Fiction reading in January 2012.
Smut- Alan Bennett
I borrowed this from the library on a whim, it was on the recent returns shelf as I walked to the issues desk and its bright yellow cover and red text grabbed my attention. I don't know that (despite the title) I had any preconceived ideas what it would be about. Unsurprisingly, in hindsight, it was about sex. Two short stories which were strangely entrancing with characters that were real with flaws and imperfections and even sometimes a little unpleasant. I will definately be keeping my eye out for more of Alan Bennett's work- can't believe I haven't before.
The Yorkshire Pudding Club- Milly Johnson
Another one picked up on a whim at the library. I haven't had much cause to read good old fashioned chick lit lately and this one was particularly topical with the number of pregnancies and babies around in my life. It was a nice variation on the normal girl meets guy - girl and guy split up - girl and guy get back together and live happily ever after with extra children and three girls some of whom already have the guy. I did find some of the characters a little to sterotypical and lacking in dimension but overall a nice read for a tired mind after a long day at work.
Endless Night- Agatha Christie
What a strange story. Told in the first person by the husband of the murder victim- an American heiress. I found myself disliking the husband intensely from the get-go and couldn't put my finger on it. Despite knowing from the first page that the wife is going to be murdered I kind of hoped that somehow she wasn't murdered, which makes no sense knowing that Christie bumps them off with easy regularity. An interesting story told from an unusual perspective kept me off kilter right until the end.
