Top 100 books challenge: 55. A Suitable Boy

1474 pages is the reason that my blog has been so quiet recently!

I have been busy reading A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, on the train, at home....whenever I had a spare few minuets really. As I am so busy (and getting even more so in the run up to Christmas) it has taken me quite a while to finish this book.

I enjoyed it very much! It was nice to escape the UK, and travel to India, where we see the frantic attempts of Rupa Mehr to marry off her daughter Lata to ‘a suitable boy’. ThIs book shows the struggle Lata faces, between marrying for love, or to keep her family happy.

The idea of arranged marriages is one that I cannot really understand. I can see that parents want the best for their children, but I could never marry someone I did not love. For Lata it is a hard choice. She falls in love with a fellow student called Kabir, but he is a Muslim while she is Hindu, and her mother is horrified at the prospect. Here begins her hunt for the perfect man for her daughter, and we see them travel across India to find him.

Along the way we are introduced to Lata’s family, each with their own lives and stories to tell. Lata’s sister Savita was married to Pran, chosen by her mother. She grew to love him, something that Lata has been told will happen to her when she marries.

I felt a bit sad when I had finished the book. When I first picked it up the size of it was pretty daunting. Just carrying it around all day in my bag gave he a sore shoulder! But when I was a few chapters in I got addicted to the family, and felt like I was becoming one of them. Sitting on the train on a dark, dismal ride to work I was transported to a sunlit living room drinking tea with Rupa. Instead of waiting for my car to be fixed at the garage I was walking in the garden with lata discussing which man she should marry. When I finished the book I felt a little lost, as these characters had been with me for a while!

I won’t spoil it and tell you what Lata decides to do. Instead I will leave you with a quote from The Sunday Telegraph, which is printed on the book and sums up the way I feel:

“Make time for it. It will keep you company for a lifetime.”

Rating 10/10

Top 100 books challenge: 99. The Princess Diaries

The film of this book stars two of my favourite actresses, Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway, so I enjoyed watching it. However I had never read the book. I usually like to read the books before I see the film version, because they came first, and so much usually gets changed in the journey from print to screen.

The Princess Diaries is aimed at teenagers, mainly girls who still have the secret dream of becoming a princess. What young girl doesn’t? Growing up I was convinced I would marry Prince William (had to go for the elder brother so I could be Queen one day!) Now that his marriage has put an end to that I am focusing on the younger Royal....well I have never made my love of ginger hair on men a secret!

The story follows teenager Mia, who finds out she is actually a princess, and heir to the throne of Genovia. Understandable this news shocks her, as does the plan for her to begin princess lessons with her grandmother, the Queen of Genovia.

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read, which after a long day at work is perfect for the train home!There are a few differences from the film, but not big enough to spoil it for me.

It got me thinking about if I found out I was a princess. You never know, Mr T could be a secret prince in a faraway land! (I do have a very overactive imagination!) If I was Queen here are the five rules I would introduce:

1 Tuesday’s would be cancelled - worst day of the week

2 Jelly tots would be free on the NHS, they cheer people up

3 Peter Andre, Phillip Schofield and Ron Weasley would be given Knighthoods for services to entertainment

4 Instead of a corgi the royal pet would be an elephant called Percy - who would wear a little purple hat.

5 Every month there would be a bank holiday weekend - and it will be illegal for anyone to work on it.

Seriously imagine Queen Laura - I think it would be fabulous darling!

Rating: 8/10

Top 100 books challenge: 27. Middlemarch

Life is too short to read books that you are not enjoying.

This statement applies to this book, and I have to admit that I only got half way through before giving up. I just could not bring myself to read anymore of it. I am the sort of person who always tries to finish books, and hate the thought of leaving one half read. However on this occasion I was bored and confused, and could read no more of it.

The main problem I found was the amount of characters that flit in and out of the story at various intervals. The characters first names are used once, then they are referred to as Mr so and so, and Miss so and so. This made me blur them into one, creating confusion as to who was who, and who was related to who.

The prose is quite long and winding. I have nothing against that usually, indeed some of my favourite novels are written in this way. But I found the writing in this book long winded. I found my attention drifting off while reading it.

Now for my confession....I never knew George Elliot was a woman! I had heard of the author, and had said I needed to read one of the books, but always assumed it was a man. It was only while googling the name for this review that I realised the author was a woman!

So there you go, I may not have finished the book, but I learnt something I never knew about the author!

Rating: 2/10 (based on only reading the first half)

Top 100 books challenge: 93. The Colour Of Magic

One word springs to mind to describe this book...disappointing!

I was quite excited when I looked at the Top 100 list to see quite a few Terry Pratchett books on there. I liked his books as a child, even acting in a play of The Wyrd Sisters (where I played the fool would you believe it?!) It has been a while since I picked one of his books up, and it looks like my tastes have changed, as I did not enjoy this one!

The colour of Magic is the first two Discworld novels and follows the exploits of Rincewind, a wizard who is expelled from Unseen University, who is forced to act as a guide for Twoflower, a property insurance salesman and the Discworld's first tourist. They visit many strange places, and meet random people along the way.

I found the plot very random, and my attention began to drift. I found it hard to concentrate on the story, and was constantly checking how many more pages I had to go until I reached the end. I was determined to finish the book, as I have vowed to read all of the books on the list. One of the only good things about this story is that it is short, at about 250 pages.
I enjoyed some parts of the book, for example the bit in the dragon cave, but there were too many parts I didn’t like. I enjoy fantasy books, but I found this one hard to get into, with a plot that didn’t interest me. Sorry Mr Pratchett. I only hope the other books you have written on the list are better!


Rating 3/10

Top 100 books challenge: 33. The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth focuses on the building of a cathedral in the town of Kingsbridge, England, and is set  in the middle of the 12th century. It gives an account of things that happened at the time, like the sinking of the White Ship, and the murder of the  Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket. However it is told through the eyes of fictional characters.

I loved the way that all the characters in this book were interlinked, and we saw how their paths kept crossing. In the first part we meet so many people, and hear all their stories separately. There was Tom Builder and his family, who move from place to place trying to find work, as Tom is intent on building the most beautiful Cathedral the world has ever seen. Then there are the monks, lead by the determined and clever prior Phillip. We also hear of the evil William Hamleigh, who thinks nothing of murdering innocent people, and the brave Aliena who is determined to avenge her father and carry out his dying wish. Later in the book all the characters are intertwined, and we see who helps who, and who is there to cause distress and problems.

There are some pretty gory scenes in the books, mainly with William Hamleigh, who is an arrogant man who is determined to be named the Earl of Shiring. He destroys anyone who gets in his way, murdering innocent villagers, and raping young girls. I detested William, and was pleased to see that he got what he deserved in the end.

The hero of the book for me was the ginger Jack Jackson, who carried out his stepfather Tom Builder’s wish to build a grand Cathedral and saved the town by building walls when it was under attack from William Hamleigh. I also really liked Prior Phillip, who is a fair and clever man, and also there to offer help and advice to those who need it.

A really interesting read, and a book that I was disappointed to reach the end of! This book is a classic example of good triumphing evil, with the good coming out on top and the evil getting what they deserve in the end.

Rating 10/10

Top 100 books challenge: 72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

I had quite mixed feelings about this book. There are two main aspects to it. The first is the  interesting story, about the lives of working class men during the early 1900’s. The men are  painters and decoraters, and are in an increasingly desperate situation regarding lack of money and work. Work is scarce and competition fierce, and many are often out of employment for months at a time.

The other part of the book is the big political influence, which is prominent throughout. The characters are portrayed as  hypocritical Christians, and workers who think that a better life is not for people like them. They throw themselves into back-breaking work for poverty wages in order to generate profit for their masters, and believe that there is nothing better for them out there. Their only purpose in life is to be allowed to work, and keep their family from starving, and they believe that what is good enough for them will be good enough for their children when they grow up.

The characters in the book fall on two sides, socialists and libralists. The hero of the book is Frank Owen, a socialist who believes that the capitalist system is the real source of the poverty he sees all around him. He tries to educate his friends and make them see his views, and often gives long, preaching speeches to them. However many jeer him, and refuse to listen. They believe that they are not worthy of better things, and distrust their own views, preferring to rely on those who are their ‘betters’.

I enjoyed finding out more about the lives of the men and their families. It was quite hard reading about their struggles to put food on the table as, although this is a fictional book, it is based on true events and situations. Sometimes the political part took over too much, with pages and pages of socialist/libralists arguments. This was too much, and for me spoilt the book as I found myself drifting off. It was good to know the background, but the book went into to much detail, which succeeded in boring me.

Rating 4/10

Moving house - managing to arrive in one piece!

It feels like it has been a long time since my last blog (that wasn't a book review) so I thought it was about time I gave everyone an update of what has been going on in my life! For those that are interested, make a nice cup of tea and read on :)

The major thing that has been going on (and the cause for my drawn out cold, and stress) is that Joe and I moved into our new house! It is our first house together, as I don’t count the flat that we were living in before. Most of you will know about the problems we had with our neighbours, but it is fair to say that they made the whole 10 months we spent in that flat a misery. Excessive complaints about noise and banging on walls I could cope with, but what sane person superglues someone's lock shut? Or rings every two hours through the night? It is hard for me to believe that there are people like that in this world, and I have come to the conclusion that they are mental! It was upsetting for both Joe and I, as we couldn’t understand why they took such a dislike to us, and that they put so much effort into pushing us out of the flat. But I have now resolved to no longer talk or think about them. We spent most days moaning about them, worrying what they were up to, or stressing about what they would do next, so now I finally feel we are free! I do just want to say a hug thank you (and sorry!) to everyone who I contacted in tears about them, or moaned to. The sympathy and disbelief you expressed helped me to realise that it was not anything that we were doing wrong, we are nice people who did not deserve this abuse. Also, thanks for all the revenge ideas, even though we will not carry any of them out, they did entertain us both when we desperately needed a laugh!

So, on to the new house, which we love! It is so nice to come home from work and relax in a stress free environment. I still can’t believe that it is all ours, and we are free to do as we want! The move went well, which considering Mr T helped is a miracle! He has a habit of ‘helping’ and actually hindering. Two examples of this both rest with my sister and her moves. The first was when we both came home from University. Jodie and I went to the same one (big up Worcester Uni!!) at the same time, and so Mr T had to move two girls and all their stuff home. So I suppose it is no wonder that the poor guy had an ‘incident’. While packing our stuff into the car he put Jodie’s in the roof box and mine in the car, to avoid confusion over what belonged to which daughter. Genius you say?! Mr T using his head?! Well that would have been the case if he remembered to lock the roof box. The result is that all of the Christmas presents Jodie bought her friends were lost somewhere on the M5 between Clevedon and Worcester. It ended with some cow in a field probably wearing a brightly knitted scarf, and Mr T having to pay to replace everything lost. So did he learn from his mistake? Nope! A few years later when Jodie and her boyfriend Ben were moving into a flat together in Bristol the ever helpful Mr T was keen to get involved. They set off in the car with all their possessions, but less than an hour later I received a call from the very long suffering mothership asking if there were any drawers for the chest at home. Mr T had pulled up at the flat with the chest of drawers....minus the bottom two. When I said they were not at home the only other suggestion was that they had somehow come off the chest and ended up in a field by the motorway. How no-one in the car noticed is still a question we ask today!

So with his track record it was with a somewhat wary heart that I accepted Mr T’s offer of help. But *fan fare and trumpets* there were no accidents or damages!! There was the odd scrape on furniture, but apart from that, all arrived in one piece. It is true that we only moved 5 minutes down the road, but it is still impressive! The only casualty of the day was Mr T himself, who cut his finger. But he manages to cut himself on an almost daily basis, so we just handed him the plasters and let him get on with it!

The house move has kept me busy, what with packing, unpacking and general tidying/sorting. I have also been suffering from a cold and cough for more than 2 weeks! I have been feeling run down, and lacking in energy, which probably hasn't helped. But I have started drinking this new green powder, which looks gross but actually tastes ok! My friend Ams recommenced it, and said she felt amazing after about 2 weeks. I am on day 6 of drinking it now, so hoping to see the results soon! I will keep you posted.

Apart from that I have been busy organising Sunshine Radio’s birthday celebrations. The station turns 35 next month, so look out for a post on that!