This Charming Man

One of the things I promised to do this year was to read more ..... wait! Don't I make that resolution every year? Perhaps.

Anyway, with much excitement I finished my latest read This Charming Man by Marian Keyes. This was not a difficult read by any means, but those usual demons of no time, misplaced priorities (read: too much time spent aimlessly surfing) and no time reared their ugly heads. And I had selected this book, because I figured that light-hearted reading was the perfect antidote to a schedule bursting with other activities.

Well, to an extent, it was. It was very easy and engaging reading that I had no problem picking off where I left off - even after not reading it for over a week. Like most bestsellers, it was a page-turner and I was hooked into the storyline from the first chapter. A couple of years ago, I worried about my new-found interest in chick lit at the expense of my more serious books. I don't worry about that anymore; I'm just enjoying reading more regularly. And besides, I'm reading a lot more for work, so I suppose there is some kind of diversity.

Now, I'm reading a Christian romance - What a Girl Wants by Kristin Billerbeck. The first one I read a few years ago, Boaz Brown by Michelle Stimpson was quite good - unexpectedly so. So, I'm hoping this one is a good read.

My Foray into ChickLit

Isn't it nice to be disproved on some belief that you have held onto so steadfastly for so many years? Well, perhaps not always, but sometimes it makes for such a cool suprise.

I've always dismissed ChickLit as exactly what it is portrayed to be: light, fluffy and frivolous. I've always tended to dismiss the people who read them similarly. "Why do they read such trashy, easy nonsense?" I've pondered time and time again. "Don't they want something more challenging to read? Don't they want their minds exposed to new worlds and ideas, instead of sticking to books that feeds you stories based on the same tired topics you talk to your girlfriends about day-in, day-out?"

Well, perhaps now I am one of those light, fluffy, frivolous ladies. Or perhaps I've always been and wanted to see myself so much as serious, totally no-nonsense and intellectual. LOL! Or perhaps, more plausibly, it's something we all like to indulge in from time to time.

I've been pretty busy with work and life for the last few months. It's been so bad that the only things I tend to read these days are magazines. When I have managed to complete books, they have tended to be on topics related to work or my post 9-to-5 interests (technology and gender, non profits, etc). I could feel myself slowly morphing into those staid people who only read books related to their jobs, business, making money, becoming a better/kinder/more confident/more fully actualised person or ............. (you can fill in the blanks - you know books of this ilk). In short, I was only reading books "for a purpose" - I am sure you know what I mean.

Anyway, a colleague of mine gave me a book to read (it's been so long since someone just gave me a book to read out of the blue without me asking for it, or without even their knowing that I normally love to read). I looked at the book somewhat doubtfully, while she assured me that it was a really good read. It was Tuesday's Child by Louise Bagshawe. It was an easy read, I'll say that much and kind of interesting. Overall though, it was just okay. I returned it to its owner, reassured that my feelings about this genre of soft literature was entirely justified.

Then she gave me Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes. Phew! What a fabulous writer, is all that I can say. And so funny too! The themes are definitely girly: men, men, sex, friends, men, work and more men. But her writing was so wickedly funny and her observations of people so on-point. LCS was also an easy read, as I wolfed down the pages in record time (reading and finishing a book in small slices of time spread over 4 weeks is a record for me these days, okay?). Now, I remember why I read so many books as a girl. Aside from that fact that I had a laser-like ability to concentrate (which is now strangely gone), the books weren't very difficult to read.

I suppose until my life gets a lot less harried, I will be indulging in more chicklit. Who has time to start the same Doris Lessing book three times and still only be in Chapter 2? Err... okay perhaps I do - I can't imagine a life without my fav authors (or potential new favs) - even though I cannot be fully present in our love affair right now (I feel like a thoroughly uncommited boyfriend right now). The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is sitting on my bookshelf right now, staring at me and willing me to pick it up. Changes by Ama Ata Aidoo, which I came close to starting, has totally given up on me. Feminist Theory by bell hooks, which I started in December 2005 and am still yet to finish, is just glaring at me with utter derision.

Okay, okay, please don't look at me like that. I'll get to you all one day soon, I promise. Well, sometime before I turn 40. Or at least before I start having children. Okay, failing that, I will share my golden years with you. It's a promise.