I spent the last week and a bit reading The Fry Chronicles, by Stephen Fry, someone I completely adore and wish was in charge of things, along with Eddie Izzard. I loved it, reading the book was just like listening to him speak. It ended just at the good bit though, so I hope he writes part 2 soon.

 On my way home just now I finished reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, which was wonderful. It reminded me very much of Snow Falling on Cedars in that it deals with the treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War 2. Hotel tells the story of Henry Lee, a Chinese American boy, and Keiko, a second-generation Japanese American girl who live in Seattle during the war. It's told from the point of view of Henry as a boy and Henry as an older man, and talks a lot about Henry's identity problems - his parents sent him to an all white school on a scholarship, which causes his old school friends to taunt him and call him white devil. Henry's parents also make him wear a badge that says 'I am Chinese', to ensure that he isn't mistaken as Japanese, which doesn't stop him being bullied at school. Until Keiko arrives his only real friend is Sheldon, an African-American jazz player who plays sax for tourists.  

 I really, really enjoyed this book. It's hard to believe (and yet not hard to believe) that families like Keiko, who often couldn't even speak Japanese, were considered potential threats to American security. It's really well written, so check it out.

Four books down in the first week gang! Pretty impressive effort. Unfortunately I accidentally bought two books at the Melbourne Writers Festival, so the pile on my TV is as big as it ever was.

HOW I BECAME A FAMOUS NOVELIST by Steve Hely was hilarious. Read it if you want to know what's wrong with the publishing world, or if you were forced to read a book against your will in high school.

BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP by SJ Watson was intense. I stayed up til ungodly hours waiting to find out what had happened. Read it if you like a brainy thriller.

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS by Vanessa Diffenbaugh was kinda disappointing. I really enjoyed the parts that were to do with the Victorian custom of assigning meanings to certain flowers, but I had assumed the book would be set in Victorian England, and would be more of a mystery. It's a bit too chick-lit ish for my tastes. Read it if you like a feel good love story.

THE SOMNABULIST by Essie Fox was fun, but it was also a proof copy so I don't know how it compares to the final product. But, it was set in Victorian England. Read it if you like gothic-y tales with an underdog protaganist.

Next on the list is Naked in Public.

Huzzah for books!

Hello!

I'm doing the Novel Challenge (the grown-ups version of the MS Readathon) for the month of September, to raise money to figh Multiple Sclerosis, or MS. MS is the most common disease of the central nervous system and affects more than 18,000 Australians.

Now, whenever I did the MS Readathon as a kid, I was always good at the reading part, but not so good at the getting people to sponsor me part. Here's where you come in! I've set myself a goal of $250 to raise by the end of the month, so I would love it if you could chuck in a few dollars! Please DONATE by clicking on the button to the right and help MS Australia support all people affected by multiple sclerosis.

My aim is to read as many of the books currently sitting on my TV as possible - the list is on this site somewhere, so if you want to recommend a book from it, please do!

Thanks again, lovely people!

 Bx