Six by Six Book Challenge - July to December 2019

My second six by six book challenge was just as rewarding as the first. I would strongly recommend reading fiction if you need some deep escapism in your life. The following are my six related book reviews.

​We have always lived in the castle by Shirley Jackson

This is a strange little book concerning sisters Constance and Merrycat and the strange little lives they live. I wasn't sure if I was reading about ghosts or real live people, the sisters and the big house they inhabit become more mystical as the story wears on. There is an interesting essay on the story and its author at the end of the book, written by Joyce Carol Oates. It makes me think that Shirley Jackson was as strange and sad as the stories she created.

Dark Matter by Michele Paver

This book is what it says on the tin. It is a dark and disturbing read. I read it at the height of summer; I thought it would help me cope with the excess of light and heat. The book is mostly set in the arctic winter, with four moths of cold and darkness. The book is quite horrible in places. I read it in the mornings. I can imagine it would be much scarier reading it at night.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

I read this after being so taken with the film. I think the film is funnier, but the book is intriguing and entertaining. It is written in first person so you can really connect with R, the zombie at the heart of the action. He falls in love with a human girl called Julie, there is even a balcony scene, you can definitely see Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' shining through the zombie apocalypse.

Wabi-Sabi by Francesc Miralles

I read this book while on holiday in Eastbourne, while taking a break from Cloud Atlas. It is quite a light read, although there is a tone of sadness and disappointment in it. Wabi-Sabi is a Japanese philosophical concept which embraces life's imperfection, impermanence and incompleteness in alignment with nature. The book livens up when Samuel's Japanese adventure begins and he starts living this new philosophy in real life.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

I enjoyed this film enormously, but it took me two attempts to read the book. The first time I found it too difficult, but the second time I seemed to understand it all quite perfectly. The book comprises of six stories arranged in a kind of pyramid structure so you sort of end up back where you started. The first story involves slavery and a sea voyage, the second is a series of letters from the 1930s, the third a 1970s political mystery, the fourth a contemporary story involving an old people's home, the fifth a futuristic interrogation and the sixth a post-apocalyptic tale. All in all it is a very good read.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

This book is full of animals, human and otherwise, Pi is a very entertaining storyteller telling a fascinatingly long tale about an ill-fated sea voyage. I watched the film first and that is quite faithful to the book and just as entertaining. I would recommend them both very strongly.