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!