New haircut & another book read

So this week has been pretty ace. It's been a little stressful at work but everything is better when it's the weekend.

On Friday I finished a book I've been reading for a few weeks now.

Life after life by Kate Atkinson. It took me a good 1/3 of the book before I even got into it.
I was very confused at the beginning. The book description read;

What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right?

During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath.

During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale.

What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?

Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in life's bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past. Here she is at her most profound and inventive, in a novel that celebrates the best and worst of ourselves.

Eventually I was absolutely captivated. The story began to add up and I couldn't put the book down. I was incredibly impressed with the writing style (I say this like author's aren't professionals but you know what I mean... it was an very complex writing structure.) It was a story that was both sad and beautiful.

So anyway, today saw me having a new haircut. It was the shortest cut I've had in about 10 years so I was a bit scared! I had Tony from Arthur Razor cut if off. He's a barber based in West London, both friend and client. We are currently re-designing his website which you can see live soon at www.arthurrazor.com. He's cut Dan's hair for almost a year now and always done an amazing job. He's cut the likes of Colin Firth as well. Oooh la la.

See some snaps of my new look!

Recent Reads

Since my last post, I've managed to make my way through another 3 fantastic books.

Firstly, 'Twelve Years A Slave' by Soloman Northup.

Most of you would have seen the trailer for this on the TV, and it's also been up for a lot of awards.
I was lucky enough to have seen the film first and then decided to read the book. The book goes into so much in-depth detail. We learn much more about the relationships he had, and in particular what he was thinking and feeling. As always, there's usually parts in the book which aren't scripted for the film, which I did feel were absolutely crucial to the story, but there you go.

Secondly, 'The Husband's Secret' by Liane Moriarty.

I was a bit apprehensive about reading this, not sure why but I did none the less. Maybe I'm easy to please but I thought this book was also great. The book is written extremely cleverly (is that a actual word?) and the characters in each chapter all tie together quite nicely (or un-nicely (Again, is that a word?)). Secrets, lies, love are just a few of the themes throughout this book and I was captivated from start to end. The story actually surprised me and I felt like this was a little thriller.


Thirdly, 'Mad About the Boy' by Helen Fielding.

The authors name is instantly recognisable no? Bridget Jones author yet again feeds us another classic. Unfortunately I haven't read the previous books but being an avid Jonsey fan, it wasn't long before I could hear Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant talking in replacement of the characters Bridget and Daniel Cleaver. We all know what happens in this book, Mark Darcy unfortunately dies (insert the sound of every woman's heartbreak here).

Fourthly, 'The Dating Detox' by Gemma Burgess.

I hadn't heard of author, Burgess or her work. But, having had a little look online and reading fantastic reviews, I gave it a go. I was telling my CD about the book and he was like "Why are you reading about that subject, don't you have a bloke?" to which I replied "It's fictional" and his  extremely confused face then dropped. It didn't take me long until I was literally laughing out loud with this book. I'm surprised how absolutely fixed I was and could not put it down. I was actually quite disappointed when I eventually finished and the realisation hit me that I'd not have to find a good book to live up the writing and story of this one.

Anyway, go out and go and get these books if you fancy a really good read. They're all fantastic.

'Enna Burning' - Shannon Hale

So back in May 2013, I dedicated a whole page to my new project which was 'A book a week'.

I did great!... Up until my second week in. I read 'The Goose Girl' by Shannon Hale which was a lovely book to read. You can see the review here.

I've finally had a little more time to finish the follow on book called 'Enna Burning'. As said in a previous post, I've been busy with my new job and moving to London with Dan that I simply have been short of time.

I personally found the introduction to this really slow and I found myself putting it down a few times because I was getting a little bored. I stuck it out though and about a third of the way into the book, it really began to pick up and I started to get into it. It was quite interesting how this book changes to the character Enna, as though she is telling the story when it the last book, 'The Goose Girl', this was written about her from the narrative of a character called Isi. Isi is still a character in this book so it's nice to see a flip, but still know their history as characters and friends.

By 3/4 of the way in, I literally couldn't put the book down and chapter after chapter flew by. I was captivated in the intensity of what was happening to the characters. Much like 'The Goose Girl', the story quickened towards the end and I found that the book ended too soon and everything I thought would happen, happened. I guess this is a little disappointing. I would have preferred if the author, Shannon would have made the beginning a little quicker so I could go on and enjoy the rest of the book and feel as though it lasted a little longer!

But still, Shannon's writing is so clever and descriptive. I don't want to repeat myself and say what I said in the last review of her book. It will be interesting to read her other books and she is she still uses the same writing style and the same subject of pretty much, mystical fairy tale type stories. If anyone is after an easy read, this is no doubt a great book. If you don't like strange names- stay away! Those who read my last review on 'The Goose Girl' would know what I meant!

Haha, thanks for reading again. I'll update again in a week or so.

Thanks!

R