During 2012 I discovered some lovely books, dipped into different genres, and found some new and inspiring authors.
And then there's the reading list for 2013. Since the new year, I have read lots of books including a moving World War II soldier's account, the first installment of Stephen Fry's autobiography and the first book that has made me seriously weep since I read E.B. White's 'Charlotte's Web' as a child.
First to pick up where I left off...somewhere around August 2012:
And then there's the reading list for 2013. Since the new year, I have read lots of books including a moving World War II soldier's account, the first installment of Stephen Fry's autobiography and the first book that has made me seriously weep since I read E.B. White's 'Charlotte's Web' as a child.
First to pick up where I left off...somewhere around August 2012:
The Power of Kaballah - Yehuda Berg
A good friend of mine lent me this book - thank you Tash. I have never been one for following a religion, but I have always been interested in spirituality and nurture of the soul.
What I love is faith. I think faith in itself is an entirely different ballgame to religion. Your faith may be strong and beautiful and channeled into a religion, which is great if it helps you lead the kind of life you want to. The difference being that faith is something that I think comes from within. How can a book, or someone else's experience or lessons teach you about your own faith? Each of us has our own individual faith. We cultivate it along the way, through our own experiences and beliefs. It is inevitably influenced by what we read and see and feel and the people that enter our lives, but it is something made of all those personal elements that only we can know.
I am always interested in reading about spirituality and 'the stuff that lurks beneath the material surface', so I enjoyed this book. It is an introduction and overview of the spiritual practices and beliefs of Kabbalah, a practice with its roots in Jewish mysticism that has previously been shrouded in secrecy and passed down by word of mouth. It is somewhat like Scientology, if only in the number of celebrity endorsements it draws; Guy Ritchie, Mick Jagger and Madonna are among others.
According to Kabbalah, we have forgotten how to connect with the ethereal reality beyond what we see every day and often find ourselves trapped and unsatisfied as a result. This realm contains all of the things we don't know how to attain through money and status: peace, happiness, fulfillment, hope and freedom. The manual is written in simple and approachable terms, with shades of a self-help manual. It is a nourishing read, even if you do not find yourself agreeing with all of the principles. It escapes religious dogma by exploring the spiritual power of the universe and how we can start to connect with and apply it to our everyday lives.
What I love is faith. I think faith in itself is an entirely different ballgame to religion. Your faith may be strong and beautiful and channeled into a religion, which is great if it helps you lead the kind of life you want to. The difference being that faith is something that I think comes from within. How can a book, or someone else's experience or lessons teach you about your own faith? Each of us has our own individual faith. We cultivate it along the way, through our own experiences and beliefs. It is inevitably influenced by what we read and see and feel and the people that enter our lives, but it is something made of all those personal elements that only we can know.
I am always interested in reading about spirituality and 'the stuff that lurks beneath the material surface', so I enjoyed this book. It is an introduction and overview of the spiritual practices and beliefs of Kabbalah, a practice with its roots in Jewish mysticism that has previously been shrouded in secrecy and passed down by word of mouth. It is somewhat like Scientology, if only in the number of celebrity endorsements it draws; Guy Ritchie, Mick Jagger and Madonna are among others.
According to Kabbalah, we have forgotten how to connect with the ethereal reality beyond what we see every day and often find ourselves trapped and unsatisfied as a result. This realm contains all of the things we don't know how to attain through money and status: peace, happiness, fulfillment, hope and freedom. The manual is written in simple and approachable terms, with shades of a self-help manual. It is a nourishing read, even if you do not find yourself agreeing with all of the principles. It escapes religious dogma by exploring the spiritual power of the universe and how we can start to connect with and apply it to our everyday lives.
Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
Vonnegut's most renowned novel is a satirical and fantastical anti-war book. It was first published in 1969 and is inspired by his own personal experience as an American Prisoner of War during World War II. He was one of few survivors of the firebombing at Dresden carried out by the allies in February 1945. Click here to read more about the firebombing at Dresden, and/or for those with a strong stomach, I advise whacking 'firebombing Dresden' into Google images to get an idea of the extent of the damage - truly horrifying.
In the novel, the protagonist Billy Pilgrim has become unhinged from reality in his later years, having been abducted by aliens from a planet called Tralfamadore. He constantly time travels, jumping to different stages of his own life. One phase of constant return is Billy's time as a soldier during WWII. He is rendered a weak and incapable soldier, eventually taken prisoner by the Germans in an old slaughterhouse in Dresden with other fellow American soldiers. After hiding in a cellar, they are some of the few survivors of the devastating firebombing. Is Billy's abduction real, or are the aliens a fantasy created to help Billy escape the horror of his past?
Vonnegut warns his readers in the opening chapter of the novel that he has attempted to write about his experiences of the war, but really 'there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre'. At the outset, Vonnegut actually aimed to write a book about heroic young soldiers; it was his war buddy's wife Mary O'Hare who brought him back to reality. She exclaims with outrage to the two men reminiscing about their experience during the war, 'but you were just baby's then'. This comment held firm with Vonnegut and is the inspiration behind the alternative title for the novel, 'The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'.
I loved my first taste of Vonnegut and he is on the reading list for 2013. 'Slaughterhouse-Five' manages to ride a fine line between humor and tragedy. Comedy often enables us to face the dark stuff. In an interview on the BBC World Service Book Club in 2006, Vonnegut explained that he included the aliens and science-fiction aspect not only as a relief for Billy Pilgrim, but for his reading audience. He wanted to give his audience 'a breather' from the heavier stuff.
There are some beautiful and memorable passages in the book and some scenes that really made me share in Vonnegut's feeling of the futility of war. For example, when the war has officially ended, one of the freed American POW's is executed for stealing a kettle. Such incidents of individual violence reveal the vacuity of the violence inflicted on innocent men during war.
In the novel, the protagonist Billy Pilgrim has become unhinged from reality in his later years, having been abducted by aliens from a planet called Tralfamadore. He constantly time travels, jumping to different stages of his own life. One phase of constant return is Billy's time as a soldier during WWII. He is rendered a weak and incapable soldier, eventually taken prisoner by the Germans in an old slaughterhouse in Dresden with other fellow American soldiers. After hiding in a cellar, they are some of the few survivors of the devastating firebombing. Is Billy's abduction real, or are the aliens a fantasy created to help Billy escape the horror of his past?
Vonnegut warns his readers in the opening chapter of the novel that he has attempted to write about his experiences of the war, but really 'there is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre'. At the outset, Vonnegut actually aimed to write a book about heroic young soldiers; it was his war buddy's wife Mary O'Hare who brought him back to reality. She exclaims with outrage to the two men reminiscing about their experience during the war, 'but you were just baby's then'. This comment held firm with Vonnegut and is the inspiration behind the alternative title for the novel, 'The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'.
I loved my first taste of Vonnegut and he is on the reading list for 2013. 'Slaughterhouse-Five' manages to ride a fine line between humor and tragedy. Comedy often enables us to face the dark stuff. In an interview on the BBC World Service Book Club in 2006, Vonnegut explained that he included the aliens and science-fiction aspect not only as a relief for Billy Pilgrim, but for his reading audience. He wanted to give his audience 'a breather' from the heavier stuff.
There are some beautiful and memorable passages in the book and some scenes that really made me share in Vonnegut's feeling of the futility of war. For example, when the war has officially ended, one of the freed American POW's is executed for stealing a kettle. Such incidents of individual violence reveal the vacuity of the violence inflicted on innocent men during war.
The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield
This one was a recommendation from my boyfriend Murry who found it in a book exchange in New Zealand. I read it in Peru, which was a nice coincidence as it is set in Peru. It is an adventure book mixed with a good dollop of spirituality.
The protagonist embarks on a quest to discover the nine insights described in an ancient manuscript recovered in Peru. The Peruvian government and Church are attempting to hide the manuscript from the public as it threatens their own power and doctrine. Through the teachings and experience of the manuscript, Redfield explores ideas rooted in Ancient Eastern philosophy and New Age Spirituality.
The plot was pretty cheesy at times, but I appreciated the book for the content more than the story, which I think was just a device for Redfield's interest in and deliverance of the spiritual ideas.
How To Look Like You - Rose McClelland
This is the second novel by Rose McClelland, and the follow-up to her debut 'The Break-Up Test'. I don't read much Chick-lit so this was a welcome deviation from my usual reading. I steamed through this book. The characters really jumped to life. The story centers around relationships; their beginnings, endings, trials and tribulations. The narrative is written from the perspective of Chloe and Ella, both twenty-somethings seeking love and happiness. The girls could not be more different from each other but the book explores the insecurities and doubts that they both, and in fact we all experience in love and relationships.
This was a great introduction to Chick-lit and a really enjoyable read. I'm pretty sure I even had a dream inspired by it, so it must have sunk in under the skin.
Click here to visit Rose's blog and find out more about her.
Gunshot Glitter - Yasmin Selena Butt
This is Yasmin Selena Butt's debut novel and rest assured, it's quite a corker. It was published in 2012 for Kindle, and has recently become available in print. It's a love/ thriller/ crime story all rolled into one. The plot is gripping and fluid, knitted together gradually through the perspective of many different characters.
I developed empathy and compassion for both the seemingly heartless hit-girl protagonist and the family of one of her murder victims (an innocent twenty-one year old boy). I imagine this is a hard feat to achieve on the writer's side. I don't want to give any more away on the plot as I am hopeless at doing that (I'm always the annoying person who accidentally informs everyone of the twist in a film they have yet to see).
In terms of plot development, character and writing style, this debut was very accomplished for a first-time novelist. Yasmin is now working on her second novel and all I can say is watch this space...I know I am...
Click here to find out more about Yasmin and have a peek at her blog.
FEAR: A Modern Anthology of Horror and Terror: 2 (Crooked Cat Publishing, with an Introduction from Sherri Browning Erwin)
An anthology of new horror writing. All royalties from sales go to Barnardo’s and Médecins Sans Frontières. I have to make a disclosure and a public apology on this one:
Disclosure: I have not yet read all of the thirty short stories in this anthology (Volume 2 of 2). That's one of the reasons I love short story collections, because you can dip in and out of an anthology at your whim and fancy, without losing the thread. I was really eager to dip into the last story first on this account, as 'Daisy And The Bear' was written by a good friend. I met Mel Melis on a writing course I did a few summers ago. I remember being impressed by his unique and quirky writing voice and also the range of genres he was able to successfully try his hand at. Among his offerings in class, there was gentle, lyrical and poignant poetry, laughter-inducing modern fiction, and stories that reached into a surreal and fantastical past.
Public Apology: Mel - if you are reading, I realised when writing this blog that I never gave you any feedback after initially reading the story. Not that you need my feedback, but I still feel bad. I'm slow and rubbish and I really enjoyed your story!
Ok, enough about Mel (yeah Mel, stop being so greedy)...what about the whole?
Well it's a great collection of original and gritty horror tales, and I imagine the first volume is too. Among the ones I have read so far, a few stand out in my mind:
The Sculptor - Tom Gillespie
The hauntingly creepy story of a young man and his impromptu encounter with an old sculptor. Maybe becoming an Artist's muse isn't all it's cracked up to be?
I enjoyed Gillespie's writing style and the mystery we are left to ponder at the end of the story.
The Living Eucharist - A. Taylor Douglas
A surprising tale about a lady seeking a better connection with God. Through a sustained head injury, she summons something perhaps closer to the devil instead.
I was drawn to the main character in this story and her desperation and desire to be close to and feel God's blessing. I could not relate to it, but it hooked me in and made me want to read on. Although I knew it was a horror story, I was not expecting the ending either, so it was a nice twist.
Black Ash - A.E. Doylle
An accomplished story about a teenager who gets entangled in a terrifying myth from the past. The old charred remains of a convent capture her imagination when she arrives in town with her parents, who are surveying the site for construction. When she starts experiencing nightmares that relate to what supposedly happened at the convent before the fire, she becomes more involved than planned....ooh and eeek!
Daisy And The Bear - Mel Melis
An inspired tale about an arranged marriage imposed on a young teenager, just seventeen on the day of her wedding to an almost-stranger. Daisy's comforting (and later terrifying) childhood teddybear becomes a symbol of her emotions. Where Daisy feels helpless to express her true anger, hatred and anguish towards her husband and the situation imposed on her, her teddybear decides to give her a helping hand (or should we say claw)...
Impressive writing style and economy - always tricky to nail in a short story and Melis does a fine job. The action moves along nicely and hooks the reader, each sentence revealing something new. It's a well-rounded, structured and polished tale with a deliciously dark twist.
To have a mooch at Mel's blog click here.
The next Catch-up blog will feature the rest of what I have been devouring recently. Some of it is 'South America inspired' and I have much to rave about on that front. All in a good way I should add.
