B is for

Books

I was never a fan of reading when I was younger – when attempting to read the Harry Potter books it was a chore to finish the books – I would start reading and then once I put the book down, I never read it again. Despite the books being very successful, I never once picked up the book again, instead asking my sister for a summary or watching the film, something that will shock many booklovers. It has only been in the last few years that I have enjoyed reading. The Daily Mail released a free collection of Jane Austen books to coincide with the release of the film, Becoming Jane. I really enjoyed the light romance of the stories, which always ended with a happy ending for the heroine. I am a fan of happy endings, it is a shame that they don’t exist in real life, but I love to escape to Austen’s world, where love conquers all – social prejudice, betrothals to another and various other misunderstandings. My favourite Austen novels are Pride and Prejudice (everyone loves that one – it is a classic) and Sense and Sensibility – where the two sisters, who contrast very differently to each other, found their true loves through their different respective paths. During university, I read Wuthering Heights – it differed vastly to Austen’s works. Whilst Austen’s novels were lights and show the happiness and wonder of love, Bronte portrayed loved as a stronger, rawer emotion; where everything wasn’t all sweetness and light and the main characters weren’t lovable or great. Cathy and Heathcliff are self-obsessed and don’t care about others although they are the main characters of this love story. However, their love is more passionate and stronger than anyone in Austen’s novels could ever experience.

On hearing the hype surrounding the Twilight movies in 2008, I started to read the stories written by Stephanie Meyer. The love story is quite traditional, despite the modern setting of a world with vampires and werewolves (sorry, shapeshifters). Bella and Edward fall in love very quickly, and their love is so strong and intense. The writing isn’t always up to par, although generally the stories are enjoyable.

Recently I have been looking at lighter and more positive books. One Day, by David Nicholls, was an excellent book. I felt sorry for Emma, having to put up with stupid Dexter’s behaviour but I could believe their story, making the ending more poignant. What works is the characterisation – they aren’t too perfect, they have flaws, and the two main characters (despite Dexter’s behaviour) are charming. I did hope during reading this that Emma would end up happy with Ian, as Dexter was a massive idiot. One Day has recently been made into a film, notable for Anne Hathaway’s dodgy Yorkshire accent. It was a great book, so I would be interested in seeing how it translates into film.

I have been reading a lot of chick lit (Carole Matthews, Linda Green and Harriet Evans (almost finished A Hopeless Romantic, the characters aren’t as annoying anymore, but it is hard to care about it, and the rest of the story if pretty much standard fare, nothing exciting). I expected chick-lit to be light, romantic things, but when I read Linda Green’s 10 Reasons Not To Fall in Love, the story struck me, especially Dan’s childhood, which was a very dark story but the book was still enjoyable. I have developed a great interest in comedy over the last few years, and have read books by Richard Herring and Charlie Brooker which have been immensely entertaining.

Long live the book!

Ben – Herz Aus Glas – the first German pop song I heard, having searched German Pop in Youtube. This song is representative of all German Pop. Let’s get it to number one in the UK!

Bacon – nothing like the smell of bacon. Bacon sandwiches…Mmm…

Blogs – I have quite a few blogs on the go which cover a variety of different things. Little Magenta Turtle (www.littlemagentaturtle.blogspot.com) contains pinyin and Chinese lyrics for Mandarin music, as well as Japanese songs. It’s All News To Moi (www.itsallnewstomoi.blogspot.com) is feeling a bit unloved, but was intended to be a news and views site, I may return to it later on. It only contains one article about universities at the moment. This blog (www.chocolatedigestivebiscuit.blogspot.com) has been upgraded to my main blog, and contains news, views, reviews covering entertainment, tv, music and just random articles. Choc Button (www.chocbutton.blogspot.com) is on ice at the moment, usually containing reality TV news and summaries. There is X Factor and The Apprentice news, and when they return, I will recommence my entries on this blog. www.chocbutton.wordpress.com and www.chocolatedigestivebiscuit.wordpress.com are the same as their respective Blogger sites but published on Wordpress.

I am not sure whether anyone is really interested in what I have to say, but I like the way one can express their ideas so freely and readily, even if I am just talking about bacon sandwiches.