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By Jayne Joso on 30 January 2010 at 08:08:20
A few thoughts to share...
I first read The Catcher in the Rye in my teens, and it is without doubt the book I return to and re-read in full the most. I read it three times in succession before I sat down to write my novel "Soothing Music for Stray Cats"... to animate myself... to get the courage to begin... and after that crazy but wonderful repetitive reading the main character, Holden, had practically become my buddy.
...about a month ago I met a teenager who asked me if I was a writer... we talked, I asked what her favourite book was, she said 'JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye'...so how about that... first published in 1951... it still works after all this time JD... even for the younger ones. -Anyway, I suggested to the girl that she might want to read 'Franny and Zooey' next - well, read all of Salinger! He didn't publish that much, and those nice slim volumes are something special...
p127 of 'Franny and Zooey' is a particular favourite... -anyway, in that brief conversation... as Holden would say "I felt so damn happy" so, thank you, JD.
Salinger was a legend in his own lifetime... lived until he was 91... way to go, sir, way to go.
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'An absolute gem of a novel...'
By Jayne Joso on 22 January 2010 at 23:23:50
Soothing Music for Stray Cats by Jayne Joso
And here are some book site gems!...
The Rise of the Bookish Website
Book websites and blogs are on the increase, and for booklovers everywhere, be they fellow bloggers, writers, and/or readers, they seem to be a really fun arena for sharing views and news about the word shuffling art of writing. Here’s a link to a nice one run by a chap in Scotland called Robaroundbooks.com – it seems to have incorporated fun elements such as interesting book covers, features on curious and/or interesting bookshelves (a variation on one of the broadsheets that used to carry photos of writers’ rooms or desks... and perhaps still does, though I am quite out of the loop), features on short stories and special editions of certain books and magazines; some author interviews, and lots of book reviews - including one on
Soothing Music for Stray Cats, feel free to visit the site for the full review -filed under 'Afterthoughts'.
Another interesting site I have come across is dovegreyreader – who describes her/himself as: “a Devonshire based bookaholic, sock-knitting quilter who is a community nurse in her spare time” and this seems to be another very lively book site... honestly I don’t know how people manage those busy sites, it’s amazing. And this site is - dovegreyreader.co.uk
A Blog of One’s Own
For socialising, all things book related, or for ideas for blogs of your own... 'A Blog of One’s Own' - so to speak, I think these sites are really worth checking out.
What is also interesting is that the status of some of the reviewers is becoming increasingly impressive, and the publishing world is clearly sitting up and taking notice of the influence that some of the better book sites have, and why not? Many of the sites seem to be run similarly to full on magazines, with regular features, special features, events, competitions, and letters to the editor in the form of ‘site visitor feedback’... I think it’s all great.
To the book community one and all, I say ‘hurrah!’ – Read and enjoy, both books and sites!
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Stephen Fry - A Room of His Own
By Jayne Joso on 02 January 2010 at 20:20:29
Stephen Fry, arguably Britain’s most valuable National Treasure, has announced he is taking a break... and what is so remarkable about this, is that whilst most of us like, if we can, to take a break from work, Mr Fry is taking a break from work in order to... work, yes... you read that correctly, he has announced that he will cut down considerably on the innumerous calls on his time, and withdraw from the world of social networking sites... most noticeably missed on Twitter I expect, in order to work on his autobiography. A change isn’t often as good as a rest, I find... for I do indeed need actual rest quite as much as change (nice though that is), so I take my big black hat off to him, and like his many adoring fans, warmly await said autobiography. And for all those feeling bereft on Twitter, remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder... there’ll eventually be a grand text to read to compensate for the lack of lovely tweets, ‘lush!’.
Virginia Woolf’s work ‘A Room of One's Own’ offers her own personal insight into the requirements of women writers in order to write, and in order to write well... worth taking a look, whether a writer or reader.
Though, less missed, I too will be blogfree awhile, there’s a new novel to be finished ... ‘Perfect Architect’ - requirements: room of my own, space, quiet... lack of distraction... and plenty of tea.
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