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.