A Prisoner of Birth - Jeffrey Archer

This month's book club choice was a predictable but pacy holiday read. I read it in two days. I won't give a synopsis of the story as that amy spoil it for you.


It was entertaining, but not thought provoking. Throughout my rather fast reading of this book, I had an image of Archer plotting out all the inter-connections and the twists and turns on a single sheet of paper. A times it felt a little clunky, as though he thought to himself, "I must just add this bit here, so book 4 or book 5 later on makes sense". It also felt as though it had been writen with the idea that it might be made into a film at a later date. The last section of the book was written like a kind of Dickensian serialised novel - every chapter had a cliff hanger ending, which I found wearying after a while. There are only so many times that you can leave your reader gasping for more...


This is not a book I'd recommend to someone who is an avid reader; rather I'd recommend it to someone who only reads whilst on holiday and is looking for summer escapism.



Not my favourite book by a long stretch.





On the knitting front, I've started working on Misty Blossom Stole by Asami Kawa. I am using some 2-ply silk/cashmere Eva from Posh Yarn. right now this seems to be a match made in heaven. A beautiful, elegant pattern made with sumptious yarn.

Book Club Choice: The Pilot's Wife

It is amazing how your taste in books changes over the years. I don't know whether it is a function of maturity or being a member of my local book club for a couple of years, but I am definitely starting to see a change. Last month's choice was The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve. As soon as the host announced what her choice was, I knew I was in for an easy time.
Why? Because I had already read a few Anita Shreve novels and I knew that I liked her style and subject matter. I was so relaxed about this book that I got a little lazy about reading it and left it until the last day. In the end, I read it in one sitting on an indolent Sunday. I'd pretty much never done that before. I always thought that reading a book in one day was one of those Hollywood cliches, like packing an entire wardrobe into a small suitcase in five minutes flat, and then lifting the thing with ease whilst sobbing hysterically, yet not smudging your mascara... hmmm, I digress.

How was it? It was an extremely easy read, but I was surprised that I wasn't enchanted by it. When I finished it, I thought "that's that then", and put it aside. Last month's book club choice was thought provoking, and this book wasn't. So I'm not sure what I think: is it thumb's up or down? It is probably thumb's horizontal!

Book Club Choice: Carry Me Down

Aptly named book... I felt miserable reading it.

This book has been nominated for the "Man Booker Prize 2006", I'm still trying to work out why. In fact I'm trying to work out what happened. Did anything happen at all? Why was this book written? Did I learn anything from reading it? Is my life enriched in any way? Okay, now I'm getting pretentious. Geraldine Bedell of The Observer says, "Carry Me Down is almost claustrophobically narrow...", and I wholeheartedly agree with that. She goes on to say that it is "also enthralling and absorbing and capable of arousing sympathy to a degree that is almost painful". I wholeheartedly disagree with that!
I would count myself as a reader; I'm probably more of a reader than a knitter. I've certainly been reading consistently longer than I've been knitting consistently. In fact, I'm a lifelong reader. I only got reacquainted with knitting again a year ago after a nearly twenty year gap. I read for pleasure, for escapism (especially when I'm someplace I don't want to be), and occasionally to learn something new. I tend not to read non-fiction unless I'm intensely interested in the subject (e.g. David Starkey's Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne). Since reading is a very pleasurable thing for me, I only read what I like, and I didn't like this! Why did I bother? It was the book club choice for last month. I belong to a small book club of around seven women who all live on the same estate/sub-division. Naturally we are all quite diverse: some are stay at home mums; others professional women without children; others run their own small businesses; there is a homeopathic doctor, etc. I've been a member of this book club for a couple of years, and quite often find myself reading books that are out of my comfort zone. I hadn't realised that there were certain things that I want/need from a book. Components, which if they are absent, make me dislike a book intensely and probably not finish it. What I've learned (in no particular order) is:

• I absolutely loathe books written in the first person. It makes a book narrow in perspective, and generally limits the author's ability to explain the motives behind the various characters' actions.
• I despair if a book is unrelentingly gloomy (e.g. Jung Chan's Wild Swans - gah) ... I get to a point where I start to get depressed myself. Or I'm so annoyed that the characters don't try to improve their situation, that I lose interest in them.
• I like books to be descriptive, I want to be taken to the place and time.... I want to be in the book, transported. This may sound crazy, but when I'm reading, I don't actually see the words on the page - for me it is like watching a film. I'm either a disaffected bystander, or I'm the main protagonist experiencing everything first hand. If a book isn't descriptive, I can't get lost in it.
• I don't like books where time/place/events are uncertain. When did it happen? Did it happen? Was it all a figment of the protagonist's imagination? Yuck, give me a break...

Carry Me Down failed on all points... It wasn't my choice (can't ya tell?). I can't wait for book club tomorrow. Someone can tell me what this book was about. I'd also love to know why it was chosen. The person who picked it told us at least two months in advance that this would be her choice.

Finished 2nd Clue on MS3!

Yay!, I finished the 2nd clue on MS3 on time - late Thursday evening.

I have realised that I must be a pretty slow knitter. Keeping up with MS3 is a focussed effort. I kinda said to myself, "okay it's only 50 rows for this clue, so if I can do ~10 rows per day, that won't take up too much time and I'll have a couple of days spare". Of course that doesn't take into account the tinking, the need to concentrate, friends visiting, seeing the family, doing the shopping, the cleaning (ahem, not), getting my hair done, going to book club (not having finished last month's book, shame on me) - just ... life.

Then on top of that, there's my addiction to Ravelry. My right shoulder has been a little painful of late. Initially I thought it was the increased amount of knitting, but now I'm thinking it is that plus sitting on the computer half the day. Now I'm not complaining, it's just that I've had burnt offerings for dinner several times this week, because whilst dinner was cooking, I got completely lost in Ravelry, and forgot what I was supposed to be doing...

OK, I'm off on a family holiday next week, so I'm determined to make real progress on this month's book club book "Carry Me Down" by M. J. Hyland AND keep up with MS3. Wish me luck!