Holiday Reading

As soon as the school holiday arrived, we jetted off for sunny Spain - just as the UK was experiencing a heat wave!  Nevermind, we had an air conditioned apartment and a pool at hand, so it made the heat very enjoyable rather than a little bit torturous if we'd still been a home. Unfortunately, we forgot to ask anyone to water our garden, but that is another story...

Whilst on holiday, I love to read.  I love reading at anytime but with two children, there never seems enough hours in the day and I'm always too shattered by bed time to even contemplate opening a book.  I used to read loads of books on holiday, in fact my husband and I would always try and out-do each other with who could read the most books the quickest (I've always been the slower reader but I maintain that this is because I get so engrossed in the plot).  This year I managed to read three books, although one I had started months ago so perhaps doesn't count.  Anyway, I'm going to give a brief round up here.  I've tried not to spoil the plots but I might have let a few things slip so beware!

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
I am a big fan of Iain Banks although haven't read many of his books.  I loved Whit, Espedair Street and Complicity and have seen TV and film adaptations of things like The Crow Road (Remember it?  It was pretty good!).  After his death earlier this year I thought it was about time that I read the copy of The Wasp Factory that we have had on our bookshelves for years (I think it belongs to my old flatmate Paula - sorry, I also have your adaptor plug!).  I also grabbed it at the last minute, thinking it was small enough to take on the aeroplane.  The Wasp Factory is the story of Frank, a bizarre youg man who lives with his even more bizarre Father. To begin with I wasn't sure I could read it all.  As I've got older, I have become more squemish and some of the stuff Frank gets up to is pretty gross.  But I perservered, grew to quite like Frank and did enjoy it. There are some great plot twists and more odd characters and even the title is intriguing.  It was Banks's debut novel and I can imagine that it caused quite a stir when it was first released. 

 

 

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

I love Kate Atkinson! So much that for her last two novels, I've bought them in hard back rather than waiting for the paperback version - I needed to read them that desperately.  I, of course, love the Jackson Broadie stories and although the TV series isn't nearly as good, it does star the yummy Jason Issacs and is great Sunday evening entertainment.  Life After Life doesn't feature Jackson but is the story of Ursula.  A child who is born, then dies, then lives and dies and lives and dies - you get the picture.  It's about what would happen if you could re-live your life and change things as you go.  I enjoyed this book although I found it pretty hard going at times especially as Ursula lives through the war so many times and we experience bomb raids and black outs and the horrors of war over and over again.  Equally, I wasn't convinced by the ending - well how do you end the story of a life that is lived over and over?  Anyway, I'm glad I read it, I did enjoy it (although not as much as some of her others) and it did make me think about how the tiny things in life can really affect what happens next.

 

 

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
I loved this book!  Despite the fact that it took me months to read!  I started reading this book in the bath one Sunday and picked up it everytime I had a bath there after - which, being a shower person, wasn't very often.  So I took it off to Spain, determined to finish it before the end of the holiday.  As far as History goes, I know very little about this period, so I came to the story of Thomas Cromwell with hardly any prior knowledge.  Straight from the start, the story is gripping and brutal.  The pace is fast and Mantel makes Cromwell a likeable but menacing character - I'm looking forward to the next installment to see how Cromwell develops as a character.  I also enjoyed the character of Anne Boleyn and have become more interested in Henry VIII and his wives.  In fact we enjoyed a trip to Hever Castle towards the end of the summer and I have borrowed a copy of David Starkey's Six Wives to read when I have a spare minute.

Overall, my favourite thing of the summer was having time to do things and enjoying several good books was a real highlight.  I have read very little since but have a few books waiting on my Kindle, so watch this space.