slemslempike (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
slemslempike) wrote2010-04-18 09:40 pm
slemslempike) wrote2010-04-18 09:40 pm
Entry tags:
March Books.
March
Ginger's First Kiss (Boyfriend Club) by Janet Quin-Harkin
John Gielgud - Gyles Brandreth
Eye Spy - Justin Scroggie
The Garish Day - Rachel Billington
What About It, Sharon? - John Harvey
Coming From Behind - Howard Jacobson
Cheerleaders 2: Getting Even - Christopher Pike
I picked up Ginger's First Kiss to make up a 4 for a £1 offer in a charity shop. I'd never read any "Boyfriend Club" books before, because really they did not sound at all like what I would like. This wasn't too bad though. Although it is, obviously, all about them trying to get boyfriends, the four friends in the group are actually interested in each other, trying to be supportive and get through high school together. At one point Ginger realises she really likes the guy that Justine is going after, so she tells her, and Justine says that's fine, she hadn't realised and isn't that interested in him anyway. Rather than it being a big thing about cheating and friends choosing boys over each other.
The Gielgud biography was good - Gyles Brandreth is good at telling anecdotes, and it doesn't seem to matter whether they are his anecdotes or others'. He was interested in Gielgud as an actor and a man, and his descriptions of performances and methods of acting were always coupled with an awareness of possible failings. (Laurence Olivier, though, occasionally does not come off so well.)
Eye Spy is a collection of QI-style facts, some which are well-known anyway, and some which are just dull. It's okay, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone particularly. None of the facts are fleshed out at all, just all listy and a little formulaic, even for such a listy subject.
The Garish Day is quite sad. The protagonist, Henry, is born to a diplomat father and a mother who loves her husband but isn't loved back in the way she needs. Henry goes off to school at six or seven, and then is sort of lost ever after as he shuttles through term time, holidays with aunts in Ireland, holidays with parents in various countries... He marries and goes into the Foreign Office himself, but then has a sort of breakdown, and his wife leaves him (he has never really loved her though) and takes their daughter with him.
What About It, Sharon? was one of the books I picked up at the Trinity booksale. I was drawn to it because it had a proper cover like from my childhood libraries, children in a school playground with a sad/cross child at the front, and some graffiti on a brick wall behind. It was first published in 1979, and it's Sharon trying to reconcile having some sort of social life with her parents who expect her to achieve high grades even though she's struggling to remain in the academic set, and the fact that she's not popular at school anyway. She attempts suicide, but finds a friend at at school. It is all pretty horrible by the end of the book, but Sharon at least wants things to get better.
Coming From Behind is a very odd book. It's a dark comedy set in a university. The Vice Chancellor has formed a deal with the local football club, as part of which the literature lecturer is expected to write a glowing blurb quote for the striker's book. They are all desperately trying to get out to a better place, and gleeful when others fail as they fail.
Cheerleaders 2: Getting Even - cheerleaders! Vanessa didn't make the varsity squad, so she spikes Mary Ellen's drink with alcohol and then makes her believe she's broken a priceless vase to blackmail her. Mary Ellen is trying to decide between a rich boyfriend and a poor boyfriend, even though she really likes the poor guy. There is no entry deadline on the competition insert in the middle. Do you suppose if I sent off my form I might yet be in with a chance of winning £125 to spend at a Chelsea Girl store?
Ginger's First Kiss (Boyfriend Club) by Janet Quin-Harkin
John Gielgud - Gyles Brandreth
Eye Spy - Justin Scroggie
The Garish Day - Rachel Billington
What About It, Sharon? - John Harvey
Coming From Behind - Howard Jacobson
Cheerleaders 2: Getting Even - Christopher Pike
I picked up Ginger's First Kiss to make up a 4 for a £1 offer in a charity shop. I'd never read any "Boyfriend Club" books before, because really they did not sound at all like what I would like. This wasn't too bad though. Although it is, obviously, all about them trying to get boyfriends, the four friends in the group are actually interested in each other, trying to be supportive and get through high school together. At one point Ginger realises she really likes the guy that Justine is going after, so she tells her, and Justine says that's fine, she hadn't realised and isn't that interested in him anyway. Rather than it being a big thing about cheating and friends choosing boys over each other.
The Gielgud biography was good - Gyles Brandreth is good at telling anecdotes, and it doesn't seem to matter whether they are his anecdotes or others'. He was interested in Gielgud as an actor and a man, and his descriptions of performances and methods of acting were always coupled with an awareness of possible failings. (Laurence Olivier, though, occasionally does not come off so well.)
Eye Spy is a collection of QI-style facts, some which are well-known anyway, and some which are just dull. It's okay, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone particularly. None of the facts are fleshed out at all, just all listy and a little formulaic, even for such a listy subject.
The Garish Day is quite sad. The protagonist, Henry, is born to a diplomat father and a mother who loves her husband but isn't loved back in the way she needs. Henry goes off to school at six or seven, and then is sort of lost ever after as he shuttles through term time, holidays with aunts in Ireland, holidays with parents in various countries... He marries and goes into the Foreign Office himself, but then has a sort of breakdown, and his wife leaves him (he has never really loved her though) and takes their daughter with him.
What About It, Sharon? was one of the books I picked up at the Trinity booksale. I was drawn to it because it had a proper cover like from my childhood libraries, children in a school playground with a sad/cross child at the front, and some graffiti on a brick wall behind. It was first published in 1979, and it's Sharon trying to reconcile having some sort of social life with her parents who expect her to achieve high grades even though she's struggling to remain in the academic set, and the fact that she's not popular at school anyway. She attempts suicide, but finds a friend at at school. It is all pretty horrible by the end of the book, but Sharon at least wants things to get better.
Coming From Behind is a very odd book. It's a dark comedy set in a university. The Vice Chancellor has formed a deal with the local football club, as part of which the literature lecturer is expected to write a glowing blurb quote for the striker's book. They are all desperately trying to get out to a better place, and gleeful when others fail as they fail.
Cheerleaders 2: Getting Even - cheerleaders! Vanessa didn't make the varsity squad, so she spikes Mary Ellen's drink with alcohol and then makes her believe she's broken a priceless vase to blackmail her. Mary Ellen is trying to decide between a rich boyfriend and a poor boyfriend, even though she really likes the poor guy. There is no entry deadline on the competition insert in the middle. Do you suppose if I sent off my form I might yet be in with a chance of winning £125 to spend at a Chelsea Girl store?
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That reminds me, I twittered about this awhile ago but never asked you...have you ever read Lois Duncan before, especially Daughters of Eve?