Run is a touching and sentimental novel by the marvellous Ann Patchett.
Run starts with a family dispute over the ownership of a statue of Mary. Traditionally it had been handed down from mother to daughter, the mother choosing the daughter who most looked like the statue.
But Bernadette and Doyle didn’t have any daughters. They’d had Sullivan and later had adopted Tip and Teddy. Tip and Teddy loved the statue and it reminded them of their mother who’d died when they were little. Doyle had broken family tradition by giving it to the boys.
Some years later on a snowy and cold night, Tip argues with Doyle and steps out into the road without looking. He is pushed out of the way of an on coming car by Tennessee. Tennessee is a woman that has been watching Tip and Teddy all their lives in the background. Tennessee is taken to hospital with severe injuries, leaving Kenya, her daughter with no one to look after her.
Doyle, Tip and Teddy decide to take Kenya in. And this is where the revelations start. Doyle, Tip and Teddy are forced to confront some truth’s about their lives and Kenya suddenly has the opportunity to fulfil her dreams.
Patchett’s voice is soothing, as it takes you on a journey into these character’s lives. Her description creates an almost film like moving image in your mind. The words in Run just flow, making it an easy and pleasurable read. The pacing is just right and the ending brings everything together beautifully.
In short Run is how creative writing should be done. Creative writing is an art and one that Patchett is superb at.
Run is available to buy on Amazon and at all good bookshops.
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey is addictive like crack cocaine. Once you pick it up and start reading, you’ll find it near impossible to put back down.
From the back cover:
Aged just twenty-three, James Frey had destroyed his body and his mind almost beyond repair. When he enters a rehabilitation centre to try to reclaim his life, he has to fight to determine what future, if any, he has. His lack of self-pity, cynicism and piety gives him an unflinching honesty – a fearless candour that is at once charming and appalling, searing and darkly funny.
(From: Frey, 2004)
Frey takes the reader on his rollercoaster of a journey to recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. It starts with him waking up on a plane with no memory of how he got there, what happened to his face or where he’s going.
A Million Little Pieces is set during Frey’s stay in rehab; is well paced and has plenty of tension, conflict and resolution. Both internally and externally. He recalls memories of his dysfunctional and chaotic alcohol and drug using past.
Stylistically A Million Little Pieces lacked speech marks, but this was possibly deliberate. Not having speech marks was a noticeable stylistic change to the normal layout of a book. Frey was probably using this to subtly hint that his story wasn’t like the story of most people. Frey’s lack of dialogue tags was generally acceptable, but on the odd occasion where Frey had written a scene with a group of people, it did get difficult to establish who had said what.
Towards the end of A Million Little Pieces it began to feel fictional. As I was coming to the end of the book and had enjoyed reading it, I decided to look into other books that Frey had written.
A Million Little Pieces was commercially hugely successful both in the US and internationally after being featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show. But then The Smoking Gun revealed in an article titled ‘A Million Little Lies’ that some of Frey’s claims around his criminal past didn’t match up with court records. Oprah had to respond to these revelations and interviewed Frey on a few occasions.
I can understand while some people felt lied to, as A Million Little Pieces was promoted and marketed as a memoir.
But I wasn’t in the slightest bit surprised that some of A Million Little Pieces was fact and some was fiction. Because that’s how it read. Who wouldn’t change some of their past if they had the chance? Don’t we all do that all the time? Change things to make them sound better or worse than they actually are with the aim of making our stories more interesting to our friends, family, co-workers, etc. Can we really blame Frey for doing the same for the reader?
Regardless A Million Little Pieces is still a great read. Worth reading if you are interested in addiction, crime, alcohol, drugs, rehab and recovery. Just hold on is a phrase often repeated in the book and was a phrase that I adopted when I was suffering from severe clinical depression.
I recognise that people visiting this page/post might want to know where they can get support. If you require support around your mental health, addiction or physical health, see this Support page here.
In Us Douglas Petersen discovers that his wife Connie will also be leaving him when their son Albie leaves for University.
Douglas decides to make their last family holiday together a trip of a lifetime by organising what he dubs ‘The Grand Tour’. The journey will take them across Europe and Douglas hopes that along the way he and Connie are drawn closer together and that he finally wins the respect of his son.
Everything about Us was predictable including the perspective, pacing and plot.
Douglas’ perspective was used with him flicking between the present ‘Grand Tour’ and the past to tell the story of his life. His past contains a pretty boring single life, a love romance with the wonderful but flawed Connie who seemed to settle for him and his awkward and difficult relationship with his arty son Albie.
The pacing was reasonable using the travelling to new destinations on ‘The Grand Tour’ to keep it moving along.
The plot was totally predictable, not once was there a plot twist that was unexpected. The reader is likely to become frustrated at just how predictable it is. The ending felt like it hadn’t been thought through by David Nicholls and that he had been lazy.
I pre-ordered Us because it is by David Nicholls, the same Author that wrote the exceptional One Day. I really wanted to like Us, but up to the same standards as One Day it was not.
Overall Us by David Nicholls was OK, it’s the sort of book you’ll only read once and wont change your life. It is available to buy on Amazon.
When I was a teenager, I was quiet at high school and spent most of the evenings at home watching soaps on TV. TV is where I discovered some sexy celebrity males and developed some crushes, so here are some of my high school celebrity crushes:
Jansen Spencer was my first celebrity crush, when I saw him in Neighbours.
Jansen Spencer
Jansen Spencer was probably my first crush, when he played Paul McClain on Neighbours. I liked his jet black wavy hair, natural tan and cute ears. He looked about my age, although is actually a few years older. I thought he was gorgeous and for a while imagined all Australian’s looked like him.
He didn’t get his top off often enough, but the images below are two rare occasions that he did. I’m not sure what he’s up to these days, but he is on twitter: @JansenSpencer.
I loved Jansen Spencer’s jet black wavy hair.
Jansen Spencer on the rare occasion he was topless in Neighbours.
Jansen Spencer topless.
Andrew Hayden-Smith in Byker Grove.
Andrew Hayden-Smith
I discovered Andrew Hayden-Smith when he played bad boy Ben Carter in Byker Grove on CBBC. He was the only reason I watched Byker Grove. Hayden-Smith went on to be a Presenter and played a minor role in Doctor Who. More recently he’s scored role in Russell T Davies’ Banana and Cucumber. As time has gone on he’s got sexier and sexier. Much to my delight (and the delight of many others) he is happy to be in his birthday suite for the odd photoshoot:
Andrew Hayden-Smith – Now.
Andrew Hayden-Smith – Now.
Andrew Hayden-Smith – Now.
Andrew Hayden-Smith – Now.
Andrew Hayden-Smith – Now.
Andrew Moss in Hollyoaks when I was younger.
Andrew Moss
I loved watching Hollyoaks, partly for the eye candy. Andrew Moss played Rhys Ashworth, who was a bit of a player and womaniser. He was always getting his kit off. I’m not sure what triggered my crush, perhaps it was his characters confidence. I just liked him.
Moss moved on from Hollyoaks and I’m not sure what he’s up to now. But he has twitter: @AndyMoss.
Below are two topless pictures of him, one in a jacuzzi…just because:
Andrew Moss in Hollyoaks now.
Andrew Moss in a Jacuzzi…just because.
Guy Burnett in Hollyoaks when I was younger.
Guy Burnet
Another Hollyoaks crush of mine was the stunning Guy Burnet. Gorgeous body, straight white teeth and big brown expressive eyes.
Burnet played Craig Dean in Hollyoaks and had loads of great storylines. One of the biggest storylines was the development of a gay relationship with character John Paul McQueen (James Sutton).
Burnet left Hollyoaks in 2008 to try new things. Unfortunately I was unable to ascertain what Burnet has been up to since he left Hollyoaks.
Guy Burnett in Hollyoaks – looking fit.
Guy Burnett in Hollyoaks gay storyline.
Karl Davies first discovered in Emmerdale.
Karl Davies
In Emmerdale, I developed a crush on Karl Davies who played bad boy Robert Sugden. I thought he was hot when he first came into the soap and has only got hotter since.
After leaving Emmerdale, Davies has continued to work on screen as an Actor. According to this website and Wikipedia he has played several different roles on TV and in films.
Recently my crush on him was reignited when I watched him in The Syndicate (series 2), which was a series about a syndicate winning the lottery.
Karl Davies topless once he’d began working out.
More Karl Davies topless.
Even more Karl Davies topless.
Kieron Richardson as Bad Boy Ste in Hollyoaks.
Kieron Richardson
My final Hollyoaks crush was the attractive Kieron Richardson, who played another bad boy (I’m starting to sense a theme here!) Ste Hey.
Ste has had loads of storylines over the years, including a coming out storyline were his character came out as gay. I read that Ste is currently in a relationship with John Paul McQueen and has recently been diagnosed HIV positive.
Actor Richardson has come out gay. As well as continuing to work on Hollyoaks, Richardson also presents a radio show on Gaydio. Richardson is on twitter: @MrkieronR.
Kieron Richardson’s character Ste later became gay.
More Kieron Richardson.
Prince Harry – my weird celebrity crush.
Prince Harry
Prince Harry (in the photo left) was my weird crush. I saw this photo and thought Oh, he’s cute. There was just something about him. I think I was attracted to him because of his looks as well as his hereditary power and wealth.
Harry has grown up and been known to defend the rights of gay people. He is still reasonably attractive, especially with his top off (see below) but I no longer have a crush on him. Sorry Harry.
Prince Harry Topless.
Jon Lee from S Club 7 was perhaps my first pop crush.
Jon Lee
Jon Lee from 90s pop band S Club 7 was probably my first music crush. To me his big smile, blonde hair and brown eyes made him beautiful.
Since the band split, Lee has focused on his stage career, released a solo album and come out as gay.
These days he’s still good looking, although I’m not sure about some of the tattoos.
S Club 7 are reuniting for a small UK tour this year. Jon Lee is on twitter: @JonLee321.
Jon Lee topless.
More Jon Lee topless.
Even more Jon Lee topless.
Now: Jon Lee topless, not sure what I think of the muscles or tattoos.
Another Jon Lee Now.
Tom Cruise, my first movie star crush.
Tom Cruise
After I watched the sex scene at the beginning of Jerry Maguire, Tom Cruise instantly became my first movie star crush. His jet black hair, defined check bones and body were all appealing. I will add that for a long time I didn’t realise how short he was. Not that this would have made any difference, as I have always tended to like men shorter in height than myself. Cruise has aged well, looking great for his current age of 52 years old.
Cruise has had a long career Acting in films. My favourites have to be the Mission Impossible films, with a new Mission Impossible film (MI5) coming out this year. I have also enjoyed his recent futuristic action films Minority Report and Oblivion.
Now: Tom Cruise.
Who were your celebrity crushes when you were younger? Leave a comment below.
A note on Image Credits & Copyright:
Images have been collected off the Internet. I am unsure where most of them came from, apart from the images with a source identified.
I am not the copyright holder of any of the images in this post. If you think you are the copyright holder and would like the image removed please contact me.
