How to read more diversely!

 

Disclaimer: should you make a purchase through any of the links in this blog, I may earn a small commission, but this has no impact on the cost to the consumer, and it does not influence the content of this blog.

In recent years, I have increased my efforts to be a little more diverse in what I read and add to my bookshelves. And by this I mean not only that I am attempting to read more books authored by people who aren't white men, but also that I am trying to step a little further away from my comfort zone by dipping my toes into genres I might otherwise have ignored.

This is not an endeavour to win woke points, and I don't think anyone should be browbeaten into reading books that are considered righteous, nor do I believe anyone should be made to feel ashamed of books they do read. We might ask questions, but that's one of the reasons we read in the first place, right? To explore themes, issues, and have conversations?

For myself, I have never been the sort of reader that leans heavily into one genre over another and on my shelves you'll find Shakespeare's sonnets right through to modern day best-sellers. However, there have been genres of which I would steer clear. Not for any particular reason, just that I didn't really think they had anything for me.

Books like A Ration Book Wedding by Jean Fullerton, for example, would never have found there way on to my shelves. I am a chap after all, and I have had a preference for stories of adventure over stories of love in the past. But now that book, along with others exploring the themes of love and relationships, have come to occupy my shelves.

I understand entirely that people will want to read for comfort, for escape, and for pleasure. I read for those reasons, and when those are my reasons for turning to my bookshelves I might not be particularly interested in diversity. I might just want to pick up a book I enjoy and let the world go to hell! But, as I say, I've no interest in browbeating anyone into adding books to their shelves that they would have no interest in - this is just a friendly exploration of ideas.

How do I read more diversely?

• Sign up to newsletters from your favourite bookshops and get all sorts of recommendations sent directly to your email inbox! (And give them real consideration - don't scroll through just because it's a genre you wouldn't usually bother with).
• Read reviews, and get excited by them. Yeah, you might take a risk on something you wouldn't usually read and be disappointed. But you could be equally disappointed, if not more so, by that author you always read who writes a dud!
• Follow book bloggers who write about their favourite genres. If you want to get into horror, follow a horror fan. If you want to get into romance novels, follow a fan of romance novels. If they are passionate enough about the genre that they spend their time and effort writing about it they might just know what they are talking about.
• Follow bookish social media accounts. Mostly for reasons similar to those in the preceding bullet point.
• If you have favourite authors on your shelves, do a little research and look at who their favourite authors are in turn. Many writers read diversely in the pursuit of being better writers and improving their craft. Through your favourite writers, you might just get turned on to something you hadn't considered before.
• There are other ways, but to finish this bullet point list I will conclude with probably the most important point I can think of - just be a little bit more open. Even if you endeavour to try and read only those books that make you feel comfortable, you'll never get to read them all. You can easily spare some time, money, and effort and take a chance on something different. You may discover a gem you might have otherwise missed.

Well, that's my little rumination on reading diversely done with. I hope you enjoyed it or found something useful therein. If so, you can buy me a coffee on ko-fi - the caffeine keeps me reading and writing! Thank you!

Travelling to Infinity by Jane Hawking - a review and analysis

 

Disclaimer: should you make a purchase through the links in this blog, I may earn a small commission from the sellers, but that does not impact the cost to the consumer and it does not influence the content of this blog.

In this candid memoir, Jane Hawking, the first wife of Stephen Hawking, tells the story of their marriage. It is a love story. But this love story is a true story, not a fairytale. It includes all the tests and trials of a marriage as well as the beauty and joy. 

As Stephen Hawking, the theoretical physicist and cosmologist, and his wife were coming to grips with the fame his work regarding black holes had drawn, they were also navigating the motor-neurone disease that was gradually and progressively paralysing his body. And, in Travelling to Infinity, Jane Hawking writes with honesty about the challenges they faced, navigating the worlds of fame and degenerative illness, all whilst trying to care for and support a growing family.

In the postlude section of the book, Jane Hawking writes that her initial hesitancy to write about her life with Stephen gave way because "my life was public property anyway as a result of Stephen's fame, and it would only be a matter of time before biographers started to investigate the personal story behind his genius and his survival: that would inevitably include me." And the author writes with honesty but with care and respect for her former husband. This is no 'warts and all' biography for the base celebrity gossip crowd; this is a considered and thoughtful book on the love shared in a family, and in a marriage.

As well as exploring family life and marital love, this book is also a consideration of what it takes to live with a degenerative illness, and the strength it takes to be a carer. This is a book that is worth the reading, even if you've no interest in physics or cosmology, because this is a book about neither of those things. This is a book about being human.

You can buy a copy of Travelling to Infinity by Jane Hawking here, from bookshop.org, who support independent bookshops!

Thank you for reading, if you enjoyed this piece, you can buy me a coffee on ko-fi - it fuels the writing and the reading! Thank you again!

Wondering where you can find some rock 'n' roll between the pages?

 Nine books that rock!

Disclaimer: if you make a purchase through any of the links in this blog, I may earn a commission from the sellers but that does not effect the cost to the consumer, and it does not influence the content of this blog.

And, now that that's out of the way, shall we begin?

1. This is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl by Paul Brannigan

"Grohl and his groups dissected with gumption." - Mojo

Purchase this book here and be sure to look out for the new book written by the nicest guy in rock himself!

2. Heavier Than Heaven: The Biography of Kurt Cobain by Charles R. Cross

"A superbly researched and harrowing book . . . The squalor is ghastly but the sheer sadness of Cobain's brief life is conveyed here. Cross has painstakingly accumulated a wealth of telling detail." - Robert Sandall in The Sunday Times

You can purchase this book through the Waterstones link on this blog's home page!

3. Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan

Chosen as a book of the year by so many different people it deserves it's very own post!

You can purchase the book here!

4. Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie

"Wild as a train whistle in the mountains, a scrumptious picture of fighting, carousing, singing, laughing, migratory America." - The New York Times

You can purchase this book here!

5. On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Not a rock 'n' roll novel itself, but one that influenced many of the musicians that would read it!

"It changed my life like it changed everyone else's." - Bob Dylan

You can purchase this book here!

6. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

"This book is undeniably hip, full of student uprisings, free love, booze and 1960s' pop, it's also genuinely emotionally engaging, and describes the highs of adolescence as well as the lows." - Independent on Sunday

You can purchase this book here!

7. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind

A book that Kurt Cobain enthused over and which inspired lyrics for Nirvana's final studio album, In Utero.

You can purchase this book here!

8. Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young

"Eccentric, sprawling, absorbing. Before you know it you're at page 400 . . . and you don't want it to end. You see rock and roll history from the inside out." - Independent

You can purchase this book here!

9. Touching From a Distance: Ian Curtis & Joy Division by Deborah Curtis

"Revered by his peers and idolised by his fans, Ian Curtis left behind a legacy rich in artistic genius. Mesmerising on stage but introverted and prone to desperate mood swings in his private life, Curtis died by his own hand on 18 May 1980." - from the book's blurb

You can purchase this book here!

Well, that's it, nine rockin' books! If you found anything you like the look of here, you can buy me a coffee over on ko-fi - it keeps me reading and writing! Thank you for reading!

The Road by Cormac McCarthy - a review and analysis

 

Disclaimer: should you make a purchase through any of the links in this blog, Monsta Reader may earn a commission from the sellers. This does not impact upon the cost to you as the consumer and it does not influence the content of this blog.

There are a number of people that piss me off.

Racists. Homophobes. People who litter. Especially people who litter in our countryside. People who don't clean their bird feeders. People with a half-arsed approach to animal care in general. People who never consider that they might be the ones who are wrong . . .

And me. I really piss myself off sometimes.

As a remedy to these curmudgeonly feelings, I either immerse myself in the pages of a good book or I take off for a long walk along a public footpath, preferably in the countryside. In Cormac McCarthy's novel, The Road, I was able to follow a father and son on their own long and solitary walk. Theirs fraught with more danger than any I have ever known.

In this novel, set in a post-apocalyptic world, the central theme explored is that of the bond between father and son. Indeed, the novel was inspired by a trip that the author took with his own son to Mexico. And he dedicates the novel to this son.

Being set in a post-apocalyptic world amplifies the fears and concerns that a parent might have for their child - the sort of world that is being passed onto them; how they might survive once they are left without the guiding hand of the parent; the parent's role as protector. McCarthy explores all of these with consideration and tenderness.

The pair, the father and son, must keep moving. In the world that they live in, there are those that would do them harm, and resources must be sought out. Food and clean water are no longer something that can be taken for granted, for example. They must be hunted out and rationed.

I enjoyed the author's style of writing, but this is not an easy novel to read, filled with haunting moments as it is. The father and young son of the book having to traipse along the road they are on, facing the adversities they have to face, really shone a light on the strength and purity of that bond that can exist between a parent and their child. As I say, the situation of the novel throws everything at this pair, challenges that could at any moment tear them apart, but they endure and take strength from their relationship.

Though it is not explicitly mentioned in the book, some have drawn the conclusion that the apocalypse of the story was an environmental crisis. And the lack of animal and plant life, and the sparseness of human life, certainly points towards a mass extinction event. Whereas mentions of unsettled weather in the book points towards climate crisis. However, the author does not explicitly tell the reader what has caused the dead world in which the characters live.

Reading books like this, pondering the story, can really force the reader to consider the circumstances of their own life. All those things that have us running around, concerned and convinced of their importance and urgency, are they really all that important? If you were to lose everything, if you were made to fight, what would you fight for? What is really important? And what can you let go of? Maybe it isn't worth letting all those people piss you off for a start . . .

To purchase a copy of The Road by Cormac McCarthy, follow the link here.

Thank you for reading. If you made it this far, you can support me by buying me a coffee on ko-fi - it keeps me caffeinated and writing!