Furiously Happy - Jenny Lawson

I only just remembered that I completely forgot to post a review for this book when I finished it last month! Normally I'm quite good, but I must have been pretty distracted at that point.

Furiously Happy is the second of Jenny Lawson's memoirs. The first, Let's Pretend This Never Happened, is more of your usual autobiography, i.e. an account of the author's life to date, although Jenny Lawson's life is far from average and much of it reads more like a surreal comedy than an autobiography.

Furiously Happy is more of a selection of anecdotes, vaguely arranged by theme. Lawson manages to make her experiences with mental illness hilarious, bizarre and often very touching at the same time. From travelling Australia in a kangaroo onesie to being chased down the road by swans (thinking about it, many of the stories are animal-related in some way, shape or form), Lawson's stories are unexpected and very original.

Of course the core theme of the book is at heart very serious. I'm sure everyone out there has times when they feel depressed, slightly unhinged or just plain wrong, even those who aren't diagnosed with any kind of mental illness, and Lawson's central message behind all of this is that you aren't alone in this.

This is a very candid, warm and open account of her own experiences, which is very funny in itself and behind the humour holds a complex and comforting message to the reader.

Next up: Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset

Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk

Reporter Carl Streator has been assigned to investigating Sudden Infant Death Syndrome for his newspaper, and notices a pattern in all the scenes he's been called to see. At every single one of them, a poetry anthology is, or has been, open at page 27 on an old African culling song. To confirm this theory, he reads the poem to his editor, who fails to come in to work the following day. However, we discover that this is also a very personal quest for Streator – he accidentally caused the death of his own wife and child 20 years earlier by reading them the very same poem.

Occult real estate agent Helen Hoover Boyle (who specialises in selling haunted houses and profiting by the frequent sales commissions as clients are keen to get rid of them again very quickly), has come to the same conclusion as Streator through her own investigations. The pair, along with Helen's secretary Mona and Mona's hippie boyfriend Oyster, race to destroy the remaining 200 copies of a limited edition print, before the poem becomes public knowledge.

Lullaby is at once disturbing, gripping and surprisingly funny in a bizarre, cynical kind of way. Palahniuk explores the different temptations for people with an inhuman power, the power to kill anyone they want to, instantly, with no more than a thought or a few words. How it changes the characters and the ways they cope with it forms a fascinating part of the story.

The brusque, matter-of-fact narrative tone lends a poignancy to grief, and a sense of detachment to several rather gory scenes, and the characters are colourful and eccentric in a manner more usually found in comedic novels.

Lullaby is a fascinating, dark but sometimes very funny exploration of the power of language and of the corruption of power. Very much worth reading, and I can guarantee you'll never have read anything like it before.

Next up: Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Thank You, Jeeves - PG Wodehouse

This is the first of Wodehouse's novels to feature the wonderful Jeeves, and the first that I've read, although I have watched the Jeeves and Wooster TV series many many times. Usually I'd say that watching an adaptation before reading the book spoiled it for me a little, but Steven Fry, Hugh Laurie and the mood of the production as a whole captured the feel of the characters and the story so perfectly that I didn't mind seeing them play it out in my head as I read.

Bertie Wooster's new musical instrument, the banjolele, drives him by popular complaint from his London flat to a country cottage on his friend Chuffy's seaside estate, and also forces Jeeves to give notice, who is promptly rehired by Chuffy himself. Bertie's peaceful country retirement is shattered by the arrival of his beautiful, charming and unregretted American ex-fiancée Pauline Stoker and her disapproving father, and an amusing sequence of evasions, misunderstandings and reconciliations follows.

Bertie's amiable but vaguely bemused viewpoint gives humour to every scene, for instance one in which he and Pauline are (through a completely innocent if highly unfeasible set of circumstances) about to be discovered alone together in his bedroom, she wearing his pyjamas, begin to argue about the niceties of grammar rather than the problem at hand.

Some of the events in the novel were moved around or taken out to shorten it a little for the adaptation, so even having seen the episode I wasn't sure what was going to happen next. Unusually, I don't feel as though the changes necessarily made the story worse, or better for that matter – it was just a case of reaching the same conclusion through slightly fewer stages. There were a few very funny scenes which sadly weren't kept in, though. One confusing factor, given that this is the first Jeeves novel written, was the casual references to other characters and amusing anecdotes that I'd already seen in the TV series but obviously hadn't in the books.

I laughed frequently throughout the novel, and sometimes worried about waking people up in the next room when I was reading in bed. Having read this I'm definitely going to look out for the rest of the series.

Next up: Nymphomation by Jeff Noon

Bridget Jones' Diary - Helen Fielding

I've read Bridget Jones' Diary several times before, but that was many years ago, so when I found the French translation in a bookshop in Brittany I had to pick it up. It made for much more relaxing holiday reading than the rather heavier L'Allée du Roi I'd brought with me, and I can actually claim it was vaguely educational, teaching me words for everyday things like types of modern clothing, cigarettes (ok, that one's the same) and minor swearwords, all things not often featured in more classic novels.

The translation felt pretty spot-on, keeping the tone of the original novel very well in spite of its cultural Zeitgeists, although it did have resort to footnotes to explain things such as Eastenders or Michael Howard.

One of the things I love most about this novel (as well as the plot, which as everyone knows is based on Pride and Prejudice, so not totally original to Fielding), is the down-to-earth narrator. Published nearly 10 years ago (and how old does that make me feel!), I have yet to come across another novel that feels quite as real. Nothing about Bridget is romanticised – she's no more glamorous, successful, strong or determined that your average woman, but Fielding doesn't use Stephanie Meyer's irritating wish-fulfilment trick of having the whole world fall in love with her supposedly 'average' heroine. Instead Bridget struggles vaguely through life without things falling into her lap, and not only do we as readers see the external parts of her experience - her conversations with others, dramatic scenes and so on - but we are also privy to the general grime and disorder of everyday life. For me this makes it so much more personal and relatable than reading about protagonists who never have to go to the bathroom or wash their clothes.

Of course Bridget Jones' Diary is, at heart, a romantic story, but the focus is very much on a humorous retelling of the problems and anxieties of romance rather than being swept off your feet by a prince charming. The film is a little different from the book, having switched events round and cut a few characters out to streamline the story, and I do have a friend who said this put her off reading the book afterwards, but I really recommend it personally if you're a fan of the film but haven't yet read the book.

Next up: Thank You, Jeeves by P G Wodehouse

Bonus review: The Shepherd's Crown - Terry Pratchett

This afternoon I took Terry Pratchett's last novel, The Shepherd's Crown, to a café (accidentally buying 3 more books on my way into town), and finished it in 3 hours.

This novel follows Tiffany Aching as she comes into her own as a professional witch and has to face up to the increase in responsibility that entails, as well as another threat of elven invasion.

I don't want to give spoilers to anyone who hasn't read it, but I will say there's a major character death, which feels so autobiographical, almost as though it's Pratchett's own goodbye to the world, that it really was very moving above and beyond its implications for the character within the novel.

The Shepherd's Crown is full of a joy of life and an optimism about human nature, with laugh-out-loud moments and some truly wonderful awful puns. It feels much better put-together than a few of his later works, which for me felt as though they were lacking in structure, whereas this one feels like one complete story in its own right. There are a few loose ends, which is unsurprising for a posthumous publication, but overall it was a fantastic read, a good balance of plot, humour and pathos.

Now that I've finished it it's occurred to me that I'll never again be able to read a new Pratchett novel, and that makes me very sad indeed.

Next up: Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding

Powder and Patch - Georgette Heyer

In this short romantic comedy, Philip Jettan, heir to a country estate, is told by his childhood sweetheart that he is too unsophisticated and boorish, and that he must go to town to become a real gentleman or she will not have him. Reluctantly he travels to Paris, where (somewhat implausibly) he takes naturally to French fashion and court gentility and is a great social success. On his return, his beloved Cleone barely recognises the new, polished Philip, and he has to win her approval all over again.

Although rather a contrived, unconvincing plotline, Powder and Patch is full of witty dialogue and has some very funny scenes, particularly with the role-reversal of the couple when Philip returns to England. Heyer's usual warmth and humour brings the characters to life and makes them all likeable and enjoyable to read about.

An amusing little novel, great for picking up if you fancy something light and quick to read.

Next up: Stephen Fry in America by Stephen Fry

Scorn With Added Vitriol - Matthew Parris

Bonus Review: Scorn With Added Vitriol by Matthew Parris

This a fun little book full of hundreds (possibly more than a thousand?) of collected short insults and curses on a wide variety of topics, throughout history to the present day. There are enough in here to appeal to peoples' different senses of humour – everything from open vulgarity to suave lines from Oscar Wilde - and I've enjoyed picking out my favourites to post on my Facebook feed.

Parris has sorted them into themes, some neatly arranged so that they seem to answer each other in an ongoing argument. A great little stocking-filler, ideal for dipping into on a coffee table, in the bathroom, or (my personal favourite) during video game loading screens.

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy - Helen Fielding

I was a little dubious about a Bridge Jones sequel about her being aged 50 or so, and having finished the novel I'm still not quite convinced.

For one thing, we begin with a narrative voice that feels identical to Bridget in her 30s, and while her naivety and social ineptness were amusing and plausible in her younger incarnations in Bridget Jones' Diary and Bridge Jones: The Edge of Reason, her inexperience sits badly on a woman in her 50s. I found that I was too young to relate to some aspects of the story, and never having had children also meant that I'd only ever experienced the child-related parts as a child – not that that's an inherent criticism of the novel, just that I personally didn't get as much from it as I might have done.

I felt quite uncomfortable throughout with 20-year age gap between Bridget and her new boyfriend Roxter, and it seems to me very convenient (and frankly unrealistic) that she is now so rich she never needs to work except as a hobby.

On the plus side, Mad About the Boy had more depth and poignancy to it, as it showed the changes (some very sad) that had taken place in the lives of the characters in the 15 years that had passed since the last instalment. There are many genuinely funny moments to balance out the melancholy, and as well as a romantic comedy this is about a woman coming to terms with age and beginning to accept herself as she is.

So mixed impressions overall, but I did enjoy reading it for the most part, and by the end was thoroughly heart-warmed and cried a little bit.

Next up: Lamentation by C J Sansom

The Adventures of Sally - P G Wodehouse

My only experience so far of P G Wodehouse has been the Jeeves and Wooster series, and unusually for me I actually preferred the TV series, finding the books a little too meandering and vague.

I'm glad I gave this one a chance, though. While it did wander along at a gentle pace and the viewpoints switch casually around, it's full of humour and light-hearted satire.

Our heroine, a young New York girl by the name of Sally, comes into a minor inheritance, and decides to take a holiday in Europe before settling sensibly into some investment or other. While in France she meets the inept but warm-hearted Ginger and his austere cousin Bruce, who continue to dog her existence when she returns home.

The moments of unexpected human comedy and the feeling of joie de vivre that pervades the whole story make this a book that you look forward to picking up.

Maybe it's time to get hold of some Jeeves and Wooster and give the novels another chance.


Next up: Ross Poldark by Winston Graham

The Grand Sophy - Georgette Heyer

Having not really enjoyed Cousin Kate, I was pleasantly surprised by The Grand Sophy. The titular heroine, Sophy Stanton-Lacy, stays with her aunt, uncle and cousins in London while her father, Sir Horace, is travelling in Brazil. Of course, she refuses to fit in with conventional polite society, but ends up changing their lives for the better.

Sophy is a likeable (if exhausting), confident and well-meaning main character, and we are given a villain you love hating in her cousin’s sly and manipulative fiancée, Miss Eugenia Wraxton. Also included in the colourful cast are a wonderfully distracted poet and a pompous know-it-all suitor. No character misses out on their share of amusing quirks, and the convoluted schemes Sophy comes up with lead to some really bizarre and funny situations.

This is Heyer at her best – sparkling, light-hearted and full of fun.

Next up: Guard your Daughters by Diana Tutton

Classic childhood books

How I wish these really existed.


















(from bagofdelights.tumblr.com)

The Winter Garden Mystery - Carola Dunn

The body of a young parlour-maid is found buried in the grounds of the grand house Miss Dalrymple just happens to be visiting to write an article about for her magazine, and she gets involved in the investigation when it becomes obvious to her that the local police are far too obtuse and incompetent to identify the real killer.

This style of this novel is reminiscent of the Jeeves and Wooster series, which I grew up watching and still adore. I found it difficult to get on board with Wodehouse’s prose, but maybe I was just a bit too young for it. The light-hearted tone and quaint idioms used are amusing, and outdated social prejudices abound, although not in the heroine, who is suitably modern and open-minded.

As this is the second novel in the series, I felt a little excluded when familiar characters from the previous novel were introduced, although they were always briefly explained rather than just shoved in without any background. The narrative voice has an odd habit of jumping around between characters unexpectedly, in the middle of a scene rather than between sections, and this as well as the exaggerated period language made it difficult for me to really immerse myself in the story.

That said, the characters are all easy to picture and for the most part very likeable, and the Parslow family in particular, who own the house where the body is found, are all wonderfully vivid. Some careless editing means that the occasional punctuation mark is absent, which I personally find very annoying but I know it probably wouldn’t bother most others as much. All in all, The Winter Garden Mystery is a charming light read, and the mystery keeps you guessing right until the end.

Next up: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Diary of a Provincial Lady - E M Delafield

If Bridget Jones had been a 1920s housewife, this would be her. The fictional diaries of the unnamed Provincial Lady document the daily life of the well-intentioned, self-conscious and scathingly sarcastic narrator. We are shown her family life in a small village in Devon, and in the sequels follow her on a tour of America and to London during WWII.

While not very much “happens”, as such, the wonderful turns of phrase and the diarist’s acerbic observations on human nature had me sniggering rather loudly in the canteen at work. My boyfriend picked it up at one point, glanced down the page and asked me when it was written. When I told him the 1930s, he said that he hadn’t realised people were so sarcastic in those days.

The Diary of a Provincial Lady defies the common preconception that older books tend to be quite polite and sedate, and instead looks with a keen sense of the ridiculous at peoples’ everyday habits and tendencies. A cleverly written series of books that have the feel of sitting down for a cup of tea and a gossip with an old friend - perfect for curling up with at the end of a long day.

Next up: The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Rumpole à la Carte - John Mortimer

This was my first foray into the Rumpole series, but I found that, apart from the occasional (footnoted) reference to the events of previous stories, it didn’t really spoil my enjoyment. Characters are introduced succinctly but enough that you get the gist of their personality, even if they’re new to you.

Rumpole’s narrative voice is slightly pompous, but benevolently sarcastic and willing enough to laugh at himself as well as others. It reminded me rather of P G Wodehouse, whose narrators manage to turn trivial events into amusing anecdotes. While each short story centres around the conclusion of a court case he’s involved in, the settings and characters vary enough to maintain interest, and the narrator remains likeable throughout.

It’s not the book to read if you’re looking for excitement, but it is a charming and amusing set of short stories, ideal to dip into with a cup of tea and guaranteed to leave you in a good mood.

Next up: The Final Sacrament, by James Forrester