Regeneration by Pat Barker

I have been reading this trilogy out of sequence - I read The Ghost Road last year. Regeneration is set in a military hospital in Craiglockhart during the First World War, where soldiers recovering from the traumatic effects of the conflict are being treated, assessed, and as soon as possible returned to fight. While harrowing I found Regeneration less disturbing than The Ghost Road, perhaps because it was set away from the trenches and the front line. I liked the addition of real people into the fictional work, including Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon.
Another book I found interesting set during the same period of history was Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, this was our bookgroup read a couple of years ago, this tackled the subject from a slightly different angle, still highlighting the horrors of warfare and the senseless waste of life suffered by a whole generation.

I am counting this book towards the four month reading challenge.

Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

K is a young teacher, in love with Sumire, a would-be author friend of his, who finds herself infatuated with Miu, her elegant female employer. Then Sumire disappears without a trace on a Greek island leaving K and Miu to search and wait.

I have never read anything by this author before, and I am not sure whether I really want to try any more. In many ways I found this book beautifully written but I also felt frustrated by the unresolved issues running through it. I wanted to care about the characters but found them too sparsely written to give me a hook to catch on to. Very simple in style it covers many themes around love and desire.

T4MC - The Four Month Challenge

I've just finished a reading challenge which I have enjoyed very much, reading books I would perhaps not ordinarily have read. It would appear that I just can't help myself - I'm signing up for another one! This time it's the four month challenge part three, I came close to signing up for parts one and two, so it's inevitable I would crack and join eventually. This one will truly be a challenge as I never, ever read fantasy!!

The challenge details can be found at: http://virginiebarbeau.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/t4mc-part-3/

Read so far:

5 Point challenges
Read a book by an author you've never read before
My Canape Hell by Imogen-Edwards-Jones

Read a book with a proper name in the title
Mary, Mary by Julie Parsons

Read a book with a one word title
December by Elizabeth H Winthrop

Read a fantasy
The Odessa Stone by C C Chambers

10 Point challenges
Read a book with a two word title
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

Read a book that is part of a series
Regeneration by Pat Barker

Read a book about a real person
Burned Alive by Souad

15 Point challenges
Read a book with a number in the title
The Ten O'Clock Horses by Laurie Graham

Read a book written by an author born in March, April, May or June
Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult (May 19th)

Read a book with a three word title
Odd One Out by Monica McInerney

Read a book by an author with three names
Suburbanistas by Pamela Redmond Satran

20 Point challenges
Read a book with over 500 pages
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Read a book with a four word title
A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

Read a book by two authors
Dedication by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Read a book written in the 70s (any century)
No Time For Romance by Lucilla Andrews

Read a book that has been number one on the NYT best sellers list
Cell by Stephen King

Current total: 210 points

Good Grief by Lolly Winston

Sophie Stanton is a 36 year old widow trying to rebuild her life after the death of her husband Ethan. After a breakdown resulting in her turning up to work in dressing gown and bunny slippers she moves to a new area, meets new people and broadens her career horizons.

This a very funny book. This is a very sad, poignant book. This is a very uplifting book. One way Sophie works toward reinventing her life is to let go of the expectations of those around her, donating her lounge furniture to goodwill, smashing all her crockery, befriending a troubled teenager with a dangerous fascination with fire. Sophie's journey through the classic stages of grief takes her from numb and unable to imagine how life can move on, to healing, with the help of good friends.

I am giving this book to a widow I know who, while older than Sophie, will understand the complex emotions of grief.

This book completes my reading for the winter reading challenge. Although I am writing about this book after the end date for the challenge, I did finish reading the book several days ago, within the boundary! Promise!

Where's the crafting gone?

I am really struggling to find a place in my life for creativity right now. I feel overwhelmed with the many demands on my time, my space, my attention, and crafting is taking a back seat. When I have a spare ten minutes for "me time" it's easier to escape into a book than to work on a scrapbook project, and there's no clean up time involved. I have plenty of papers, cardstock, inks, stamps, embellishments, ribbons, buttons, fabric, knitting wool - I could craft all day every day for ages without running out of anything but adhesive. I just can't get started.

I have a spare bedroom that I intend turning into a craft room, I'm currently trying to clear out all the junk in there, rearrange the room and set it up as a space to create. I am making progress, but I can't spare a solid block of time to get the work done, so I'm doing a little at a time, as and when I can.

In the meantime I'm now comitting myself to completing a simple layout today, nothing complicated or challenging, just something to kickstart my creativity again.

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

Sibyl Danforth is a midwife in rural Vermont, delivering babies in the homes of their mothers. She loves her work and her life. Then she attends the labour of a mother who aparently dies before the delivery, so Sibyl decides to save the unborn child by performing a caesarian on the body of the mother. Anne, the assistant midwife present, later reports her doubts that the mother was indeed dead and alleges that she saw blood spurt from the site of the incision. This results in a criminal investigation and trial for murder. The story is told through the eyes of Connie, Sibyl's daughter.
This is a book that will stay with you. The accounts of the labour are very well written, perhaps surprisingly so as it is written by a man. I found the courtroom scenes rivetting, all the more so because they are seen from the point of view of a fourteen year old who is afraid for the fate of her mother and her entire family life. Right to the end of the court case I was unable to guess the outcome.
I have not read anything else by this author, but would be interested in doing so.

Mr Commitment by Mike Gayle

Duffy and Mel have been together for four years when she proposes to him, but Duffy isn't sure whether he's ready to commit. After a disastrous shopping trip to IKEA they split up, but find they cannot move on from the life they shared together.
What do you call chicklit for men? Whatever it is, this is it. Well written, well plotted but a bit predictable. I used to read chicklit (for women and men) a lot, but this convinved me that I've moved on from there. Enjoyable enough, the literary equivelant of a snack but I would rather have a meal.