Happy Friday Readers!

I can’t believe that another week of reading has passed. Posting about Animal Farm last week seems like only yesterday. Maybe it’s down to filling up all my spare moments with reading that the week passes by so quickly. Is anyone else feeling this?

This week I’ve been reading Sue Townsend’s Rebuilding Coventry, a hilarious tale of Coventry, a middle aged housewife,  and her escape to London after accidentally murdering a neighbour in an unfortunate incident involving an Action Man. Coventry’s time in London is spent meeting eccentric characters, mixing amongst the classes and, eventually, rediscovering herself.

I’m a huge fan of Sue Townsend’s – bizarrely the Adrian Mole series sat alongside my Famous Five novels when I was a child – and, although this is still a hilarious and witty book, it wasn’t my favourite of Sue Townsend’ titles.

For those unfamiliar with Townsend’s work, and a reading checklist for those that are, Townsend shot to fame in 1982 with best-selling new fiction book of the 1980s, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. She continued with this series right into 2009, but Rebuilding Coventry was the first title outside of the Adrian Mole Series. After Rebuilding Coventry she went on to write The Queen and I, definitely my favourite of her novels.

You should read Sue Townsend’s titles in the order that they were published as I think I’d been spoilt for Rebuilding Coventry by not sticking to this.

However, I think that you should still give Rebuilding Coventry a try. If you’re unable to connect with Coventry, then there are a wealth of supporting characters that will have your sides splitting. Townsend never fails in her comedy writing and you see this throughout the book, especially with Dodo, a high-society refugee who joins Coventry in her escape, who continually provided laughs.

Did you enjoy Rebuilding Coventry? Or have you been reading something else this week? I’m looking for some guest bloggers to publish their reviews on Readarama.co.uk – if you’re interested, head on over here and get in touch!

This week I’m going to be reading Pat Barker’s Toby’s Room. I’ve been hearing a lot of amazing things about it, so I’m excited to jump into it this weekend!