Fifty Shades Read

Now, unless you've been living on the moon for the last couple of months you'll have heard of the books by E.L. James charting the story of Christian Grey...

I love reading, I'll read most things, although I do have a bit of an aversion to anything overtly popular. I didn't pick up a Harry Potter book until The Goblet Of Fire was released as it was hyped up, although I'll admit the hype was worth it for those. So, when these books literally exploded in popularity I was very wary. When I started hearing the books were like marmite, I was even more wary of bothering with them. Eventually I figured I was just that nosey that I wanted to find out what all the fuss was about....(spoilers ahead if you are one of the 3 people who haven't read them..)


Basically the books are about the relationship between the stunningly handsome billionaire Christian Grey and the virginal, innocent college student Anastasia Steele. They meet, he wants her to be his submissive, she umms and aaah's about signing the Dom/sub contract he offers her whilst they have a lot of sex. She also bites her lips, talks to her inner goddess and subconcious. A LOT. A lot has been said about the "BDSM" sex the book contains, now there are elements of Domination and bondage, and some of the language Christian uses is quite authentically controlling, it isn't really anything much more than most people might indulge in now and again.

As books, they are laughably badly written, the characters are mostly one dimensional, the language is annoyingly samey and the storylines are threadbare and barely make much sense. The relationship flies along at breakneck speed and all subtlety is lost.

As erotica, they are not sure where they want to be, there is enough "kinky fuckery" to turn off the more inherently vanilla readers, in fact some reviews I've seen have called Christian's behaviour abusive and misogynistic. There are certainly lots of sex scenes, but they become dreadfully repetitive and, again, I've seen plenty of reviewers saying they were skipping the sex scenes. If you ARE into kink, whilst some of the language Christian uses is more than familiar, the scenes themselves aren't quite as deep into kinky territory as the blurb would have you believe, add into the fact that being into BDSM is portrayed as something only the most damaged of individuals partake in, and I can't see the appeal from that angle either.

So what is it? Is it the thought of a man who wants nothing more than to look after you completely and utterly? Is it the idea of being the one woman who can heal this broken and damaged man? Is in the mothering instinct coming to the forefront, with those readers just wanting to love Mr Grey? Are women REALLY wanting this kind of sexual adventure, complete with spanking, cuffs, blindfolds and floggers?

For me, even after reading them, I have no idea of the appeal. I've read many, much more gripping reads. I've read erotica that genuinely has me squirming away, and I've read love stories with much more depth. Yes, they're fluff, yes they're throwaway beach reads, but these books have become a phenomenon and I, for one, would LOVE to know why, so if you've read them (and I know many of my friends have) please, please leave me a comment as to what the books did for you?

December Book Club

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer
A while ago I asked for recommendations on my FB page, I tend to read similar kinds of books and wanted to try something different. My friends came up with a huge variety of suggestions and this was the first one I chose...
It was something different for me, and I loved it. It's the story of a writer based in London just after the end of the Second World War, and how her life changes through the receipt of a chance letter. It also gives an insight into the occupation of Guernsey during the war. I adored the writing, and admired how the author gave each character their own voice (the book is written in letters from and to many of the characters) and how she brought alive a part of history I knew little about. Try it, it's fabulous :)

Holes - Louis Sachar
Another recommendation from FB, although this was a book I'd fancied for quite a while, but I am too tight to hand over nearly £5 of my own money for a Kindle book....so when I got a few Amazon vouchers I treated myself. This seems to be the story of a boy sent to a correctional camp for a crime he didn't commit, but it's so much more. It's not a long book, but the story grips you utterly and I couldn't put it down!

Integration - Stephen Edger
I tried this one as the reviews on Amazon were amazing. Five stars all the way with phenomenal things to say about this book.
So, although I enjoyed reading this book, I have learnt to not always believe Amazon reviews....
It's the tale of a normal guy who gets caught up in something way beyond his control, and how his whole life is turned upside down. It's a good enough read, although somewhat formulaic and frustratingly ended with a "To be continued" I'll be reading the follow up, as I do want to know what happens to Mark next. It's worth a read.

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
I finished this not long before Christmas and it was simply wonderful :) Oh of course I knew the story, everyone from The Muppets to Bill Murray have done the story, but to read the original words, and the delightful turn of phrase that Dickens has in this tale was priceless. It is quite simply a magical story that is full of the spirit of Christmas. I think I'll find myself reading this before many future Christmasses :)

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
Another one from the Big Read. I tried this one as it's supposedly an easier read than LOTR. I can't argue with that, after all I finished this one lol! Whilst I did enjoy the story, I can't say I loved it. It's obviously about Bilbo's journey, and much as I really tried to absorb it and love it, I just couldn't. It's okay, it's a story about a journey....but without the gorgeous depth of detail that would have made it come alive for me. I'm sorry, I know Tolkien's books are deemed wonderous, but not for me.

It's hard to pick a favourite this month. I can't say how much I loved Holes and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - they are both wonderful, amazing books that I am so happy to have been recommended and as they are both utterly different I just can't pick between them. Read them both, you won't be disappointed.
Worst is The Hobbit, I know I'll like the film - but the book just didn't do it for me!

The (Slightly Delayed) November Book Club!

The time has got away with me this month, and I only managed to read three books - and one of those I didn't finish until the 3rd! So this months book club will be slightly short, so perhaps not worth the lateness lol!

So here goes, the first book this month was;

Stephen King - Everything's Eventual
I decided to re-read this one as I'd finally seen the film 1408, despite mixed reviews I rather enjoyed it and it spurred me on to read this book as it contains the short story the film was based on. I'd forgotten just how much I enjoy Stephen King's short stories, and it has been years since I read this one. The 1408 story didn't disappoint and was one of my favourites, along with the autopsy room tale and Riding The Bullet. If you're a fan you'll enjoy this, no question. If you've not read a SK book before, it's a good introduction in bite sized chunks :)

Adam Ross - Mr Peanut
This one was a shot in the dark, it had good reviews so I took a chance. It's an odd book, and the reason that I only managed to read three books this month....The writing is sublime, I really loved how Ross wrote, his prose  really is something special and I could have easily got lost within his work, but, the story was too complicated, too long and too full of pointless twists and turns. You start the book presuming (perhaps wrongly) that it will be a straight forward who dunnit, but it's not. It's more of a dialogue on the state of marriage and the extremes that can happen within the lifes of seemingly normal couples. It also contains a novel within a novel, of another murder mystery. Much as I loved his writing, I was left annoyed and confused by the ending and carried on reading to finish it, rather than to find out what happened. I got bogged down in the middle and struggled to get through to the ending. Perhaps others may enjoy it more than me, perhaps others will see something deeper than I did? I don't know, I would try to read another Adam Ross book again, but I would hope he'd try not to be so clever next time, as too much story detracts from the joy of his skill.

Ben Hatch - Are We Nearly There Yet?
After trudging my way through Mr Peanut, I wanted something more lighthearted to read and so I stumbled upon this one. A story of a family taking a few months out of their life to write about family friendly attractions across the UK. It was exactly what I expected, funny in parts, and due to the authors Father contracting cancer, touching as well. It's nothing exceptional, but it's an easy enough read and at the end of it you feel you know the Hatch family really well - not a bad thing :)


So that's it for this month, I'm already well into the first of December's books and enjoying it immensely, so perhaps next months book blog will be a tad more interesting!