Best Reads – Create You Coaching

Flawed

Happy Easter to you all. I hope that you have enjoyed the weekend with friends and family, whether at home or via social media. Immediately once I started reading this book it made me think of our current position. Not because we are in the same space but just because what we are living through is also so foreign to us, much like the people in this book must have felt when their new laws were instated.

Flawed is written by Cecelia Ahern an Irish novelist; this lady has so many titles under her belt and awards straight out of the gates with her debut novel PS, I Love You. Just note from the outset this is a two part with Perfect being the next book. I only found this out on the last page, if anyone has it let me know I would love to read what happens next.

It is a modern setting with a highschool girl,Celectine as the central character, she is not one for lots of attention and just wants to live a simple but organised life. The society that she lives in has laws just like we do but they also have a Flawed court, The Guild, were if you do anything ‘morally wrong’ in their eyes you get branded! Stealing, lying, disloyalty but also helping others already branded, The Flawed, is a punishable offence.

Celestine is also dating one of the flawed judge’s son, Art. They live a happy and perfect life until it takes a crazy twist and Celestine gets swept up in the Flawed world and becomes their poster girl. It turns out unbeknown, even to herself, she has a defiant nature. Just what is needed to revolt against the Guild.

If I get into much more I will be giving bits away, what I will say is that this read challenges you, and is even unsettling at points. It does transport you and you will get that feeling of escapism.

I’ll be on the lookout for the sequel at Lambeth Library once they are open again. Library’s are such a wonderful resource that our government provides in all boroughs, I would love to encourage you to join your local library. There is a huge selection of books and waste is greatly reduced by sharing rather than purchasing your own books. There are also other perks like the digital library where you can take out books and magazines or story times for children. Currently all these activities are on taking place online, try Wriggle and Rhyme with Lambeth Library. Happy reading all!

Transcription

Transcription was not my usual read, it was the pink flamingo on the cover that attracted me to it. They say not to judge a book by its cover, but my love of art and design just means that a lovely cover does hugely appeal to me .

It took me some time to get into the reading as its pace was slow and not gripping from the outset. It is set 1940’s during the war and shows how everyone’s lives changed during that time. People got involved in the war effort and were put in positions that would not normally be called for. Our lead character, Juliet, is eighteen years old and is placed in an apartment next to where Nazi informants meet, here the recordings of their conversation get transcribe by her. For me these transcriptions were the hardest to read as they do not make up much of the overall story. It is more the events around those recordings and the different characters that make up the story.

There are a few twists that forces you to wonder, morally, what you would have done in that position. The espionage tone of the book does make it a page turner that makes you want to solve the various mysteries within its pages.

Some of the story takes place many years after the war, with Juliet still feeling the ghosts and guilt from the war time around her. She met people from all walks of life and though she did manage to build a life for herself far away from her past, it could not unwrite the page she transcribed or the actions she took.

I did find myself sticking to it just because I wanted to know what this pink flamingo actually has to do with the plot. It does reveal itself and I am glad I kept reading as even though it was slow to start with, as it was quit relaxing to read and a nice escape without being my normal fiction and fantasy novels.

The Seed Collectors

I love a library and will be writing a separate piece on that, but that is where most of the books I read comes from. One of the recent books I have read is The Seed Collectors by Scarlett Thomas. Though it took a while for me to get into it was just wonderful and eye opening on a few topics once I did.

It was the varied plot lines built around a family or botanists/ hippies that took time to wrap my head around. It’s not a standard Mum, Dad children family tree but rather more intertwined than that. Some of the scenes may make you question your own morality but it is the sub text of the seeds that really perk my interest. As a Kundalini yoga practitioner, the term of enlightenment is not foreign to me but to think that taking a drug/ seed could get you there. Very interesting but of course there is a cost.

What makes the book appeal to me and I hope you to is that it is in itself also ‘Perfectly Imperfect’, like all of us. Giving hope that you can survive your faults for lack of a better word or at least learn and evolve.

It all comes together so beautifully towards the end and you have a real ‘aha’ moment. I don’t want to give away the twists and turns this book takes but pay attention to names as you may find yourself wanting to turn back to make sure who is who.