the whole sorry saga but suffice to say Zeitoun's incarceration in the hastily constructed bus-station-cum-prison "Camp Greyhound" and then beyond was as long and inhumane as his arrest was sudden and unjust. The story that Eggers has to tell is a shocking and important one and it makes for a gripping read. The style is not overly literary (and there seem to be a few editing glitches in that a number of sentences/phrases are repeated early on) but as a long piece of journalism Zeitoun is superb.

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Books 18 and 19

I've just read a couple of absolute stunners!

No.18. "The Financial Lives of the Poets" by Jess Walter (Penguin, 2010)

First up a proof copy of this debut novel due out in August this year. This is very funny and genuinely moving account of an ordinary guy struggling to protect his family and his finances during the recent economic crisis. When Matt Prior's idea for a publication combining financial advice with poetry fails he finds himself jobless and teetering towards repossession of the home he and his wife had always dreamed of owning. Under the impression of some rather strong marijuana (consumed in a bid to re-live his youth) Matt takes some rather drastic and ill-advised measures in order to protect his lot, with devastating results.

Jess Walter describes Matt's downward spiral, in which every frustration leads to yet another terrible decision with a dymanic sense of wit and oodles of surprising sensitivity (I even cried a tiny bit! How embarrassing!). Most of the chapters are introduced by one of Matt's own quriky poems depicting his situation. But don't be put off if poetry isn't usually your cup of tea, most of the poems are prosaical and therefore easy to follow with only scatterings of rhyme.

A really exciting novel from a brilliant new writer.

Started: June 20th Finished: June 26th

No.19. "The Road Home" by Rose Tremain (Vintage, 2008)

You know you're in safe hands with Rose Tremain! This is the third book I've read of hers, each of the three have come from different genres ("Restoration" = historical fiction, "Trespass" = literary thriller and "The Road Home" = literary fiction) proving Tremain to be a literary chameleon, but all share her sophisticated and beautifully controlled style.

In "The Road Home", Lev and Immigrant from Eastern Europe has come to London in search of work to support his stubborn mother and his adoring five-year-old daughter Maya, both of whom he has left behind in his home country. Life in London proves tough, as Lev struggles to find a job which will support his own lifestyle, let alone that of his family. Gradually with the support of Lydia (a fellow immigrant who he meets on his bus journey to the UK), Lev finds his feet; a job, a home, some friends and even a girlfriend. But Lev is still haunted by the life he left behind and frequently dreams of his deceased wife and his lifelong friend Rudi. So when he meets a young man from his homeland who gives him the news he's been dreading Lev's duty to his country and to his family cannot be ignored.

Started: June 26th Finished: June 30th

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Books 15 - 17

I've gotten a little behind with my blogging (and more to the point with my reading year - yikes!) so here are my latest three reads:

No.15. "The News Where you Are" by Catherine O'Flynn (Penguin, 2010)

I absolutely loved "What was Lost" (Catherine's debut, Costa Award-winning novel) so I was so excited about Catherine's new book due out in July this year and I'm pleased to say that I wasn't disappointed!

"The News Where you Are" centres around Frank - a regional newsreader who has become a local legend due to the shame-worthy gags he cracks on the nightly news. The real joke of course is that Frank accepts his role as the clown of the local news as a result of his typically english overly-polite manner; which ultimately makes rejecting the writing of needy gag-writer Cyril totally impossible! But Frank's jokey on-screen persona leads him to consider his life outside of work, and to think about the legacy that he will leave behind as the builidings designed by his father (an architect) are gradually pulled down.

Catherine O'Flynn has created a really strong cast of secondary characters including Frank's wonderfully curious daughter Mo, his lively predecessor on the news Phil and his bitter co-presenter Julia. Just like "What was Lost" this novel is funny and tender in a way that now seems signature to Catherine O'Flynn.

Started: May 17th Finished: May 28th

No.16. "The Manual of Detection" by Jedediah Berry (Windmill Books 2010)

A real intriguing and kooky debut novel that reminded me a bit of Jasper Fforde (but a bit more fantastical).

The story begins in a train station, where Charles Unwin, an efficient and humble detective's clerk is taking his daily detour on his route to work in order to spot a mysterious woman in a plaid coat. On one particular morning Charles's little side trip finds him unexpectedly and unwillingly promoted to the role of detective and in his bid to discover the cause of his sudden rise through the ranks Charles becomes embroiled in a tangled and rather strange mystery... Why do the inhabitants of the city keep falling asleep at such odd times? Where have all of the alarm clocks diappeared to? And what has happened to the iluustrious detective Travis Sivart? With only a rather dubious detection manual and a very sleepy assistant to help him, Charles finds himseld in the face of a real challenge.

Each chapter of this cleverly-constructed novel begins with an extract from the aforementioned manual, giving a the book a lovely clarity, which I found essential as the plot became progressively more wacky! I must say that towards the end of the novel the story had become a little bit too fantastial for my taste, but overall this is a really enjoyable, imaginatively put-together novel.

Started: May 29th Finished: June 10th

No. 17. "Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto" by Maile Chapman (Random House, 2010)

Sorry to get a little ahead - this one isn't actually due out until August but when I saw the taglines on the proof which included rave reviews from Audrey Niffeneger and Junot Diaz (author of "Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao") and the comparison to early Ian McEwan I had to read it!

The concept of the book is really interesting: it's set on the top floor of a women's hospital in 1920's Finland, where a group of wealthy "up-patients" are residing with their various minor complaints. All are physically able, most are mentally sound, and they enjoy a life of structured luxury consisting of saunas, nutritious meals and the undivided attention of qualified nurses. The result resembles something akin to a spa or a rehabilitation centre, with women returning to Suvanto on a seasonal basis. Attending to the every whim of these "patients" is unflappable Sunny a nurse from America who struggles with the Finnish language, but enjoys the solitude that her job affords her.

All is calm until the ranks are shaken by the arrival of Julia a fiery Danish dance teacher who refuses to warm to the hospital's friendly atmosphere and Dr Peter Webber who is developing a new surgical stitch and wants to refocus the top floor of Suvanto to house expectant mothers.

In places Chapman's writing is absolutely sublime, she captures the unsual combination of clinical and luxurious so perfectly and holds throughout the novel an understated tension which makes this a really exciting book to read.

Started: June 11th Finished: June 19th

The Big One - England v. USA

But what you really want to know is who we choose to represent England and USA - certainly the two World Cup Nations offering us the widest choice of potential bookish representatives. With the luxury of choice we added a criterion to our decision-making - we tried to pick not just a slim excellent novel but a slim excellent novel with a sporty undertone.

With that, the English choice made itself. The quintessentially English J.L.Carr once wrote a novel of sportsmanship and success against-all-odds. A tale of plucky wannabes somehow clawing their way to unfeasible heights in the beautiful game. "How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup" is that novel and, let's face it, it's looking like we're going to need miracles akin to village teams snatching major trophies to see England progress.

And their opponents? One of the great unsung heroes of C20 American literature, John Fante with his tale of a young man yearning to become a baseball star and so break away from his penniless small-town Colorado existence. A brilliant novella which if the books weren't reliant on the results of their football playing compatriots would be a real contender for victory.

Result: Carr 1 Fante 1. As predicted Fante punches above his weight and Carr proves just a little too sporting.

Mr B's World Cup of Books: Day 2

Day 2 brought the World Cup fever to England, but before we took centre stage, up stepped Greece and South Korea.

Representing Greece for our version of things is one of their leading contemporary novelists Panos Karnezis with his latest translated release "The Convent" (set, confusingly, in a delapidated and remote convent in the Spanish sierra).

Up against him for South Korea, our first bit of slight cheating due to the difficulty of finding an actively translated South Korean novelist. We resorted instead to the excellent Korean-American novelist Chang Rae-Lee. Not his latest which is a little too chunky to devour during half-time breaks, but his 2005 novel, "Aloft".

Result: Rae-Lee 2 Karnezis - 0.

Next up. Argentina v. Nigeria. Four years ago we went with Borges to represent Argentina. But it seemed too obvious to repeat that now, plus we're trying to focus on really slim put-them-in-your-pocket-to-read-at-halftime novels. So this time around it's Adolfo Bioy-Casares with his psychological sci-fi classic "The Invention of Morel".

But he faced a toughie in his opening match. The undisputed champion of Nigerian literature, Chinua Achebe. To ring the changes slightly we steered clear of his masterpiece autobiographical fiction titles "Things Fall Apart" and "Never at Ease" and went for his Booker-prize shortlisted novel of African dictatorship and political upheaval, "Anthills of the Savannah".

Result: Casares 1 Achebe 0

Mr B's World Cup of Books:Day 1

The vuvuzelas blared, a continent united in joy, the World Cup finally reaches African soil, and as the dust settles, two key players line up in the tunnel for the first Mr B's World Cup of Books match-up:
For South Africa, a new literary light taking his place as South Africa's representative ahead of maestros such as Coetzee and Gordimer. Damon Galgut with "The Impostor"

And his opposition representing Mexico: Carlos Fuentes with his latest novel "Happy Families"

Result: Galgut-1, Fuentes-1


And batting for France Muriel Barbery with "The Gourmet" - a must read for any budding foodie centring around an eminent food critic who is desperate to pin down an elusive flavour...

Taking on the mighty Barbery is Juan Carlos Onetti from Uruguay with his novel "A Brief Life"

Result: Barbery-0 Onetii-0

Mr B's World Cup of Books

Four years ago Mr B's opened its doors, sorry "door" for the very first time. The country was in the midst of a baking hot June of World Cup fever.

We decided against displaying the same old football biographies and picture books and instead went for the far more complicated and approach of tracking down a great book from each of the nations competing in the World Cup. And thus the Mr B's World cup of Books was born.

AND NOW IT'S BACK 2010 STYLE

So here's the rub. We have identified a novel to represent each World Cup nation. For the most part they are wonderful novels written by natives of that nation. Occasionally (damn you Paraguay) we've had to be a bit more wishy-washy and choose something set in or about the country in question because a total lack of translated fiction from those countries.

Each day as their footballing counterparts do battle we'll be displaying the literary match up in our shop window. And all 32 World Cup of books titles are on display (not to mention for sale) upstairs in our bibliotherapy room.

Kate's Reading Challenge: Book Fourteen

No.14. "The Quickening Maze" by Adam Foulds (Vintage, 2010)

I've always been a big fan of English poet John Clare (I even made a short film about him at University) so this has been on my 'must read' list for some time now.

"The Quickening Maze" depicts a portion of the time that Clare spent at High Beach Asylum in Essex where he was incarcenated for four years before walking all the way home to Northampton. As Clare meanders amongst the dense labyrinths of Epping forest he manically composes poems and searches for his childhood sweetheart. Meanwhile the Asylum's ambitious owner Dr Matthew Allen is hatching a plan to make a fortune with the help of his young wealthy benefactor Alfred Tennyson.

This is a wonderful blend of fact and fiction and the subject matter is complemented so beautifully by Foulds's wandering, poetic style.

Started: May 1st Finished: May 15th

Kates Reading Challenge: Book Thirteen

No.13 "The Rehearsal" by Eleanor Catton (Granta, 2010)

OK so back to contemporary reads for my latest read. This is a fabulous debut novel from Eleanor Catton, proving her worthy of her place on the Shortlist for the Guardian First Book Award.

"The Rehearsal" tells two overlapping stories; one of an affair between a student and a teacher at a high school, and the second of a group of drama students who turn the scandal into a performance.

At the high school the girls struggle to deal with the betrayal of their fellow student Victoria, who has kept her juicy secret away from even her closest friends, but find relief in an unlikely confidant; their bitterly honest saxophone teacher.
As the commotion of the scandal cools, the drama students prepare to put their own spin on Victoria's secret, unaware of how it will personally affect one of their own players...

Catton's style is edgy yet wonderfully controlled. She flips back and forth between the two stories, which shift in time schemes and chronology, and creates a really contemporary and off-beat texture to the novel, which I loved. This is definitely one of the best books I've read so far this year.

Started: April 24th Finished: April 30th

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Book Twelve

No.12. 'Brighton Rock' by Graham Greene (Penguin: Viking, 2004)

After a brief affair with new Ian McEwan, 'Solar' (I'll come back to this one at a later date I think!) I've turned my attentions to something a little more classic yet again (oops!) - my first Graham Greene.

This took me an embarrassingly long time to read but it was fabulous! Set in seedy 30's Brighton Fred Hale is the vulnerable centrepiece of a newspaper competition, in which he must distribute cards across the seaside hotspots, awaiting recognition from a member of the public. However, Fred's mission is thwarted by the threatening presence of a teenage gang member 'Pinkie' - the novel's antihero, who is after Hale's blood.

Two women become embroiled in this tangled plot of gang rivalry, Ida Arnold a kind-hearted woman who turns detective in a bid for justice and Rose an impressionable waitress who harbours the power but not the will to see Pinkie's gang meet their maker.

I loved the characters in this novel, particularly Pinkie and his manner of predicting and then trying to control the actions of the others. This is a real classic, thrilling and thoughtful.

Started: April 9th Finished: April 24th

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Book Eleven

No.11: 'The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim' by Jonathan Coe (Penguin:Viking, 2010)

Due out at the end of May this year, Jonathan Coe's latest novel is a book to look forward to;

funny and refreshing ' The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim' is very much a novel of our era. We meet Maxwell Sim - a recently-divorced, slightly dippy salesman - in a very reflective mood, as he observes a beautiful Chinese woman and her daughter in a restaurant. And so begins an adventure through Maxwell's past as he ponders his ropey relationships with his family.
At the centre of the story is Maxwell's mission to drive to the most Northern point of the UK (Shetland) to promote an eco-friendly toothbrush design, with only his trusty sat-nav (affectionately named Emma) for company. Along the way Maxwell stops off to reacquaint himself with a number of old faces including the ex-neighbour of his father, the parents and sister of an old friend, his ex-wife and his daughter, in a bid to make a crucial life decision.

Within the story Coe imbeds a series of short stories written by other characters from the book, which shift the narrative perspective and offer a series of subplots. These diversions are so convincingly imbedded within the main story and move along the action of Maxwell's adventure in an effortless fashion. For me though, the most successful aspect of 'The Terrible Privacy' is the painful honesty with which Maxwell himself is portrayed as a man who is gradually becoming more aware of his shortcomings.

I can't wait to hear Jonathan talk about this novel when he speaks at Mr B's on June 15th...

Started: 18th March Finished: 23rd March

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Book Ten

No.10: 'The Unnamed' by Joshua Ferris (Penguin - Viking, 2010)

Fans of Joshua Ferris's wonderful ' Then we Came to the End' will be surprised by 'The Unnamed.' Ferris's new novel is also split between the office life (this time a law office) and the home life of it's characters, but here is where the similarities between the two books end.

'The Unnamed' is the very surreal story of Tim Farnsworth, a handsome, wealthy, happily-married lawyer, who finds his comfortable life intermittently interrupted by an unnamed disorder, which forces him to start walking, and to keep walking until at the point of exhaustion he falls asleep, wherever he might be. We meet Tim after a period of remission, when the disorder suddenly takes hold of him again.

In beginning the story at this point Ferris avoids lengthy description of the disagnostic process, of the many tests that Tim undergoes and the various methods he uses to try and control his disorder. Instead 'The Unnamed' cuts right to the chase, this being the implications of such a strange sydrome upon Tim as a father, a husband and a lawyer. The result is a tender, yet amusing narrative, which mixes the wacky unpredicability of the unnamed disorder with the bitter realism of everyday life admirably.

Started: March 10th Finished: March 14th

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - Book 3 - Withering Lows by Emily Bronte

Now if a few lovers of Oscar Wilde might disapprove of me feeling underwhelmed by "The Picture of Dorian Gray", then I'm sure a few more will disapprove of me being unable (for the time being) to finish "Wuthering Heights".

Disclaimer first - this was the book I was reading during and just before the Bath Lit Fest which meant the only time I really had to read it was very late at night for about 90 seconds before falling asleep. Not ideal conditions I admit. But once the festival was over I perservered and still found myself unable to connect with the infamous Cathy, Heathcliff and co.

Although I had somehow never got round to reading Wuthering Heights until now I did have various preconceptions. I was expecting atmospheric windswept moors and an incorrigible and dastardly hero and received both. However I wasn't expecting the peculiar narration of the story which for me had some really clumsy moments - particuarly the letter sent by Isabella Linton to Nelly Dean and then retained by the latter for years, which seemed to me a rather too convenient and unconvincing way of telling the reader what had gone on between the unhappily eloped Isabella and Heathcliff.

Wuthering Heights lost me my reading mojo for a couple of weeks and so I've sidelined it for the moment. To help me potentially pick up where I left off in a few months time, here's my brief (and slightly glib) synopsis of what happens in the first 176 pages. So if you're one of the 3 other people who've never read it, look away now:

A newcomer, Lockwood, rocks up at Wuthering Heights in the snow and gets trapped in for the night with his viciously unwelcoming new landlord, Heathcliff. Various confusing references to people called Catherine ensue. In the morning Lockwood staggers back to his new home at Thrushcross Grange. His new housekeeper Nelly Dean then begins telling him the history of the inhabitants of Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights (is that enough incidental narrator characters for you?)

It turns out that Heathcliff was a scouse orphan acquired by Wuthering Heights owner Mr Earnshaw. Heathcliff grows up alongside Mr Earnshaw's children, the resentful Hindley and the gradually besotted Catherine. Once Hindley takes over the estate upon his father's death he begins to make the still-young Heathcliff's life a misery. Catherine befriends Edgar and Isabella Linton at Thruschross Grange and eventually marries Edgar which she more or less instantly regrets. Although not as much as Isabella later regrets marrying Heathcliff. In between those two marriages Heathcliff has disappeared for a while in a huge huff. When he reappears and gets involved in a fracas with Edgar and then runs off with Isabella, Catherine embarks on a lengthy illness (which I have to say I found completely lacking in drama even by the tediously high standards of C19 novel heroine illnesses). And that's about as much as I could take.

Would love to hear from people who (a) love Wuthering Heights and can explain why the odd and confusing narrative structure is actually the stamp of Bronte's literary genius; (b) think I should carry on reading because it's about to get much better; (c) think I don't like it because really it's just a girl's book (although perhaps you could say the same for Madame Bovary and I loved that); or (d) agree that it's really slightly muddled and not a very thrilling read.

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - Book 2 - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

So my own slackness at blogging my year of reading the "books that you'd expect a bookshop owner to have already read" has been pitiful. I plead only two things (a) the behemoth of a time-swallower that is the Bath Literature Festival and (b) the ploddiness of my third book of the year, about which more shortly.

Before I get onto moaning about Book 3, I should quickly comment on Dorian Gray which was my second book of the year back in early February when my Literature Festival spreadsheet was but a twinkle in my laptop's eye.

To be honest I didn't really enjoy Dorian Gray. By choosing it I'd already broken one of my intended rules which was to concentrate on classics by authors that I had never read. I actually read and, as far as I can remember, thoroughly enjoyed "The Importance of Being Earnest" at school, and so I was pretty hopeful for Dorian Gray. But I found that once I'd chuckled along to a few dozen pages of ascerbic social comedy I started to dread having to wade through another 200 pages of it.

Towards the end I did warm to the plot itself and began to actually enjoy reading it rather than just looking out for clever bits of Wilde's wordsmithery that have since become standard put-downs. But by then I was pretty much as listless as the characters.

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Books 6-9

I've been rather tardy with my blog updating with all of the madness of the Bath Literature Festival 2010 so here's a brief update of my four most recent reads....

No.6: 'Foreign Affairs' by Alison Lurie (Random House, 2006)

Alison Lurie is the author of one of my favourite books 'The Nowhere City', (which is horribly out of print - but of course Mr B's can track down a second hand copy for anyone interested!) so I started 'Foreign Affairs' with high expectations and was unfortunately disappointed!

The book follows two American academics, who have come to London to study: Vinnie is a 54-year-old consistently unloved woman and Fred is a young, handsome and (until now) self-assured academic. As they settle into their new lives in London and struggle to focus on their individual projects both Vinnie and Fred find themselves distracted by members of the opposite sex (reluctantly so in Vinnie's case).

What Lurie does very well here is show how identity can get tied up with our sense of place, for example Vinnie is delighted when Chuck mistakes her for an English woman, and is generally unimpressed by American attitudes and mannerisms, but when she falls for him despite his all-American ways she is forced to question her views. In 'The Nowhere City' this relationship between geography and identity is explored in a much less obvious fashion, as a group of L.A. residents struggle to define themselves in a city where there is no unified sense of identity.

Nevertheless, I still think that this book is worth a read, Lurie has a wonderfully understated style, which illuminates the dynamics of the everyday in a very funny way.

Started: 13th February Finished: 21st February

No.7: 'The Missing' by Tim Gautreaux (Hodder and Stoughton, 2010)

OK so back to the strictly contemporary (briefly) - this is the book of the moment amongst the B Team, Caroline, Ed and myself have all just finished reading it.

It follows Sam, an ex-soldier, who is enjoying his job in a glamorous department store in Louisiana when a three-year-old girl is kidnapped, and he is fired. Racked with guilt and desperate to get his job back, Sam boards a pleasure steamer and turns detective in a bid to help the folorn parents find their missing daughter.

Periods of manic activity are interwoven with long atmospheric passages which beautifully depict the dusty jazz atmosphere on the boat, but create a very odd jolty pace, which I suppose echoes the movement of the boat.

Beautifully written, in parts totally implausible, but poignant and surprising moving.

Started: February 23rd Finished: March 5th

No.8: 'The Catcher in the Rye' by J.D. Salinger (Penguin, 1994)

Sorry to tred on Nic's territory, but I decided to sneak in a quick classic! I am so glad I finally read this book! It was recommended to me when I was at school and I think I read a few pages and decided it wasn't for me, the narrator's voice got on my nerves! And of course it's that voice, which I now find so fantastic about the book.

For those of you who haven't read it - 'The Catcher in the Rye' is the story of school drop-out Holden Caufield, as he makes his journey back to his parents, dreading their reaction at the news he has been kicked out of another school. On his way Holden kills some time by smoking far too much, meeting up with a series of random acquaintances and contemplating his long list of dislikes. Plot wise, little happens but Holden's casual slang-ridden mode of expression is so consistently portrayed, and in very funny in places, this is a book that will stay with me for a long time.

Started: March 5th Finished: March 8th

No.9: 'Hector and the Search for Happiness' by Francois Lelord (Gallic, 2010)

This is so new, the pages are still steaming from the printing press! Hector is a successful but dissatified psychiatrist, frustrated that whilst he is able to offer pills, psychotherapy and sympathy to his patients he is unable to make them happy. So he heads off around the world on a mission to discover what makes people happy, and sets out a list of foolproof rules to ensure happiness.

Written in a childlike, matter-of-fact style, this is a fresh, entertaining, light read.

Started: March 9th Finished: March 9th

OK - not so brief then!

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Book Five

No.5. 'The Man Who Loved Books Too Much' by Allison Hoover Bartlett
(Riverhead Books, 2009)

My first non-fiction read of the year was this biography of shameless book thief John Gilkey, who drove many a rare book dealer to distraction with his love for books that he couldn't afford. As such Gilkey saw it as his right to take the titles he so dearly wanted from book fairs, and dealers across America.

Hot on Gilkey's trail was Ken Sanders, a rare book dealer, turned 'Bibliodick', outraged by the continual thieving enchroaching upon his trade and in good old fashioned cat and mouse style American journalist Allison Hoover Bartlett follows both men and documents their stories.

It has to be said Hoover Bartlett gets in a bit too deep, and remains a little too impartial for my liking. Despite having clear opinons about Gilkey and his actions she never voices these or contends his actions.

Yet this is a really fascinating story and in particular the exploration of what leads people to collect books (be it legally or illegally) is thoughtfully explored.

Started: February 9th Finished: February 12th

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Book Four

No. 4. 'Trespass' by Rose Tremain
(Chatto & Windus, 2010)

One of the many perks of working at Mr B's is the abundance of shiny proofs that we receive before books officially hit the shelves. As the brilliant 'Restoration' is one of my favourite books, I was particularly excited to spot the new Rose Tremain amongst the latest arrivals.

Tremain's latest is set amongst the mysterious winding landscapes of the Cevennes in Southern France where Aramon - an alcoholic haunted by a violent past - is trying to sell his beautiful but neglected farmhouse the Mas Lunel. The family home for generations, the Mas Lunel boasts a wealth of family history, brilliant views and the luxury of complete peace and isolation...apart from a small modern bungalow on the edges of the farmland owned by Aramon's siter Audrun.

When Antony Verey a flailing antiques dealer from London comes to France to visit his adoring sister Veronica he decides a fresh start in the Cevennes may be the key to his revival and lets his imagination run wild as he dreams of pool houses, guest rooms and acres and acres of precious space. As the lives of the two pairs of siblings collide a tragic story unfolds.

A really disconcerting and (as we've come to expect of Tremain) wonderfully executed novel. I can't say that 'Trespass' surpassed the lofty heights of 'Restoration' but I can't wait to hear her talk about this novel at the Bath Literature Festival, and it's most definitely worth reading!

Started: 3rd February Finished: 8th February

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: Books 1-3

So far I've managed to read a measly three books this year...

No.1. 'All the Names' by Jose Saramago

(Harvill Press,1999)

Not the most contemporary start, but I've had my eye on this one on the shelves at Mr B's for some time now, and it was worth the wait.

'All the Names' is the wonderfully quirky story of a clerk at the central registry who delights in checking the mundane details of minor local celebrities after registry hours, which is, of course, strictly forbidden. One night Senhor Jose accidentally picks up the registry card of an unknown woman, and so embarks upon a crazy detective/stalker mission to discover anything he can about her.

I absolutely loved Saramago's style, although I have a feeling this may be exactly what puts some people off his books. His sentences are epic, and punctuation is pretty sparse; but such a style lent itself perfectly to the story of an anxious amateur detective.

Wonderfully quirky and absorbing.

Started: January 1st Finished: January 9th

No.2. 'Man of my Dreams' by Curtis Sittenfeld

(Random House, 2006)

Don't be put off by the chic-lit title, or by the frog on the front. Curtis Sittenfeld first came to my attention last year when I read her mock autobiography of W. Bush's long-suffering spouse 'American Wife'. Later in the year I read 'Prep', also by Sittenfeld, which is definitely one of my top reads from 2009.

'Man of My Dreams' follows Hannah from a stubborn, socially inept fourteen-year-old to a stubborn, socially inept-adult. As Hannah observes her family and friends and their choices, her honesty is brutal and hilarious. But the real glory of Sittenfeld's writing is her (yes - she's a woman) descriptions of the most horribly cringe-worthy situations and her ability to intensify these with characters that make everything worse.

This is no 'Prep' but Curtis Sittenfeld remains one of my favourite contemporary novelists.

Started: January 10th Finished: January 14th

No.3. 'Shades of Grey' by Jasper Fforde
(Hodder & Stoughton, 2010)

Jasper Fforde's latest (long-awaited) novel enthralled three of the B Team. Caroline, Lydia and Myself all read the proof of 'Shades of Grey' and I thought it was absolutely fantastic.

Set in a world where colour is a commodity and the colours that you can see define your place in a strict hierarchy, this is typical wacky Fforde! The protagonist is Eddie, a highly perceptive red, whose impending engagement to a haughty Oxblood looks sure to secure his place in chromatic society. But then he is banished to the outer fringes, where the inhabitants flout the rules and the wily ways of an aggressive grey tempt Eddie away from his secure life plan.

Each chapter begins with a hilarious rule and the books is littered with misunderstandings of our more conventional world, such as 'Over there was Catch 22, which was a hugely popular fishing book and one of series I believe'.

I've only ever read one other Fforde before 'The Eyre Affair', which I loved, but I do think this latest one is better, its not as light and the intricacies of the world created are really clever and entertaining.

Started:January 20th Finished: January 25th

Kate's Reading Challenge 2010: The Grand Plan

Last year I set myself the fairly meaty task of reading 40 new books in twelve months. The books ranged from the so-amazing-I'd-rather-read-than-sleep variety (e.g. 'Prep' by Curtis Sittenfeld and Colm Toibin's 'Brooklyn') to utterly terrible ('Dreams from the Endz' by Fazia Guene). Somehow I succeeded on my mission... but only by the skin of my teeth. So this year I've decided to up the ante with a target of 50.

I'll mostly be reading books that loosely fit into the cateogory of contemporary fiction (In order to counterbalance Nic's venture through the classics). Although I'm sure my reading path will meander around enough to include the odd golden oldie and the occassional piece of particularly intriguing non-fiction. Aside from this fairly broad framework I haven't set any rules on exactly which books I will or won't read, so suggestions are always welcome. My only aim is to discover lots of fantastic new books, and to do so within the time limit I've set.

It's February and I'm already lagging a little behind...wish me luck!

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - Book 1 - Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

I told you there were some biggies I hadn't read. You ain't seen nothin' yet.

So I began the year with Madame Bovary. Not only had I not read it, this was also a perfect starting point as I'd somehow managed to avoid any detailed plot knowledge beyond the fact that Emma was supposedly no angel.

I read the Everyman translation, not for some sensible reason such as recommendation of the translation but because this reading year is also an opportunity for me to buy lovely editions of all of these great novels and, as is often the case, the Everyman hardback is the nicest out there.

(Slight Spoiler Alert in this paragraph) - For those who haven't read it (shame on you!) here's the plot in 2 sentences. Farmer's daughter Emma Rouault dreams of action but marries the rather stolid occasionally incompetenet doctor, Charles Bovary who promises to be her entrance to the high life for about a week before emerging as her entrance to the same old small-town drudgery she was hoping to escape from. Emma seeks other ways (mostly male ways) of livening up her life.

I thoroughly enjoyed the novel more or less from start to finish with perhaps just a few moments of tedium when Emma's listless whinging was really being laid on thick. It's true what I've since read that people say, it is a novel that doesn't feel like it was written in 1856. Whilst the day to day goings on in semi-rural France are clearly of their period, the characters are so remarkably vivid and entertaining and their characteristics and shenanigans could be adapted to appear in a novel of almost any period.

The strength of the characterisation doesn't just lie in the pathetic Charles and the out-of-line but still slightly likeable (by men only?) Emma, but also the often comical side characters like the opinionated busy-body atheist pharmacist Monsieur Homais and the roguish Rodolphe.

Loved it. Great start to my reading year. I found 2 great quotes in it that I thought showed Flaubert/the translator's wordsmithery perfectly....but I'm in the shop now and I've just sold the Everyman edition to someone so I'll have to add those on a new post tomorrow!

Mr B's Reading Year 2010 - An Amnesty - The Rules

This year I'm going to read the books that you'd have thought someone who sets up their own bookshop would (should?) have already read.

As far as possible I'm going to stick to the biggies. The recognised masterpieces (or a recognised masterpiece) by authors that I've either never read at all or have read very little. The list is shamefully long. I have read lots of classics but because of large tracts of reading time spent devouring small-town American fiction or obscure translated novels or contemporary fiction generally there are a startling number of books that I have to confess to never having contemplated reading let alone actually having read.

So I thought 2010 could be my year of redressing the balance. The rest of the Mr B's team will keep up to date on the new releases leaving me free to concentrate mostly on things I should have read years ago. And as most of you have probably got un-read book lists that are just as long I thought I'd blog and tweet about the process too.

Don't expect any great new analysis of these cornerstones of literature. Rather, an honest view of whether they're all they're cracked up to be when read purely for enjoyment.

And whilst I'm tempted to read them in some clever sequence, I've already begun and it seems to be proving more organic than that. ALTHOUGH I would like recommendations on people's favourite classics. Don't worry about recommending something I'm bound to have read - that's the whole point - I bet I haven't!