The Art of Racing in the Rain

Title: The Art of Racing in the Rain
Author: Garth Stein
Genre: Fiction, Philosophy, Romance
Published: 2008
Rating: ★★★★★

When my aunt first recommended reading this book, I wasn't too enthusiastic about it. Firstly, because I have a somewhat weird dislike for reading about dogs - especially if they happen to get hurt in the story. And secondly, I wasn't too sure what a dog had to do with racing in the rain, and the thought of trying to connect the two concepts did not appeal to me.

However, I am always one to appreciate reading "out-the-box" concepts; curiosity about the title got the better of me and I ended up reading the first page, resulting in me not being able to put the book down. 

This also resulted in me finding one of the best books I have ever read. 

The entire book is written from the perspective of a dog, Enzo, who is obsessed with becoming human and having thumbs. He believes that, if he is a good dog, when he dies he will be born again as a human. While his owner's life goes through it's highs and very-lows, Enzo is there through it all. Danny, is a Race Car driver, and this inspires Enzo to learn more about the career. Once he falls in love with  racing, he begins to make connections and clever analogies between life and the art of racing in the rain. 

The story tends to be humorous at some points, brain-picking and philosophical at others, and sometimes downright heart-wrenching. This outlandish mash makes for an enjoyable read and I would recommend it to pretty much anyone. 

I gave this story 5 stars not only because of its well-thought out plot and witty, humorous and clever main character, but also because it was refreshing to read something different and the exact opposite of cliched. It was very well written. I did not pick up on any spelling or grammatical errors which is a huge bowl of fabulous.

I found it to be a truly beautiful story with many clever concepts that made me consider my own life and the real world. Plus, if Enzo was a real human and I had to meet him, I'd probably marry him. 

Today I'm Alice: Nine Personalities, One Tortured Mind

Title: Today I'm Alice
Author: Alice Jamieson
Genre: Autobiography, Non-Fiction
Published: 2009
Rating: ★★★★










The reasons for which I have chosen this book, a non-fiction, rather out of date piece of writing, is still unclear to me. It would hardly  be any sane-reviewer's first choice for their first post of their new blog - but that's okay because, after reading this book a few weeks ago, I don't mind being seen as insane.

Today I'm Alice is an autobiography about a girl, Alice Jamieson, who is continually raped by her father during her childhood and adolescent years and as a result in the years to follow suffers from depression, anorexia, alcohol addiction, drug addiction and Multiple Personality Disorder.

Although the accounts and descriptions given in this book are shocking, and, frankly heart-breaking, Alice's journey is inspiring and the explanations she gives about her Multiple Personality Disorder (as she researches it herself once she is diagnosed) is intriguing.
If you are someone who is perhaps interested in Psychology or how the human mind copes with trauma and stress (such as I) , then I certainly can't recommend this book enough.

What I liked about the style and writing in this book was that it was mainly objective and informative. It didn't seem as if she was attempting to turn her story into a dramatic TV series, milking the fact that she deserves pity, or that she has any self-pity of her own. Her aim, and she makes this clear at the beginning of her book, is to bring hope and courage to those who are being abused and to create awareness particularly about rape.

The only thing that I found rather annoying was that there were a few spelling errors, one being in the first sentence of the book. Those type of things make me want to phone the author up and ask them very politely if they were ever in contact with an editor. Although I understand that Alice did not write the book, she gave her accounts and memoirs to someone else who wrote it.

This is a must-read for anyone who is looking for something different and eye-opening. Once I finished the last page of Today I'm Alice, I was left with a sinking feeling of disappointment in humanity, yet a shining glimmer of hope and pride in it, too.