Needs must. I had to read something. ME caveat (here we go again): 'reading' does not mean reading it means listening to audiobooks. My membership of Listening Books hasn't been all that I hoped it would be—I have a Mac, and their most up-to-date titles only play on devices running Windows. I know, I know… it's 2013, and you'd think they could make their full catalogue platform independent, but that's another rant for another day. In the meantime, I've been downloading what's available on One Click, a free service download service which is available through membership of my local library. It's fantastic. The books will even download onto my phone. However, the One Click catalogue isn't so extensive…hence the 'chick lit'.
I'm no expert on literature. I read the book. I enjoy it—or maybe sometimes I don't. And that's it. I couldn't dissect a novel into its component parts or talk of devices or syntax. So, forgive my somewhat superficial opinions. So here goes:
Exhibit A: Hot Flush by Helen Fitzgerald. A forty-something probation officer, feeling frumpy and unappreciated in her childless marriage, shoplifts and joyrides in a stolen car with one of her clients. Her mid-life crisis prompts her to make some changes and live happily ever after. Or happier ever after, perhaps. The story was set in Glasgow, which was an unexpected surprise, and made for some amusing bedtime listening.
Exhibit B: I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella. A ditsy London girl called Poppy Wyatt loses her engagement ring and has her mobile stolen whilst out celebrating her forthcoming nuptials with her girlie pals. She finds another phone in a wastepaper bin. In the quest to find her ring before her fiancé finds out, she ends up on a life changing trajectory as a result of her communications with some corporate geezer on her 'borrowed' phone. Despite my previous aversion to books with pink covers and the like, it was a surprisingly good read/listen. Funny enough to make me laugh out loud at times.
Exhibit C: The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes. Private detective Helen Walsh is hired by her dodgy ex-boyfriend to find a member of Irish boy band 'Ladzz' who has gone missing before their sell out reunion concerts in Dublin. Her business has suffered in the recession, her flat is being repossessed and she is moving in with her parents. She takes the job out of desperation. Helen also has a history of depression, but nevertheless, she remains feisty and irreverent. At one point in the book, she recounts the various reactions to her illness, from the disbelievers to the people who are forever saving newspaper clippings about the latest cure, and recalls how her best pal Bronnagh lost interest in their friendship after her illness put her in hospital. (Sounds familiar?) Nevertheless, in the face of another impending episode of depression Helen is determined to track down the missing ex pop star despite being warned off and whacked over the head. It all works out in the end. I enjoyed this book better than the others—Helen Walsh is a lot more interesting than the rather superficial and underdeveloped character of Poppy Wyatt.
Chick lit or not, I've never really read much contemporary fiction—years and years and years of cognitive problems and all that. I once had a profound thought about all the books I've never read and wondered what I would have read and how it might have influenced my tastes and interests in my parallel reality as a well person. What will I read next? ME caveat again: read = listen, remember? So, it's back to One Click…
2 comments:
Hey Dig, I have never listened to an audiobook, I can read, but slowly, slowly... it's great you are enjoying books you didn't necessarily think you would. I think Marian Keyes is a good writer - fiercely intelligent, chicklit or not.
Post-ME, I have tended towards books about photography, art and design - big books with lots of pictures, and text that I can dip in and out of. In the 'bed years' audio books helped pass the time. The State of Me was the first novel I'd read in 20 years. Pre-relapse I enjoyed some bedtime reading, some novels and some biographies. Or sometimes a heavy going tome on art history or something like that. For now, it's back to the audio books. My brain just skates all over the place when I try and read text.
I enjoyed the Marian Keys book very much, and when I went back to One Click I found another of her books, so that's my current novel. I agree she's a very good writer. I'd happily read/listen to any of her novels.
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