June Reads

Fifty Shades Trilogy - E L James

I don't know if there is much I can say about the 50 Shades books that hasn't already been said, but I did manage to resist them for as long as I could until curiosity got the better of me!  I much preferred the first two books to the third which I felt dragged somewhat and I did find all of the books rather unrealistic, but I guess that is the point of them really!  A somewhat guilty pleasure and very different from what I would usually read, but I felt I needed to read them to form an opinion on them!

Railsea - China Mieville

Again, very different from my normal reading, this book is essentially a retelling of the story of Moby Dick, but in a future world where water has all but disappeared and instead is replaced by rail tracks. Focusing on a boy named Sham, the novel is essentially a cross between a coming-of-age and an adventure tale, but it is so much more than that and to try to describe it in a brief paragraph would not do it justice.  It is marketed as a Young Adult book but I found the themes quite complex and it certainly reads more like an adult novel.  If you like to be transported to another world that you can easily lose yourself in for hours, I can thoroughly recommend it.  I have also enjoyed one of Mieville's past novels The City & The City, which is on a similar theme.

It's All News To Me - Jeremy Vine

I'm really interested in broadcasting and journalism, and I this autobiography of the Radio 2 presenter, Jeremy Vine, appealed as it gives a behind the scenes look of what goes on in TV and radio news and presenting.  Differing from many autobiographies, it skims over the early years of his childhood and gets straight into the gossip and stories from his life at the BBC, from his beginnings in journalism as  a political correspondent to his current job on Radio 2 (and yes, I am old listening to Radio 2!).  I liked how informal the book was in its tone and it was a very easy, quick read.  If you are interested in journalism or politics I would strongly recommend it. 

Have you read any of these books?  

If you have read any of the 50 Shades books, what did you think of them?