To Blog or To Read

Please pardon my lack of blogging. You see, I am so engrossed in the Peter Mayle novel that I’m reading that even though I have tons of photos I haven’t posted them yet. I am also overwhelmed by the tons of photos and don’t know where to begin. Uploading them can be a pain.

Reading is such a wonderful escape from my humdrum life. My life just pales in comparison from the lives of these amazing characters.

Peter Mayle has such a light touch with his words and somehow I always feel so hungry from his gourmet food descriptions. I’m craving for warm French bread with lavender honey and coffee right now. He’s also delightfully witty. You know that charming British wit that seems effortless. A bit like Colin Firth’s Oscar acceptance speech.

I borrowed the book from the library and it’s called ‘Anything Considered’. I love how the books I like are always still on the shelves. I think it’s because they are not the new bestsellers. I can’t believe I took so long to get to them.

It’s quite a change from the very heavy ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Kazuo Ishiguro which left me depressed at the fragility of life and so upset are how cruelly the characters were treated. I was pining for those poor children. The book deals with the horrifying aspects of human cloning. It’s human ethics gone terribly wrong. It is one of those books that lingers in your mind long after you’ve read it, haunting you.

I love reading books that allow me to escape or teach me something. I know whether I love a book after reading the first paragraph. The writing style has to be readable and that is the key for me. The subject matter has to captivate me as well, but that is secondary.

I’m starting to read the kind of books my dad adored and that pleases me to no end. I love that my tastes are changing as I get older and I’m morphing into my dad. As a kid I thought the books he read were so boring. Boy was I wrong, and now I wish I had a chance to discuss them with him. I’m sure he would be delighted.

What authors do you love, keep returning to and start getting sad when you’re read almost all their books?

About bookjunkie

Blogging about life in Singapore & recently cancer too.
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25 Responses to To Blog or To Read

  1. kirsten says:

    Jane Austen. I’ve read everything of hers that’s been published, even the incomplete novels. It’s just SO FUN! It appeals to my girly side.

    I can read The Picture of Dorian Gray over and over again.

    I’m not sure that I have other favourite authors so much, really. I just like to read all sorts. And there’s such a satisfaction from finishing a book. I always feel like I should read more more more instead of being online so much these days.

    • bookjunkie says:

      I must re-read Jane Austen and especially her lesser known novels. There was a French feminist writer I enjoyed reading who wrote about being older – Simone de Beauvoir I think. I just can’t recall the title now. I want to read more of her work. You’ve convinced me….I must get my hands on Dorian Gray. I have been reading a lot of Indian English authors lately…like Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance. I find the history and politics fascinating…..and most of all the human stories.

      • kirsten says:

        I like to read classics. Maybe because the BBC also makes such lovely adaptations of them for me to squee over after I’ve read the books hehe. If you like Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell is good too. Her North & South is like Pride & Prejudice but with social issues mixed in. Wonderful.

        Marion Zimmer Bradley writes lovely myth/fantasy novels. Strangely, she actually had more influence on some of my religious/spiritual beliefs than any real religious text. And she always has good female characters I enjoy.

        For something easy and trashy I read Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries (which is what HBO’s True Blood is based on). Mmmm…

  2. Just finished Water for Elephants…a triumph! I am afraid to see the movie that is coming out soon, because I’m afraid they will butcher the book, which is flawless.

    For a good laugh, I read Janet Evanovich….any of her silly series books are good. It’s about a female bounty hunter and her crazy life. I can read these in a couple of days…it’s like chewing gum for my brain, but it’s entertaining at the same time.

    Just starting “Shanghai Girls” by Lisa See…..so far so good. I’ll have to see if I can get “Anything Considered”..thanks for the tip

    • bookjunkie says:

      You had me when you said you were afraid the book would get butchered…I must get hold of the book soon. I love book tips.

      my fave Peter Mayle books are French Lessons and A Year in Provence.

  3. LeatherPumps says:

    I don’t have a favourite writer. Mainly I go for non-fiction 🙂 Unforgettable ones include Ishmael Beah’s “A Long Way Gone”, Sebastian Mallaby’s “A World’s Banker”, Philippe Legrain’s “Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them”, Baggini’s “The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten” and so many more.

    Fictions that I can read over and over again includes timeless works like “Alice in Wonderland”, “The Little Prince”, “Sherlock Holmes” and “Gone With The Wind” 🙂

    Oh, I bought Singaporean author Moh Hon Meng’s “KO Island” from Changi when I was leaving the country. It was about how how Singaporean gentlemen (being trained) fought a troop of pirates when they were kidnapped. It was quite an enjoyable read. 🙂

    • bookjunkie says:

      I love alice and the little prince. I actually want to re-read my fave children’s classics.

      The Pig that Wants to be Eaten intrigues me.

      Thanks so much for sharing your book loves with me!! 🙂 I really appreciate it. When I am stumped for what to read next I will re-read comments from this post.

      I do also love Kurt Vonnegut for his black humour, especially Slaughter House Five and Breakfast of Champions.

  4. Happy SITS DAY! I must say with 4 children running around the house I don’t get to read anything too much in-depth so I go for quick light Christian romance that I can speed read through and even skim. So sad! But I do love to read a good book. I just need to find the time. Maybe this summer?

    • bookjunkie says:

      Awww..thanks so much. So glad to see you here. Hope you get a chance to catch up on your reading this summer but your life sounds like so much fun already with 4 children.

  5. Lady J says:

    I’ll be keen to go check out the Peter Mayle’s book that you recommended. I’m into reading books with gourmet food descriptive writing to expand my writing repertoire.

    One of the last books I read on my holiday is ‘Shanghai Girls’ by Lisa See and I enjoyed reading it. One of my all-time fave chick lit has gotta be “Bringing home the birkin” by Michael Tonello, a fun read from start to finish.

  6. kirsten says:

    A very interesting book about Singapore that I found was John Malanthronas’ (sp?) Singapore Swing.

  7. plumerainbow says:

    Ooh, I read some of Vonnegut’s too – Galapagos come to mind.

    And it’s great to read all these wonderful comments on books.

    Some of my favourites:
    Lovely female-heroine centric books: I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith), The Historian (Elizabeth Kostova), Jane Austen & Isabel Allende

    There is also another side of me that likes strange adventure stories – The Mosquito Coast (Theroux), Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

    Love in the Time of Cholera

    And recently hooked on Alexander McCall Smith for simple to read but not short on wit.

  8. Ooooooh, lavender honey’s my favorite!! My mother in law always gives me a jar for Christmas! I love the comments as well, the post and the comments have given me lots of good ideas for new books to read if I ever find the time!! A novel that really stayed with me for some time after I read it was Kokoro by Nastume Soseki, such a sad story!

  9. Marilenn says:

    Thanks for the book recommendations! I’ve been dying to find new reads.

    Happy SITS day!

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