I read half of Bridget Jones's Diary on Friday and finished it today.
I'm very behind on my challenge and do not feel particularly opinionated.
My mum picked me up from school for the first time in eight years; but I felt disgustingly carsick.
- BUT YOU HAVE WINGS FOR ARMS
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chibibble- February 8th, 19:47
stressed
- I WANT IT ALL, I WANT IT NOW
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- chibibble
- February 5th, 17:43
melancholy
I'm jealous.
Of everyone.
- BEST MISTAKE I EVER MADE
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- chibibble
- February 4th, 20:26
bitchy
February 4th's book is Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen.
Lock and Key is the story of a girl whose abusive mother leaves her and how she finds an equally abused hot guy under her nose but rejects him for most of the book until she realises she can't do much better. It's not as bad as that, honest.
I think, that while Sarah Dessen achieved "indie" fiction, she sacrificed something else in the process. Realism. This is mainly because people do not want to read about ordinary people living their boring lives but in some twisted je ne sais quoi they do. Something about this book irritated me: perhaps it was the fact that my mother did not abandon me or the reason why I don't wear pseudo-jewellery that suddenly becomes a huge craze or - most importantly - how I did not end up living with my older sister and her husband next to a cute-boy-next-door type because some people just have all the luck in the world. This might just be me being cynical.
If I were to be completely honest, I did enjoy this book and it would appeal to the finding-herself teenager that seems to be lurking around the net so much these days. Perhaps I'm just reaching for an impossible ideal in writing that hasn't actually appeared due to the fact of my ridiculous, ever-changing standards?
- TELL ME LOVE, WHERE DO WE GO?
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- chibibble
- February 3rd, 21:45
embarrassed
Note: This is the furthest I have ever got writing smut, dating to March last year (whilst I was in my One Piece yaoi phase). I probably will never continue this e_e;
( I know you don't mean to be mean, I'm sure you know the same for me )
- YOU BREAK MY HEART EACH TIME YOU
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- chibibble
- February 3rd, 19:10
grateful
February 3rd's book is Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce.
Millions is the story of two brothers who find a lot of soon-to-be-worthless money fallen from theskyback of a train and what they do with the money. Although it is aimed at children, it can definitely be enjoyed by older readers due to the gorgeously funny dialogue and the inside-the-box nature of the book which you can appreciate fully if you step outside Damian's narrative and look at other characters' points of view.
The contrast between Damian, who is unusually do-goodish, and Anthony, who wants to spend the money to help the family, is also lovely. At some points in the story, I did not like Damien because of his obedience and almost over-the-top desire to help the poor and build wells for African communities to eradicate river blindness and much preferred the more astute Anthony.
It just about broke my heart, ;___;. I dream of writing like this, in such a simplistically beautiful style that even younger audiences can understand the issues and sheer feeling behind every idea. Boyce has a lovely childlike quality to his writing which is very appropriate to his usual main character of a(n around) ten-year-old finding his way in the world.
"You know how you tell people Mum is dead and they give you stuff?"
Anthony nodded.
"Well, I told God."
I pulled back the box and Anthony saw it - a big bag stuffed with money. His face glowed. He says now that it's still the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. He was so happy just then.
"And it's from God, you reckon?"
I nodded.
"Well, he really wanted to cheer us up."
After reading Cosmic and Framed - two equivalently engrossing reads - as well as Millions I can really recommend Frank Cottrell Boyce as an author!
- IT'S A VERY, VERY MAD WORLD
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- chibibble
- February 2nd, 19:09
busy
February 2nd's book is The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams.
This book by Douglas Adams is the sequel to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and is very much similar to the Hitchhiker's Guide. Adams' off-the-wall humour and seemingly pointless writing was a nice break from the new fashion of books where plot is replaced with drama (omg apocalypse, everyone over 15 disappears mysteriously, one-word impact titles), vampires and also the "original" teen fiction which is very much based on angst-filled teenage normal lives with strange character names to seem different. End rant.
The crux of the matter is that Douglas Adams doesn't need to try and be different, because as an appreciated cult fiction author, he already is.
It was an absolute gem to read and it was easy to laugh at the blatant, matter-of-fact mockery of 1980's and even today's society. I enjoyed how the book focused on very banal issues as well as making important issues seem banal (e.g. 'Eventually Dirk simply disconnected the set from the power socket on the wall and turned back to the boy, who broke his nose.'). Again, the (back) cover sums it up very well! 'Funnier than Psycho...more chilling than Jeeves Takes Charge...shorter than War and Peace' -- a great deal shorter, actually, at 240 pages...
All in all, I got in the mood for some Terry Pratchett~
- CAN'T RAISE YOUR VOICE TO SAY
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- chibibble
- February 1st, 20:21
creative
Firstly, this. My art isn't that good, but comments would be lovely~! And that's Gaara in period dress for those who have no idea what Naruto is.
Secondly, I have decided to read a book for every day of February. Today's book is Unbroken Spirit by Ferzanna Riley.
Unbroken Spirit is an autobiography of the author's 'struggle to escape from abuse' - the front cover sums it up pretty well -and how she broke free from the restrictions of her family, religion and culture. The actual story reminded me of a Torey Hayden book and although I could relate to most of what Riley was saying (I even recognised some of the food she eats!), the narrative grew tedious after a while. It was good, but almost whiny sometimes and her descriptions of pretty much everything took up much of the 280 pages.
The slight similarities between her life and mine (so far) was enough for me to shudder at the thought of being kidnapped by my parents and taken to India for an arranged marriage. My parents aren't really that traditional, to be honest, so I probably don't have much to worry about, XD.
A sentence that cropped up often was 'I was neither _____ nor _____. I was in a _____ no man's land' and 'I was not a Paki, I was exotic...I was not ugly, I was beautiful', which made me feel very eugh by the end of the book.
Essentially, the plot is that of an abused Cinderella emerging from her chrysalis etc. etc. and although I couldn't strongly recommend it to someone, it was thought-provoking,
