How much do we ever really know about the authors we love? It’s not as if we must learn about their lives to appreciate their work. Of course, some writers become more than their books. Terry Pratchett is one of those people. Over the course of his career, Pratchett was responsible for creating Discworld and all of the colourful characters we’ve come to love. He became seen as a jolly, bearded man in a fedora. However, there is so much more to him than that. As Neil Gaiman once wrote, “Terry Pratchett isn’t jolly. He’s angry”. As great as this snippet might be as a headline, it’s definitely not the full picture of the author but there is certainly more to the author than meets the eye. So, when I got the chance to read his official biography, I jumped at the chance to learn more about Terry Pratchett’s life outside of Discworld. Of course, that was months ago and I’ve only just finished it. Do I feel guilty about it? Yes but better late than never, right?
I, like so many people in the last few weeks, have added a lot of anti-racist books to my reading list. The majority of them were the sort of books that I should have read a long time ago but I’m really bad at reading non-fiction. Not just political or social non-fiction. There’s something about non-fiction that makes it seem so intense. It’s not the kind of reading that I think really works when you’re struggling to stay away. But, in the wake of yet another death at the hands of an American police officer, I knew that I had to do better. At the same time, I’d joined forces with some people I knew on Instagram to try and start a conversation about racism. We decided that we would all read this book and then talk about it as a group and with our followers. I know, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not a lot but it’s all about making positive steps right now. Ideally, I’d be out showing my support but I can’t. So, I’ll use what small platform that I have to help spread a positive message. To help share other people’s stories. Starting with Reni Eddo-Lodge.
I can’t remember exactly when I bought Adam McKay’s first book This is Going to Hurt but I do know that it’s been sat on my TBR pile for a pretty long time. I always meant to read it but, if you’ve paid any attention to my Sunday Rundowns over the last few months/years, then you’ll know I have a book buying problem. At least I’ve become slightly better at reading this year so there’s hope that the pile will decrease but that all hinges on me being not quite so spend happy in 2020. We’ll see how long that lasts for. The fact that his first book has remained unopened meant that I had every intention to ignore Adam McKay’s Christmas themed book. However, on a Christmas Eve shopping trip during my lunch break, I found a copy of it for a fiver and thought I’d get it. If nothing else it would be another quick read to get in before the end of the year and it might encourage me to read its predecessor. So, when I found myself ill and inexplicably awake at 5am on December 26th, I decided to go for it. A couple of hours later, I was still ill, still awake, but I was one more book ahead of my 2019 reading goal. Something that currently stands at 57/50 thanks to my festive flu.
I have my fair share of graphic novels but they are mostly from the fantastical/ superhero side of things. I’ve read maybe a couple of non-fiction graphic novels in my time but definitely not enough. The last one was at the end of 2016 when I managed to squeeze in The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia by Bryan Talbot and Mary Talbot before midnight January 31st. I don’t read enough non-fiction as it is so I should probably embrace the graphic novel format to manage more. I mean all those words replaced with pictures. It makes getting through a story so much easier. I first came across this book when I was killing time in Waterstones waiting for a friend. I spent a lot of money that I hadn’t wanted to and could have spent way more. This was one of the graphic novels being recommended by staff and it sounded like a must read. So I bought it… but somewhere that was selling it for less than Waterstones. I never really know how to read a graphic novel. I feel like it should be in one sitting but that feels like a bit of a mammoth task. So I spent a few days on this and I think it worked better. You definitely could read it in one go but I think I benefited from having a break now and then.
Yipee ki-yay, motherbooker 