Book Porn - Coming Clean

Part of my vacation/staycation of nothing involved catching up on my reading. I had long wanted to read this book - Coming Clean by Kimberly Rae Miller - about a girl who literally grew up in garbage. Her dad was a hoarder, and her mother a compulsive shopper, who bought things and then had them pile up in the house, adding to the father's hoarding.

I sat near the pool and read this book in one sitting. I have watched the show, Hoarders, and always feel a bit sad and sick to see how some people live, and have no control over their hoarding. But it was reading about the impact the hoarding has on loved ones. This was a real and raw account of that. I felt every bit of the resentment, shame and helplessness, mixed in with her deep love for her parents. She grew up being ashamed of where she lived which ultimately meant she was ashamed of who she was. It haunts her so much so that she very early on, tried to kill herself, and then later in life, suffered nightmares after years of having fleas and rats living in her room, in her house, because the house was filthy and covered in muck.

I simply cannot fathom living like that, but as she says in a media interview:

Hoarding isn’t rational, it’s compulsive and doesn’t just go away because you want it to.

Great and moving story of a young woman whose entire life was a struggle against the compulsions of her parents.

I also just finished Things We Set on Fire by Deborah Reed, which is a story of a family haunted by secrets, which over the years have torn them apart and which eventually bring them back together. It was a bit of a slow read, but it was a good story about a family that was fractured by love of all things.

Next up, and one I am not sure I want to read over the Christmas holidays as I know it may take me to a deeply emotional place - Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala. It's the story of a woman who in December 2004 lost her parents, her children and her husband in a tsunami. Yeah...I have already been told this one is a killer - horrifying and heartbreaking - so will have to pace myself, but it's on the Kindle, ready to be read.

What are you currently reading?

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A Bit of Porn to start the day - Book Porn

I have been doing a lot of reading lately - more than I have in a long time. I absolutely love reading but I am generally so tired that when I start reading, I fall asleep a few pages in.

But with a few long weekends and self-imposed social life exile (I do this every now and then), I have been able to get down and dirty with the books. The last book I finished was Dan Brown's latest (you know Dan - that guy who wrote The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons).

The Inferno. I was excited that he was bringing a new Robert Langdon book out as I am a fan. His last book, The Last Symbol, was not a winner for me. It was too predictable and the fact that I just had to Google it to remind myself of the plot tells you something. So I was hopeful for this one. I will not add any spoilers here but the book, overall, was entertaining and certainly better than Symbol. It was also a return to Italy, which is probably another win. The non-American formula seems to work. Symbol was set in Washington, DC - not as awesome as Rome, Venice and Istanbul, where Inferno takes its readers.

However, there were just too many "far out" twists in the plot which really stretched the imagination. I also did NOT like the ending. At all. It was just too...it was almost as if the author was trying to just wrap it up and send the draft to his publisher. Granted, the issue raised in the book is a very testy one, but there could have been a neater ending I think. Still, an entertaining ride.

Right now, I am reading this - Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. My fascination for serial killers continues but rest assured, I do not have any dreams of joining their ranks. I have always been curious as to what circumstances create these types of human beings. What was it in their childhood that gave birth to homicidal tendencies. What was the tipping point. (aside: It is the same reason I like NBC's Hannibal - the same questions, set in a show with amazing writing and great actors.)

This one is a non-fiction about the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, and the sadistic serial killer, Dr H.H. Holmes (generally listed as to as America's first documented serial killer) who used the fair as the backdrop for his killing spree.

My next book will not be as dark, but it is still disturbing in a different kind of way. Okay, so my first experience with Lionel Shriver was reading her amazing, amazing novel We Need to Talk About Kevin. If you have not read this yet, you must. It is a bit dark but again, it looks at human behaviour, this time posing the question of whether it is nature or nurture that creates a monster.

Anyway, her new book, Big Brother, is not about killing others, but more about killing oneself - self destruction using food. The summary says,

When Pandora picks up her older brother Edison at her local Iowa airport, she literally doesn’t recognize him. The once slim, hip New York jazz pianist has gained hundreds of pounds. What happened? Soon Edison’s slovenly habits, appalling diet, and know-it-all monologues are driving Pandora and her fitness-freak husband Fletcher insane. After the brother-in-law has more than overstayed his welcome, Fletcher delivers his wife an ultimatum: it’s him or me. Rich with Shriver’s distinctive wit and ferocious energy, Big Brother is about fat: why we overeat and whether extreme diets ever really work. It asks just how much sacrifice we’ll make to save single members of our families, and whether it’s ever possible to save loved ones from themselves.

I will be reading this in the spare moments of my holiday adventure. What are you currently reading? Do share.

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Lost in Translation...in Reading

I spent a good deal of my time in Reading and not in London. I must say, with the exception of the rude and intolerable Pakistani bus driver, the people in Reading were a breath of fresh air. Granted, most of the people hanging around during the day were in their twilight years since Reading is a commuter city, with the chunk of the people commuting into evil London for work. It was funny. During the day, loads of pensioners and empty bars and restaurants. It was truly a bit surreal. At one point, I felt like there were definitely more stores and shops than there were people. We went into a pub – what was clearly the busiest pub on the waterfront – and there were 2 other people in there. In the evening! A far cry from the sweaty underarm crowds and throngs of London.

But everyone was super polite. Every single person got off the bus and thanked the bus driver. The rare young person got up to give up their seats. There was no loud, annoying passenger or aggravating teenagers. Of course, the rude Pakistani driver tainted the idyllic paradise that was Reading. I got on the bus and quickly realized it did not have the bus stop monitor which usually signals what the next stop would be. Not being from Reading, and on a solo adventure, I had no clue where I was going and simply asked this gem of a driver to stop when he got to Stop X. Oh but this was too hard…he could not do that and made a grand production of it. The nice lady who got on the bus acknowledged his universal stupidity and kindly offered to tell me when I was approaching my stop. The only profanity on the bus at that point came from me as I had to let him know what I thought of him. Nothing too caustic, I promise. Lol

Still…Reading. It’s no London!!

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