A bookish one

I finished reading ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ the day before we went on holiday. It’s a Very Big Book, and being so close to the end, I didn’t want to lug such a tome all the way to Rarotonga, only to finish it while waiting at the airport. I spent the few days before we left devouring page after page, determined to get to the end. And when I did, I felt such a sense of satisfaction – the kind that can only come from having read and enjoyed a well-written, intriguing, enticing novel – mixed with a tinge of sadness that this tale was finished. A recommended read – don’t let the size of the book put you off!

While we were away, I digressed from The List, in favour of two small books that were easily slipped into our pack:

(I didn't drop them in the ocean...it was pouring with rain when our bags were loaded onto the plane in Christchurch)

‘Little Vampire Women’ (by Lynn Messina “and” Lousia May Alcott) was a waste of time, in my opinion. It was a failed attempt at satire; she was trying to jump on the current vampire bandwagon in a taking-the-piss kinda way, but messing with this classic so terribly just didn’t do it for me.

I’d never read anything by Truman Capote before, and with ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ being one of my favourite films (BIG Audrey Hepburn fan here), I was a little dubious about reading this one. I need not have been: I loved it! Capote has a brilliant writing style; he’s evocative but accessible, not over-the-top like Dickens (who I also love), and he writes wittily and perceptively. There was so much more depth to the story than was portrayed in the film, despite it being a mere 103 pages long. This Penguin volume also contained three short stories, which were all just a handful of pages each, but compelling page-turners too. I’ll definitely seek out more of Capote’s work in the near future.

As an aside, the lovely Dee over at Books and Bits and Pieces put me onto this great website: Goodreads. If you’re a booklover, I guarantee you’ll be hooked!

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