Furtive Little Feelings: Book Geekery

I Love Books

When I say that, I mean I reaaaaallly love books. I love reading them, talking about them, sharing them. I like that you can just put one in your bag and read it anywhere. They never run out of battery and you can always tell how good a book is by how many cracks there are in the spine. If you don't enjoy reading then this blog post probably isn't for you. Sorry. I mean I love books so much I did an entire degree in the subject which pretty much lead me to nothing!

I bet if more libraries looked like this
people might love them a bit more!

Source: http://www.oddee.com/item_96527.aspx

Remember the film Beauty and the Beast? While most children were loving the fact there was a magical singing candlestick (I actually did LOVE Lumiere) and a crazy scary beast man, for most of the film I couldn't stop thinking about how amazing the library he gave her was and how tall the ladder would need to be to get the top books out!

Source: oxfordworldbookcapital.wordpress.com

I can't possibly imagine a not being able to immerse myself in a story, well, that was until i discovered a form of writing that I actually hate! *shock horror*

Here are three books I wanted to love, but that broke my heart a little bit.

We need to talk about Kevin:

A few years ago there was a massive buzz around the book 'We need to talk about Kevin', I had been meaning to read it for ages before the buzz even started, it had been a book i'd seen everywhere. One of my favourite Tweeters @hotpatooties had been saying how awesome it is, so I finally just took the plunge a bought it. I did love it in the end, harrowing and horrific but overall an excellent story. Bear with me for the reason I hated it.

Source: www.booksidoneread.com

Cloud Atlas:

So you have heard the phrase 'don't judge a book by its cover?'

Source: digitalspy.com

Everything about this book tells me to buy it. I like the colours, the quirky drawings, I like the font and the cover had a matt feel, but with shiny parts. I realise this sounds fully insane. This book is the kind of book I am drawn to in every way. I never made it past chapter two.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower:

A while ago when I was still working for Waterstones I had to go for an induction at the Newcastle branch. It was a day filled with awful getting to know you games and silly tips on how to talk to people. We also had to all talk about our favorite books and there was a girl who described this book so wonderfully I knew I had to read it! To be entirely honest I completely forgot until the film came out. I missed out on the film in the cinema and recently purchased a copy of the book, I thought I may as well read it before watching it on DVD.

Source: feedmebooksnow.blogspot.com

before I go on my massive rant allow me to explain I am actually only halfway through this book at the moment, and in general the story is good. If it wasn't written the way it is I would have had it finished in a couple of days.

So... Readers of my blog, readers of books. What do all three of these books have in common?

Do you know?

Yep, you got it. They are all Epistolary Novels.

They are all written in the format of a series of letters. Well technically Cloud Atlas isn't entirely letters (apparently).

Source: www.offensivelydefiantapparel.com

The thing I love most about books is the way writing can pull you into a story, you can submerge yourself completely and block out everything around you. For me a good book is like when you are taking a bath and you put your head under the water. You can't hear the hoover or washing machine, you can block out the chatter and people walking past the door. I like descriptive writing that puts you inside the story and carries you along to the end with little effort. If a book doesn't do this for me i'm lucky if I get halfway through never mind to the end.

Source: serendipity-puzzles.blogspot.com

So when I was in college we had to read The Colour Purple. At this point I realised that this kind of book just doesn't do it for me. Then I bought Cloud Atlas in the hope I was wrong. Nope, These books make me feel like i'm an outsider, essentially they make me feel like i'm reading and in my opinion a good book makes you feel lost. Anyway I then purchased We need to talk about Kevin without looking inside, excitedly sat down to read it and opened the front cover.

November 8 2000

Dear Frankin.

Oh God NO! Skipped a few pages...

Dear Franklin... Eva.

Source: jgoome.com

I just can't see how having it in that format helped the story. I mean, ok the big reveal at the end was made more dramatic from it, I never felt like I got a true sense of Eva because we never got in her head.

At this point I vowed I would never again buy a book without opening the cover.

......

I didn't even think about it when I bought Perks of being a Wallflower. The thought it would be letters didn't even enter my mind. I got on the bus and opened it to the first page.

August 25 1991

Dear Friend...

Love Always, Charlie.

At this point honest to God, I could feel the panic rising through my body. I flicked to halfway through the book.

December 19 1991

Dear Friend...

Love Always, Charlie.

Why, WHY!

Source: alltheragefaces.com

I really felt like just throwing the book out of the bus window or onto an open flame. I realise this sounds insane to most people, and it is overly harsh considering the book is actually pretty good. If I could, I would put all these books into room 101 and make the authors write them in a different way.

Anyway this has taken me far too long to write today, I hope you have all had a wonderful weekend.

I went to bid a good friend of mine farewell as she has moved back to Cornwall for a while. Here's a pic of our little farewell shindig!