“Perhaps the most distubing book you will ever read”

Well, there is another rather sick piece of fiction that I have read previously (The Fermata) but I think this one edges it.  JG Ballard’s Crash was a bizarre adventure into the world of car crash fetishism. Not only are the characters themselves described in great detail but also the cars, in particularly crashed ones, become the objects of desire.  Thankfully a short book which I ultimately approached with an “I’ve started so I’ll finish” mentality. Not one for me. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure what possessed me to order it from Amazon’s second hand book shop…

I haven’t been doing very well at reading books already on my shelf. In fact, I seem to be working my way through my most recent purchases rather than dusting off those yellowing tomes on my shelves. I really REALLY should enforce the no book buying rule before I have made in serious dent in my current stock.  Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty was one such shiny new purchase, which kept be glued during my recent skiing trip. With a dodgy knee and in less than peak condition, the lure of the drama proved a distracting alternative to my belaboured skiing this year.  Cover to cover in 4 days is a bit of a recent record.

As chance would have it, I am now reading my second book this year set in a second hand book shop. Three Things You Need To Know About Rockets is an autobiography by Jessica Fox, and it first came across my bows through a magazine article about her transatlantic love story.  Itchy-footed, Jessica follows a recurring vision and finds herself in Wigtown, Scotland’s national book town, hosted by bookseller Euan. Cue kisses, and fireworks, etc etc. But I’m not quite finished with the book yet and there seems to be a “Houston, we have a problem” moment looming on the horizon for the couple. I’m eager to learn whether they pull off the unlikely romance or whether it falls to earth in a smoky fireball.

A short recap on other books read so far this year:
Canoeing the Congo by Phil Harwood
Close My Eyes by Sophie McKenzie
The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
Hand to Mouth: The Truth About Being Poor in a Wealthy World by Linda Tirado

Not quite managing the heady heights of my friend Claire’s two a week book challenge but pretty good going for me : )