So I read, from time to time. And here in my utter boredom I have compiled a list of five books I believe everyone should read (I'm not big on classics, I love the idea of them I just find them incredibly hard work to read, I do however love listening to them on audio books. I'm the same with Agatha Christies - which are brilliant by the way. Give them a try, start with Poirot though he's a bit more peppy than Miss Marple.) So here we go...in no particular order.
The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips - I think the fact that it took me a day to read this says it all. It's a truly harrowing story about a little girl who witnesses a woman throwing her baby down a well; set in the Deep South in 1931 it also chronicles a small mining town's struggle against the depression and its descriptive passages are so intense you feel that you yourself have lived it. 
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - I read this simply because my friends had to for English Lit and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. This is a book with difficult and terrifying concepts that I found almost unbelievably easy to read. Set in a (hopefully) alternate future where the majority of women are sterile and thus Handmaids are supplied to the rich to bear the children of 'Commanders' which are then raised by the Commanders' wives. The book chronicles one handmaiden's journey through this suffocating new life as she looks back on her old one. I will say though I hate the ending - it doesn't appeal at all to the part of me that likes things ended nicely tied up in a bow.
Moab is my Washpot by Stephen Fry - Good Lord I cannot tell you how much I love this man. In my bizarre fantasy celebrity family he is everyones favourite uncle. This is his autobiography chronicling a section of his life - starting with his childhood and teenage years and ending upon his entry into Cambridge University. This is a book in which Mr Fry often meanders away from the main story often and throws in a number of wonderful anecdotes. Definitely worth the read whether you're a Mr Stevie fan or not.
A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly (Published out of the UK as 'A Northern Light') - This is a book which has really effected me and made me think - every one of the 8 times I've read it. It centres around the discovery of a series of letters which reveal vital information on a murder (based on the real murder of Grace Brown early in the 20th Century) by the narrator - a girl working in the hotel the victim and her murderer were staying in. Mattie, the narrator draws a number of deeply unsettling parallels between her own life and that of Grace Brown. This is marketed as a children's book and although I must have read this for the first time when I was about 13 this is by no means just a children's book. The descriptions of objects, thoughts, smells, feelings, landscapes, movement, memories and people make you feel like not only are you a part of the book but have been part of that community forever. I can honestly say this is amongst my favourite books ever.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - I read this for the first time on the same holiday I read A Gathering Light - Jeez that was an amazing holiday for literature. I fell in love with this book and it along with A Gathering Light has come with me (and been read!) on every holiday ever since. This is my second copy of this book - my original was so loved it had to be replaced. This follows the life of a man who due to a genetic disorder travels through time, specifically to important events of his lifetime. Entangled within this complicated existence is that of the girl he visits at different stages of her life while at varying stages of his own life. I won't say more...I don't want to spoil this simply exquisite book for you. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to discover they were turning this into a movie. And it's kept me waiting, having been in production for about two years for no apparent reason. But the trailer is finally out! Yaaay! And I couldn't have suggested more perfect people to play Henry and Clare. I have something of a major girl crush on Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana is an Aussie so instantly gains brownie points. It doesn't hurt that he's so beautiful. I will spend this entire film (maybe only first viewing) just in awe of the two of them. And it comes out just after I come home from holiday...the perfect way to beat the post holiday blues. I'm getting a sneaky reread in before the 14th August. I'm off now to the land of Clare and Henry.
Moab is my Washpot by Stephen Fry - Good Lord I cannot tell you how much I love this man. In my bizarre fantasy celebrity family he is everyones favourite uncle. This is his autobiography chronicling a section of his life - starting with his childhood and teenage years and ending upon his entry into Cambridge University. This is a book in which Mr Fry often meanders away from the main story often and throws in a number of wonderful anecdotes. Definitely worth the read whether you're a Mr Stevie fan or not. 
A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly (Published out of the UK as 'A Northern Light') - This is a book which has really effected me and made me think - every one of the 8 times I've read it. It centres around the discovery of a series of letters which reveal vital information on a murder (based on the real murder of Grace Brown early in the 20th Century) by the narrator - a girl working in the hotel the victim and her murderer were staying in. Mattie, the narrator draws a number of deeply unsettling parallels between her own life and that of Grace Brown. This is marketed as a children's book and although I must have read this for the first time when I was about 13 this is by no means just a children's book. The descriptions of objects, thoughts, smells, feelings, landscapes, movement, memories and people make you feel like not only are you a part of the book but have been part of that community forever. I can honestly say this is amongst my favourite books ever. 
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - I read this for the first time on the same holiday I read A Gathering Light - Jeez that was an amazing holiday for literature. I fell in love with this book and it along with A Gathering Light has come with me (and been read!) on every holiday ever since. This is my second copy of this book - my original was so loved it had to be replaced. This follows the life of a man who due to a genetic disorder travels through time, specifically to important events of his lifetime. Entangled within this complicated existence is that of the girl he visits at different stages of her life while at varying stages of his own life. I won't say more...I don't want to spoil this simply exquisite book for you. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to discover they were turning this into a movie. And it's kept me waiting, having been in production for about two years for no apparent reason. But the trailer is finally out! Yaaay! And I couldn't have suggested more perfect people to play Henry and Clare. I have something of a major girl crush on Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana is an Aussie so instantly gains brownie points. It doesn't hurt that he's so beautiful. I will spend this entire film (maybe only first viewing) just in awe of the two of them. And it comes out just after I come home from holiday...the perfect way to beat the post holiday blues. I'm getting a sneaky reread in before the 14th August. I'm off now to the land of Clare and Henry. 
Very interesting !I will keep this in mind
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