I love to read. I read slowly but surely. I have learned in recent years to just put down a book which doesn't interest me and not waste my precious time reading something I simply don't like. I love to read a lot of different types of books but generally nothing too blokey (Tom Clancy or Lee Child) and I'm suspicious of very prolific authors- often unwarranted. I often read a book after I've seen the film and probably because of that have been known to like a film version better. I like to judge books by covers- a quirky cover interests me more than a pretty garden scene with butterflies. I think chick-lit is under-rated (my faves have been Sophie Kinsella, Emily Giffin and, of course, Marian Keyes) but understand it's not for everybody. In the past year I have LOVED Ian McEwan's Atonement (but will never watch the film adaptation because of the casting) and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. I also discovered Margaret Atwood and have since decided she is my favourite author of all time. Prior to her it was Susan Howatch for about 15 years so you see, I'm not fickle. I have also adored John Steinbeck since I had to read Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath in school. Books I have cast aside this year because they either bored or disappointed me was headed up by Marina Lewycka's A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian and Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong. Books I've thrown against the wall have been Sue Monk Kidd's nauseatingly sentimental tome, The Secret Life of Bees and most other titles from the "inspirational" genre. I have not read the last Harry Potter yet.
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