My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki

On a quest to meet a generally interesting man, my sister and I decided to join a few book clubs (to be honest The Girly Book Club was probably not the best place to start, even though I highly recommend it!) Whilst the man front is still a pipe dream, I absolutely love the fact these book clubs have introduced me to books I would never normally have chosen. One such one being thanks to The Islington Book Club (this one comes with men), whose choice this month is My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki, an author who I have to admit I'd never heard of.

Two extraordinary women. One all-American TV cooking show. An unforgettable novel of love, friendship, culture and food.My Year of Meats is told in two voices, Jane Tagaki-Little, half American half Japanese, living in America, and Akiko who is Japanese and living in Japan. In a single eye-opening year, two women, worlds apart, experience parallel awakenings. In New York, Jane Takagi-Little has landed a job producing Japanese docu-soap My American Wife! But as she researches the consumption of meat in the American home, she begins to realize that her ruthless search for a story is deeply compromising her morals. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, housewife Akiko Ueno diligently prepares the recipes from Jane's programme. Struggling to please her husband, she increasingly doubts her commitment to the life she has fallen into. As Jane and Akiko both battle to assert their individuality on opposite sides of the globe, they are drawn together in a startling story of strength, courage, love. It is a truly fascinating story with some rather shocking facts about the meat industry in America thrown in. Ozeki takes advantage of the differences between Japanese and American culture in order to artfully comment on both.

When I first read the books description I really did not expect to enjoy it at all, but I fell in love with Ozeki's intelligent, witty and passionate prose. I will definitely be delving into her over titles.

So, whilst I remain unsuccessful on the man front (sorry Mum!), at least I have been introduced to some thoroughly fantastic books!

P.S. Anyone read this year's Man Booker Prize winner The Luminaries, thoughts?

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

I was very fortunate enough to attend the book launch of Hannah Kent's debut novel Burial Rites on Tuesday, a book that is absolutely fantastic. I literally cannot sing it's praises enough, I was hooked from the very first page.

"In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnúsdóttir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of her lover. Agnes is sent to wait out her final months on the farm of district officer Jón Jónsson, his wife and their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderer in their midst, the family avoid contact with Agnes. Only Tóti, the young assistant priest appointed Agnes’s spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her. As the year progresses and the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes’s story begins to emerge and with it the family’s terrible realization that all is not as they had assumed."

Based on actual events, Burial Rites is an astonishing and moving novel about the truths we claim to know and the ways in which we interpret what we’re told. In beautiful, cut-glass prose, Hannah Kent portrays Iceland’s formidable landscape, in which every day is a battle for survival, and asks, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?

Not only is Burial Rites a compelling read, heartbreaking and haunting, but it is one of those rare gems of a book that the publisher has spent a bit of money designing. The hardback is small enough to throw in your bag, but delicate enough for you not want to. The minimalist front cover, with simple font and a stunning black edge to the pages is just the right touch, intriguing one to pick up the book and open it and once opened, you won't want to close it! A perfect example of a book people will spend more on just to have the physical copy instead of the kindle version. Well done Picador!

So just in case you weren't sure, I really do recommend you go out and buy Burial Rites. It'll take your breath away.

The Circus, 1870-1950

I came home to find a large box on my front door step today (is there anything better than finding a large package (pun intended) on your doorstep?!) and couldn't contain my glee. I knew exactly what was in this large, heavy box from the good people at Amazon, my eagerly anticipated The Circus, 1870-1950 from Taschen and let me tell you, it was definitely worth the wait! The book is enormous, not one for the bath, and is beautifully designed, a lot of time and thought has clearly gone into it. Stuffed full of photographs, posters and information, The Circus really manages to capture the glitz and grime of the American Circus in it's heyday. My favourtie being the incredible vintage circus photos from the 40s and 50s, many of them rare colour pictures of the circus' showgirls. I also loved the posters advertising a huge variety of world famous circus acts. The only downside to the book is that in true Taschen format, it has been published in three different languages which is a bit of a hassle as you have to flick through to find the English translation, however the stunning imagery more than makes up for a few extra pages! It is a brilliant history of the classic American circus, detailing every aspect of it, not just the nice parts!

I have chosen a VERY small selection of my favourite images to wet your appetites but if, like myself, you love looking through vintage images of a fantastic tradition that unfortunately no longer exists, then I really can't recommend this book enough!
Just what I needed, another book that shows me I was born in the wrong era!!

Picture of the week

I managed to book grab Gustav Klimt Drawings & Watercolours from my work at Thames and Hudson publishers today and it reminded me of all the great works of art Gustave Klimt is responsible for. Therefore on this wet and windy Friday my picture of the week is his Life and Death painting. I love the colours and the detail of Klimt's work and this is one of my favourites. Especially as, and those who know me know, I am a sucker for an artsy skull!

Another Must Read

Bone River by Megan Chance

I just finished this stunning novel by author Megan Chance. I have never read any of her work before, but after finishing this gripping and haunting tale of passion and identity I will definitely be reading her others. I couldn't put the book down and whilst I was expecting a historical romance, I couldn't have been more wrong and (this being something I never admit) happy to have been so. Instead I was surprised by a complex, meaty plot; a tightly woven mystery based around secrets and lies, both past and present. Chance's ability to mix the inner turmoil of her characters with the battering winds, intense dark and rain adds much to the atmosphere, and brings the stunning but treacherous landscape to life. Whilst her confidence in writing about this period in history, adds a sense of reality that's not easy to accomplish.
I could not recommend this novel enough, there's enough history, mystery, romance, hardship and heartache in this novel to suit almost anyone who enjoys beautiful prose, believable characters and an intelligent, imaginative story. So don't thank me now, instead get reading immediately, I insist!

Thought of the week

As a massive F.Scott Fitzgerald fan I have just started to read Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda - The Love Letters of F.Scott Fitzgerald & Zelda Fitzgerald. It chronicles one of the 20th century's most passionate and iconic romances in such a way that the reader, for the first time, gets to compare both of the relationship between F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda Fitzgerald. It also got me thinking, what ever happened to writing letters?! In the days where we can connect to one and another instantly no one (and I include myself) seems to write letters anymore and after reading this book I have decided, if anyone wooed me with letters like Fitzgerald, it would totally work!

To all you Fitzgerald fans out there, it really is a must read as it is an amazing insight into such a devoted relationship that helped encourage him to write such incredible novels but was in the end, due to his alcoholism and her mental illness, a troubled and turbulent marriage.
Therefore, instead of a picture to inspire you this week, I have chosen a book for you to read, so curl up out of the snow, in front of the fire and enjoy. Although much has been be said about them as a couple, the best and most accurate road to gaining a real insight regarding them individually and their marriage, is to read what they themselves said to and about each other.

But of course the real reason... is that I love her and that's the beginning and end of everything - F. Scott Fitzgerald

50 Shades of Dull

After coming to the end of my degree I asked my sister for a good read to take my mind off feminist critiques, feminist artist and theories around the male gaze and so she recommended 50 Shades of Grey. Whilst she had never read it both of us had been hearing a lot of heard good reviews. As an avid reader I read the back cover and was excited, it sounded like my perfect pyschological thriller... how wrong I was...

Now I am no prude, but instead I found myself reading about a kinky sex story, every chapter had a new hot and steamy scene that ended up being well... not so hot and steamy. Instead of running for cold showers every chapter I was just left feeling cold as each session got more and more predictable (a bit like the story in general).

I also began to hate the characters. The girl Ana I just wanted to shake because lets face it, who (especially on their first try) would agree to becoming someone's well to put it bluently slave (not just in the bedroom but in every aspect). *Warning Spoiler Alert* I'm sorry but whilst I know whips and chains and the general dominatrix thing turn some people on, no girl, no matter how dashing and good in bed a bloke is, would agree to a) keep seeing him when told the only way they can be together is through a contract and b) the contract being full of rules like not being allowed to look him in the eye unless told. Any normal girl would run for the hills, instead in every chapter she mentions her Inner Goddess (a phrase I was seriously sick of by the end of the book as well as the use of panties to describe underwear on every page) doing backflips at the thought of this possessive man wanting her. She also kept constantly changing her mind from being able to cope with his kinky ways to needing more... what more was she never explained to us let alone the poor bloke. Which brings me to the male protagonist himself, the mysterious Mr Grey, dashing, rich and damaged but who mainly was just a character I loathed and no not because I am an avid feminist disgusted by the thought of a man claiming rule over a poor innocent young girl, he just wasn't a likeable character. Instead of feeling sorry for him I ended up "rolling my eyes" (another phrase very much over used) at all his "heart wrenching" problems because in the end he was just a control freak and didn't just want a girl to dominate in the bedroom but in life itself, telling her when to eat what to eat where and when to sleep etc. To be honest, he was a therapists wet dream!

To top things off, after determinedly persisting with this tedious book hoping to discover some big revelation of why it is so popular, the ending was actually the worst part. Disappointing, abrupt and completely ridiculous... I won't reveal it for those of you still interested in reading the book but let me tell you it's not worth dragging yourself through the appalling writing.

Overall, I did however read this book in a weekend and despite the poor narrative I was compelled to finish. As against all odds it was a page turner, and no not because of the kinky sex scenes (which by the end I wanted to skip past). Instead I just wanted to find out what was going to happen to the predictably doomed relationship... So if you love a trashy novel this may be the right book for you, if a bit flat. However, unlike the Hunger Games trilogy, all three of which I finished in a weekend (and was expecting this book to be more in the style of), I will not be buying the next two in the sequence because one can only take so much seductive lip biting and piercing grey eyes in a story and in all honesty, I couldn't care less what happens to the "star crossed lovers". In fact, next time I think I'll stick to New Feminist Art Criticism.

A Must Read

I just finished reading The Whisperer, Donato Carrisi's debut book and for all of you out there like me, who love a good psychological thriller, this is the book for you! I couldn't put it down, which unfortunately meant neglecting my essay whilst I took long baths, didn't get out of bed and generally just read it whenever and wherever I could. It is multi-layered, full of twists and turns and you will never guess the ending. So grab a cup of tea (and a night light) and snuggle away from the cold weather with this fantastic book. I definitely hung up my heels this weekend just so I could finish it!

New Year Reading

Well Bloggers firstly a Happy New Year to all (I know it's a bit late but I have been in Morzine skiing (pictures to come soon)).

So, for Christmas Santa bought me many lovely presents as I am sure he did to you all. One such present was a book about one of my favourite artists entitled, 'A Bigger Message Conversations With David Hockney' by Martin Gayford. I recommend this book to all you Hockney fans out there as it was absolutely fascinating especially since it talks a lot about Hockney's work on the iPhone and iPad. I am going to see his exhibition at the Royal Academy on the 20th Jan and this book has made me even more excited about going to see it as well as making me want to pick up an easel and paint! So all you art lovers out there use the grandparents Christmas cheque to go buy it immediately... I insist!