Today is my first day in a while that I haven't managed to read a book all day. It feels odd and I've missed it. I had to do my accounts and take care of my businesses. Tis tax time in the UK. Obviously I would much rather be reading, but sometimes life gets in the way.
I left The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin downstairs last night when I went to bed. I didn't realise until I was tucked up and cosy. So I picked up the next book on my bedside table, We Do Not Welcome Our Ten Year-Old Overlord by Garth Nix. I read 75 pages before I decided to get some sleep. Reading both books is a very different experience. I read Le Guin slowly because I want to take it all in. Nix seems to carry me along. I'm enjoying both books anyway.
I started this book a couple of times and struggled with the time splits. At first, it fell victim to my very poor concentration span. Then I couldn't stop wishing it had a linear time progression. Eventually, I fell in love with The Gentlemen Bastards and rooted for them against seemingly insurmountable odds. Scott Lynch gave me moments of joy and heartbreak through his storytelling. What more could I ask for?
I've just finished reading Sandi's memoir and really enjoyed doing so. It is exactly as described in the blurb. Even so, I think I would have enjoyed it more if it was a more traditional memoir.
Once I'd stopped thinking about the book being autobiographical and full of historical details, I read it with ease.
I remember seeing Sandi as Ethel in the kids' show No 73 back in the 1980s. Learning that she had been successful in theatre and stand up prior to appearing on TV didn't surprise me at all.
I loved reading about women of note, who are often overlooked in traditional history. Sandi's activism and the founding of the Women's Equality Party reminded me that as far as we've come, we have a long way to go. That is much more evident 6 years after the book was published. The danger today is losing the rights that we have gained.
A funny and thought-provoking read.