Category: reading

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Thoughts on reviewing books

Thoughts on the review process

Apparently, most journalists don’t even read the books they review, they skim, hope and write random sound bites about books. I have developed a knack for knowing when this is happening! Can tell it straight away!

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But, guess what? I read all the books I review, I think deeply about them and I wake at night and toss and turn about the worry of offending and upsetting talented writers…I sometimes hold back in case i meet these writers and they hate me.

I have taken my time reading Paul O’ Reilly’s short story collection and after reading this, I have been thinking so much about why I like certain collections, styles and themes. i have also been bingeing on Wells Tower, Everything burned, everything ravaged and Madeleine D’arcy’ Waiting for the bullet and yesterday, Claire Keegan’s Antarctica!

What all this reading, thinking and tossing and turning has led me to conclude is that writers, obviously have unique voices and writing styles but I usually enjoy them all. The thing that will turn my head is the content, intended audience or the “turn” of the story.

Content-Irish short story writers tend to write about fairly typical things. Some male ones can verge towards sex, drinking and being drunk in the snow/old man’s pub, rock and roll, depression, mental health issues etc. Some female short writers like to write about affairs. Women having affairs with their sister’s husband or driving in a car with their husband and not connecting with them at all throughout the journey. Other favourite women’s content includes women getting pregnant when having sex for the first time and having the baby and giving it away.

I am stereotyping, somewhat, for effect and to make a point. But these sort of content issues have been covered again and again and I am sure Irish men and women have moved on from these types of reading contents.

affairsI love all sorts of writing styles and voices but in terms of content, for me to LOVE a collection, it has to quirk things up. Not a huge amount just don’t start the story with an affair, women’s curves and breasts…If it’s funny silly, brilliant. If it is bizarre as in I have never met a character like the one in the story, I am in! I also don’t like stories that are so experimental they make no sense at all in the world we live in. you know those ranty types, trying to be all “James Joyce” and “Ulysses”. Leave that to the genius, please. Gives me a headache.

So, when I make a good review, it usually down to my personal tastes in these things.

Phew. I can breathe now and perhaps, sleep tonight. My disclaimer is over. I feel much freer! I am hoping to use these categories to give more honest reviews and hoping no offence will be taken as I am sure there is a market for all those affairs, stolen kisses and pints of guinness out there!

What type of situations and people do you like to read about?

 

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I’ve been mostly reading a story or two in Amsterdam!

Had a little first family city break to Amsterdam last week. Emrys was the perfect boy and Simon was the perfect husband, as always!

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We stayed in an Air B and B apartment and I got the chance to read a couple of stories. I am savaging Wells Tower, “Everything burned, everything ravaged” presently and managed the first story from the Madeleine D’arcy collection, Waiting for the bullet. I am so nearly finished with Paul O’ Reilly’s, The girl missing from the window.

Holidays are great for reading and I am pretty chuffed that the Mboy slept on the plane there and back. Happy days! Writing was zero though, there was far too much walking to be done! We hit the Jewish Museum, the Jewish Quarter, Van Gogh Museum, the Miro Gardens and the Ann Frank House to name a few. Mboy was also treated to the Ajax football arena by his father. I was let off to walk, shop and drink coffee and read. Nice tradition to start!

We also treated the Mboy to a classic, Dutch, children’s book. Miffy is a character I remember well and I am sure you do too! I bought the original and first Miffy for him. I’d like to start a thing. Problem is that Dick Bruna, who wrote these books 60 years ago wrote them in the spirit of the time so Miffy’s Mum is busy cleaning the house and Miffy’s Dad is out in the garden. Proper order. 😉

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Day Four at SWIFT Writing Institute 2015

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Today, it was a big writing day for our class. We started the day with Ellen, she teaches PLC students and she teaches them how to learn again and to write. We used an object writing prompt, it is such a simple task that you forget how brilliant it is! I couldn’t stop writing, I wanted to write and write and there was time later as we had been asked to bring some writing to our newly formed and shortly lived(it would only survive for a day, perhaps the best idea for a writing group?!) writing group. It was made up of me, Finian who is a lecturer at third level teacher training college and two wonderful librarians, Mairead and Neil. I found the session brilliant positive, not feeling we were plamassing each other but instead we were giving encouraging permission slips to write and write and share and read. I received some excellent feedback in a piece of flash I’d been working on for a while and now feel it is ready to release somewhere!
We listened to Mary, a very glamorous secondary school teacher who manages to run a lot and raise three children and be incredibly passionate about her task of educating young adults in her school. She showed us idea after idea, linking in with poetry slamming, Colm Keegan and Eminem. I was buzzing again. Can I buzz even more, I asked myself on my second last day of SwIFt? I betcha I can. Day five, our last day, bring it.

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Summer Writing Institute at NUI Maynooth-Day 2

Day one in the SwIFt writing institute was excellent and I thought that day two could not, should not top it but it seems we have an endless supply of innovative teachers who write and want to help their students writer better.
First up, we had Ann Ryan, a drama teaching fan, she brought us through short films and creative writing using freeze framing and camera angles to show how writers portray mood. We watched a moving and dark film called The White Dress, available on the Irish Film Board website along with many others,
Finian from the COI college spoke about joint narrative and brought us on a journey where we all contributed to a live story based on things we had seen that morning, will definitely use this with my students.
He also spoke about our literacy history, what background, hates, likes, fears and personal history as a writer, reader and talker do we bring to our classroom?
We then had a hilarious role play of a writing group and we put together some suggestions for a new writing group which will run on Day Four. I found this very useful especially for ideas for my own group.
Last up, we had the most passionate and brilliant educators I had seen! Donna and Patricia are second level teachers and I must admit I have been biased about this sector. I detest the format of the leaving cert as a learning, teaching and assessment tool. But, these ladies showed us how they get around those evil exam questions and curriculum. They use music videos and video gaming to teach short story structure and setting. They ended the day perfectly, I drove home buzzing, listening to “Titanium”, one of the music videos that showed us to teach the short story form.
Cannot wait for Day Three!

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Wells Tower-Everything ravaged, everything burned

It is a beautiful day. A new soft, navy blue notebook was purchased. A coffee was had. My husband bought me a copy of Wells Tower’s short story collection, published in 2009! But, it reads fresh and good.

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I have savaged the first few pages. Characters are Colin Barrett and Kevin Barry but language is American and silly. In fact, the characters and situations are all silly but true. It’s just the way things should be in a good, short story.

Thanks to Colin Barrett, who I asked for new recommendations ages ago and finally got around to getting one of them! I hope he doesn’t mind me saying but maybe, he should set up a blog called “short story collections for people who like short story collections”

Could be a BIG earner!

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The Girl missing from the Window by Paul O’ Reilly’s debut collection launch

There was great glee and fun last week in the Lewis Household. A short story collection. An Irish short story collection. A local launch of an Irish short story collection.

The Girl missing from the Window by Paul O’ Reilly was launched in the Presentation Centre in Enniscorthy during Focal Literary Festival.

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Paul O Reilly is a writer of stories, drama, screen plays and is also a talented musician and techy guy. He has a busy family and runs his own company. He has been published in every single good literary magazine there ever was and has been listed for every single good fiction competition there ever was. He is also a terribly nice man. We could be jealous but let’s not.

He read a couple of excerpts from his collection, “What Rosie Did” seems to the be the one that is being pulled out everywhere and rightly so, it is very interesting and does reel you right in. I have read nearly half the collection already, which is pretty good as I have been terribly busy with painting pebble dash at the front of the house, raising a baby, boot camping with buggy buddy babies and meeting my fiction group to get all critiqued! I am also completing a short story at present, facilitating a professional development techy course for primary teachers online and preparing a teaching demo for my upcoming place at the Summer Writing Institute in Maynooth University at end of the month.

However, I will be posting my thoughts on Paul’s collection and getting stuck into Edge Hill Short Story Readers’ Prize, Madeleine D’arcy’s debut short story collection.

Summer 2015 could be called the year of the Irish short story collections!

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Tender by Belinda Mc Keon

I picked up a copy of the new Belinda Mc Keon novel, Tender when I was down at the Festival of Writing and Ideas at Borris House last weekend. I started reading it on a Sunday and a week later, I have finished it.

I savaged this book, read it every minute I could, which is usually at bedtime when Emrys has gone to bed. On the back of the book, Nick Laird said he read the book in a day and I wondered if he had children!

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It is a fabulously simple book of friendship, relationships, sexuality and city living. It is set in the 90s, the same time I went to UCD and could relate to all of the novel’s antics. I won’t give away anything except to say the “turn” of the book, when it happens is what shapes and saves the book from falling into a comfortable and safe read. It was safe and cosey for the first few hundred pages but then it jumps in a place that I did not see coming. The style of writing changes to suit this character dip. Lots of short and snappy sentences show the main character’s thoughts.

I am going to recommend it, Belinda Mc Keon is a cool chick who writes as crisp as anything.  perfect for a summer read or a anytime read.

 

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Festival of Writing and Ideas 2015

This is our fourth year attending the festival and 2015 was very much the same as every other year, which is lovely and pleasant, by the way!

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I only booked for one show, the Kevin Barry and Tommy Tiernan interview. It was billed as a rambling of sorts and I do not enjoy the ramblings of Tommy Tiernan and I could not imagine Kevin rambling. I was afraid it would not work and make poor Kevin all embarrassed and stuff. I was afraid Tommy would “diss” Kevin and make the hour all about him and his “comedic” episodes.IMAG0582

It actually worked, although the first few minutes were tense as Tommy, indeed, did try to slag Kevin but Kevin did not allow himself to get involved in the stereotypical slagging of literary folk and events. Kevin was funnier than Tommy yet Tommy was very funny too. They had a natural chemistry and it left me thinking that perhaps Tommy Tiernan should be writing short stories too!

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After this, Kevin read from his upcoming, new novel Beatlebone, due this Autumn. I am going to be honest. I was not hooked with what I heard but I will buy and read, of course and have no doubt it will be excellent and brilliant.

The book tent was full of many delectable books, I bought the new books by Anne Enright, The Green Road, and Belinda Mc Keon, Tender. Tender is, so far, very interesting and I will be posting my thoughts on it soon.

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We brought a picnic with far too much food, we also enjoyed the excellent organic coffee there, with garlic and cheese home fries, which were most yum.

Things are different now, before we had Emrys, we would go all weekend and lounge about from morning to night, reading, writing, chatting and eating. This time, Borris was shorter but as lovely with our baby boy. He enjoyed crawling on the pebbles and trying to eat them. We will allow him to go again next year so.

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Festival of Writing and Ideas-new books by Ann Enright and Belinda McKeon

I will post about my day down in the gorgeous Borris House later this week but first, let me tell you about my new beauties.

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Tender by Belinda Mc Keon and The Green Road by Ann Enright.

I usually read short stories, as you know but these books have made me sit up and buy!

I had no intention of buying the Belinda Mc Keon one as it is as big as a bible so it would be much more handbag/baby bag friendly if I waited for the smaller version. But, the side of the pages caught my eye yesterday in the Eason Book Tent. They are dyed a striking purple and we all know that purple pages are the new white.

I will let you know how the read goes but already, I am thinking about bed and my date with “Tender”.