Joining the Mainstream

The key danger of jumping head first into the rushing torrent of mainstream reading is accidentally smashing your brains against the spiky rocks of spoilers. Standard procedures apply, if you're looking to avoid spoilers of your new favourite obsession avoid Twitter and Instagram and pretty much unfollow your friends and favourite authors on every platform. However, some of the responsibility lies with the Spoilererer - the one carelessly throwing out spoilers at the water fountain and live tweeting the latest episode. We expect that these people should at least warn us slow pokes by placing in giant capital letters that there is a SPOILER ahead.

The only way to truely avoid the disappointment and pain of reading or seeing a spoiler is to opt out of mainstream culture entirely. Unfortunately, that does mean that you are left on the riverbank quietly reading a book that no one else has ever heard of and watching true crime documentaries on YouTube. While this has a hipsterish appeal of liking what you like and not following the bend of any trend, there is a loneliness to not reading the one book everyone is talking about.

Furthermore, if you resist the pull of the latest big book/book everyone read in school, then before you know it a studio will pick up the TV or Film rights and you end up having to avoid watching it until you've read the book! It's the ultimate spoiler and those pesky Hollywood studios just keep doing it! A classic case of this for me is The Handmaid's Tale.

I never read it at school and all of a sudden everyone was talking about it because of the new MGM series. The title had appealed to me for a number years because so many authors have Atwood as a key influencer, particularly for dystopian or feminist books. It had mildly been on my TBR and suddenly it rocketed to the top of my list, as well as the best seller lists in America in the lead up to Trump's inauguration.

All of a sudden I was faced with the dilema read the book before I start watching the series? Dip a toe into the first episode and see if I'm hooked enough to read the book? Binge the whole series and then read the book after? Or just binge the series and forget about reading the book entirely. In the end I went with option 3. I devoured the whole of The Handmaid's Tale series and then ordered the book once I'd finished. Personally, this did not affect the reading of the book at all, but if you're fussy about adaptations I wouldn't recommend this method. However, it meant that I am now able to stand at tea stations and recommend both to everyone.

My advice is to avoid this whole mess by reading the popular book alongside everyone, because you'll only be behind when the inevitable series or movie comes out (if it is really good). I had mere weeks to read Gone Girl before the film came out. For years I'd turned my nose up at the popular fiction everyone seemed to love but I'd decided I wasn't interested enough in it. Meanwhile, agents were furiously penning contracts behind the scenes.

The thing is, when it comes to big best sellers and pop culture of any kind... most people are right when it's good. That's why recommendations are so important to readers. Trust the hive mind and get behind the latest sensation and get on the good side of the spoilers. Plus the good bit of all of this is talking about books without worrying about spoiling it for others. I think everyone just needs to jump on the band wagon and avoid the danger completely by gently floating along with the mainstream peeps and enjoy the gems. :)

The ACTUAL Man Booker Shortlist 2015

On Tuesday morning my refreshing thumb was on fire on Twitter waiting for the Man Booker announcement for the shortlist 2015 and at 11am I was rewarded with the list. Here it is.


I am disappointed that just one of my favourites from the long list has made it to the shortlist. I'm currently half way though The Chimes and am surprised that it has not been selected. There was a lot of comments in the media about how the odds were against Anna Smaill's first novel which is a shame because I am enjoying it very much.


A Little Life has, as predicted, made it to the shortlist. Sometimes harrowing, sometimes romantic and utterly gripping are a few of the ways it has been described. Personally I am not a fan of massively harrowing stories and will be avoiding it even if it wins. It is also the largest book in the list which always makes me suspicious...You didn't read it; admit it, it was long and wordy and you want to burn the damn thing. I'm sure that isn't true but I am always suspicious of longer books on prize lists.


Satin Island by Tom McCarthy looks to be some kind of American psycho style story set against a corporate background and punctuated by the media that affects the main protagonist U. It sounds a little heavy to get through, and could be quite hard to follow and reviews confirm that it is "confusing". Not really something I'd consider a criteria for 'literary fiction'.



A Brief History Of Seven Killings
Following the story of an attempted assassination of Bob Marley, Jamaican writer Marlon James's third novel is reportedly written in a considerable amount of patois which some readers find difficult. The taste of the judges this year appears to be very conflicting with my own as so far we're half way through the list and I'm not excited about any of the subject matters so far.


The Fishermen
Okay here we go, some real fiction, some real originality makes it onto the list. The story follows four brothers who discover a prophesy which drives a wedge between each of them. The guardian has called it a promising debut novel and I am pleased to see a first novel on the list because I think that's important for the Man Booker Prize to be promoting new authors.

The Year of the Runaways
This one sounds a lot like The Island or What Was Promised about migrants in Sheffield. It's definitely got the topical element on its side but its not particularly grabbing for me. The guardian calls it a beautiful and brilliant novel and most reviewers give it 5 stars. A more promising second half of the list.


A Spool of Blue Thread
It so nearly made it onto my predicted shortlist! with a ton of prize nominations and best seller aclaim, Anne Tyler has got some serious character writing behind her which people LOVE to read. A Spool of Blue Thread tops my wishlist at the moment.

Overall I'm not loving the list but it's 50/50 love/hate so fingers crossed for them all. I hope I wasnt too critical, I am really looking forward to the winner being announced.