{Book} Juliet, Naked - Nick Hornby

**This review might contain spoilers**

Very little things in this world leave me speechless, but Nick Hornby seems to be great at it. Granted, I only ever read one of his books before this - Slam, unaware that it was supposed to be for young adults (not that it would have put me off, seeing I read The Hunger Games trilogy just before picking up Juliet), but that one left me speechless for all the wrong reasons. I found it lacked content, to me it just sounded like a bunch of words, one after the other after the other. Meaningless.

Juliet, Naked is different. I am speechless not because I didn't like the book, but rather because I loved it and have no idea why. It's not particularly happy or sad (even though some of it is kind of sad) or witty. But it's a great book about achieving nothing. Going through life without making anything happen, not even your own happiness. About being in such a state of inertia that you don't do anything to change or maybe not even care anymore.

The book tells the story of Tucker Crowe, a rather obscure American rock star of the 80s who has quit his career after some mysterious event, Duncan, a die-hard fan (or Crowologist!) and Annie, his girlfriend. They live in a seaside town called Gooleness, they've been together for 15 years and end up splitting up (not telling how or why, haha).

I think what makes me like this book is the fact that I can somehow relate to Annie. In another lifetime, I had a long-term relationship that I know I should be getting out of but just didn't see the point. He was loving (if a bit obsessive), caring and the alternative would be - most likely - be alone, so I just stuck to it. For six years. Probably four years too long. I don't regret because it has shaped my life as it is, but I can see how six years become fifteen and you are wondering where your life has gone. And do wonder "what if...", however pointless that is.

So I would recommend this book as a light, quick read (250-ish pages), especially if you haven't read any Nick Hornby before or if you would read it as a book on its own right. Don't read it on the strengths of High Fidelity or About a boy, because according to most reviews I read, that will lead to disappointment (I have read neither so I can't comment on that).

{Book} The Making of Us - Lisa Jewell. And a competition!

Just a week after I started writing this blog and right after I published my second book review I got an email from lovely Najma Finlay from Random House asking if I would be interested in reading and reviewing Lisa Jewell's new book, The making of us. To which I replied: "free books? yes, please!". I told her I was reading something already but would read it to review today. Last week's book was replaced by steel strings and sore fingers, but I decided to still read this for this week (sorry Isabel Allende!).

I have got to be honest and I say I had no idea what to expect. I had never read anything by Lisa before but synopsis sounded intriguing: "In a hospice in Bury St Edmunds, a man called Daniel is slowly fading away. His friend Maggie sits with him listening to the story of his life. He tells her about the children he has never met and never will, conceived with women he never even touched. Four of them: two boys, two girls. His legacy, he calls them.

Lydia, Robyn and Dean don’t know each other. Yet. They are all facing difficult challenges. Lydia wears the scars from her traumatic childhood and although she is wealthy and successful, her life is lonely and disjointed. Dean is a young man whose life is going nowhere. Robyn is training to be a doctor, just like her father – a man she’s never met. When she falls in love with a man who is like her in every way, she needs to be sure. It's time for her to open the envelope her mother gave her on her eighteenth birthday."

I read it with an open hear, but have to confess that after the last few books I read, I wasn't expecting it to be anything above lukewarm. How wrong was I! I loved it from the first chapter. I love that each chapter is told from a different person's point of view - but from not inside their head, like Small world. I love the way the story unfolds, a bit at a time, keeping bits of the puzzle out of the chapter and leaving you wondering - I like feeling curious, trying to guess what happens next. I like that you can feel the characters' pains, anxieties, fears, loves. And I love how beautiful the cover is too. How shallow am I? :)

I thought it was very well written, very well proofread - I don't think I picked up any spelling mistakes from this one, and that is something that always annoys me on books. Although some people might, I don't regard this as chick lit: too much conflict, too little cake. It took me two days to read, mostly because it's a page-turner rather than an easy read (not that it's particularly hard either). I guess even though this was my first Lisa Jewell book, it will probably not be the last.

So, today I tried to write a spoiler-less review because earlier this week Najma emailed me to ask if I got the book ok and I told her I liked it so much that I would like to give it away to one of my readers (if I hadn't liked it, it would probably only make it to the recycling bin). She said she would give me two copies to give to you - how cool is that?

Competition time!

Ok, so here is the deal: I have two copies of Lisa Jewell's new book "The making of us" to give to my readers out there. For a chance to win, leave a comment on this post with your full name and the name of the last good book you have read (I need recommendations for my next reads!).

There are only two rules: one comment per person and you have the have a UK address for me to send you the book.

To increase your chances of winning, you can:

1. Like the blog's facebook page and leave a message on our wall

2. Tweet the following: "Like reading? Head over to @anactaylor's blog for a chance of picking up one of 2 copies of Lisa Jewell's new book. www.2littlewomen.co.uk"

Closing date is next Tuesday, 8th May 23.59. Lily and I will pull two names out of a hat next Wednesday and publish them - hopefully - with my next book review.

** This book was sent to me for reviewing by Random House, however the opinions in this post are entirely my own. **

{Book} Small World - Matt Beaumont

* This post might contain spoilers *

I deliberately avoided the chick lit shelves - yes, there is a chick lit section at my local library. General fiction this time, I said. I looked at the books and picked one at random. I read the back cover, seemed complicated. Great, I'll take it.

The book is about how lives meet at random in a terribly middle class North London neighbourhood. It revolves around 3 couples, Ali and Paul (a shop owner and a journalist), Siobhan and Dom  (SAHM to 4 and comedian) and Kate and Marco (head of HR and god-knows-what, even though someone mentions graphic or web designer at some point), their children or lack thereof, the help and not-so-random people they meet along the way.

The format is interesting, it switches points-of-view all the time, as if you are in the head of the characters. Because chick lit probably turned my brain into mush For some reason, I struggled the get the hang of it in the beginning and nearly gave up, but I found it got better as I went along.

I found it slightly disturbing that the weird one has my father's and brother's name. Actually, everything about that Marco bloke disturbed me. What does he do? Who is he? Is he just a bit odd or is he actually mad (clinically speaking, I mean)?

In the same sense, I found the racism in almost every single character unnerving. If racism upsets you, you definitely shouldn't read this book.

Overall I thought it was a good book. Not great, but good. A quick read too - got it from the library Saturday. Possibly 3 stars if I was reviewing for Amazon.

One thing it did leave me wondering about is about the class system in the UK. It's complicated, isn't it? In my country, we would never ever think of someone who drives an Audi TT and buys a Mercedes Class M for the nanny to drive around as middle class. Maybe upper middle class. But then again, there are no nobles and titles and things like that in Brazil so upper class = rich people, end of.

And one final note: it must be incredibly annoying being married to a comedian.

Next up: Isabel Allende's Island beneath the sea.

{Book} Me before you - Jojo Moyes

** This review might contain spoilers **

I wasn't sure I was going to like having a Kindle, to be honest. I like books. Paper. Library. And then my husband gave me one for my birthday. I still go to the library and I still read paper books, however I am now sure that the Kindle will be the financial ruin of me. The fact that you can have a book - almost any book - in your hands in 3 seconds sort of overrides the fact that it doesn't have that new book smell.

My latest victim was Jojo Moyes' newest book, Me before you. Now this is where I pause and say to those who don't know me yet that I don't really like chick lit. Or rather, I don't like the formula "girl meets boy, they fall in love and live happily ever after". But having read The last letter from your lover last year, I didn't think this was going to be a formulaic type of book. Mind, I didn't particularly like The last letter from your lover, but browsing the Kindle store best-sellers, I thought this one was worth a read. After all, it has 450 five-star reviews on Amazon.

First of all, it's a quick read. It took me all of 3 days to read it - considering we spent Saturday car-shopping and Sunday having Easter lunch with friends, plus cooking, cleaning and all the normal chores of a normal household, not a very long time.

Trying not to give much away, the book tells the story of Will, a young and successful man who is hit by a motorbike and becomes quadriplegic. Louisa Clark is hired to care for him. A complicated relationship is born.

I do like the plot and, as much as it saddened me, I liked the end. However, the book has its flaws (and by flaws I mean things I disliked LOL). They are not as bad as the ones I found on The last letter from your lover but they bugged me. The world of the upper-middle-class (by which she means filthy rich) is full of Mercedes drivers, snobs and cold hearted people, whilst the working class life is filled with ASBOs but at least they are clean (!). There is a point where Louisa tells us that if you are seen going into a Mercedes in her street, you either pulled a footballer or are being arrested by an unmarked police car. I think it's supposed to be humorous but to me it is borderline offensive.

Apart from Louisa, I couldn't really like any character - much as I tried. And most of the time, it was not really that I liked her, it was more that I felt sorry for her. She has a boyfriend that cares more about his marathons than about her, parents that verbally abuse her, a sister that emotionally blackmails her, a boss who is an arse and then a moral dilemma. Maybe that is why I liked the end. I liked that she found herself somehow, away from all these people.

I would say overall is an ok book but not really worth buying. Get it from your library if you must read it.

(I said I wouldn't read chick lit again after reading The last letter from your lover. I will try to keep away from it from now on. If Kindle lets me.)