This week, I have mostly been reading...

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Sun, 2012-05-20 17:49

Hi everyone :)

Been away from the site for a while as I'm currently moving house - all my stuff is in storage right now, and in the haste of the move, I packed away all my books! All of them but one - a book I'd picked up a few days before, a book of memoirs, simply because it's title was 'Cherry', and we all know how much we here at ABC all love anything to do with those ... ;)

Anyhoo - this book, being the only book I brought with me to the half-way house we're in at the minute, had a lot to live up to. It needed to be bloody awesome, as it is. The writer is Mary Karr, an American poet, and the book simply oozes with some of the most stunning poetic imagery I've ever come across, and well... being part of this community for the past couple of years, I've read loads :)

I'm three quarters of the way through and I'm loving the ride through this talented woman's Texan-girlhood, but although the read is poetic, it still wasn't enough to quench my poetry-thirst. So I went into town with the distinct intention of buying a poetry collection, and I came away with Carol Ann Duffy's 'The World's Wife'. Another amazing, inspiring and uplifting read and I'll be honest, I'd only ever read a handful of her stuff before so the revelation was a delight (seeing as I paid full price for the book at a proper book shop and not 50p in a charity shop like I usually do), and so I was equally delighted to come online for the first time today and find MistakenMagic's been captivated by this book too with her latest poem 'Electra' - a great Duffy-inspired piece and wonderfully imaginative, which I highly recommend.

Anyhoo - as I was saying about 50p books... I found a beauty in Age Concern the other day - utter bargain. How it's ended up in the charity shop I do not know, but Carolyn Jess-Cooke's first collection 'Inroads' is a gem of a find, it really is. Anyone who loves Duffy will love it, anyone who loves poetry should love it, really... the title poem is a sheer masterpiece, but she's also done what Duffy and Magic have done and reinvented history with her two poems 'Aeneas Finds Dido on YouTube' and 'Orpheus Gets Punk'd'. I thoroughly recommend you check this poet out. She also writes fiction, I have discovered, which I can only imagine will be as wonderfully written as her poetry.

I'm a bit of a rambler and I've got here in a round-about way, I know, but what I'm trying to say is... these three books I'm reading are the only three books I have in the world right now, and if they were the only three books I could ever read again, for the rest of my life, I think I'd be okay with that. If you could only ever read three books again in your whole life, what would they be? And - most importantly - are any of the books you're currently reading right now on that list?

Phew, got there. Good to be back, peeps :)

Mon, 2012-05-21 04:01

Denzella

David Cameron's recent comments and the horrific fire, believed to be the result of arson, which took the lives of five children have made me wish I had never written Thoughts as some of what I have written seems to be almost prophetic.

Mon, 2012-05-21 16:18

skinner_jennifer

Glad to see you back Rachel, missed your writing. Jenny.

Mon, 2012-05-21 19:09

shep5377

Good question! Well, as you may or may not remember I like my fantasy books, so Lord of the Rings would be top of the list. I also like the Japanese Samurai culture, so Shogun by James Clavell would be my second. I honestly coundn't say what my third book would be. I re-read the first two every other year or so and they're nice and chunky. I don't really have another book like that. Excellent question though!

Mon, 2012-05-21 19:21

steve_elliott04

This is a difficult question, and my answer has changed quite a bit over the past year or so. Right now I would say if I could only ever read 3 books, they would be: 1. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, simply for the incredible use of language and setting. 2. The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, for the use of his 'iceberg theory'; the depth that he achieves with such a sparse use of language is truely brilliant. Also, the images and ideas that he portrays are both breathtaking and deeply thought-stirring. 3. This is a hard choice between On The Road by Kerouac, and Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. The two are completely different novels, but each served a purpose by first inspiring me to write. So really, that's 4 books! haha. I can't narrow it down any more, and if I keep rambling, there will be at least another 6 or 7 books added to that list.

Tue, 2012-05-22 17:13

shoe

Good to see you back Rachel, I cannot possibly choose just 3 books.... but I have just read for the 3rd time (always a good sign) Findings, by Kathleen James, which I love for her clarity of thought, her love of nature and the sheer elegance of it. running my eye over my bookcase...I've read them all more than once, I wouldn't keep them if I didn't want to read them again, but I can't choose. I will look out for Inroads, I love a 50p bargain.

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