Last month I finished two books, The Uncommon Reader and Scattered.
I can't quite remember when I first heard about
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, I think it was mentioned in many places. I added it to my bookshelf on Booktagger and Jeremy brought it home one evening. This book is simple to read and amusing. The queen's voice seemed to speak so realistically though the words, it was entertaining to read in short bursts on my train trips and the recognition of many titles throughout will further draw in avid readers.
Scattered by Malcolm Knox is toward the other end of the spectrum. I read a portion of this book, detailing the emergence and use of ice in Australia, in a weekend magazine that accompanied the newspaper. Coincidentally, Jeremy also brought this one home, although this time he didn't know it was on my list. I think I read Scattered over two evenings as I found it so gripping, mainly due to the stories of individuals throughout. I found the account very balanced, although I am sure many differ. It started by making the drug seem to be the answer to our time-starved and tense modern lives, but soon presented other realities. The only disappointing part of the book was a few pages that contained lists of incidences. I don't even remember what they were of, something to do with ice no doubt, but they disrupted the flow of the book so I skipped them. Although I recommend this book, I did find it disturbing and it took a while after putting it down each evening before I felt like having a normal conversation.
