chesilbeach

Qissat: Short Stories by Palestinian Women Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk): These fascinating and diverse stories reflect the everyday concerns of Palestinians living under occupation. Writers who were children during the first intifada appear alongside those who remember the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war. In this volume, Palestinian women offer compassionate, often critical, insight into their society in times of hardship and turmoil, yet look beyond to the warmth of human relations and the hope that better times will come. The contributors include authors from the occupied territories, Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, and writers from the Palestinian Diaspora. Review: I haven't read any short stories in the longest time, and this was one of my discoveries on my last visit to my favourite indie bookshop. It was good to get back to some short fiction, especially from authors I've never come across before, and giving a varied and fascinating collection of tales set in a land I know very little about. You get to find out about the lives of women in a country with strict religious rules, their experiences of war, and the similarities to the lives of women everywhere. I don't often read anthologies of short stories, as I prefer to read a collection by a single author, but in this case, I think I preferred that they were all different, and had the chance to hear so many voices. Some were more successful than others, but on the whole, I enjoyed the collection. In the front of the book, there is a list of short story collections that the publishers have produced, all based on writing from women in a particular country, so I will be looking up more of these in the future.

This is the first book of the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk): When their country is invaded and their families are taken, eight high school teenagers band together to fight. Seventeen-year-old Ellie Linton wants one final adventure with her friends before the school holidays are over. Packed in Ellie's parents' land rover they drive to the famously isolated rock pool Eden dubbed 'Hell' by the locals. Returning to their home town of Wirrawee, the seven teenagers realize that something is seriously wrong. Power to the houses has been cut, pets and livestock have been left dead or dying, and most alarmingly of all, everyone's family has vanished. When the hostile armed forces discover that the teenagers are lying low in the vicinity, Ellie and her friends must band together to escape, outwit and strike back against the mysterious enemy that has seized control of their town and imprisoned their friends and loved ones... Review: Unusually for me, I actually saw the film before I read this book, but Kylie reminded me it was book first, so I had to read it, especially when I found out it the was the start of a series, as I wanted to know what happened next as soon as I'd finished watching the film. Anyway, as far as the book was concerned, I wasn't disappointed. It's a very interesting premise - while the teenagers have been away for a few days in the mountains, Australia has been invaded and their town is close to one of the main ports the occupying forces have used for entry into the country. Told in the form of a reported story by Ellie, recalling the events that have led them to their living as resistance fighters. The characters really grab you, and you can identify with their emotions and actions throughout the story, from their initial carefree life as ordinary teenagers, through finding the families missing, then the realisation that the country is at war. I think the author writes the teenagers very well, they feel authentic enough to be realistic, but talk in a way that isn't alienating to older readers, or would feel dated quickly. There are some upsetting scenes, particularly when they initially return home after their trip, but it's never too graphically horrific, but the theme itself would mean it's for mid-teens onwards. I already have the second book in the series downloaded, and I think I'm going to enjoy carry on the story to see what happens next. Just a final word about the adaptation to the screen. The screenplay has made a few changes to the story, but they were pretty minor and make sense in terms of working better on screen, and also from the fact that technology has moved on since the book was originally written (even though it's not that old!).

There are occasions when the book ends up being much more interesting that I thought it would after the start, but even if they finish brilliantly, I still feel a bit cheated by the beginning! Having said that, I've also been known to give up on a book after reading three quarters of it, so it does depend on the book. I've also occasionally skim read some of the book, and just read the end properly, so at least I know the gist of the story if I need to discuss it in a group. Basically, Julie, I'm fickle and it all depends on my mood!

Tomorrow, When The War Began by John Marsden Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk): When their country is invaded and their families are taken, eight high school teenagers band together to fight. Seventeen-year-old Ellie Linton wants one final adventure with her friends before the school holidays are over. Packed in Ellie's parents' land rover they drive to the famously isolated rock pool Eden dubbed 'Hell' by the locals. Returning to their home town of Wirrawee, the seven teenagers realize that something is seriously wrong. Power to the houses has been cut, pets and livestock have been left dead or dying, and most alarmingly of all, everyone's family has vanished. When the hostile armed forces discover that the teenagers are lying low in the vicinity, Ellie and her friends must band together to escape, outwit and strike back against the mysterious enemy that has seized control of their town and imprisoned their friends and loved ones... Review: Unusually for me, I actually saw the film before I read this book, but Kylie reminded me it was book first, so I had to read it, especially when I found out it the was the start of a series, as I wanted to know what happened next as soon as I'd finished watching the film. Anyway, as far as the book was concerned, I wasn't disappointed. It's a very interesting premise - while the teenagers have been away for a few days in the mountains, Australia has been invaded and their town is close to one of the main ports the occupying forces have used for entry into the country. Told in the form of a reported story by Ellie, recalling the events that have led them to their living as resistance fighters. The characters really grab you, and you can identify with their emotions and actions throughout the story, from their initial carefree life as ordinary teenagers, through finding the families missing, then the realisation that the country is at war. I think the author writes the teenagers very well, they feel authentic enough to be realistic, but talk in a way that isn't alienating to older readers, or would feel dated quickly. There are some upsetting scenes, particularly when they initially return home after their trip, but it's never too graphically horrific, but the theme itself would mean it's for mid-teens onwards. I already have the second book in the series downloaded, and I think I'm going to enjoy carry on the story to see what happens next. Just a final word about the adaptation to the screen. The screenplay has made a few changes to the story, but they were pretty minor and make sense in terms of working better on screen, and also from the fact that technology has moved on since the book was originally written (even though it's not that old!).

It depends on the book - if it's not one I've chosen, say for my reading group for example, then it could be as few as 10 pages, but on the whole I try to give a book either 100 pages or a third of the book (whichever is less), but I have to really dislike it for me to give it up.

I've just finished Qissat and I've got two chapters of Sightlines left to go, so hoping to finish that one today as well

Think of it this way - children's books were doing OK, but not great back in the mid 90s, the came along Harry Potter. Now, I know most people love them, but not all the of the books are examples of the best books ever written, but they boosted book sales, and got children reading, and some adults too. Young adult was a pretty good market, but then along came the Twilight saga, and these are definitely not the best writing you can find, but they were a phenomenon and gave the YA market an added boost, got teenage girls reading, and the YA market became noticed when it hadn't had been before, and now the excellent writers in that arena are getting the attention they deserve. There have also been other bestsellers such as Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Whatever you think of either of these publishing phenomena, you can't deny they got people reading and buying books. If you can get people in a bookshop, in a library or on a book selling website, there's always a chance they will come across a book outside of the style they normally read, and suddenly a whole new world of books opens up to them. I know people this has happened to, and any new readers who only start reading because of books like this, have the potential to become serious readers of diverse literature. But even if they don't, so what? There will always be readers who stick to one genre, whether it's Mills and Boon, blockbuster thrillers, science fiction, classics, etc. I don't really care what people read, as long as they read and support the publishing industry, as while there are readers out there, there will be publishers to cater for them, and us. (Phew, it's a bit early on a Sunday morning for this, isn't it? I haven't even had a cup of tea yet!)

What was Enchanted April like, carm? I read the book a few years ago and absolutely loved it, and have been meaning to try and see the film ever since.

I watched This Means War this afternoon. Oh dear.

Glad to be of service! I've always maintained my dream library would be the one in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost - now that's one to drool over!

You just need to be a bit more imaginative in your interior design - maybe those staircases with bookshelves instead of risers, or I've always wondered about using the space between the joists in the floor with one of the strong reinforced glass floors on top, with special access panels to get to the books?

Surely that's an indication that you need to buy more so that you can dedicate a whole shelf to them, isn't it?

Mine will be mushrooms, sweetcorn, red and yellow pepper, red onion and mozzarella.

I've got a Kindle for most of my reading, but I do use my iPad in bed as my bedside light isn't bright enough to read books or the Kindle by. I don't read in bed often, but when I do, it'll either be the Kindle or the Apple iBooks app on it. Maximum of one hour only on the iPad though, as the backlit screen starts to give me a headache then.

Phew! Thank goodness you like it. It is a bit of a doorstop though, isn't it? I read it when it first came out in hardback, and I still remember aching hands and wrists from holding it up.

As encouragement to you all, can I just say that most of the books I'd put of the longest before reading, ended up being some of the most enjoyable books I read last year, so it's definitely worth dusting them off and giving them a go!

Saturday means it'll be home made pizza tonight!

I've read another fabulous chapter from Sightlines all about an exhibit of whale skeletons in a Bergen museum, so I'm half way through now, but think I might make it my main read this weekend. I also started a collection of short stories, as I realised the other day that I read none last year, so that needs to be addressed this year. It's called Qissat and is an anthology of stories from Palestinian women writers. I read the first two this morning and thought they were excellent, so I'm looking forward to the rest of it now!

Aw, how nice of you! And yes, of course I want to know that - just gave me a little chuckle!

Yes, multiple copies of the same book used to happen a lot, but another good thing with my Kindle - if I've already bought a book then go to look at the Amazon page again for it, there's a banner at the top of the page saying I've purchased it already, so at least I don't end up with two ebook editions!

No, come on, Kylie - spill the beans!

Yay for ereader converts! Glad to see you like your new Kindle, Star, you sound as though you've had exactly the same experience as me - ardently against them until I got my own, then found it so convenient, can't bear to be without mine now

I love all these rumours - there were rumours that he was house hunting near me a couple of years back, and apparently was spotted in my local Waitrose! I take it all with a pinch of salt, personally, but it did make me look at all the other shoppers carefully when I went in to Waitrose for a couple of weeks after I heard the rumour ... just in case!

Oh no! One of my favourite books ever, and it's always a tiny bit disappointing when someone doesn't enjoy it.

I've always been fairly interested in publishers, but since I started blogging and using the internet more for bookish things, publishers websites, email newsletters and now twitter have become more useful than ever. I know I keep banging on about Persephone, but their ethos to reissue forgotten female writers and writing from the twentieth century is important to me as a woman, a Briton and as a reader, and each one has been thought provoking. Then there's Comma Press, who specialise in short fiction, or Peirene Press who publish contemporary European literature. For more mainstream books, I tend to make note of the publisher, but it wouldn't make much difference, but when I'm looking for niche books, then publishers catalogues can come into their own. I love it when a publisher puts together a series of books on a theme too, for example, the Canongate Myths series, where contemporary authors have used classical myths as inspiration for a new story. Then there's always the aesthetic too - who couldn't love a bookshelf of old Penguin orange spined books, all lined up in alphabetical order, looking neat, tidy and beautiful?!