Hi everyone!
My name is Katrina and I'm a university student living in New Zealand. I have had a couple of attempts at starting a blog in the past (three to be exact) but none of them have stuck. Hopefully, this one will go the distance!
I studied history and English as an undergrad and now I'm studying international relations as a post-grad. I started my other blogs because I felt that my essays and course work this year wasn't really fulfilling my love of writing. It wasn't until after I started those blogs that I realised that it wasn't just writing that I was missing, rather it was that I missed writing about books. If I could do it all again I would do my post-grad in English, but since you can't change the past (sorry, Gatsby) I felt that a blog about books would fit me quite nicely.
So, since we are getting to know one another, I figured that maybe you would want to know some of my literary favourites? Yes? Good, let's get to it then!
Favourite Author(s)
Agatha Christie: The lady who I will read (and re-read) until I'm an old lady. I love the mixture of mystery, murder and humour that Christie puts into her novels (I really do love a 'cozy murder',
Rosemary and Thyme is one of my favourite t.v. shows). Also, Christie has some fantastically drawn characters like Poirot, Marple, Tommy and Tuppence who make regular appearances in her novels. Reading an 'Agatha' is probably the most fun I have reading.
The Bronte Sisters: Technically, not one person but I do love a good Bronte. Like Christie, I revisit the novels of these Yorkshire sisters regularly and every time I re-read a story I get something new out of it which is no mean feat. Furthermore, Emily Bronte's
Wuthering Heights was the first novel that I fell in love with. Although I have many issues with the story now it always will have such a special place in my heart. Also, remind me to show you my collection of Bronte novels one day; it is extensive.
Favourite Book(s)*
Jean Rhys,
Wide Sargasso Sea:
This is Rhys' response to
Jane Eyre written about (spoiler alert) Rochester's first wife Bertha and details the marriage and honey-moon of the couple in the West Indies.
I read this in my first year of uni and loved it. Loved reading it, studying it, and writing about it. I can't say this is the kind of favourite that I read and re-read in its entirety but there are a few parts that I go back to again and again. The way Rhys writes is so emotive and powerful. She perfectly captures the emotional turmoil of the characters in her story.
Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs,
And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks:
This novel fictionalises a real-life murder that one of Kerouac and Burroughs' friends committed when they were young and in New York. It is the same story that the film
Kill Your Darlings covers.
Such a good book. Such an interesting story. Kerouac and Burroughs take on the persona of a single person and alternate those perspectives from chapter to chapter. I really love that you can see the budding styles/ voices of both Kerouac and Burroughs in this novel (which is more of a novella in length). It's the kind of book that puts a spell on you and you almost feel like you've woken from a dream when you finish the last page.
Christina Stead,
The Man Who Loved Children
One of the great underrated classics of the modern era. The story follows a poor family - the Pollits - as they struggle with one another and trying to improve their situation after the head of the family, Sam, loses his job.
O.K. that brief plot description does not do this book justice. I honestly recommend this novel to anyone and everyone. It isn't the easiest book to read, in fact, I hated it the first time I read it. It wasn't until I studied it as a part of a uni course that I was able to appreciate just how amazing it is and I have since re-read it and loved it completely. What makes the novel hard to get through is the fairly slow-moving plot and the way that Stead writes the speech of her characters phonetically (though, trust me, there is a point to it all). It is really a fantastic book about growing up and discovering your own voice and writing your own story. Plus, Sam Pollit is one of the most diabolic characters to ever be written and his exchanges with his wife Henny leap of the page and punch you in the gut.
Favourite Stores
I do love a good bookstore!
Online: Book Depository (who else?) -
www.bookdepository.com
Real Life: Scorpio Books -
http://www.scorpiobooks.co.nz/
Scorpio Books is a local store of mine, and is not a chain but it does ship internationally from the website. I always enjoy going into the store. They have great editions of classics, lesser-known authors, the staff are really helpful, and they have nice cozy chairs scattered around the place.
Bonus online store (just for fun): Good Books -
http://www.usegoodbooks.com/
Not the greatest selection or the most competitive pricing BUT free delivery and all profits go to Oxfam.
Anyway I think I've hit you with enough information for today. Congratulations if you made it this far, I'm sure you are a rare breed.
Happy reading, I'll be back soon (maybe with pictures - oh, the excitement of it all).
xoxo
*at the moment. Far from an extensive list. In no particular order.
