Reading...

I've been having a sad lack of reading material since finishing the various books Santa was kind enough to leave for me. With this in mind I grabbed a wee bundle of the shelves whilst out shopping last week.

First in the basket was Jordan's second autobiography entitled Whole new world...nice Disney song from Aladdin, bad book!

Much as I find Jordan a complete waste of a life I will confess to having a grudging admiration for her ability to make money from having no talent, her ability to raise a disabled child unaided and her ability to laugh at herself. I read her first autobiography a few years ago and it wasn't a bad read all things considered, she doesn't mince her (ghost written) words and in places it was humourous, sad, witty and shocking. However, the second book is based mainly on her relationship with Peter Andre and basically consists of nothing more than what you've read in OK magazine and graphic details of what position she has sex with Peter in and how big his Knob is...too much information!

After finishing the first book I had been left with a feeling that Jordan was, underneath the make up, quite a shrewd business woman and a damn sight more intelligent than she gets credit for...after finishing the second book I was left feeling that Jordan had allowed any sense of credibility to crumble away beneath her...she would have been as well writing 3 copies and posting them to Victoria Beckham, Dane Bowers and Dwight Yorke...it was obvious this book was simply written to show these 3 people how great her life is.

Second in the basket was a book called Behind Closed Doors by Jenny Tomlin. I am a huge fan of biographies (or auto's) and any writing based on actual events. It's the nosy bitch in me and the fact that I find people fascinating.

I picked this book up last night at around 9pm and I didn't put it down until I had finished it about 3 hours later. It is the story of the authors childhood and I use the word childhood very loosely. Childhood conveys images of carefree days, playing with your friends, getting up to mischief and having no stress and worries other than if you were wearing the right clothes! Jenny's childhood though consisted of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her father, disgusting living conditions, a poor excuse for a mother, neglect and the inability to get help from the very agencies set up to protect children like her.

In my 3 hours spent with her I went through the range of emotions...sadness, disgust, anger, sympathy...if her father was not already dead I'd have wanted to kill him myself and her worthless excuse for a mother. The book may be aimed towards the female market as it is generally women who buy books of this kind but it is a story that everyone should read and learn from. As a parent myself it makes my skin crawl that adults can treat their greatest gift with anything other than love and affection...it shouldn't do given the society we live in but it does.

After my harrowing few hours with Jenny I am in need of reading something all together different...fluffy, unbelievable and glossy and with that I will dig out one of my Jackie Collins collection and lose myself for a few hours in the fantasy world of LA...no thinking or emotion required!

Jenny xx