The Places You Will Go

Love this List

Starting today (and over the next week), The Guardian will lists (bossily) 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read.

They've started with love stories, including pulp romances and Jane Austen (all six books), and I see I have read a great many books on this list!

It's good to see two Elizabeth Bowen novels listed - The Death of the Heart and The Heat of the Day. I would have included A World of Love as well.

There is also a list of "10 film adaptations that took outrageous liberties with the sources". They left out Little Women - no way did Louisa May Alcott intend for Jo March to look like Winona Ryder!

Snippets

My colleague Simrit, who lent me a whole stack of Georgette Heyers recently, is determined that I should read the Poldark series by Winston Graham.

Simrit is, by her own admission, obsessed with the books and the main character Ross Poldark whom she thinks is the best fictional character ever created.

Martin doubts I will enjoy reading the series - he says it is a "cheap Wuthering Heights", which worries me as I do not like Wuthering Heights at all. (I do love the Kate Bush song though.)

I have told Simrit that I will read the books. Anything to stop her nagging. But what if I don't love them? She will be so disappointed. I understand the way she feels as I'm sad if someone says a favourite of mine is rubbish. I daresay any booklover knows this feeling.

Meanwhile, I am enjoying The Devil on Lammas Night by Susan Howatch, also lent to me by Simrit. It's throwaway fiction, but I frequently need that.

And before I forget, someone wrote telling me that Wintersmith,Terry Pratchett's new Tiffany Aching novel, is due out in September. I can't wait, but I may have to as it will be awhile before the paperback is released. Hmm ... I wonder if I could get a review copy of the hardback ....

P.S. I was thisclose to buying Carpe Jugulum at Kino on Wednesday and now I wish I had. It seems I have not completed my collection of Discworld books about the Lancre witches. I actually have another to look forward to! Yay!!!

Love Walked In

LOVE WALKED IN
By Marisa de los Santos
Publisher: Viking, 307 pages
(ISBN: 978-0670916177)

I'm not normally a fan of chicklit but I loved this book. In fact, if I hadn't lent it to someone practically the moment I finished reading it, I'd be rereading it now.

Here's why I like it so much:

1. It makes me happy and peaceful and thoughtful. How many chicklit novels do that?

2. The heroine Cornelia Brown is kind and gracious and her head is screwed on the right way round and ever so securely. I like heroines you can admire and imagine as your best friend. I do not like heroines who are neurotic about their weight and obsessed with finding a man, and do stupid things like run up huge debts cos they are shopaholics, or lie in order to get a date. Nothing worse than a desperate woman. Brown is not desperate. Quite the oposite.

3. The other heroine, Clare, who is 11and lovely, vulnerable and adorable.

4. One of the male leads, a beautiful man called Mateo Sandoval who also happens to be sensitive, smart and generous in all ways. And he's straight!

5. The unpredictable storyline: Cornelia meets the man of her dreams (a Cary Grant lookalike). She then meets his daughter. And ...? I'm not saying the ending comes out of nowhere and bites you in the bum: As you turn the pages and learn more about the characters, you begin to see and suspect how things might turn out, but it's never ever a dead cert. De los Santos keeps you in suspense and guessing all the way, and the ending is one that leaves room for all kinds of wonderful possibilities and developments. I hope she writes a sequel.

P.S. Sarah Jessica Parker's production company has bought the film rights to this book and the movie will star Parker as Cornelia Brown. One word: Mistake!

Mini Review: Socrates in Love

Socrates In Love

By Kyoicho Katayama

Publisher: VIZ Media, 208 pages

This Young Adult love story tells of the innocent love affair between two classmates: Saku and Aki.

The latter is a pretty girl, romantic and just a little shallow - predictably so for someone of her tender years. She has a good heart though and she is sensitive and thoughtful.

Saku is a friendly, wise-cracking, laid-back kendo and rock fan. When he and Aki become friends, he is blissfully unaware of his schoolmates resentment and jealousy.

It takes him awhile to realise how much he likes Aki. In fact, Saku is so clueless that he ignores every single one of Aki's hints, even the most blatant.

To her credit, Aki behaves in a dignified and graceful manner throughout. And once Saku gets his act together and starts seeing his buddy as the lovable girl she is, he too reveals himself to be a warm, generous, loyal and considerate person.

Unfortunately, Aki is diagnosed with a terminal illness and Saku has to learn to carry on by himself.

It's always good to read a Japanese novel that isn't brimming with sex and violence. That's why I enjoy Botchan and Totto-Chan so much. However, this story reminded me too much of those awful Japanese soap operas where one of the leads almost always dies.

Still, at least the writing isn't overly sentimental, and the writer's portrayal of teenagers and their feelings, behaviour and actions is accurate (yes, I remember what it was like!). 

This book is a bestseller in Japan so I'm thinking it's lost something in translation.

Honestly, I can't see why it made such an impression. It's an easy and pleasant read, but it didn't really touch me or grab my attention.

Saku and Aki are two nice kids, but I don't think that they are terribly interesting or special.

I think I'd have liked it much more as a teenager though. I remember being very taken with a Japanese soap opera in which the girl, dying of leukemia (or was it congenital heart disease?), falls in love with a bloke who mistakes her for a half-sister and so, nobly, rejects her although he stupidly doesn't tell her why. All very complicated and melodramatic and tragic and sentimental, but I loved it.

Socrates in Love should be a hit with emotional teens age 13 to 16.

P.S. Full marks for the pretty cover!

Perfect Match

The Owl and the Pussy-cat
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!'

Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?'
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

'Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?' Said the Piggy, 'I will.'
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

By Edward Lear

Love Hurts

StarMag

Death of the heart

Review by DAPHNE LEE

THE LANDSCAPE OF LOVE

By Sally Beauman

Publisher: Little Brown

(ISBN:0316729434)

Doing It

As promised, my 2 sen on those young adult books I'm recommending in this Sunday's Tots to Teens:

Judy Blume
Forever
(Macmillan, 178 pages)
Story: Katherine meets Michael and they fall in love. After several dates that include lots of kissing and some heavy petting, they decide to bite the bullet and go all the way. Of course, things are less than perfect the first few times, but they do get better – phew!

Katherine has very progressive parents and a hip and happening Grandma who advises her on contraception (we should all be so lucky!) so she doesn’t have to go through the normal cloak and dagger that most “teens-on-the brink” do.

I like the bit where Katherine gets her period on a special weekend getaway. That’s such a big deal when you’re a teen and time with your beloved is so precious!

What I find very cringe-worthy is “Ralph” – I won’t say anymore. Read the book!

NB: This book was a big deal when I was a teenager. It's still a pretty candid account of a teenage girl's first sexual relationship. It was written in the 70s so there is no mention of AIDs, which in itself presents an interesting discussion point for parents and teens.

Valeries Mendes
Lost and Found
(Simon and Schuster, 244 pages)
Story: Daniel is grieving the death of his grandmother and guardian when several things happen. First, he meets Laura whom he tries, reluctantly, to adopt for his class’s “Adopt a Granny” programme. Second, his grandmother’s house is sold and the beautiful Jade moves in with her parents and beloved baby brother, Finn.

Daniel falls in love and finds solace in Jade who is not only pretty, but warm, bright and fun to be with.

He also grows close to Laura who is grieving too (for her father). The two help each other cope with the loss of a loved one.

Daniel introduces Jade to Laura and the three get along well until Laura notices that Jade seems share a uncommonly close bond with Finn. Secrets then come to light that nearly destroy the new relationships Daniel has built.

NB: Bereavement is the central theme of this beautiful story, which also deals with statutory rape, motherhood, love and commitment.

I like the way Mendes brings her characters to life with just a few simple phrases. Jade, especially, just dances out of the page at you: “The girl stood on the step, shimmering with colour,” “Her dress sang with rainbow-coloured stripes.” Lovely!

Garret Freymann-Weyr
My Heartbeat
(Young Picador, 138 pages)
Story: Ellen is 14. The two people she loves most in the world are Link, her brother, and his best friend James. Then one day, a classmate asks if Link and James are a couple, which starts Ellen thinking hard and asking all sorts of difficult questions about their relationship – with each other, with her, and with her parents, especially her homophobic father.

NB: Ellen keeps the tone of this book light and almost flippant despite the serious themes of sexual orientation, parental acceptance, emotional blackmail and underage sex.

I love the fact that Ellen and James become a couple, and it’s interesting how practical yet romantic their relationship becomes.

Ellen is so grown-up and smart for her age. And yet she’s vulnerable and babyish in some ways: I like the mix. She’s a very attractive, charismatic character. And James is just gorgeous. They make a really sweet couple.

Julia Green
Baby Blue
(Puffin Books, 246 pages)
Story: This is the sequel to Blue Moon, in which Mia deals with pregnancy. In this book she’s just had her baby and has to cope with motherhood (and breastfeeding!). She also has to deal with the pain of growing apart from her school friends as they continue their carefree teenage existence and she has to struggle with the responsibilities and difficulties of single-parenthood.

Mia’s parents are supportive of her decision to raise baby, but she feels that they don’t understand what she is going through. Will, the baby’s father, is also no help. He tries to get close again, but it’s clear that he’s motivated just by what he wants and seems to have no understanding of and interest in what Mia is experiencing as a mother.

It is when Mia meets another young, single mum, Colleen, and has someone to share and empathise with that things to start to look up and fall into place.

NB: As a mother I have to say Green writes very accurately and sensitively about what it’s like to care for a new baby, especially if it’s your first. I could really feel for Mia and found a story a very compelling and emotional one.