FEBRUARY READING

THE GIRL'S GUIDE TO HUNTING AND FISHING by Melissa Bank

To be perfectly honest I found it difficult to really get into this book. It reads more like a series of short stories or vignettes of a young woman's life - Jane - from the time she is 14 years old observing her older brother's relationship with his then girlfriend, to what is probably twenty years later when she is still struggling withe the concept of love, forever love that is, and doing her darnedest to find and keep her man.

Perhaps I am getting too old to read such novels, not being on the hunt and fish for a bloke, but it does sort of reek of desperation to me. Jane is obviously very attractive and very smart. But in her professional life she seems to be taking a continual hammering from her power crazy female boss; her love life seems to be in a constant shambles. In fact there are many, many similarities to that icon of modern day single life Briget Jones. But nowhere near as funny or as self deprecating or as lovable or as real as the lovely Bridget. Has this author been inspired by Bridget in giving us this slightly gloomy and desperate look at modern urban love? I don't know, but for me, it just does not work.

Despite all the above, Ms Bank is a cool writer. She is funny, we get a very good idea of Jane's character and the influences on her life and personality. She captures a teenage girl quite well I think. I am an expert, currently living with two of them. She explores the complexities of being in a relationship with a much older man, and the heartache of a parent's terminal illness. To this extent the writing is quite real, easy to read and understand. Plus there is some great dialogue.

Would I recommend this? Only I think if you are single and angsting over the whole relationship thing. But it is just not for me. I have been deciding whether to keep it on the shelf or not, but have decided to as my girls may enjoy reading it and get something out of it in the future. Maybe.

THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold

So much has been written about this book over the years since it was first published I am not even going to begin analysing and critiquing and all that. I remember when it was first introduced into book club and I was horrified that someone could write a book about the rape and murder of a 14 year old girl, then have the girl watching from heaven how everyone deals with it. As the mother of 2 young girls this was the very last thing I wanted to read. And for all those years since it was published in 2002 I have strongly resisted, despite everyone telling me what a wonderful and uplifting book it is.

With fellow NZer Peter Jackson directing the recent movie, I had a vague interest in the film, but it was only when I read in an interview with him that he wanted to make a movie he could take his teenage daughter and her friends to, plus the involvement of Weta Workshop, that I thought I would take the plunge and see it. So I did. And I loved it. It is very unusual for me to see the movie before reading the book but I am glad it worked out this way. I thought the movie was beautiful, very uplifting and I hope heaven really is like that because it looks like a great place to be! I know people who read the book are disappointed in the movie, because it is different and so on, but having read the book now I do feel that the movie captures the essence of the story. The last 40 or so pages of the book dragged a bit, got all a bit spiritual and ghosty for me, souls climbing into bodies and so on, but despite this little hiccup I felt very satisfied and happy at the end of it.

BLINK THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING by Malcolm Gladwell

This is the second book by Malcolm Gladwell, following on from The Tipping Point. Essentially it is about intuition, but not that gut feeling intuition that you get. As Mr Gladwell explains it on his website it is more about intuition that comes from knowledge. For example the number of experts looking at an ancient Greek torso who believe it to be the genuine article, and the one or two experts who know instinctively just by a first look at it that it is a fake. Or the researcher who can tell within minutes of observing a couple, whether they are destined for the long haul or not.

Malcolm Gladwell helps us to challenge our preconceived ideas about people and situations and think beyond the basic instincts we may have, looking at it from a knowledge base. Just like his other books that I have read, this is also very thought provoking and interesting. It hasn't had the impact on me that Outliers had but still worth reading.