Happy 2012!

Image from http://novoboi.ru

Happy New Year everyone! It's been a long 2011, but still, it feels like the year's flown by, in the blink of an eye. I've not blogged much this year, and even if I take into account the books I haven't reviewed (yet), my reading year has been pretty abysmal. I do apologise for that.

But, it's a new year, and with new years come new resolutions, and one of mine's to be a better reader, and to be a better blogger. I've got way too many books sitting pretty on my bookshelf, and I have this bizarre urge to compulsively buy all the books that I want to read, so, you know, if nothing else, I owe it to myself.

I have a couple of other projects on the cards for next year, so you know, all in all, I'm quite excited. And hopefully, come December 2012, I won't sit nodding along to Damien Rice's Amie, thinking, "that pretty much sums up my year!"

Nothing unusual nothing's changed

Just a little older that's all.

Here's wishing you and your families a wonderful 2012! :)

Holidaying in Hong Kong

It's warm, it's congested, there's no need for a jacket, and oh my god - there are so many people! Just over for a week, to get away from London, where my last holiday (or day off) was in January, and I've been feeling overworked and stressed. It's so nice to get out of there, and just do nothing, albeit I have to admit that doing nothing doesn't really come naturally to me. It's always like, so what's next?! As expected, many a book came with me on my holiday. However, I have to make some wedding photo books, and there's work to continuously catch up with, so not sure how many I'll actually end up reading, if at all. I am the earliest riser amidst my friends, so morning's seem like a good shout.

Soooo, what am I carrying? Well, there's:

  • Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad
  • Haruki Murakami's The Wind Up Bird Chronicle
  • Michael Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White
  • Michael Chabon's Wonder Boys
  • Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary

I really am not quite sure what prompted me to carry five books on a  ten day break, special considering at least two of them are fairly chunky. I did pack under eight minutes though, as I thought my flight departed later than it actually did... yes, the OCD super-organised control freak was not organised this once. It shows - I forgot my contacts, some prescription drugs, nightclothes etc. Oh well... C'est la vie.

Also, during my travels, my beautiful shiny MacBook Pro that I've had for about two years now, with not as much as a single scratch, got this massive dent. I'm not sure how. I was carrying it in my backpack - it wasn't there when I left London, and boom! When I got to the other side of the world, there it was. I keep staring at it, lamenting. That's taken some of the shine off this holiday. Poor little MacBook Pro! :(

I have been reading Madame Bovary for about two weeks now, and am not really getting into it. Should I abandon it or press through? Murakami sounds like a good holiday bet, but... suggestions please, on the reading front! Thanks!

xoxo

Dexter - The Fifth Book's Out!

Hello, Some of you may have noticed my mild (!) obsession with Jeff Lindsay's Dexter. Sophie from OrionBooks sent me an email a couple of weeks back, informing me of the fifth Dexter book that's being released this month: Dexter Is Delicious. Dexter - a dad? Slowly becoming more and more human? My curiosity's piqued.

With the book being released tomorrow, on Sophie's request, below's an extract of the first couple of pages. Hop over to Shots to win some Dexter memorabilia tomorrow (Thursday, 18th August), and join in the fun!

I really do wish I'd read the book before writing this post, for I would have liked to give some insight into the book itself, but you can be rest assured that in due course, that will happen. I've been stupidly busy with work, and reading Wolf Hall which is a chunkster of immense proportions!

That said, the only comment I have on this book is, I'm having a hard time imagining Dexter as a father, and considering the fourth book was slightly... soapy... what's this book going to be like? Return to the engrossing nail biting world of Dexter, or further down the soapiness... I am hoping for the former, for what that's worth... apologies for not reading the book first though!

Without much further ado...

This part of the hospital seems like foreign country to me. There is no sense of the battlefield here, no surgical teams in gore-stained scrubs trading witty remarks about missing body parts, no steely-eyed ad- ministrators with their clipboards, no herds of old drunks in wheelchairs, and above all, no flocks of wide-eyed sheep huddled together in fear at what might come out of the double steel doors. There is no stench of blood, antiseptic, and terror; the smells here are kinder, homier. Even the colors are different: softer, more pastel, without the drab, battleship utilitarianism of the walls in other parts of the building. There are, in fact, none of the sights and sounds and dreadful smells I have come to associate with hospitals, none at all. There is only the crowd of moon-eyed men standing at the big window, and to my infinite surprise, I am one of them.

We stand together, happily pressed up to the glass and cheerfully making space for any newcomer. White, black, brown; Latin, African-American, Asian- American, Creole – it doesn’t matter. We are all broth- ers. No one sneers or frowns; no one seems to care about getting an accidental nudge in the ribs now and again, and no one, wonder of all, seems to harbor any violent thoughts about any of the others. Not even me. Instead, we all cluster at the glass, looking at the miraculous commonplace in the next room.

Are these human beings? Can this really be the Miami I have always lived in? Or has some strange physics experiment in an underground supercollider sent us all to live in Bizarro World, where everyone is kind and tolerant and happy all the time?

Where is the joyfully homicidal crowd of yesteryear? Where are the well-armed, juiced-up, half-crazed, ready-to-kill friends of my youth? Has all this changed, vanished, washed away forever in the light from yon- der window?

What fantastic vision beyond the glass has taken a hallway filled with normal, wicked, face-breaking, neck-snapping humans and turned them into a clot of bland and drooling happy-wappys?

Unbelieving, I look again, and there it is. There it still is. Four neat rows of pink and brown, tiny wig- gling creatures, so small and prunish and useless – and yet it is they who have turned this crowd of healthy, kill-crazy humans into a half-melted splotch of dribbling helplessness. And beyond this mighty feat of magic, even more absurd and dramatic and unbelievable, one of those tiny pink lumps has taken our Dark Dabbler, Dexter the Decidedly Dreadful, and made him, too, into a thing of quiet and contemplative chin spittle. And there it lies, waving its toes at the strip lights, utterly unaware of the miracle it has performed – unaware, indeed, even of the very toes it wiggles, for it is the absolute Avatar of Unaware – and yet, look what it has done in all its unthink- ing, unknowing wigglehood. Look at it there, the small, wet, sour-smelling marvel that has changed everything.

Lily Anne.

Three small and very ordinary syllables. Sounds with no real meaning – and yet strung together and attached to the tiny lump of flesh that squirms there on its pedestal, it has performed the mightiest of mag- ical feats. It has turned Dexter Dead for Decades into something with a heart that beats and pumps true life, something that almost feels, that so very nearly resembles a human being.

In For A Long Week...

I suspect that the upcoming week is going to see me putting in sixteen to eighteen hours of work a day, as we have a big deadline looming, and are terribly behind schedule. While I am toying with the idea of taking a sleeping bag to work, and just curling up underneath my desk, where, when the lights are out, the mice play, I really think I should refrain from doing so. With a forty-five minute commute each way, though, I do want some recommendations on books to read. I don't want to read anything heavy, or super-chunky. Just... easy-to-read light books, which I can race through and enjoy.

As of now, I'm contemplating:

  • Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
  • Alice Munro's Too Much Happiness
  • Colleen McCullough's Tim

Do you have any other recommendations? Anything from this list that jumps out? Some Du Maurier? Some Murakami?

Help, please. Thanks, and hope your week's looking slightly better than mine. Just slightly. :)

Long Time No See

snow

I've been a bad blogger, and a worse reader in the last couple of months. Doubt Santa's going to come knocking on my door with a big bag of books, which I'm actually surprisingly relieved about. I've read three books in the last month and a half, including the last Harry Potter book, and I'll blog about all three books in due course. I will start reading ardently again, I promise. I've got some great books on my shelf which are just dying to be read. Yay!

Anyway, so what I have I been up to? Well, I blame work - it's been a tough six-odd months, and I'm glad that things are finally slowing down a bit. But, you know what they say: there's no rest for the wicked, so I'm just going to have to keep rolling with it. I did, however, take two trips: one to Paris, just to get out of London for a weekend. I love Paris, I really do. It's so pretty and charming and exquisite. And then there are creperies, and there's Angelina (you've got to try the hot chocolate there), and there's raclette... heaven!

And then there was that amazing week in Dubai, a city I love to hate, but I had the most fantastic time there. One of my closest friends from university was getting married there, and not only was it the most wonderful wedding, but thanks to some of the people we met and time we had, I've been reflecting on my life a fair bit. Wouldn't it be lovely to sit at the beach, with your feet dug in the sand, talking till the wee hours of the morning about everything under the sun? Or just hanging around with a bunch of friends, old and new, sharing memories of times gone by? Or waking up in the mornings, and heading down to the pool, and then going for a massage? And finally, having the most amazing milkshake which had four scoops of ice-cream! I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

I am sorry for being AWOL, and I will start blogging again right about now. Work's quiet, it's snowy and cold, and I miss the second world I live in - the world of fiction, the world of imagination, the world of books. So I hope that world is ready to welcome me back with open arms, as I figure out which book to grab first. I can't wait.

Hope to see you all around soon. I've missed y'all.

xoxo

What Kind Of A Week Has It Been

Yep, the title's a blatant rip-off of West Wing's What Kind Of A Day Has It Been, but, it does fit. For what it's worth, due apologies to Sorkin.

Some of you may have read my post on my MacBook's broken fan, at the beginning of the month. Well, despite much wishing and hoping, Apple haven't released anything this month, so, I strutted across to the Apple Store yesterday, and bought myself a new laptop. I was exhausted of using my laptop as a word processor only, when I'm accustomed to using it as my media centre. So, a shiny new 13" MacBook Pro is finally mine, and I'm well happy about it. Love it already. Spent most of yesterday and this morning transferring my files across, and sync'ing up both laptops. Mission accomplished.

I also finished Toni Morrison's Song Of Solomon which I was reading along with Claire (PaperbackReader). All I'll say at this point is, the experience was the polar opposite of A Mercy.

Finally, I'm reading Pride and Prejudice, which is incidentally my first Austen. Am loving it so far, and while I would have loved to finish it in February itself, I don't see it happening. So far, I'm really enjoying it, and hope the book continues in this vein. I do love the style of writing! Mee had invited a bunch of Austen first-timers to read this in February, so, in the next week or so, pop around to hers to see how everyone else got on!

It's been a fantastic Female February, and at the end of the month, I have a "new best friend" (that's what the guy at the Apple Store said) as well, so, in the words of a famous playwright, "all's well that ends well."

Phew! Irony of ironies... it's been a long month!

Lack of Updates

I almost feel like i've disappeared from the blogosphere... unfortunately, I have a reason - a very annoying one! My MacBook's suffering from a broken fan. Every few minutes, it overheats and shuts down. I can't multitask on it, and can't use it for much as things stand. I've not been as diligent in commenting as I'd like to, and so many random posts have fallen by the wayside. All in all, it's very depressing. So, I'm using my iPhone to type this post up, and get a feel off wordpress on the phone. Don't really have any complaints so far, but reckon writing reviews will be a bit of a nightmare.

Yep, I know what you're thinking: why don't I just get myself a new laptop? Well, I want to - but, I blame Apple. See, their new range of MacBook Pros are due to be announced imminently, and I don't want to purchase the present model, as the hardware is archaic. And no - don't even suggest Windows. There are some things I feel very strongly about. Using Windows more oft' than I have to is one of them!! I have contemplated getting a Linux box, but, I do adore the Unibody MacBook Pros.

So, I'll try updating my blog regularly - even if it is just a few lines from my phone. Do apologise for the lack of comments, and posts. Hopefully, blogging from this won't be all that bad (for my eyes and the onset of RSI).

Enjoy the weekend.

Morocco!

I've been AWOL all week, as I was in sunny Morocco! A wonderful break from the cold misery that London's been, although being in Marrakech did come with its downsides. Apparently, I'm allergic to the sun and the dust, and Marrakech is, by far, the most polluted city I've ever visited. I even had trouble breathing at times!!! Maybe, I'm just delicate... Anyway, we stayed at a fantastic riad, which provided us with a scrumptious breakfast, and despite being in some dark decrepit alleyway, it was really amazing. The guys who ran it are French, and they were superb, and we ended up getting lots of advice from them. I even got to practice my French (Bonjour Monsieur, parlez-vous anglais? and je ne comprends pas covers it!).

Marrakech isn't a pretty city, but what it doesn't have in beauty, it makes up for in character. The main square and the souks are bustling with people, and everyone's trying to drag you into their store/stall. You practically had to bargain for everything, which was slightly tiresome, as I'm a "fixed price" kind-of girl. However, when they ask for 280 dirhams for something, and eventually sell you the item for 80, you have to wonder...

Also, Sex and the City 2 was being shot in Morocco while we were there too - about five minutes away from where we were staying. It's funny, as, last time we were in New York, we saw some scenes being filmed in Central Park as well, for the first movie. So, the three of us have been contemplating our next holiday location, just to see if we'll run into the Sex and the City crew again... and, none of us are fans - just for the record!

Unfortunately, while I did take two books with me, my eyes reacted to the dust and the sun, and for most of the holiday, my eyes were watering, and I couldn't read. Like an idiot, I left my glares back home, and that did my eyes in. I was walking with my eyes closed while outside, and that wasn't out of choice. Sucks, as my eyes are closed in more than half the pictures we took outdoors.

Oh well, I'm back in London now, and have enjoyed breathing the clean fresh air (!), being blown away by the wind, and experiencing tube trouble - all in a day's work! It's good to be home.

Strange Reading Places

So, what's the strangest place you've read a book? The reason I ask is... I've had two strange places in two days, and subsequently, a lot of people have been giving me strange looks. In my defence, I was engrossed in the world of Darkly Dreaming Dexter, and I really couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Place 1: I had tickets to the Coldplay concert last evening, and because we were in the free seating/pitch standing area, we got there relatively early, to ensure we had good places. The supporting acts were Girls Aloud and Jay-Z - neither inspired much, for I don't do pop, and I don't do rap! Now, while Girls Aloud were performing (if you can call it that), I decided to bury my nose in the book, and block the really bad music (in my opinion) out, which resulted in people giving me really bizarre looks. Coldplay, on the other hand, were fantastic entertainers, and if you ever get a chance to go to one of their gigs, do! I love Chris Martin! :)

Place 2: Today was a lovely day, and I was craving a milkshake. Now, when I want a milkshake, I WANT A MILKSHAKE! You can say I have a bit of a problem. Anyway, I had about seventy pages of Darkly Dreaming Dexter remaining, but I really wanted that milkshake. So, I walked from home to the milkshake place, and as it was a thirty-minute walk, I thought it made sense to read and walk. I could've taken the tube, but that would've taken longer than walking, and there's no direct bus route... so walking did make sense. And, as I've already mentioned, it was a lovely day.... but, people looked at me funny. I didn't get honked at, though, nor did I fall over something, so all in all, it was a good day... and, I did finish the book!

How about you? Or, are you more sensible, and less likely to walk the streets of London, with a milkshake in one hand, and a page-turner in the other?

Dilemmas

How do you decide which book to read next? Specially, when you have a multitude of books, across different genres, right in front of you? Here's my dilemma:

Five supposedly fantastic books, but for the life of me, I can't figure out which to pick up next.

What do you do? Close your eyes, and say "eeny meeny minee mo"? Or, just pick up the first one you see? Or....

T+0

So, D-Day is here. I'm all packed, barring my laptop, my camera charger, a couple of memory cards, and my passport. As you can imagine, I'm really excited, and, the picture above is something very high on my to-do list.

I don't know what kind of internet access I'll have, so not sure how oft' I'll end up blogging (not that I blog daily anyway!). However, before leaving, I thought I'd share my final book haul with you, considering it's changed a bit since my original plan.

I had to decide against Zafon's The Angel Game as it's way too bulky. I feel terrible about it, but, I will ensure it's the first book I read when I get back to London, in order to make amends. The swap in is Natsuo Kirino's Out.

Also, I had a small battle with myself as to Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, as I couldn't find the one with a cover as fantastic as The Magic Toyshop's. Claire advised that it should be available in the US, and as I might be heading there next month.... please don't judge me. I feel a little guilty about making this call. Hence, I picked up Angela Carter's Fireworks instead.

I did want to take a book from the Booker longlist, and it was a toss up between Heliopolis, and How To Paint A Dead Man. I spent about thirty minutes at Foyles' the other day, holding both books in my hand, and finally flipping a coin to decide! How To Paint A Dead Man emerged victorious - I so hope that fate doesn't let me down on this one, although I have read some promising reviews in the blog-o-sphere.

So, my final six books:

  1. Daphne Du Maurier – Rebecca
  2. Sarah Waters - Fingersmith
  3. Haruki Murakami -Kafka On The Shore
  4. Natsuo Kirino - Out
  5. Angela Carter - Fireworks
  6. Sarah Hall - How To Paint A Dead Man

I think that makes a pretty damn good reading list, for two weeks. Don't you?

Hopefully, I'll get a chance to blog while away. If not, see you around, and have a fantastic two weeks.

PS: The picture above is one of the things I'm definitely going to do. Definitely! Looks sooo cool.