"Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman
The story of a fairly average sort of guy being thrown into a situation where he has to change - after one night he takes in an injured girl in a battered leather jacket, it isn't his own decision when Richard is dragged off on a quest through Neverwhere, a fantasy kingdom underneath the city of London, for those who've slipped through the cracks.
My trouble with fantasy sometimes is that I have problems keeping up with the "rules", but this was so wonderfully out of the ordinary that there were barely restrictions - our main characters rode the London Underground, slipped through paintings, drank wine from Atlantis with the Angel Islington. The main characters are lively and developed and real, Lady Door and Richard and Hunter and especially the Marquis de Carabas are unforgetable, and best of all, they weren't perfect and heroic, they were human.
I'll blame the fact I couldn't keep up with it sometimes on myself, and that's not because Neil Gaiman's one of my heroes and I'm defending him but just because I have trouble, for some reason, fully conjuring up parts of fantasy or sci-fi novels in my brain.
8/10
"The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
In the 1960s, South Carolina, 14 year old Lily runs away from her father's peach plantation with her only friend, black servant Rosaleen. Inspired only by a photograph with her late mother's belongings, Lily hikes towards Tiburon to locate the Boatwright sisters, who make and sell honey, wrapped in a picture of the black Madonna.
This was brilliant, and although I've read a lot of novels with romance in them, watched a lot of shows, and I don't think I've ever wanted anyone to be together as much as Lily and Zach. That's probably wrong - there's been Callum and Sephy, Ron and Hermione, Mickey and Stacie, Brittany and Santana, but still this came close.
It's about love, the romantic kind between teenagers, unconditional love between sisters, biological and otherwise, and the love between Lily and the mother she can't quite remember. It's also about music, and honey, and bees and it made me happy.
9/10
"Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen
I finished this in the bath just now, and woah. One of the reasons I wanted to read "Water For Elephants" is that it was initially somebody's NaNoWriMo novel. Events like this I always leave behind the product of, instead of attempting to do anything with them, like edit, or ever touch again - except for maybe what I wrote last November. I liked the idea that what was just someone's NaNoWriMo story is now a bestseller which is being made into a film with Robert Pattinson in it. But I loved "Water For Elephants" much, much more than I expected. I wanted it to inspire me, but I got caught in the story and spent the last few nights staying up late, just to read one more chapter, then another one, then another one. When Jacob Jankowski is called out of his final exam before becoming a qualified vetenarian, he's informed that both of his parents have died in a car accident and everything falls apart. With no money, and no family to go to, he finds work with the Benzini Brothers' Greatest Show on Earth, working under equestrian director, the charming and brutal August. But when Jacob falls for Marlena, August's wife, it causes nothing but trouble.
This story is so lovely. It's powerful, exciting and intense and at times I seriously couldn't put it down. I have a feeling I'll read something over and over again. 9.5/10
Also, I'm working towards a sort of challenge with my friends Beth Holmes and Kathryn Stant to raise money, and it's to do with those with loss of senses. Beth explains it much better here, but basically, I'll be spending a day blindfolded to experience the day to day struggles of being blind. We're each raising money for a charity, obviously to do with our "theme", if you like, and I haven't found a blind charity yet but I'll update you as soon as I do. I'm also looking into setting up an online sponsorships page.
I apologize I haven't been hanging round much recently, I think I'm slightly tired after February or just sick of listening to myself. Things should be back to normal soon. Though I should warn you, if I'm not back this time next week it's because I've run off to elope, and I'm not sure how much of that was a joke. I'm going to get in trouble for writing that now.
See you soon, hope you're doin' well!
Love,
Lizzie xxx
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