What I'm reading ...

I have started Windswept & Interesting by Billy Connolly. I always enjoy autobiography and likewise enjoy Billy Connolly, so what’s not to like? Here’s the blurb:

Born in a tenement flat in Glasgow in 1942, orphaned by the age of 4, and a survivor of appalling abuse at the hands of his own family, Billy's life is a remarkable story of success against all the odds.

Billy found his escape first as an apprentice welder in the shipyards of the River Clyde. Later he became a folk musician - a 'rambling man' - with a genuine talent for playing the banjo. But it was his ability to spin stories, tell jokes and hold an audience in the palm of his hand that truly set him apart.

As a young comedian Billy broke all the rules. He was fearless and outspoken - willing to call out hypocrisy wherever he saw it. But his stand-up was full of warmth, humility and silliness too. His startling, hairy 'glam-rock' stage appearance - wearing leotards, scissor suits and banana boots - only added to his appeal.

It was an appearance on Michael Parkinson's chat show in 1975 - and one outrageous story in particular - that catapulted Billy from cult hero to national star. TV shows, documentaries, international fame and award-winning Hollywood movies followed. Billy's pitch-perfect stand-up comedy kept coming too - for over 50 years, in fact - until a double diagnosis of cancer and Parkinson's Disease brought his remarkable live performances to an end. Since then he has continued making TV shows, creating extraordinary drawings... and writing.

Black Vodka: Ten Stories - by Deborah Levy

A short book, so it didn’t take long. Although I am reticent about short stories, I think this is a superb example of the form. Each one was complete and was a short story simply because the author writes with such great economy. There were a few subtle, common threads between some of the stories; so subtle that I wondered about whether they were actually intended.

What I'm reading ...

I have started Black Vodka: Ten Stories by Deborah Levy. I am not generally a fan of short stories - I like to get my teeth stuck into a good book - but it’s good to have a change and this author comes recommended. Here’s the blurb:

Kissing you is like new paint and old pain. It is like coffee and car alarms and a dim stairway and a stain and it's like smoke.' ('Placing a Call') How does love change us? And how do we change ourselves for love - or for lack of it? Ten stories by acclaimed author Deborah Levy explore these delicate, impossible questions. In Vienna, an icy woman seduces a broken man; in London gardens, birds sing in computer start-up sounds; in ad-land, a sleek copywriter becomes a kind of shaman. These are twenty-first century lives dissected with razor-sharp humour and curiosity, stories about what it means to live and love, together and alone.

Untamed: Stop Pleasing, Start Living - by Glennon Doyle

I very rarely give up on a book, but, with this one, I came close. My main gripe was repetition, as with many American self-help books, the author has some great ideas but bangs on about them repetitively. She also claims to be a feminist, but initially I found her writing very sexist. I decided to give it a fair chance and make the call at 100 pages.

When I got that far, two things had changed. Firstly, she seemed to finally admit that many things that she had seen as challenges that only women experience are not really that gender specific. Second, she started talking a lot more about her life and experiences, which I found much more interesting.

Overall, I still feel that there is a great 125 page book in here. I think that her insights and ideas will stay with me.