Wellington Reads discussion

Welcome to the May edition of 'What are you reading?'!

The best thing about today's manky, wet weather is that it is perfect reading on the couch weather!

I've just started Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's. I LOVE the movie and had read that the book is great as well, albeit slightly different from the film. Am really enjoying the book so far.

What is everyone else reading?

I've never seen the movie! Should I? :-)

I'm reading Dodger by Terry Pratchett at the moment, which I'm really liking.

This one has Charles Dickens, and the Dodger (it's sort of implied that this character might be who he based the Artful Dodger on). It's fun, and filled with the kind of wry observation about people and how we work that Terry Pratchett is good at :-)

Pretty interesting that Capote is (mostly)renowned for
Breakfast at Tiffany's and In cold blood. Two more different books you couldn't find - both are insightful and on small town lives (and the affect of) in one way or another maybe...?

I'm reading 'Be good : How to navigate the ethics of everything' by Randy Cohen. Cohen wrote an ethics column for the New York Times for many years and these one page samples are distilled,logical, funny responses to all those big and little conundrums we have during our everyday lives. Should we share all our secrets with our spouses; what if my neighbor cuts down their trees without consulting me; should I tell my partner I have cancer?
Cohen's answers may surprise and you may not always agree but an excellent place to start the brain ticking over about life's big and little posers!
And Kim Hill interviewed him here:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/pro...

Celeste wrote: "I've never seen the movie! Should I? :-)

I only saw it a couple of years ago and fell in love with it straight away. It turned me into a huge Audrey Hepburn fan! I definitely recommend it, although am a total sucker for 60s flicks so am entirely biased :-)

Monty wrote: "Pretty interesting that Capote is (mostly)renowned for
Breakfast at Tiffany's and In cold blood. Two more different books you couldn't find - both are insightful and on small town lives (and the af..."

Funny you should say that, I also have In Cold Blood on my to-read list.

Your Cohen book sounds so intriguing! Might have to mark that one up to my to-read, as well.

I am re-re-re-re-re-reading Daughter of the Forest, just love the trilogy!!!!

Celeste wrote: "I've never seen the movie! Should I? :-)
You have to see Breakfast at Tiffany's, the movie. You will be forever in love with Audrey and the clothes.

Monty wrote: I'm reading 'Be good : How to navigate the ethics of everything' by Randy Cohen. "

That sounds like a great read, I think I will have to try it so that all those pesky questions find answers!

I am reading The last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier. It is fantastic, with slavery and quilting being the clue to the story. Written from the view point of a young English women that has just arrived in America and righteously is against slavery and what this in the end means to her and her future.I can't put it down.

Stephanie wrote: "Welcome to the May edition of 'What are you reading?'!

The best thing about today's manky, wet weather is that it is perfect reading on the couch weather!

I've just started Truman Capote's Breakf..."

One of my all time favourite films. Book always on my must read list....

Monty wrote: "Pretty interesting that Capote is (mostly)renowned for
Breakfast at Tiffany's and In cold blood. Two more different books you couldn't find - both are insightful and on small town lives (and the af..."

Monty wrote: "Pretty interesting that Capote is (mostly)renowned for
Breakfast at Tiffany's and In cold blood. Two more different books you couldn't find - both are insightful and on small town lives (and the af..."

Love the sound of this one...but sometimes the questions are more interesting than the answers??

First day back at work and 2 requested books waiting for me! "How to be a Woman" by the wonderful Caitlin Moran and "Aprons and Silver spoons: The heartwarming memoirs of a 1930's scullery maid" by Mollie Moran.

Not sure which to start first...

Paula 1 wrote: "First day back at work and 2 requested books waiting for me! "How to be a Woman" by the wonderful Caitlin Moran and "Aprons and Silver spoons: The heartwarming memoirs of a 1930's scullery maid" b..."

Ooh! I loved "How to be a woman" -- I laughed a LOT :-) It's hilarious, but rings really true, and there's a lot of serious subject matter in there couched in hilarity. I love her column in The Times as well -- I often grab back issues to read while I eat lunch, and then end up laughing away and probably disturbing other people... :-)

This reminds me that I really want to read Moranthology!

Celeste wrote: "Paula 1 wrote: "First day back at work and 2 requested books waiting for me! "How to be a Woman" by the wonderful Caitlin Moran and "Aprons and Silver spoons: The heartwarming memoirs of a 1930's ..."

I loved her weekly column in The Times (read it avidly while living in the UK)....press display time now I think!

I've just finished Breakfast at Tiffany's - I really enjoyed it! So good. Anyone who has been wanting to read it, I highly recommend it. It's a really short read, too; only one hundred pages, so easy to fit into a few lunch hours at work!

Tonight I'm going to start The Sound of Butterflies by Rachel King. Am excited!

The Sound of Butterflies is great, enjoy :)

I loved Breakfast at Tiffany's too. The movie and the book - although they are quite different. Audrey Hepburn is just gorgeous. That iconic scene in the black dress with the bagel, outside Tiffany & Co, swoon. I based my wedding dress on that dress. And yes, I agree, In Cold Blood is a widely different style of book. Good too, but not as fast-paced as a more modern crime thriller, even a true crime one, so I found it a little slow going in parts.

I've just started Ken Follett's Winter of the World. I think that's what it's called. It's the second in his new trilogy, following on from the WWI book Fall of Giants. I do love a good saga.

Tiffany wrote: "The Sound of Butterflies is great, enjoy :)

I loved Breakfast at Tiffany's too. The movie and the book - although they are quite different. Audrey Hepburn is just gorgeous. That iconic scene in..."

Oh I know! Swoon big time; that scene is amazing. In fact, it was my desktop wallpaper for quite some time! I would have loved to have seen your wedding dress. I saw or read somewhere that Audrey Hepburn refused to play her exactly as she was in the book - she wanted her profession to be hinted at but not obvious, and she didn't want any cursing. So sweet!

Am very much enjoying The Sound of Butterflies so far :o)

Reading Moby Dick on my iPad. Fantastic language and Melville's ability to conjour up imagery is just so impressive.

I an reading the new Paul Theroux "The last train to Zona Verde : overland from Capetown to Angola" (library Bestseller copy - big splash-out) and thoroughly enjoying it. PT has a wonderful way with words and can conjure up the sights and smells of the places he visits in such a way that you feel you are almost there with him . He has lived and worked in Africa for many years and offers many astute insights into the present state of the countries he visits. Warmly recommended.

Malcolm wrote: "Reading Moby Dick on my iPad. Fantastic language and Melville's ability to conjour up imagery is just so impressive."

I keep thinking I should maybe try some classics -- what puts me off is that often the copies you find in print are not the greatest quality (tiny, dense print etc.) I like the idea of trying them on my ereader. And I could make the print as big as I wanted... And I just checked, and I could change the font on my reader, depending on the format of the book. Hmm... :-) Thank you!

I've just finished Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project. I enjoyed it as most people enjoy self help books...guiltily ;) but I did enjoy it. I could have lived without the comparisons between the happiness of the people of the US with the people of Calcutta which annoyed me but ignoring those bits...

I've also been reading Nickle and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich which probably made me less tolerant of Rubin's book than I would have been otherwise. For this expose of the poverty trap in America, the super educated, super clever, and super funny Ehrenreich leaves her life behind, moves state, takes on miniumum wages employment and learns what it really means to live on (or below)America's breadline. Full of hilarious and terrifyingly sad anecdotes of what people have to put up with when they earn so little and therefore have no power to change their situation. I reckon this book will change your life and make you more grateful than any self help book ever could :)

Bethlehem you may also like "A home companion : a year of living like my grandmother" by Wendyl Nissen ( a New Zealander) 640 NIS. From time to time I get this living simply/nostalgia bug and am quite enthusiastic until I get to the recipes for floor polish and tea tree oil shampoo and conditioner - and all those uses for white vinegar!!-but this book is quite quite charming nonetheless.

Sue wrote: "Bethlehem you may also like "A home companion : a year of living like my grandmother" by Wendyl Nissen ( a New Zealander) 640 NIS. From time to time I get this living simply/nostalgia bug and am qu..."

Haha, this sounds perfect for me. I am such a Nana anyway. Much as I love the challenge of sticking to a fugal budget it's much more fun when you can read beautiful books about other people's efforts. You feel you are in good company. I'll dig out this book for sure. Especially as it is by a New Zealander. Thanks for the tip :)

P.S. Bicarb and vinegar really does work a treat on your hair ;)

Bethlehem wrote: "I've just finished Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project..."

I loved this book too! She has a sequel to it I think, which I haven't read yet. I liked her approach to the whole topic -- sort of methodical and very research-based.

I've also read Nickle and Dimed and really liked it too, but wow, some of the situations she found herself in... It was written so long ago you wonder what the situation is now, after (yet another) recession. A while ago I read a book from the early 1990s (just found it, I think it was Promises Betrayed: Waking Up from the American Dream) that was all about the state of the US coming out of the early '90s recession, and the author, Bob Herbert, talked to people around the country trying to get by in the context of different problematic aspects of life in the States. This kind of made me think of that, although what she did was much more immediate -- this was just him talking to people, but many of the stories were similar. It also had chapters on healthcare and insurance and cities in California going bankrupt, that were eerily familiar :/

Another book of Barbara Ehrenreich's that I really enjoyed, was Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, which is all about the industry/cult of positive thinking in the States. The book had its genesis in her experience of breast cancer, and not feeling supported if her outlook to cancer wasn't relentlessly positive (!), which is a small part of the book, but a huge part of Pink Ribbons (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2035599/) a doco that came out a few years ago in the film festival, that she appeared in.

Anyway, I should stop talking now... :-)

I've just finished Louise Erdrich The Round House and loved it. Good plot and great background. Set on an Indian reservation in North Dakota with surprising insights into human nature.
I heard Louise speak a couple of years ago at a NZ Readers and Writers event after only having read a couple of her books and was inspired to read more.

Bethlehem you might also like one of the current crop of nostalgic Kiwi cookbooks on offer- Homemade" compiled by Kim Knight 641.5 HOM is a particular favourite - lots of New Zealand personalities remember their mother's and grandmother's recipes (including Rosemary McLeod). Lots of gorgeous colour photographs featuring warm - looking tea cosies,hand - embriodered aprons and kitchen equipment and culinary staples of of yesteryear.

June do share your secret !! I am already cooking with one hand on the required kitchen implement and the other holding a book, but I do not get through a quarter of the books that you seem to be able to get through !! Do you have domestic help? Or are you a person without a television set?

Sue wrote: "June do share your secret !! I am already cooking with one hand on the required kitchen implement and the other holding a book, but I do not get through a quarter of the books that you seem to be a..."

No home help unfortunately but I set the alarm 45 mins early in the morning to read then and don't generally go to sleep until 11.30 so I have a lot of evening reading time also. Reading is my passion.

June wrote: "Sue wrote: "June do share your secret !! I am already cooking with one hand on the required kitchen implement and the other holding a book, but I do not get through a quarter of the books that you ..."

Now this has got me thinking...just an interesting side line...where and when do we read? I love that you set the alarm early to get in some precious reading time!

I like to read in the morning too but it's agony trying to leave a good book to get ready for work.

I was feeling frustrated by how little I seem to read lately. I decided I needed to come up with a plan. I questioned a friend of mine of whom I'm in complete awe because she regularly gets through several books a week and is always updating her 'read' shelf! Claiming not to be a terribly fast reader she told me her secret is reading on the train everyday. So, I decided I needed a similar window of opportunity and have declared work lunch breaks a chore free zone and now that when I get most of my reading done. It's working a treat so far ;)

Yes I think you need dedicated reading time too.And as Erich Fromm famously wrote('The art of loving") you really need to give your whole attention to the task in hand. So perhaps cooking and reading are not mutually compatible tasks. Housework seems endless and life certainly does get in the way of one's reading life.
Personally,I think the only solution is to take regular reading holidays - visits to some lovely retreat where all you have to do is eat, walk swim and read.(Well, this is in my dream world).

Malcolm wrote: "Reading Moby Dick on my iPad. Fantastic language and Melville's ability to conjour up imagery is just so impressive."

I started Moby Dick a while back on the recommendation of a friend. It is wonderful but I didn't get far with it then for some reason. Must pick it up again.

I think my solution to the reading time problem, might be just not to do housework... Not exactly true, we do do it, we're just mostly always in a mess.

Maybe I shouldn't admit this... Oh well :-)

And buses are very good for reading :-)

Bethlehem wrote: "I like to read in the morning too but it's agony trying to leave a good book to get ready for work.

I was feeling frustrated by how little I seem to read lately. I decided I needed to come up wi..."

I love reading in bed in the morning...I keep saying to myself...ok I'll just finish this chapter...then just 1 more page etc!!
Working in a Library, does anyone think it would be acceptable to say to one's boss "Sorry I'm so late...but I was reading"??

Yes Celeste you should share this to cheer those of us who regard housework as modern day -slavery along !! I once read Sophie Gray's ' Live well , spend less" ( 332.024 GRA) and was very depressed by the punishing schedules described in it.Then I read a very sensible answer from from an agony aunt to a woman who was finding it All Too Much : ' Just do what absolutely needs doing" I have adhered to it ever since. So read on I say ! Books before bondage! (in the housework sense).

I'm currently reading and enjoying "The Clothes on their Backs" by Linda Grant. This was recommended by a member and I can't remember who...but a big Thank You as I would probably would have missed out on this.
This shows the value of a good group when we follow up on a fellow reader's recommendation!

Read Reacher's Rules and thought the librarians amongst us might be amused by this advice under " How to extract information"
Ask a librarian- they're nice people , they tell you things if you ask them

June wrote: "Read Reacher's Rules and thought the librarians amongst us might be amused by this advice under " How to extract information"
Ask a librarian- they're nice people , they tell you things if you ask ..."

We sometimes tell things even when we aren't ask!!

Celeste wrote: "I think my solution to the reading time problem, might be just not to do housework... Not exactly true, we do do it, we're just mostly always in a mess.

Maybe I shouldn't admit this... Oh well :-)"
I have just been away every weekend for three months and have found that very little of the housework I was doing is actually required! Brilliant, if your not there it just doesn't need cleaning..... I also read ever night in the spa pool, but I only read withdrawn books as to not do any damage. So I have one going for spa time and one going for when in bed! Sometimes the plots get confused but not often.

A "spa time" read...how decadently wonderful!!

June wrote: "Read Reacher's Rules and thought the librarians amongst us might be amused by this advice under " How to extract information"
Ask a librarian- they're nice people , they tell you things if you ask ..."

:-) I've always thought for some reason that librarians would make good private detectives :-)