Week 5 Book 6 – The Vagina Monologues (Eve Ensler)

Described as a ‘celebration of female sexuality in all its complexity and mystery’, I found the book extremely empowering. In many ways I just simply felt thankful to have been born into an era and a new generation whereby female sexuality has been celebrated and explored. I am free to have whatever experiences I wish and all the knowledge to unlock this – quite literally at my fingertips.

Eve Ensler has interviewed over two hundred women about their vaginas and from this has collated the various insights, quotes and stories into a play – it is a series of monologues – vagina monologues.

‘My Vagina was my Village’ reduced me to tears and just emphasised how important the freedom of female sexuality is. This is an issue that still needs addressing today and should never be hushed or ignored.

The book includes an introduction from the wonderful Gloria Steinam, who is an American feminist, journalist and political activist. I simply adore her.

From the popularity of ‘The Vagina Monologues’ V-Day was created. V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. The campaign allows royalty-free performances of ‘The Vagina Monologues’ to be held for charity every February 14th. The book contains lots of touching affirmations from those whose colleges have produced their own productions and the impact they have had in the local communities.

I really enjoyed reading this book. At first I found myself feeling quite coy and shy about reading it in public, noticing people’s glances and wondering about their judgements and finding this to be distracting. However I soon forgot this and almost felt proud to be reading it and how much of an impact it has had on those women who have been sexually abused. The book and the V-day movement have an extrememly important message, one that needs to be heard!

I had been given this book by a friend but I have been inspred to read it more recently as it has been added to the Emma Watson ‘Shared Shelf’ book club reading list.

Week 5 Book 5 – The Mystery of Mercy Close (Marian Keyes)

I have been a fan of the Walsh Family novels by Marian Keyes for some years now and this book has been eagerly anticipated. The book is centered around Helen, the youngest of the sisters, and my favourite family member. Helen is a feisty, no-nonsense and fearless character. Throughout the other Walsh family novels she has been hilariously funny in such a sarcastic and dry witted manner, which has provided me with many laugh out loud moments.

Helen is a Private Investigator by trade, but the economic downturn in Ireland has resulted in her business taking a turn for the worse. Work has dried up completely, she has lost her flat and is back living at her Mum and Dads.

Events suddenly take a turn and she is offered a job from an ex-boyfriend, with whom she had a messy breakup and things are a little icy to say the least! It’s a missing persons case – for non other than Wayne Diffney from the Walsh family’s favourite boyband ‘Laddz’. She accepts the job and we are taken into a dark and glamourous world searching for Wayne.

What surprised me about the book was being finally inside Helen’s mind was quite different from what I had expected. Helen has suffered, quite severly, with depression. I found this to be a curious turn of events and a great example of clever writing from Keyes.

Keyes also tackles the subject of mental health so well in the book, its frank, honest and matter of fact much like Helen’s personality. Helen is quite often referred to as a ‘tough cookie’ sort of characted and I found it extremely refreshing for a strong character to suffer from such mental afflictions. Showing that depression is a very real thing and that there doesn’t always need to be a reason or personality type to explain this.

The book was recommended to me by a colleague who is a huge Marian Keyes fan, however I was warned this was her least favourite novel and she had struggled to keep interest. This was not at all the case for me. I very much enjoyed the book, both the writing style and the storyline and I’m glad I wasn’t dissapointed in my most treasured Walsh sister’s story.

 

Week 4 Book 4 – Lighthousekeeping (Jeanette Winterson)

Silver is a young orphan who is taken in by the timeless and blind Mr Pew,the keeper of the Cape Wrath Lighthouse. The book is ultimately a collection of stories told by Pew to Silver about a mysterious character Babel Dark, a nineteenth-century clergyman. The stories are intertwined with the thoughts and musings of a young Silver and her life on the lighthouse.

Unfortunately for Pew and Silver, technological advancements mean that the lighthouse no longer requires human up-keeping and becomes automated. Pew takes off and Silver is left to fend for herself, she has been left Babel’s journals so that the stories can continue.

Winterson is a captivating writer and this book is a beautiful read. However I did feel that the story was somewhat fragmented and lacked a flowing feel. I would be completely lost in the writing one moment but then the chapter would end ever so abruptly and with little or no resolution. I felt that most of the book was left open ended and it was quite frustrating to read in parts. I did invest with Silver’s character quite deeply and I would have loved to see that develop in the book, I felt there were many gaps in her life which would have made a wonderful story.

I did struggle to keep motivation when reading this book despite the beautiful writing, and it was particularly dissapointing as it had been recommend with such high regard.

 

 

Week 3 Book 3 – Wishful Drinking (Carrie Fisher)

This book is a tell all insight into the life of the late Carrie Fisher during her most intimate moments. During this book she delves into the life she led as the offspring of two of Hollywood’s heyday elite.

With Singing in the Rain’s Debbie Reynolds and infamous singer Eddie Fisher as her parents, Carrie was set up for a life out of the ordinary, which in fact was proved true.

‘Wishful Drinking’ is a sort of spin off from Carrie’s one woman stage show with the same name. It reads very much like you are having a conversation or at a dinner party with Fisher. The entertaining and frank, relaxed style of writing makes this an effortless read and thoroughly enjoyable.

One part I particularly enjoyed was an explanation into the sordid intertwining of Hollywood relationships: many marriages, affairs and inevitable divorces. Provided with this is a sort of family tree of who married who and had what children. The reason for this is that Carrie needed to determine whether her daughter was in any way related to Elizabeth Taylor’s grandson, as they had engaged in a brief flirtation at one time. They are not related, but there are a whole load of scandals that interlink the two.

In summary I found this book to be a lighthearted read that certainly brightened my daily commute.

Week 2 Book 2 – The Little Paris Bookshop (Nina George)

This story is set on a barge in Paris – this is no ordinary barge but a ‘Literary Apothecary’ run by self proclaimed book pharmacist, Jean Perdu. He has the rare gift of being able to ‘prescribe’ the appropriate book to his customers in order to heal any emotional ailments they may have. However he is unable to do the same for himself.

In a turn of events Jean is somewhat inspired to make a change and embarks on a quest to unlock his heart. He sets sail upon his floating bookshop to Provence – in search of answers to his past, and his beloved.

Along the way a few more characters are welcomed aboard in pursuit of their own personal journeys. With no food or money Jean is forced to use his books as currency or set up shop in some of the stop offs, it is fortunate that he meets so many book-lovers.

The book has been perfect timing for me in echoing my own literary journey and has reinforced my passion in books and reading as so many of the characters in the book have. George describes reading in such a beautifully therapeutic way throughout the book and I can completely relate to this.

The ending provides a lovely resolution to the story in a heartwarming way with a great life lesson to be learned.

After the story is finished some traditional Provenance recipes are included along with an Emergency Literacy Pharmacy, I found this to be such a wonderful touch.

Week 1 Book 1 – ‘The Light Between Oceans’ (M.L. Stedman)

Rating – 4/5

The book is set shortly after the first world war in a coastal part of Australia. The story starts with the most important part and immediately captures the reader. Tom is a lighthouse keeper and lives with his wife, Isabel, on the island of Janus. One day, a boat washes onto their shores with a dead man and a crying baby.

The book then flashes back to the back story of Tom and sets the scene for the incredibly painful love story about to unfold.

The contrast in stories between Tom & Isabel and Rachael (the child’s natural mother) provides an interesting element. I found myself torn between a moral battle of who the rightful mother should be – which was unexpected for me.

One aspect of the book I particularly enjoyed was the depiction of the island of Janus. It felt like a third character within Tom and Isabel’s relationship. Stedman describes the island beautifully echoing how happy and content Isabel is with her new found and secluded family.

Without giving too much away the ending had an emotional climax for me, but not in the stereotypical sad way these sorrowful books can be. I found myself contented with the ending, which was a surprise, but then this moved me more than expected. After the all the traumas for many of the characters in the second half of the book, this ending was greatly welcomed.