NABM reads: Jon Richardson's 'It's Not Me, It's You: Impossible Perfectionist Seeks Very Very Very Tidy Woman'

Need a tea break after typing (or copying and pasting) that title in.

Anyhow, when I'm not stuffing my face stupid with all manners of bread, meat, seafood, everything (I don't discriminate), and when I'm not busy breaking the codes of this blog so lovingly fixed by the husband, or when I'm not spending more than I earn on things I don't need - I read.

Considering the other things I do in my free time, this works out at being the cheapest time-consuming activity I enjoy.

The most recent read - discovered through my following Jon Richardson (@ronjichardson) on Twitter, is the book whose title is listed in full glory in the post title above (no, I am NOT pasting it again here but you can get it on Amazon). (Picture shown here courtesy of Amazon.co.uk)

So far, I'm around 21% through the book (my Kindle measures these things - it has a complex).

Reading it has been almost like reading the book I wanted to write; only now I guess I won't have to write it anymore. Or get claim to the royalties.

Without giving the plot away (difficult seeing as I haven't completed the book), it's not an autobiography; rather, it's a current account of why and how Jon has been single for the last too-many-years and (I'm guessing) how he intends to change that status.

His writing style is honest beyond belief. I don't know how he manages to remain un-self-conscious in front of his '8 out of 10 cats' co-hosts (or whatever programme he's on) because surely that's like laid out all your deepest, darkest (perhaps slightly yellowish, even) secrets for all to see. If it's another honest book he wants to write, I'm not too sure where he can go from here. Surely there isn't a squeeze of honesty left to bare?

To give credit where credit is due - and it is very much due here - I respect him for allowing us to delve into his mindset for a mere £8.99 (Kindle edition - costs more, I don't know why). Although, it could be said that this is what authors do - they share their thoughts with you, in return for some moolah. Said thoughts could be fiction, mystery, contemporary romance, whatever - but share and share alike they do. And I guess this is what Jon is doing, although with possibly a lot more honesty than I've ever read in a book before.

You know how fun it is to sometimes, people-watch? I really enjoy those rare times when I get to sit in a cafe in Soho (it HAS to be in Soho), with a nice cuppa, just watching the people go by. And in Soho, they are usually colourful and very interesting. Reading this book was like people-watching, but taken to another level.

Guess you can tell I am liking the book so far. Once I'm done with the remaining 79%, I'll do an update. Maybe I might have gone off it half way through, but I very much doubt it.

UPDATE: I've finished the book - so I managed to get through the book within a day (it's not very thick). Just from that alone, you can tell I was quite gripped by it, and stayed up till way past midnight (on a weekday, check me out) to complete it. Conclusion?

Well, I'm the kind of person who likes Hollywood films simply because most of them have a happy ending. I also read all forms of rubbish chick-lits - all with happy endings. So if I were to read a book which was going to leave me going 'Er, and? Where's the happy ending?', I need some sort of prep first. Because I'd gone straight into this book from a chick-lit, I was still on the Hollywood route, so I was a little disappointed when I got to the end of the book, wondering where the happy ending was. But that is my stupidity and nothing to do with the book.

Jon maintains his writing style throughout the book and his honesty does not diminish for one page. By the end of the book, I felt as though I got to know him a little better. At the start, I felt as though he was just exaggerating (come on, how difficult can he be, he's a funny person!), but by the end of the book, I was beginning to empathise with just what he was trying to get us to understand in the first place. It's hard for me to explain anymore without giving anything away, so if you like this kinda stuff, go check it out.

Now to round it off with a stand-up session with the guy himself.

Book review - Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

Another update on what I've been reading, since I've not been eating an impressive amount lately.

So, when we had dinner with our friends in Assa a few weeks ago, one of them mentioned that she was reading the latest book by Amy Chua - well, I say latest, if you consider her other books about economic stuff fun reading. If not, this is her first book (I think) which I know about anyway - Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.

Anyhow, that sparked an interest, and the next few days, I read about this book more in the papers. There was quite a bit of controversy about the stuff she talked about - mainly about how she raised her 2 daughters, Sophia and Lulu.

So, while I was on Amazon, I decided to download a copy onto my Kindle, and began reading it sometime last week. On and off, reading roughly about 1/5th each time, I finished the book last night, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not so much because I agree with her (slightly) insania method of raising children, but more so because I found her writing to be completely, starkly (and sometimes to her own detriment), painfully honest.

I sympathised with, and understood (worryingly) where she was coming from and also 'got her' when she explained the foundations for her ways. We come from different continents, with different backgrounds, and she is definitely a (much, much) higher flyer than I am, but a lot of her views and opinions were things I'd either thought of myself before, or struck a chord with me when I read it in her book.

The fiance found it slightly annoying (and also worried slightly) whenever I'd put down the book, look at him, and tell him 'You know what she did?', to which he'd go 'What'. I'd then proceed to tell him all the shocking details about how she dealt with her kids, and the worrying bit was when I'd say to the fiance 'And I completely agree with her on that.'

Having not heard many good reviews about the book, he now thinks I can't be let loose around puppies, let alone children, for those crazy views I've expressed. Anyhow, the book must be good, don't you agree, to generate such waves around the child-rearing and literary world.

Check it out for yourself if you don't believe me.

Books I'm reading now

A little bit of spice to the usual variety of posts you get around here ...

As I'm usually writing about food, or all things food-related, how about we have something different for a change, and talk about what is on my Kindle. For those of you not in the know, the Kindle is the electronic reading device from Amazon, and I downloads lots of books from Amazon (Kindle format) into said Kindle - thus saving lots of space and weight in my bag.

This is NOT a paid post, by the way. No adverts, nothing. Just lacking in food posts, so I thought I'd fill it up somehow.

The Kindle holds about 3,500 books (I'll let you know when I get there, and if it does hold that many) but for now, I have about 25 - 30 sitting in there, waiting to be read.

The good thing about the Kindle is that if you happen to be reading a particularly crummy book (and you do get those now and again), I can just stop reading it and move on to the next yummy one. With real books, there's the whole thing of being on the Tube, and not having an alternative book to read, so you just end up reading th adverts like some zombied out commuter staring into space.

Or try to solve the guy-next-to-you's puzzle before he gets to it.

Anyhow, I've just finished reading my favourite book of the year (granted, I'm sure there are many good books out there, I just haven't found them so far). What is this book? I couldn't put it down the moment I started - but had to. Like, during meal times, at work, etc. but whenever I was free, I just HAD to get back to the book, to kinda imagine what the author was trying to say.

The book is 'Room' by Emma Donoghue (Kindle version £2.51).

I won't spoil the reading for anyone who's interested by telling you the whole plot, but basically it tells the story from the viewpoint of a 5 year-old boy called Jack. He's been in Room all his life, and the story tells you why and how he got there, and basically what happens from then on.

I absolutely loved the book, and had to tell the fiance what I'd read each day. You know a book is a good book when you almost feel upset upon completing it, because, what am I going to read after that?