Inspired: London

I'm really excited today as tonight I am going to the pre-launch party of Inspired: London - a book that is all about fabulous designers and artists from London. I can't remember if I ever actually wrote about it here, but I am lucky enough to be one of the featured artists in the book, so it has a special meaning for me.  I've never been featured in a book before (although I was quite excited to be quoted in the Guardian a few weeks back - about a book I'd read) so this is an exciting time for Creating Trouble. What's even more exciting is that I am finally going to meet some of the fabulous artists and crafters that I have been in contact with over the past year or so. Here's what the front cover is going to look like:

The actual book isn't properly launched until 10th/ 11th November during the Spitalfields 'We Make London' fair but if anyone is going to the We Make London fair in Chelsea on the 4th November I know it is available there. The book costs £12.99 although it is available at the Chelsea and Spitalfield's markets at £10.99. It's going online for sale officially on 11th November so if you're wondering what to get a friend for Christmas, this might be a good call... in the hope that they will buy you a lovely present from one of the designers featured! I can't wait to see what it looks like - I've seen a few sample pages as I was making up my own page but other than that, it's all been top secret for the past few months.

I can't wait for tonight's pre-launch party as it will be a fantastic opportunity to meet some fellow creatives who share similar interests. YAY!

Reading A Little More...July 2012

I think I may have been doing the Reading Recommendation posts for nearly a year now, although I have to admit that I have been incredibly slack with them this year. That is because I haven't really had the chance to read much recently - I've been going to lots of exhibitions, have been getting ready for various craft fairs, been making all sorts of things and generally trying to be more active. Anyway, this month I have been a little more prolific in my reading and am doing a second recommendation post this month. Have you read either of these? And what did you think? 

The Prince of Mist - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Wow. I loved this. I've read Shadows of the Wind and really enjoyed that so I opened this thinking there was a good chance of liking it. It is incredibly different though. This is a gripping story that had me reading well into the small hours, unable to put it down. It is written with very childlike language as it is from the perspective of Max, the main protagonist, who is just 13. His family move to a cottage by the sea because of the war and, from the moment that they get there, things are not quite right. The clocks move in a funny way, there is a mystery surrounding the cottage that they have moved to, a recurring symbol is found in various places and then strange events start occurring. It is down to Max and his sister Alicia to find out what is really happening, and whether they can prevent events from taking a horrific turn. The novel rapidly turns from a safe, beautifully written tale into a horror story. The simplicity of the language serves to make it even more scary - it seems to emphasise just how awful the events are and make it even worse. As the reader you find yourself dragged into the story, predicting what may happen next and hoping against hope that it won't. An incredibly powerful story that I would really recommend. Oh and it's fairly short so won't take you forever.

The Secret Life of Bees - Susan Monk Kidd

Lily shot her mother when she was four years old in a freak accident. And she's still learning to live with that. In the summer of 1964, Lily suddenly has to reassess her life as she knows it when Rosaleen, the black kitchen help who has been doing the cooking and cleaning since her mother died, is arrested and beaten up. Lily takes action and the two find themselves hiding out at a bee-keeping farm. There Lily begins to start questioning her beliefs and what she has always assumed to be true, and learns a lot about herself in the process. This started quite slowly and it took a while before I got into it properly; I initially thought it was a bit of a 'oh woe is me, I know, I'll get some self-help' type of book, which isn't generally my cup of tea. But actually it wasn't. What it did was give you a warm fuzzy feeling towards the characters, who are all flawed in their own way, and one of the central events had me suddenly really wanting everything to be okay and turn out with a happily ever after ending. It's well-written and the pace does change and get faster as the book progresses. It has happiness, peace, sadness and tragedy - a little bit of everything all put together into a lovely combination which mixes a range of characters with a coming of age story. As I said, it took a while to get into it, but I enjoyed it in the end. 

Reading A Little...July 2012

I live in a flat that is piled high with books and the only question I ever have is: which book shall I read next? I'm lucky enough to live with a literary agent who shares similar reading interests to myself, which means that I always have book recommendations and there are plenty of books around for me to choose. And recently I had a great recommendation: Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma by Kerry Hudson. I read it before it had been officially released, and what's more, last week I got to go to the book launch as well. It was up in Stoke Newington and over the course of the day, the entire novel was read by a mixture of actors, volunteers, Kerry herself and... well my flatmate and me. We weren't able to go till after work so I only caught the last few chapters, but luckily I'd already read it so knew what had passed and what was to come. Didn't mean I was any better at reading aloud in front of lots of people - I stammered and fell all over the place. But it was a great afternoon/evening, I got to meet the author and I really enjoyed the experience. 

Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma - Kerry Hudson

This novel is set around the Ryan family: Iris (Ma), Janie and Tiny (Tiffany), and winds its way from Aberdeen to Great Yarmouth, via plenty of council estates and dodgy B&Bs. The main protagonist is Janie; the novel starts with her birth and being surrounded by her relatives, whose breakfast you can smell on their breaths, and it's mostly of the alcohol variety. I can't exactly say this is a heart-warming story as it's based on what life is like at the bottom of the pile for those trying to scrape by on benefits, loans and what can be scavenged before managing to get away as the rent collector starts knocking at the door. It shows the gritty, seedy side of life where dreams are things that people who are better off can have - there isn't room for them if you are a Ryan woman. It's a hard life for Janie; while Uncle Frankie helps out when he can, Janie grows up knowing that food is in short supply, you take what you can and it's often better not to ask too many questions. 

The novel is hard-hitting but in such a manner as to defy pity: Janie has a potty-mouth if ever there was one, she's a tough little cookie who you know can look after herself. You find yourself rooting for Janie, and praying that she'll manage to escape the all-too-apparent cycle that you can see her falling into before she's even got to school. And of course school doesn't make it any easier - she is told not to bother aspiring to anything because no one from her background has ever managed to get out of the cycle and she won't either. In the later chapters of the book you become more and more uneasy as you sense the inevitable hurtling towards her, hoping that she'll break away. At the same time, as a reader you are touched by the fleeting glimpses of emotion that you are privy to; the Ryan women may make out that they are hard as nails, but the scenes of them curled up together for warmth or to protect each other are, at times, heart-breaking. They are what make the story so touching, and what make you hope that somehow there will be a happy ending after all. 

It's a gripping story of what life really is like for some people, and it's not entirely fictional either. Kerry Hudson, like Janie, was born in Aberdeen and spent the early years of her life moving between estates, B&Bs and caravan parks so a lot of the material for this novel has come from first hand experience. It's a story that leaves you wanting to know more; it's written in such an engaging, matter-of-fact tone that you find yourself enjoying it, despite the fairly dark content. I for one want to know what happens to Janie after the story has ended and will definitely be looking out for more work by Kerry Hudson. A really good read that I really enjoyed and would recommend.

Reading a Little...January

For some reason I haven't given any book recommendations for a while. I guess I had better remedy that and get back into my monthly round-ups. I have read lots of books recently that I wouldn't necessarily recommend to anyone, but among the less exciting ones, I have found a few good reads for you...

Heart Burn - Nora Ephron
A short novel based (very transparently) on the writer's own personal experiences of divorce and breaking up. I'm not usually into these 'girly' reads, but actually this was a humourous take on what is essentially a really awful emotional roller-coaster. I enjoyed it; it's a very quick read and is a definite recommended read for those who have been through a break-up recently. Ephron manages to capture the sense of sadness, anger, upset, disbelief, incomprehension and all the other emotions that newly-singles feel with such a great touch of humour and cynicism that I was laughing for the most part.

The Black Dahlia - James Ellroy

I'm not really sure how to review this - it is incredibly violent, quite graphic and very bleak. A True Crime novel based on the real 'Black Dahlia' - Elizabeth Short whose body was found mutilated in Los Angeles in January 1947.  In reality the killer was never found, and is still a mystery - every time it is mentioned, people come forward claiming they were the murderer. The novel  revolves around the LAPD and two officers' quests to find the killer. Both are ex-boxers, both in love with the same girl, both horribly affected by the killing. It's a well-written novel that did have me wanting to read, but I found the subject matter really disturbing and I would not recommend it as bedtime reading. I can't say I enjoyed or disliked it - I found the writing good and there were a number of unsuspected twists and turns in the plot - most of which I totally did not expect, some of which had clues planted much earlier that were half forgotten. However, I'm not really into graphic violence and found it a little too much to cope with.

Eragon - Christopher Paolini

Much easier to review! I really enjoyed this. It may be something to do with the fact that there were dragons and magic, and you may have picked up that I quite like my fantasy books. Eragon lives in Alagaesia, a land ruled by Galbatorix - a king who believes more in subjecting his people to his whims than in their well-being. As Eragon is hunting he comes across a bright blue stone - which turns out to be a dragon's egg. What ensues is the pursuit of Eragon by the King's henchmen, narrow escapes, quick paced adventures and friendships made (and lost). Eragon grows in both maturity and skills as he makes his way and tries to determine his fate, although in reality his fate is determined the day that Saphira, his dragon, breaks out of her egg. It is the first of 4 novels about Alagaesia by Paolini and I will definitely be reading the next ones.

Reading a Little...September

I feel like I haven't really been reading very much this month. That's not entirely true; I haven't really read many books that I would recommend to others - or rather ones that really stand out as being fantastic and unmissable. I've read quite a few books but they've been mostly a little bland. Not to say I wasn't happy to read them: I'm ALWAYS happy to read (except for maybe The Unfortunate Traveller by Thomas Nashe - have given up on that one!) It's just that I'm not going to jump and dance about books that are a bit sentimental and not really great. But anyway, here are my picks for this month:

The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbary
I was a little underwhelmed with this - it's the story of an apartment block in Paris and how the death of one of the residents creates a dramatic change in the everyday workings of the building, especially it's concierge, Renée and 12 year-old Paloma Josse, a rather spoilt resident. Both are living in a dream-like state: they show the exterior world one thing, while the novel examines their inner thoughts and expressions. I've added it this month because... the ending. Oh my, it's worth it for that! I spent most of the novel thinking 'yeah, well, I'm not that excited' and then suddenly about two thirds through I realised that actually I was really interested and I suddenly realised I really cared about the characters. So for that reason it makes it into my recommended reads this month. 

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John Le Carre
I haven't read any John Le Carre before. Probably because I associate him with an older generation. But this is one of the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die so I thought I should give it a go. I wasn't disappointed - LeCarre uses an easy writing style and you fall straight into the plot. We follow the story of Alec Leamas over a fairly short period of time: his return to Britain from Berlin, his 'retirement' and subsequent fall into depression and drink and then how he is picked up by the other side to trade British secrets. A plot full of twists and turns and you need to keep recalling tiny little points from earlier in the novel - very clever and I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and watching it in the cinema. 

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Every now and then I totally avoid a book because of the hype around it. The Hunger Games is one of those books - I've been hearing how good the series is for well over a year now and the more I heard, the less I wanted to read it. I figured that I'd probably be disappointed. I wasn't. I started reading this on Saturday morning. Over the weekend I had a whole load of things to do, people to meet etc etc. I finished it about Sunday lunchtime. I was literally glued to this - a really dark and twisted tale that has you biting your finger nails and grimacing in places. But so fast paced and so full of twists and turns, you can't put it down or come up for air. I absolutely loved this and have been recommending it all over the place. Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take part in the Hunger Games in order to save her little sister. And so it all starts... Definitely worth reading. 

Reading A Little ... August

This month I don't seem to have been reading as much for some reason - probably because I've been working so maniacally on the quilt! But I have a few recommendations that I read this month for you...

 The Virgin Suicides - Jeffery Eugenides
A fairly bleak novel about a family with 5 daughters who over the space of a year all commit suicide. It is written from the viewpoint of the neighbourhood boys and speaks of how they struggle to understand the motivation behind the deaths while also coming to terms with the tragedies happening within their neighbourhood. Set in 1970s Michigan, this is a very disturbing, dark but gripping novel that had me hooked. The narration is quite matter-of-fact and upbeat considering the material it deals with and there was enough detachment to be able to brush it off. I found it intriguing and enjoyed it.

The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
I only discovered Wells' work fairly recently when I read War of the Worlds but really enjoyed it so was looking forward to this. I wasn't disappointed. The Time Machine is the tale of the nameless Time Traveller, who after inventing a time machine takes it into the future. He sees the decay and destruction of humanity and it is a terrifying view of the future. It's mostly terrifying because you could actually imagine some of the scenes happening... I like Wells' writing style: informative but allowing enough for the imagination and very easy to get into. Another good read and I'm now looking forward to The Island of Doctor Moreau!



Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
I think this was my favourite book this month. I felt it was a good mix falling somewhere between Memoirs of A Geisha and Wild Swans. This historical fiction is set in the 1800s in a remote province of China. Snow Flower and Lily are two girls bound together through ritual as 'One Sames' - they go through all the major milestones at the same time, including having their feet bound and converse for many years through their secret writing. It's a beautiful story of friendship, trust, loyalty, deceit and hardship. I really enjoyed this and have been recommending it all over the place - definitely worth a read!