Updated on November 15, 2015
Review: Spectacles by Sue Perkins
Those of you addicted to The Great British Bake Off will know Sue Perkins as one of the two presenters of this hit show. I am not a fan, watching people cook while delving into their personal lives just isn’t for me.
I remember Sue and Mel from day time TV shows Light Lunch and Late Lunch when I was too young to really understand what they were doing. My sister and I adored them. Then, to my young girlish delight, Sue teamed up with Giles Coren and created some of the funniest food-based TV I have ever seen – literally – as part of the Supersizers. It still makes me cackle today.
So, if I were to ever spend £9.99 on an ebook, it would be for Sue.
“This, my first ever book, will answer questions such as ‘Is Mary Berry real?’, ‘Is it true you wear a surgical truss?’ and ‘Is a non-spherically symmetric gravitational pull from outside the observable universe responsible for some of the observed motion of large objects such as galactic clusters in the universe?’
Most of this book is true. I have, of course, amplified my more positive characteristics in an effort to make you like me.
Thank you for reading.”
I’ll be honest with you, I felt a bit flat reading Spectacles. For which I feel awful, I may as well be saying that her life bored me. The series of events that lead to me being able to read this book created little more of a spark of interest.
I’m a horrible person.
No one can doubt Sue is funny, and her parents sound even more hilarious (I probably have the same ability to catastrophise as her mother). I loved hearing about her friendship with Mel and working with Giles. Really the only unfortunate aspect of the book is that I wasn’t getting to read more about what I wanted to know, and considering Sue did not write this book especially for me I am merely being selfish. (And ridiculous wanting to know about the life of someone I don’t know.)
So slightly fairly interesting it may have been, but Sue, it’s me, not you.
Do you ever feel bad when you don’t love, or get what you want, from a book?
Updated on November 12, 2015
My Favourite Books From: Pushkin Press
I don’t usually pay attention to what publishing house publishes what. (Because lazy.) However, a lot of interesting new fiction reaches me via blogs and yearly awards, so I want to make an attempt to: a) find out what else is out from the people who publish some of my favourite books and b) be more aware.
Thus in the spirit of this exploration I thought I would share some of my favourite books from various publishers and new books I think I will enjoy.
Now when I thought of this idea and decided to begin with Pushkin Press I thought, ‘oh, I’ve read loads of there’s, they’re great!’. Turns out I’ve read only two. Awkward. So I’ve split this post between the books I’ve read, and happened to have loved – and the ones I would like to read. I should probably give this a bit more thought next time, but at least this is a wonderful opportunity to explore their catalogue.
“Pushkin Press was founded in 1997, and publishes novels, essays, memoirs, children’s books—everything from timeless classics to the urgent and contemporary.
Our books represent exciting, high-quality writing from around the world.” Pushkin Press.
The ones I’ve read:
- The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
- In the Beginning Was the Sea by Tomás González, Frank Wynne (Translation)
And then the one’s I can’t wait to read:
- The Nutcracker and the Strange Child by E. T. A. Hoffmann
- Before the Feast by Saša Stanišic
- The Librarian by Mikhail Elizarov
- The Silence and The Roar by Nihad Sirees
What’s your favourite Pushkin book?
