Bookish Ramblings & My Latest Reads

As a student, it is not always easy to find a lot of time to read the books that are on my ever-growing to-be-read pile. If I’m not reading something out of choice, it will normally be something associated with an essay that I’m undergoing for my course at university. This often includes academic based books which I’ve scanned the library for and thereafter embellished with many a post-it note, enabling me to keep track of quotes and ideas to integrate into an essay. While this may seem a rather strenuous task, I have come to realise that academic books have been effective in enhancing my vocabulary in general and rewarded my ability to consolidate ideas more coherently. But this isn’t at all too discredit fiction’s ability to stimulate the mind and illuminate the imagination.

Anyway, as of late, I have read a few books which are;

J.K Rowling’s The Order of the Pheonix

This took me a little longer to read than usual, but it was enjoyable all the same. It was my first time reading it, although I am undeniably a big Harry Potter enthusiast, I had only ever read the first four books. I am more eager to read the next book- The Half-Blood Prince, as it one of my favourite films out of the franchise.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

I have for a few years now been a Sherlock fanatic, discovered through watching the popular BBC series, Sherlock. However, I would say that reading the original stories has certainly expedited my enthusiasm. The Memoirs is the fourth book in the series and is ever filled with short stories of murder, crime and political intrigue. It is also in this book that a certain infamous ‘Napoleon of crime’ appears. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is one of my most favoured writers of fiction, and I can’t recommend his work enough. I am currently reading The Hound of the Baskervilles, the next book in the series at the moment.

Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories

Originally, I was looking at some of the short stories from this book as part of my research for an essay I was writing on fairy tales during my most recent semester at university. Carter’s work is mainly gothic in nature, and she most notoriously takes centuries-old fairy tales and gives them a rather grotesque and some would argue post-feminist twist. I wasn’t too found on her style of writing so I probably won’t be rushing to read more of her work. Nonetheless, It was refreshing to read something of a different nature than what I usually would pursue.

Linwood Barclay’s Clouded Vision

My decision to read this short novel is definitely proportionate to my mother’s rather recurrent and arguably non-discreet suggestions. I think she would agree with me on this when I say that Barclay is one of her most admired authors. Now I can’t deny that I was somewhat curious to see what all of the fuss was about, so I read this short story of his to get a taster of his work. The story is basically about a woman who goes missing at the bottom of a lake, and I can’t really say anymore without giving it away. Clouded Vision was fast-paced in nature and was undeniably a gripping read, so I am definitely open to reading more of Barclay’s thrillers.

Thank you for reading!

I would love to hear any comments or recommendations!

🙂

The Cacophony of Ignorance: A Short Story

‘Don’t you think it’s exceptional?’ Pete was sat at an almost full coffee bar when he asked this question. And when I say asked, I mean he more like yelled it for the whole of the coffee house to hear, and it was certainly loud enough to prevent the young man on his right from hearing what his business associate was saying on the other end of the phone.

No one answered Pete, so he yelled it again. This time with an even bigger grin on his face, in his attempt at creating a friendly exterior, despite his loud tone. ‘I SAID, DON’T YOU THINK IT’S EXCEPTIONAL?’

The customers probably thought he was high, or drunk from the night before. And again, no one answered. Maybe it was because he didn’t have the cleanest shirt on, and his hair was kind of muffled from when he removed his beanie hat just before he entered the building. Maybe he wasn’t being bold enough, people these days tended to be so engrossed in their mobile phones, they’d rather walk into a lampost than look up. Or maybe his volume was simply no match for the endless whirs created by the coffee machine, the blending of crushed ice, the constant line of voices ordering an array of different types of coffee, most from rushing commuters. Pete’s question was perhaps not a strong contender for the cacophony of his coffee-infused surroundings.

When he was almost out of hope of receiving a response, a girl, who appeared to be no more than ten years old, approached Pete. She asked if she could try on his beanie hat, and Pete obliged. She then opened her mustard coloured drawstring bag, and pulled out a collection of items; an mp3 player and earphones, a pair of earmuffs and a pair of woolen mittens. Pete perplexedly stared at the girl, baffled as to why she had come across to him. She put the earphones in, pressed play and ensured the mp3 player was at a sufficient volume.Next she put on her ear muffs and woolen mittens, and then began to look at Pete expectantly. ‘Hi, can I help you?’ Pete was obtaining a much more soft and quieter tone of voice now. Did she hear him? Pete remembered she had her earphones in, so probably not. He began to look around awkwardly, where where her parents anyway? Then suddenly she stepped on a bar stool as to match Pete in height, being less than five foot tall herself, and placed her hands over her ears. They were now staring right at each other.

Frozen in a state of confusion, Pete didn’t say anything nor did he attempt to move. The girl then said,’I want to hear your question, kind sir.’ So Pete once again said it, although half-heartedly as she surely couldn’t hear him anyway under her music, his beanie hat and her earmuffs.

‘Do you want to know what I think is exceptional? That even though I have music playing in my ears at what is probably an unhealthy amount of decibels, and ear muffs on, that I still heard exactly what you just said? No one in here was listening to you, nor were they going to acknowledge you either because these people are not in this moment, they’re ahead. They’re too busy worrying about getting to work on time, worrying about taking an ‘Instagram worthy’ photo of their coffee, worrying about what they’re going to cook their kids for tea. Thinking ahead,don’t you see kind sir? It’s always ahead’

And in that moment the girl vanished.

Pete walked out of the coffee house and hoped that his pursuit of finding communication would be fulfilled elsewhere.

 

 

This post was inspired by the Daily Prompt: Exceptional