Superior.

 

"Move over, sexy beasts, & make way..."

Real Literary Hero
-  Anne of Green Gables

This is The Book. | Jane Eyre

Happy birthday Charlotte Brontë! 

Happy birthday Simone de Beauvoir!

Marriage.

 

I haven't posted here for years. And part of that is down to the fact that I stopped reading while my life was full of other stuff. And now my life is so much more fulfilled, and yet I still have time to do the things I love. So, just over a week ago, I made a list of the books I wanted to read and I've made headway in doing that:

So, in less than 2 weeks, here's what I've read:

1. Orange is the New Black. (I watched the series on Netflix, and wanted to read the book. It's an interesting true story about life in an American women's prison, and I highly recommend it- it's not the same as the series, though some of the characters are recognisable)

2. The Fault in our Stars (It's beautiful. Read it.)

3. The Ocean at the End of the Lane (it's weird, as with all Gaiman books, but I enjoyed it.

4. The Book Thief (I loved this, though it's not an easy read. It's  one of those books that changes you, and it's confusing that the world hasn't changed when you look up.)

5. The Yellow Wallpaper (I should have read this for my degree. I didn't, and I wish I had... again, it changes you, breaks you into a million pieces.)

6. Stardust (Another Gaiman. Enjoyable, though only an entirely gratuitous yet very graphic sex scene renders it unsuitable for children. I did enjoy reading it though.)

7. What Katy Did (A book from my childhood, though a bit heavy on the morals it's pretty delightful)

8. What Katy Did at School (No story. The only nice thing is more time with the Carrs, but nothing really happens, so I would say don't bother reading it! It made me cross What Katy Did Next and Clover off my to read list.)

I'm currently a quarter of the way through Gone Girl.

One thing I've noticed: all this reading has made me write more. I've been playing with verse a little bit, and while I'm no poet, you can see some of the less shameful results at hayleycathryn.com :)




Hope you don't mind me rehijacking this blog... I just thought using it for it's original purpose was long overdue! xxx

Joy!

Courtesy of the Valentine weekend bookstore sale, 
  a present from my book-loving friend, Joel.   :)

It's certainly helped to pass the time whilst working on Hay Fever.

Happy 200th Birthday, P&P!

Zafon.

I fell in love with this book. Its characters.
The plot-line. The mirroring of stories. The suspense.

 

It comes to you highly, highly rated.
It's already left my shelves for the home of another, I believe in it that much.

 

Newly Revised Bookcase

I buy from charity shops; I'm rarely a giver, a passer-on type book-reader. I keep 'em all. Not unless I really disliked a read. In which case, I'd bag it up & leave it on a bus, a train, a bench on the Meadows. One woman's doom is another woman's escapism.
   I had a dream of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Of sliding ladders and coffee tables and comfy chairs. Of my very own library space with books going back to childhood & the ones I'd managed to retain from then. 
  The dream diminished about 7am this morning in the name of self-storage and Going Away. Hence this post is being written as a Holding Place to list all that I'm parting with (to Oxfam/friends over Amazon/eBay) so that one day when I'm less nomadic, I can rebuild and restructure again. Some of them I may well be happy with having read once, others I will want to own again & have in my possession. Frustratingly, some of them I've still not yet got round to* but this way I may yet still get there, one day.
  Although I feel to be parting with a lot, it's actually what I'm holding onto, what I don't want to Second Copy - aside my obvious favourites - which feels more telling: Drina Ballerina (the complete series), my C.19th US Writing & Culture texts, Riverside Chaucer...

Here we are then. 

The Ones Which Got Away: