Gypsy weddings, Tokyo and The Help - Brief Book Reviews

So far I've surprised myself with the amount of reading that I have done since June- I thought I'd share with you my summer reads so far because some have been great and some others... not so great!

 Firstly I read Tales of the Gypsy Dressmaker which is essentially the autobiography of the big star of one of my favorite shows ever 'Gypsy Weddings' It was a brilliantly easy and entertaining read from start to finish. Sometimes my jaw was literally on the floor at the hilarity and outrageousness that Thelma comes across in her line of work, but equally it was very insightful and quite a fair representation, I thought, of traveler culture too. This is going to sound really immature, but it had photo pages too- and I just love books with pictures in! It really added to the whole story and I have a new appreciation for how much work goes into one of those insane dresses.

The next book that I read was Tokyo which I must say, was the worst of the bunch. I thoroughly enjoyed that for the most part it was set in Tokyo which is somewhere that I'm desperate to go! But the actual story was hugely anticlimactic, and a little unrealistic, about a girl who goes missing on her travels. I'm still glad I read it for the fact that it felt like I was taking a guided tour around Tokyo but besides that the actual story was on the dull side.

The final book I read was The Help and it was absolutely brilliant! I read it in about 4 days even though it was the thickest book of the bunch. It's a non-fiction book but it's one of those stories that 'could' be real, it's set in the 1960s South America, Post-Rosa Parks but Pre-Martin Luther Kings death. It's written from the perspective of two black maids and one white female writer. At times it really had me laughing out loud as well as making me feel outright ashamed of the segregation that existed not so long ago. While definately having it's sad moments, by the end I felt uplifted. I bought two copies for friends as soon as I'd finished because I want everyone to read this!

A little addition to this list is that last night around 6pm I picked up 'Mummy Knew' by Lisa James, I stopped to eat dinner but then couldn't put it down until 2am when I'd turned the last page, it has over 200 pages. Without wanting to end this post on a downer it's without a doubt the most horrific account of child abuse I've read about in the UK, afterwards I had to watch funny videos on YouTube before I could fall asleep, my head was just swimming!