Friends, Shoes and Books

I'm writing this post on my brand new computer (with thanks to my IT savvy partner for setting it up for me so beautifully!). I feel some sense of loss having to say goodbye to my old computer, it had been my faithful sidekick for 5 years now but unfortunately it had no more capacity for growth so it had to be replaced. So far so good with my new piece of technology - I'm settling into its style - I just need a name for it - any suggestions??

I've had a lovely weekend - although the weather hasn't always been so lovely. A gorgeous spring day on Saturday - the perfect day to catch up for brunch with one of my best friends and go shoe and book shopping!

I headed to one of my favourite shoe shops, Nine West and bought some gorgeous summer sandals (I was supposed to be looking for new work shoes but these were much more fun!).I also treated myself to two new books, Shall We Dance by Maggie Alderson and A Tiny Bit Marvellous by Dawn French.

Starter For Ten - David Nicholls

Starter For Ten was recommended to me by Jackie after I had read and really enjoyed the author's latest book, One Day, earlier this year.

Starter For Ten is again set during the 1980's - obviously a time in history that the author has a great affinity for - and focuses on Brian Jackson who has just moved out of home for the first time after finishing high school and starting university. The book covers all those coming of age moments that occur when we start to become adults and yet still cling to many of our childhood friends, habits and comforts. The difference with this book is that the writing is incredibly funny and moving - making a great combination of laugh out loud moments and reflective periods when I could really empathise with Brian and the humiliations and conflicts he was going through.

This is an author I am really glad to have discovered.

One Day - David Nicholls

One Day is a book that was recently reviewed on ABC's First Tuesday Book Club - it is very interesting to read the presenters different views of the book although I didn't read the transcript until after I had finished the book myself.

One Day follows the main characters of Emma and Dexter, two people who meet at university in Edinburgh and although knowing each other vaguely through their education they only really come together on the night of their graduation - the 15th July 1988. Drunkenly they end up at Emma's flat talking until the early hours;

'I suppose the important thing is to make some sort of difference,' she said. 'You know, actually change something'.

'What, like "change the world", you mean?'

'Not the entire world. Just the little bit around you.'

They lay in silence for a moment, bodies curled around each other in the single bed, then both begin to laugh in low, pre-dawn voices. 'Can't believe I just said that,' she groaned. "Sounds a bit corny doesn't it?'

The book continues to follow the lives of Emma and Dexter on the same day each year and we see them follow their own paths, sometimes coming together and sometimes leading off in completely different directions.

I absolutely loved this book - I believed in the characters even though I didn't always like them - I believed in their believability if that makes sense??!! They were flawed in so many ways which made them so human for me - I cared about what happened to them and their stories. The book is painful and sad in so many places but it is also incredibly funny - both in some of the experiences of the characters but also the writing style and a lot of the dialogue. Above all this is a just a great story of two people living their lives - so simple and yet so effective.

Shades Of Grey - Jasper Fforde

I am a huge fan of Fforde's Thursday Next series but I was not so sure about diving into his latest release, Shades Of Grey. I admit that the Thursday Next series really hooked me with it's references to books and literature and after reading the summary of Shades Of Grey I thought it might be a little too "out there" for my tastes. I have to say now that I have finished the book I am glad that I took the risk and dove in.

In Shades Of Grey Fforde has created a world based on our own (loosely!) but where the hierarchy of the community is based on their vision and what types, and amounts, of different colours they can see. The main character of the book, Eddie Russett, is classified as a Red - not as high up as a Purple but definitely not as low down as the Grey's who are unable to see colour in any great detail.

As I was reading this one I felt there were a lot of similarities with the latest Margaret Atwood books I have read, Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood. All books take elements from our current world but project them into a future that has twisted and turned. I felt Fforde offered a lot more humour in his vision than Atwood though!

The first half of the book just flew by for me - I was really enjoying how Fforde was introducing and explaining the world he had created and there was so much to take in and process about how the community was structured. The middle section got a little bogged down I thought but the ending redeemed the book and has left the way wide open for the next two planned books in the series. Overall I really enjoyed this one - a great humorous read but also a very insightful commentary and reflection on our own current community and the way in which we "rate" and prejudice people and groups in society.

Free To A Good Home - Catherine Deveny

Free To A Good Home is a book I picked up while on a trip to Sydney late last year. I had heard of the author before and was aware she wrote a regular column for a major Melbourne newspaper but seeing as though that's in a completely different state to me I had never actually read any of her work before. This book is a collection of some of those newspaper columns focusing on a broad range of issues from TV, feminism, marriage, religion, politics, racism and many more. I also loved the comment/recommendation about the book on the front cover from another Australian journalist, Marieke Hardy; "Provocative, borderline insane, and above all a very, very fine writer". But I was really sold on the book when I opened to a random page and read the start of one of Deveny's columns:

I'm against gay marriage. I'm against straight marriage. I'm against marriage full-stop. Why are we hanging on to this relic of an anachronistic system (which still reeks of misogyny and bigotry), established so men could own women to ensure their estates and titles were passed on to their kids - sorry, their sons?

Even if I don't necessarily agree with all of Deveny's opinions (although I have to say I connected with her on most of them!) I love her raw, honest writing style - this is a women who is not afraid to say what she thinks - and I admire that. She's also very, very funny - laugh out loud kind of funny and it usually takes quite a lot for a book to make me do that.

This book is probably more suited to Australian readers - a lot of what Deveny writes about concentrates specifically on anglo-saxon Australian culture and customs - very funny for those of us living here but maybe not so much for others.

I loved this one - didn't want it to end - I might have to buy a subscription to that Melbourne newspaper...