Savvy Book – The Universe Versus Alex Woods

Disclaimer: If you choose, via this  post,  to purchase the featured book, I will receive a commission from Waterstones.

A story that begins at its ending, with a seventeen-year-old boy called Alex, being arrested at customs for trying to re-enter his home country with a dead man on his passenger seat! The suspense is built up by the weird situation Alex finds himself in, when the reader starts to question why the interrogators are more interested in the marijuana in Alex’s glove compartment than they are in the deceased.

Time shifts, and the rest of the book, The Universe Versus Alex Woods, takes the reader back to Alex’s childhood and details a strong friendship that Alex forges with an elderly man called Mr Peterson. Alex is a bit of loner, and Mr Peterson a Vietnam War survivor and Amnesty International supporter. Alex finds a humanity in Mr Peterson, sadly lacking in some of his bully-boy peers, as the two work together writing letter to convicts ‘wrongly imprisoned – on spurious charges’ (p.120).

Serious issues, such as the bullying and also of terminal illness, are treated with sensitivity and humour by the author, Gavin Extence, and I particularly enjoyed the following analogy between prisoners and school students:

‘They were good people who’d been locked away and denied their most basic human rights. They weren’t allowed to act according to their consciences or even to express their opinions without fear of persecution and physical reprisals – although Mr Peterson doubted very much that I could imagine what that was like. I told Mr Peterson that since I went to secondary school, I though I could imagine it fairly well.’ (p.120)

Mr Peterson provides Alex with an alternative world, an escape, albeit temporarily, from the realities of a bog-standard-one-fits-all education, in which the differences that make us all human are often quashed. So it seems fitting when, in turn, Alex, pumped up on ‘adrenaline’, assists his friend in escaping from the confines of a hospital ward staffed by humourless nurses.

Maybe you’ve worked out for yourself, by now, how the beginning of the story marries up with the ending, or maybe you haven’t. Either way, then this book should be next on your agenda, as I’ve only revealed a very small sample of all the laughs in store!

 

Copyright owned by Jay Cool, July 2019

 

Savvy Letter – Dear Bannatyne

Savvy Book – Fuse

Savvy Poem – Towyn

Savvy Book – The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

food-3060458_1920

Are you so in tune with the emotions of the people around you that, far from being savvy, you suffer from extreme anxiety? It’s bad enough to come over in all-consuming waves of worry over how someone else might feel about what someone else said, or even worse about what you said – you know, when the thing that you said came out all wrong, and you realised it could have been misinterpreted!

All of that over-thinking stuff by an over-thinker is bad enough, but imagine if all you had to do was to eat an item of food, to experience all of the emotions and traumatic memories of the someone who cooked it. So why not stick to factory-processed food? I hear you ask. It’s all made by robots, nowadays, isn’t it? But, what if your senses were so astute that you could even track the last thoughts of the operator who flicked on the robot’s power supply?

Would you be gifted, or cursed?

As Rosie, the central character of Aimee Bender’s novel, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cakes, discovers, being able to involuntarily feel the emotions of her family and friends, and even the local sandwich-maker, is a curse. To have a mouthful of a delicious lemon and chocolate cake ruined by ‘the taste of smallness, the sensation of shrinking, of upset’ (p.10), in short, of the anxiety felt by the mother who baked it, is hardly going to enhance Rosie’s experience of childhood – years in which a young girl should be carefree and happy, unburdened by the worries of the adult world.

The story is beautifully written but, whereas I find Rosie’s ability to feel what she eats, not totally beyond the boundaries of the believable, I find the parallel story of her brother’s ability to become one with an inanimate object (in this case, a chair), although fascinating, far less convincing.* To me, the two stories, and the skills of the two siblings,  don’t really connect.

Is it plausible that sibling DNA, from the same mother and father, could produce a daughter who reads minds through food and a son who can turn himself into a folding chair? Could the author have brought in a little more dosh by saving the second idea for a separate novel?

Copyright owned by Jay Cool, July 2018
Waterstones

Image by Moira Nazzari from Pixabay

*I myself can read minds, through the books I read (really!), and something tells me that Aimee Bender, like myself, was once a big fan of Enid Blyton’s ‘Wishing Chair’ series!

P.S. Inspired by Amiee Bender and Enid Blyton, I felt compelled to offer one of my silly-savvy poems to the ‘chair’ genre. If you too, aspire to be an author, but sometimes find it difficult to get going, I might be able to help.

Savvy Book – Switched

Amanda Hockings ‘Switched’ (available at Waterstones) is a must-read if, like myself, you are a bitter and twisted old person, still with a chip on your shoulder about the sibling who, many eons ago,  insisted that you were an unwanted changeling!

The novel centres around the character of Wendy, the troublesome daughter of a supposed mother who despises her so much that she attempts to dispose of her – courtesy of a kitchen knife.

Thankfully, Wendy’s not quite a reincarnation of Cinderella, as her human-world older brother and aunt, adore her. These attachments do, however, beggar belief, as there’s not an awful lot to like about the childhood version of Wendy, who seems to expend an inordinate amount of energy upon temper tantrums over unwanted birthday presents and food!

But, if the reader thinks all will be well with mother-daughter relationships when Wendy discovers that she is really a troll, and catches up with her biological mother, they are disappointed. As far as mothers are concerned, Wendy seems to be doomed.

Switched is only the first book in a trilogy, so I’m going to have to read the others to find out whether all of the evil surrounding Wendy’s upbringing turns out to all be for the good in the long run. Hence, I’m about to troll through Amazon to order copies of Torn and Ascend, but for those of you who’d like a long read, you can always order a copy of the complete trilogy and save yourself a few pennies for another rainy day.

With the way the plot is going so far, I’m predicting a love-triangle-type scenario, with similarities to the Katniss-Peeta-Gale triage of the ‘Hunger Games’ series.

This is fantasy/adventure novel that will appeal to fans of ‘Twilight’, Hunger Games, ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’.

As for the age of the audience, then I imagine that the author was aiming for a teenage market, but as I’m well into my middle-age, and read all of the aforesaid books, well-past the age of forty, then:

‘Whatever your age, adventures are good for you – so blow out your candles.’ (Bev Williams, in ‘Let’s Not Age; Let’s Just Marinate’)

And, with this in mind, then I’m about to cast of my shoes and, in the style of a troll, run, bare-footed, across the wildlands of Chilton. Who knows, perhaps, I will find a suitable tree for perching in – once my copy of Torn arrives.

In other words, fellow-oldies, escape from the washing-up – and get reading!

Copyright of review owned by Jay Cool, July 2019

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Savvy Book -The Lost Boy

Savvy Book – The Marble Collector

Savvy Books – Not Yet Wall

Savvy Book – The List of My Desires

A beautiful book, authored by Gregoire Delacourt, and designed to make me view the mass of buttons scattered all over my Sprog’s bedroom carpet, in a different, ever-so-slightly-more-positive light!

Jocelyne, the main character in ‘The List of My Desires’, makes a meagre living running her own haberdashery shop and blogging about the odds and ends that make women happy.

The story begins with the sentence: ‘We’re always telling ourselves lies.’ (p.1)

And this uncompromising statement, neatly sums up the whole sorry tale, as Jocelyne tries to convince herself of the worthiness of her husband, whilst dropping regular hints to her readers that all is not quite as perfect as she makes out.

‘I am happy with Jo’, translates to the reader as I am not happy with Jo, as the man who once told her she ‘was beautiful’ is revealed as a foul-mouthed bully.

Jocelyne gets the win that every woman in an abusive relationship dreams of – a lottery ticket fortune! The means by which to get out into the wider world and to follow her own dreams. But, does she do it?

Or do the ‘lies’ continue?

I would hate to given you so many spoilers that you’ll never again set foot inside a haberdashery! (A what? Yes, there are still some specialist shops that have yet to be gobbled up by the supermarket giants!)

So I won’t!

Instead, I am going to start on the grand task of wading through my sprog’s button collection. Who knows? Perhaps, each button has a different story to tell me for my blog!

Watch this space.

Copyright owned by Jay Cool, July 2019

Image by VictorianLady from Pixabay

 

Savvy Book -The Lost Boy

Savvy Book – Pure

Savvy Books – Not Yet Wall

Savvy Book – Season to Taste

 

A grisly (or gristly) tale, even for those with a taste for the hot stuff. This morning, I purchased a bumper 100g pack of Nacto’s ‘Crushed Chillies’ from Sainsburys. But, not even a bucket-load of the latter would be enough to persuade me to take a chance on Young’s ambitious plans for the diet of her main character, in her novel ‘Season to Taste’, Lizzie.

And, fortunately, my own kitchen knives, in spite of being bought from Sudbury’s poshest shop, Wynch & Blach (i.e. Sudbury’s only non-charity shop), are far too blunt and rusty, to be suitable for the task of ‘skinning fiddly bits’. Hence, I can save my chillies for the egg curry I’ll be cooking up this evening.

My eggs – another bargain from Sainsburys at 56p for half-a-dozen – are, at least, free range! Whereas Lizzie’s main ingredient has been caged-in and hen-pecked for years!

Lizzie is a complete nutter, with psychopathic tendencies akin to those of the character of Villanelle in the recent ‘Killing Eve‘ TV series. Sadly, if one is allowed to feel any kind of empathy with a murderer, Lizzie, middle-aged and with ‘dark-bruisy eyes’ and ‘heavy’ legs is a little less sexually appealing than her competitor. Still, one can’t have everything, can one?

And, rather worryingly, this particular middle-aged blogger, recognises a little too much of a Lizzie in herself in Lizzie’s No. 97 advisory:

‘Have the courage to go mad completely if that’s what it takes. Just let yourself feel whatever comes up as you go along.’ (p.104, Tinder Press edition)

This is pretty much the personal philosophy underpinning every word and action that I, Jay Cool, can possibly claim responsibility for.

Even so, in spite of this seriously good read, I’m sticking to the eggs!

 

Copyright owned by Jay Cool, July 2019

Image by Barbara Rosner from Pixabay

Savvy Books – Not Yet Wall

Savvy Book – The Girl With All The Gifts

Savvy Book – The Girl in Red

English & Proud?

post-box-363395_1920

 

Those batty English Democrats are surely pretty dim

To be living on an island when none of them can swim!

I can see them standing straight and proud,

all making such a din –

when global warming takes its toll

and the waves

come rolling in!

 

Copyright owned by Jay Cool, July 2019, who has felt less proud to be English since a leaflet landed on her ‘Welcome Home’ doormat, courtesy of the English Democrats!

Image by Siggy Nowak from Pixabay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outstanding

mermaid-2494555_1280

I stand out – a head above the rest,

tall and gangly, alien accent, orange crown, and more-than-a-little odd.

I stand above, and I stand out – florescent, illuminating, and alert.

I’m an amber sunset, full of the promise of a better tomorrow.

 

I alarm you.

 

A flashing-red siren cuts through your conscience.

You hammer my head down and push me out.

I stand on the outside and look back in

and I see you

just standing there, on your island, looking out          for

some inspiration – all

beacon-less and

spent.

And, at that moment, in the being out of it, and out of you, the truth astounds me –

I’m outstanding, and in the being of me, in all of my outstandingness, I was

much too much for you!

 

Copyright owned by Jay Cool, June 2019

 

Image by AndyFaeth from Pixabay

Savvy Book – The Age of Miracles

Karen Thompson Walker’s ‘The Age of Miracles’  is a disturbing tale, which brings to my mind Alfred Hitchcock‘s ‘The Birds’.

Birds clunk against windows in nightmarish scenarios; only, in Karen Thompson Walker’s story, the birds are dying – not multiplying!

I decide it’s likely not a good idea to share my thoughts on the book with my sprog; he’s obsessed with birds, and I suspect he knows more about them than the most studious of ornithologists.

A blue jay falls out of the sky, to meet it’s end on the wooden deck of a family’s garden. Caged birds, finches, become sleep-deprived and suffer slow deaths – never having known freedom. A dying sparrow is thrown over the lip of a canyon. A lone seagull brings a rare moment of joy to young nature lovers.

I finish the novel in a thoughtful mood, recalling yesterday’s news on Radio Suffolk, which featured householders, complaining about the seagulls spilling out the contents of their black bin liners. The author’s message, to me, is clear. Appreciate the natural world in all of its manifestations – make the most of all of life’s little irritations.

Listen to the cry of the seagull. Allow the sound to invoke the good times of our childhoods: the feel of the sand between toes, sharp-edged stones digging into the soles of bare feet, waves biting us with icy-coldness as we fill up our buckets with the sea.

Enjoy life. It’s short.

Fix the summerhouse, top up the bird-feeder, grab a deckchair, sit quietly – and observe.

Copyright owned by Jay Cool, June 2019

Image by Antonio Doumas from Pixabay

Savvy Book – The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen

Savvy Books – Old and Wise

Savvy Books – Not Yet Wall

Ruminating

orange-698534_1920

 

It’s a rum old deal, to have to empty out,

because, as thoughts do intrude and escalate,

I keep on writing – and I start to deflate!

But, the wind is so loud, when the last does escape

that, at that very point –

I terminate.

 

Copyright owned by Jay Cool, June 2019

 

Inspired by the wise words of:

CynthiaWeirr

‘Acknowledge Your Negative Thoughts By Writing Them Down’

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

45: Getting There!

So what’s happened in the interim? Where have posts 38 to 44 got to?

Well, that’s an easy question to answer – posts 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 are still in my ‘unpublished’ folder! At least, their titles or placeholders, are!

In short, then with my head stuffed up with the mumbo-jumbo of workplace politics, i.e. a mass of annoyances and grievances about the very existence of the mere concept of a workplace, I have for, over a week, been unable to write even a sentence.

Okay, so that’s a lie!

I did write a couple of lines, or a very short poem, called Obsolete: A Stand-Up Poem, but after that I fell into a long-nervous exhaustion, i.e. I went to work, came back home, worried about work, had nightmares about work, and went back to work, and did all of this on repeat – lots of times.

Okay, so that’s also a lie!

I did do the work stuff, but I also had four days when I wasn’t at work and, to be truthful (as always) I didn’t spend the whole of that time worrying about work. To worry about work for such a long period of time would be to give the workplace a status – in that, it would be to admit that it had ‘got to me’! And, of course, the workplace hasn’t got to me. If it had got to me, I wouldn’t now be in the process of getting it out of me!

Okay, so work did get to me – just a little bit!

But, it didn’t get to me loads. If it had, I wouldn’t be here now, writing this very important post for my readers. And, during those four days, I wouldn’t have done lots of Hinching and sorting. I wouldn’t have collected up every single writing stick in the house and sorted them all into assorted pots. And, my Cool lounge wouldn’t now look so colourful.

img_20190628_205826
A Small Sample of Jay Cool’s Pen Pots

To have such colours in one’s life, is to be be in the midst of a life (or a lounge) worth living in. And, today, in the midst of that life, I read and reviewed a book.

The Undertaking: Book Review

Books are life.

Copyright owned by Jay Cool, June 2019

 

P.S. Tomorrow, I will get around to filling in the gaps that are posts 38 to 44 … Honest! (Probably a lie!)