Before I Go To Sleep

Before I Go To Sleep
by S J Watson

First published in Great Britain in 2011.

Imagine if every morning when you woke up you had no idea who you were, where you were or how you got there.  This is the reality that Christine faces every day since she had an accident that left her with memory problems.  Most things she learns while awake become forgotten as she sleeps.

Before I Go To Sleep is a brilliant thriller about Christine's day to day life as she tries to come to terms with her accident with the help of her husband Ben, and her doctor.  She keeps a journal to try to jog her memory and has photographs and notes all over the house, and each morning Ben has to calm her down and show her scrapbooks of their life together.  As the story progresses there is an underlying feeling of unease and then a great twist hits that I did not see coming.  It does end on a bit of a cliff hanger, but it fits with the story and allows readers to decide what they think would happen next, which I actually liked in this case.

Christine is a forty-seven year old, but can only remember being in her early twenties.  Although I have not been in Christine's situation, she was written well and I felt a connection to her.  She is desperate, upset, angry and strong throughout the story, which was all very realistic and how I imagined I would feel.
I felt sorry for her husband, Ben, as every day he has to explain about his life with Christine to her and allow her to be scared and confused.  He deals so well with it, though you can tell it affects him too.

The story is easy to read and a definite page turner; I felt myself reading increasingly feverishly at one point when Christine reads her journal.  S J Watson's writing is exciting, detailed and doesn't skimp on the thrill factor.  I was also glad that the story didn't have Christine as a together, strong character who is getting on with her life despite her adversities.  As uplifting as those stories can be, in Christine's situation I know I would be panicking, and therefore felt the emotions were much more realistic.

Reading this book made me really think about and appreciate the importance of memories and how they shape us.  I couldn't imagine not being able to remember whole chunks of my life, especially if this included major events such as getting married, as in Christine's case.  It made me realise how vulnerable you are without your memories, with Christine having to rely on Ben and her doctor to explain her life to her.

This would be a great holiday read, but I can't promise you'll be able to put it down!
As an extra bonus, the Black Swan edition I have has some great 'reading group' questions at the end.

The Night Circus

The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern

First published in Great Britain in 2011.

This book is wonderful.  It is magical.  It is mysterious.  It entices you into a dream world and wraps you in its secrets.

The first time I read this book I was enthralled with the language and imagery.  The characters were so well written that they stayed with me long after I finished reading.  I know that sounds like such a cliché but I honestly don't think it happens all that often.

The story is set in the late nineteenth century, and centres around a circus which appears with no warning and only opens at night.  It becomes an international sensation, with people travelling to visit it.  Behind the scenes are a group of performers, including contortionists and magicians.  Two of these magicians are Celia and Marco.  Magically tied to each other before they even know of the others existence, each is trained by a mentor in the magical arts.  Their mentors are playing a game, the circus is their playing field and Celia and Marco their pawns.  Although on the surface the circus is a wondrous surprise, the game takes a sinister turn as it becomes clear that there can only be one winner.

The book intersperses chapters from different characters points of view with chapters written in the second person.  These place the reader in the story as a visitor to the circus and makes you feel as though you are meeting the people in each chapter.  Rather than following a straighforward structure, the plot switches between times, characters and places.  This fits well with the idea of the circus being an endless group of circles of tents and winding paths; I felt as if I were wandering through the story, at times rather dreamily and with a page-turning urgency at others.

Celia and Marco are becoming two of my favourite literary characters.  Individually they are intriguing, but together they are a fierce power couple to be reckoned with.  Without giving too much away, yes there is a love story here, but it is so beautifully written that I would dare anyone not to champion them.
Herr Thiessen is a seemingly small character who grows with the story, and is one I was particularly drawn to.  He is a clockmaker who makes the circus's amazing clock and becomes a 'revêur', a follower of the circus.  I imagined myself to be friends with him if I were in the story.

Like the visitors to the circus, each time I read this book I find myself drawn to a different aspect of it.  If you want a brilliantly told story with a magical aspect then add this to your bookcase.

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules
by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg

First published in Great Britain in 2014.

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules caught my eye because of the bright purple cover.  The illustration of a 'little old lady' with a zimmer frame piqued my interest and upon reading the blurb, I bought the book.

79 year old Martha Andersson lives at a care home but dreams of escaping the plasticky meals and strict early bedtimes.  Along with her four friends - who call themselves the League Of Pensioners (I love this name) - she comes up with a plan to get them all arrested and put in prison, where they know they will be more comfortable and better looked after than in their cost-cutting care home.  Thus begins the friends embark on adventures to art galleries, hotels, prisons, banks and cruise ships.  The story is a lighthearted, funny and at times touching look at how the older generation live in our modern world.

Martha is a strong character who cares deeply about her friends.  She reminded me of my grandma with her adventurous spirit and straight-talking attitude.  As the ringleader she regularly holds meetings in her room with her friends and shares her secret stash of cloudberry liqueur.
Brains, so nicknamed for his ingenuity, is an older gentleman who becomes close to Martha.  I really enjoyed reading their relationship, as it slowly developed.  It was not rushed or corny, rather it was sweet and believable.
The three others, Christina, Rake and Anna-Greta all play their parts in the story convincingly.  I particularly liked Anna-Greta, who uses the internet for online shopping and banking, much to the surprise and confusion of the others.

Plot-wise, I felt the story began strongly, and I was reading eagerly, until about two thirds of the way through.  It then lost its pace a bit for me, but got back on track for a great ending.  It did make me think about getting old and imagine what I'll be like - hopefully a part of my grandma's spirit will come out in me.

The story was a funny one but with a slightly serious undertone.  It may have been a bit of a joke in the book that the Swedish prison was comfier than the care home, but it did make me think about the care we give our elderly.  Although the story was set in Sweden it translated well and there was nothing which only Swedish readers would understand - infact a lot of the time I forgot it wasn't set in England.

I laughed, I cried and I thought about life - what more could you want from a book?  For a sweet, funny look at growing old disgracefully, read this and look forward to old age.

Perfect

Perfect
by Rachel Joyce

First published in Great Britain in 2013.

If you've been following this blog you will know that earlier this year I read The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.  I loved it and told everyone to read it.  When I walked past a bookshop and saw Perfect in the window, I immediately recognised the style of the cover as being similar to 'Harold Fry' and saw it was the next book from the author.  After I quick read of the blurb I bought it and eagerly started to read.

The story is that of Byron, an eleven-year-old in the summer of 1972, who finds out that two seconds are being added to time and struggles with this fact.  On the way to school one day, his watch seemingly shows the two seconds being added.  Whilst showing his mother, there is a terrible accident and Byron's world is turned upside down.  Blaming himself, Byron and his best friend come up with 'Operation Perfect' - a plan to save his mother.

Along side this story, and alternated in chapters, is one set in the present day.  In this one we meet Jim, a middle-aged man who struggles with OCD and has rituals he must perform every night in the van he lives in.  While he wipes tables in a supermarket cafe at his day job we are let in to his thoughts and slowly find out about his past and time spent in a psychiatric units.

I found that I didn't connect with Byron and James as much as I did with Jim, which surprised me.  Byron was just too simpering at times and so attached to James that even something as natural as James going through puberty shocks him.  James was a lot more likeable, having a sweet schoolboy crush on Byron's mother and having good ideas but then it seemed than Byron just didn't come up with the results.  Maybe in my mind Byron was older than eleven, but I wanted to go in to his house and tell him what he was doing wrong a lot of the time.

Jim was an interesting character and one who showed me that you never really know what people are going through.  I wanted to go and have a chat and a biscuit with.  There are enough details about his past that you feel a protectiveness towards him, but not too much that it detracts from the present day.

Throughout the story there is a feeling that the two stories are connected, but it is not clear how until towards the end of the book.  The chapter it is revealed in is very well written (I did cry) and it came at a time when I was basically plodding through just to get to the end.

The writing is very similar to that of Harold Fry, and the author clearly has a certain, strong style, which is good, but I just didn't love this one.  Part of me thinks that if I hadn't read Harold Fry first I might have liked this more, but to me Harold was a stronger character than any in this book and evoked more emotion from me.  I think part of the reason for this is the alternating chapters and joint stories in Perfect.  If the book had been longer there would have been more time spent with each character, but as it is I didn't get to know any of them enough.

I did like the idea of the two seconds being added being used as a plot point, as I didn't know this happened before reading this book.  It does make you realise the importance of time and that sometimes it only takes a few seconds for everything to change.

The Secret Dreamworld Of A Shopaholic

The Secret Dreamworld Of A Shopaholic
by Sophie Kinsella

First published in Great Britain in 2000.

I'm the first to confess that several of my teenage years were spent reading cheesy books about romance, shopping, holidays and other female-related dramas; in short 'chick lit'.  As I have grown and expanded my reading, most of the chick lit has been donated to charity shops, however there is one series which has survived and kept it's place on my bookcase.  The Secret Dreamworld Of A Shopaholic is the first in Sophie Kinsella's (as of April 2014) six book series.

Rebecca (Becky) Bloomwood is a finance journalist with a shopping problem.  She indulges in retail therapy without checking her bank statements and dreads getting her credit card bills.  Although Rebecca knows she should stop, she fails at both 'Cutting Back' and 'Making More Money'.  The first book follows Rebecca as she lives with her best friend Suze, tries different jobs and meets a Mr Luke Brandon, all the while telling her bank manager she is ill or on holiday to avoid seeing him.

The story is rather lightweight and easy to read, but is one which will always be relevant.  The struggle Becky faces with her bills is one a lot of people will relate to, although nowadays the idea of getting into debt through clothes shopping seems pretty silly.  The financial jargon is minimal, and the fact that most readers (unless you're a financial business person) will have a minimal understanding adds to the lack of understanding Becky has in her job and her lifestyle.

Becky is a strong character with emotions every woman can relate to, and although she is a bit annoying at times, she always redeems herself.  She manages to get herself into tangles of fibs and messes, but comes through at the last minute.  I do despair at times, but the writing is so funny that it is easy to see past Becky constantly falling back into her shopping habits and see the good heart underneath.  There are not many books which make me laugh out loud, but this series is definitely one.

The rest of the series is Shopaholic Abroad, Shopaholic Ties The Knot, Shopaholic And Sister, Shopaholic And Baby and Mini Shopaholic.  Even with Becky going through different stages and events in her life she stays true to herself and what she knows to be right.  I feel that readers will relate to each book differently, depending on where they are at in their own lives, and I know I'll be re-reading them in the future.

On a side note, there was a film released in 2009 based on the first book, but the books are definitely better.   (Don't even get me started on them making Becky American!)

Marianne Dreams

Marianne Dreams
by Catherine Storr

First published in Great Britain in 1958.

Although this is classed as a children’s book I found it really creepy when I read it as a child, and having re-read it as a teenager and an adult my feeling haven’t changed.  However it is a good read, and creates strong images in your mind.  If you’re interested in lesser known children’s novels or in stories about dreams and the influence they can have on life, then make sure you read this.

Marianne is a ten year old, who suddenly falls ill on her tenth birthday and is bed bound.  When Marianne becomes bored she looks in her mother’s workbox and finds a pencil. With this pencil she draws a house in a field.  That night she dreams and finds herself in the field looking at the house, but she cannot get inside as there is no-one to let her in.  When she awakes the next day she draws a person in the house, and in her following dreams she meets him.  This boy turns out to be Mark – a boy who is also ill in real life, although they never meet except in her dreams.  As Marianne draws more in the daytime, her dreams turn frightening and she and Mark must work out how to escape.

Marianne is a strong character, who develops from a frustrated, bed bound girl to a fierce, adventurous friend.  She shows the natural fear we all feel in strange dreams and is easy to relate to, even as an older reader.  As I have grown up and re-read I feel the unease Marianne feels in her dreams can be likened to all the worries everybody feels as they change in life.

Mark is a strange character, because he what he says and does is essentially a reaction to what Marianne draws.  He is around the same age as Marianne but more emotional.   He is scared that he doesn’t understand what is happening and angry at Marianne for being able to leave when he is seemingly always in the house she has drawn.

The basic story is one which appeals to younger readers – an ill child who is transported to her imaginary world and makes a friend.  Along with the magic of a drawing pencil the story has all you would want.  However there is an ongoing eeriness and as the story progresses it becomes outright creepy, and thus I feel it is a tricky one to attach an audience to.  

Persuasion

Persuasion
by Jane Austen

First published in Great Britain in 1818.

I'll start with a confession.  As much as I love reading, before Persuasion I had only read Austen's Pride & Prejudice.  I always liked the idea of reading Austen, but I always seemed to have a book on the go already.  However I bought Persuasion after a recommendation from a certain Miss Sandra Bullock (well, her character in 'The Lakehouse') and put it at the top of my 'to-read' list.

The story follows twenty-seven year old Anne Elliot, who broke off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth eight years earlier.  Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme and Bath, we meet many different family members and friends who all have opinions on the gossip of the day, particularly which eligible bachelor will choose which girl.  When Anne suddenly meets Wentworth again after all this time, it is tinged with the heartache of the missed opportunity.  The story is full of morning calls, theatre trips, visits to the seaside and other such social events.  As the story progresses it is tinged with the love that Anne still feels for Wentworth and there is an overriding wonder of 'will they, won't they?'

I liked Anne - she is funny and doesn't give in to the whole society aspect of life as much as the rest of the characters, which gives her a great independent streak.  I felt for her and the heartache she felt.  I could not imagine being persuaded to break an engagement and then have to spend time with the man years later, and Austen's writing was sad at times but hopefully optimistic.

Wentworth was a quiet character for most of the story, as it is told from Anne's point of view, and so we are never sure how he feels until the second to last chapter.  He comes across as a bit aloof but if you know Austen you'll quickly see that this is the usual 'he's actually deeply in love with her' style.

The main issue I have with the writing here is that is it long-winded.  I appreciate classic language, and don't mind flicking to the notes at the end to find meanings, but I find that it stops me from getting as emotionanally involved in the story.  At the end of this book, I felt like I should have been crying, but the fact was that it had taken me so long to read and understand the sentences full of commas that my heart wasn't properly engaged.  Perhaps this was because it was the first reading, but I hate to skip over words or phrases that are new to me.  On the other hand, the writing being so detailed makes it easy to imagine the clothes, houses and atmosphere and I did feel like I was in another time.

This isn't a book for everyone, and you definitely have to be in the right frame of mind to read it, but if you're settled in with chocolate and hope in your heart, it is pretty wonderful.