Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Invisible Thread by Maree Giles

This book was set in Australia during the 70s. That's pretty important information because what the main character went though, I couldn't even imagine. Also, although I really enjoyed the book, I probably would have loved it more if I could read it in an Australian accent.

It's about a girl who gets sent away to a prison of sorts for young girls. She gets sent away because she ran away from home. From the start, it seems like the whole world is against her, and it pretty much keeps on with that feeling. It is written from her point of view, and nobody else... wait. Strange, they do have on other person's thoughts in this book. I forgot, and now I'm looking at the book differently. For about five pages, they focus on somebody else, and her view of the 'bad girls'. Strange.

Either way, it didn't seem fair. Basically this girl was your average teenage girl. I guess in the 70s people were shocked that a 14 year old could have sex or do drugs, and tried hard to stop it. It seems like to much of a common occurrence these days, and sadly doesn't shock me at all.

Long story short, I liked the book, and couldn't put it down. I like the ones you can't put down. It's based on a true story. I'd love to read a sequel. I actually could go on and on about this book. If I was in University, I'd definitely choose to do an essay on it.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell

Sometime because of my English degree, I feel like these kind of books, I should not admit I've read. Although I read a lot worse than that. I can admit it, I like the mystery/romance novels when I want a quick escape from reality.

 I love the TV series Sex and the City. I loved the friendship between the four women, and their struggle in life, romance and career. Judge me if you want.

The book, is not exactly like that. First off Candace is the one writing it, and while she's not the main character, I kept expecting all the 'I's' to be from Carrie, not Candace. Carrie is in it, but there are so many different characters in it. All the names are familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint who was who. There is an introduction at the beginning of the novel from Candace. She said this book was written in an unsentimental way. She's right, it was. I didn't feel the same connection to the characters as I do in the TV series.

The character of Carrie was not at all the Carrie I was used to. The relationship between her and Big ended in the book partially because of her. The show really makes it look like it is Big's commitment issues, but in the book, it's clear that Carrie is crazy. I was a bit sad while reading it because I had always compared myself a little bit to Carrie, and imagined the great friendship between the four women. In the book, I really couldn't imagine wanting to be friends with any one of them.

After all that, I did enjoy it. It wasn't a story, it was a collection of different stories about single women, and single men in New York. I've actually read a book by Candace Bushnell before. It's about a life I will never know, and frankly never need to know. I have one more book by her I plan to read, but it's a bit lower on the list. I have quite the list of books to read.