I don’t remember the first time I read We Need To Talk about Kevin. It was either at University while I was meant to be reading something else, or it was an old book-group choice. While I’m fuzzy about what brought me to it, I do remember being physically disgusted by it. Back then, I really did throw it against a wall, turn off the light and did not sleep. I turned the light back on to make sure it…
I was breaking out in hives. Shaking. Clawing at my skin. ‘What the hell is this?’ I said to Sarge. ‘Red splotches. On my neck. Should I do this? I think I’m gonna be sick. Hold my hand.’ And then I grabbed his hand. Maybe broke his fingers. A little. No, I was not peeing on a stick. I was not choosing table linens for the wedding dinner (which is actually the wedding breakfast, but never mind). None of those…
Or, book reviews that are one sentence. Or one line, depending on your definition of ‘sentence’. Work with me. Chicken With Plums – I fell asleep in the middle, and woke up by the end. Death at La Fenice – The start of my new favourite series. The Fault in Our Stars – I might have developed a slightly age-inappropriate crush on Augustus Waters. MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search For A New Best Friend – An exercise in First-World problems.…
For Christmas, Dad bought me a copy of The Ultimate Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook. Because that’s the kinda guy he is. I think it was a joint present. ‘You can skip the bits on dating and breaking up. I have, however, highlighted the section on BABIES!’ he said. Since then, the book has sat on our actual coffee table, used as a handy reference guide/random writing prompter. On Friday, I found the book open to this not-so-random page (73): A…
Goodreads says I’ve read 49 books this year. That would be a painful number, if I wasn’t taking a reading break from the 5oth to share my top 10 for 2012, in some semblance of order: The Snow Child The History of Love The Panopticon The Story Sisters The Invisible Circus Dandelion Wine The Night Circus The Art of Fielding Where’d You Go, Bernadette? The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop These are the books I lived with this year. The ones I…
