The Found Art of Enjoyment

It's amazing how some books you return to again and again, for no other reason than the story uplifts you, you find something of yourself in the characters, and somehow the story captivates you. I have two books like this, and neither ever feature on any "must read" books. To me that makes them all the more special as it feels like they are purely my enjoyment... but regardless I'm going to share them.

The first is by Eva Rice and it called 'The Lost Art Of Keeping Secrets'. This is the more recent of the two discoveries, and even then I couldn't begin to tell you how I came across it - more than likely it was in a Waterstone 3 for 2 offer!

It jumps in with the wonderful first line "I met Charlotte in London one afternoon while waiting for a bus." and from there I was hooked. The book follows Charlotte and our heroine Penelope in 1950's London, their love of rock and roll musician Johnnie Ray, the various relationships between characters past and present and the suggestion that maybe their meeting was more than just coincidence. I keep on coming back to this book again and again, and every time it feels like I'm reading something new and even in the advent of the kindle this is one book I read, out of choice, in it's paper form. It's is pure joyful escapism!

The second of these two books is, technically, a children's book. I received it as a present well before I entered my teens, and now I'm in my twenties I have no problems saying I still read it. This is my ultimate feel good comfort book. 'The Swish of the Curtain' by Pamela Brown.

(and my copy is even more battered than the one in the picture!)

This book follows the children from three families following their ambitions to become actors. I love this book for two reasons. Firstly, every time I read it I feel like I can achieve anything at all (and it's never been an ambition of mine to take to the stage). Secondly, it's a portrayal of a Britain that no longer exists, something that makes this book both saddening and an absolute joy at the same time. And on that note, it's been to long... it's about time I read it again!