What I'm reading...

I have started Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth. Having enjoyed the TV programme, which I understand was an enormous success, and been recommended the books by others, this seemed a good choice. Here is the blurb:

Jennifer Worth came from a sheltered background when she became a midwife in the Docklands in the 1950s. The conditions in which many women gave birth just half a century ago were horrifying, not only because of their grimly impoverished surroundings, but also because of what they were expected to endure. But while Jennifer witnessed brutality and tragedy, she also met with amazing kindness and understanding, tempered by a great deal of Cockney humour. She also earned the confidences of some whose lives were truly stranger, more poignant and more terrifying than could ever be recounted in fiction. Attached to an order of nuns who had been working in the slums since the 1870s, Jennifer tells the story not only of the women she treated, but also of the community of nuns (including one who was accused of stealing jewels from Hatton Garden) and the camaraderie of the midwives with whom she trained. Funny, disturbing and incredibly moving, Jennifer's stories bring to life the colourful world of the East End in the 1950s.

A Week in December - by Sebastian Faulks

This was a reasonably big book, which might have daunted me if I hadn't got it as an e-book. As it was, the book, whilst challenging, kept me turning the pages.

There is quite a large number of characters, whose lives we follow through a seven day period. Lots of things happening in parallel, with various links between them, which are sometimes known to the characters, but often they are unaware. I enjoyed the challenge of following all the threads.

Some particular points:

• There was someone who was going to get an OBE from the Queen. He got a letter signed "You obedient servant". He visualization the Queen discussing the award with the PM and saying "Send for the Obedient Servant and command him to dispatch a letter". I liked this picture.
• I thought that the description of financial stuff, like short selling etc., was clear and interesting.
• The Veal family is very disfunctional. I do wonder what the daughter is up to. There is a strong drug message from the story of their son.
• There are interesting parallels drawn between Islam, Adam's schizophrenic world and Jenni's online game.
• I think that every character has a near-miss with a bicycle with no lights. This was an interesting link, but I do not know what it might mean. A metaphor for the fragility of life perhaps?

What I'm reading.

I have started A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks. This is the next book selected by the members of my book club. An interesting contrast to the last book I read. Here's the blurb:

London, the week before Christmas, 2007. Over seven days we follow the lives of seven major characters: a hedge fund manager trying to bring off the biggest trade of his career; a professional footballer recently arrived from Poland; a young lawyer with little work and too much time to speculate; a student who has been led astray by Islamist theory; a hack book-reviewer; a schoolboy hooked on skunk and reality TV; and a Tube train driver whose Circle Line train joins these and countless other lives together in a daily loop.

With daring skill, the novel pieces together the complex patterns and crossings of modern urban life. Greed, the dehumanising effects of the electronic age and the fragmentation of society are some of the themes dealt with in this savagely humorous book. The writing on the wall appears in letters ten feet high, but the characters refuse to see it - and party on as though tomorrow is a dream.

Sebastian Faulks probes not only the self-deceptions of this intensely realised group of people, but their hopes and loves as well. As the novel moves to its gripping climax, they are forced, one by one, to confront the true nature of the world they inhabit.

The Hunger Games - by Suzanne Collins

I read this book after a strong recommendation from someone, who immediately went on to read the second and third books in the trilogy. I, too, will be reading those before too long. Although quite a long book and, apparently, aimed at "young adult" readers, I found it a gripping read, which I had trouble putting down. Although aspects of the end of the story are somewhat predictable, there are plenty of details and twists and turns in the story that kept me intrigued.

The story takes place in a dystopic society in post-apocalyptic North America at some indefinite time in the future. I suppose it is a kind of science fiction/fantasy, but the most important story element is the characters. It is really about the ultimate TV reality game show - kind of "I'm Not a Celebrity, Get One of US Out of Here Alive". I was interested in the various Roman references: words like "tribute" and "capitol" and the concept of games to the death as entertainment.

I look forward to the movie, which is due to be released next month. I did not look at the trailer before reading the book, but, having seen it now, I am optimistic.