I like to believe impossible things before breakfast

Hi there. My name is Lauren and I'm addicted to reading. Not in a nice, happy-clappy way, but in a I need to get my fix kind of way. So this blog is my attempt to combine two of my addictions (you didn't think I only had two did you?), reading and the Internet, in the hope that they will cancel each other out. So if all goes as planned, you will never read another post from me. If my reading and Internet addiction do cancel each other out, I'll have to focus on my other obsessions of eating at cafes and watching Grand Designs. But until that day! (Being addicted to cafes does mean that if I'm feeling nice, I might reward the internets with pictures of my delightful books enjoying themselves at great cafes.)

I felt so proud of myself last night because instead of starting off the week like I normally do, with a young adult, fantasy or romance book, I started reading Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man. That's right. Literary fiction. Contrary to what you may have heard about the genre, this book was pretty damn amazing. I quickly read up to page 50 before conking out, and I aim to continue reading it, if I'm not distracted by the 50 other books I borrowed from the library. Tom Ford directed (and styled?) a stunning movie based on A Single Man last year, and while I enjoyed the movie, the book really takes you inside George's head. George is a 58 year-old British expat who lives in a saggy, ivy-covered house near the LA coast. He lives alone, and is starting to become the Boo Radley of the neighbourhood, a monster for children's games. The writing is a little bit stream of consciousness, albeit enjoying punctuation and editing, which really allows you to enjoy George's savage humour as well as his constant sadness over the death of his partner Jim. Okay, I know that was a spoiler, but I only read up to page 50! How much can I really spoil? He calls mothers breeders and talks of a highway being a river of flowing traffic, and just really reminded me that literary fiction can be amazing, and can be interesting, and THOUGHT-PROVOKING. So thanks George and Christopher for renewing my faith in literary fiction. I hope I feel inspired to continue reading you even though a re-read of Howl's Moving Castle is just begging to happen...