River's Rambles

Ennui

2009-10-05T20:02:00.003+01:00

I didn't mean to be away for so long, but over the summer I've been suffering from ennui. Not sure what bought it on, except that I seemed that I've spent most of this year dealing with the same old problems and, well, its frustratingly annoyingly boring.

The good news is that as the first leaves began to plummet from the trees the ennui lifted as otherwise I could have been forced into the usual literary cure of an entanglement with an unsuitable, but dashing, man ... hmmm ...

But I digress.

As you'll see from the updated reading list, I've still been reading, but with the ennui and all that, my reading pace has slowed. So I thought I would share the following review, and yes I did really read the new Dan Brown - it was presented to me by a friend, who loved it, as a pre-MA treat (did I mention that in an attempt to lift the ennui I signed up for an English MA?). When I pointed out that I'd hated the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons my objections were swept aside on the basis that I'd read The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail and was bought up Catholic, although my view of the Roman Catholic Church is very jaundiced and not improving - did you see this from the Pope? A new form of colonialism? They need to cast off the old ones first - James Joyce wrote, 'the tyranny of Rome still holds the dwelling place of the soul’ which still holds true today, Rome needs to embrace the twenty first century rather than hanging desperately onto pointless tradition, especially in Africa - but yes I was incensed by Angels and Demons and I thought his writing was a little clunky. And who says that I don't have an opinion on the masons? But I digress.

I am a fast reader, my reading average is around 3½ books per week for fun (this doesn’t include books and texts I have to read) and I can usually read a 500 page or so book in a couple of days. This took me over 3 days to read, not quite my slowest record, but even so, rather than being a ‘page turner’ it was a ‘putter downer’. I persevered to try understand just what it is that makes these books so popular.

The first page reads ‘Fact: In 1991, a document was locked in the safe of the director if the CIA. The document is still there today...The document also contains the phrase “It’s buried out there somewhere”. My first reaction was ‘here we go again’ so I put the book down and went for a very long walk. The thought of my friend, who only reads a book a month, and read this in a day, spurred me on so I picked up the book again.

It’s definitely a book that needs some serious editing and most of these have been detailed already by other reviewers so I won’t bore you, apart to add that my particular annoyances are how he leads the reader by the hand, using full names throughout the text, often tacking on job descriptions, ‘Security Chief Trent Anderson’, we are repeatedly told of a character's ethnicity or size, he reminds us three or four times in the space of a couple of pages that Bellamy is ‘African American’. But my particular favourite is ‘Their father had succumbed to cancer when Katherine was only seven, and she had little memory of him. Her brother, eight years Katherine’s senior and only fifteen when her father died’ - does he assume that his readers can't add or subtract?

As for the plot, as you can see from the side bar, I read a lot of mysteries and thrillers, and the key to these is to keep the reader guessing almost to the end of the book – sadly I guessed one of the major plot twists in the first third of the book, and spent the rest of the time reading the book hoping that Brown would come up with a different solution. Additionally a couple of ‘deus ex machina’ plot twists, which I won’t spoil for anyone yet to read the book - one of which involves a miraculous escape worthy of The Perils of Pauline, which left me screaming and beating the floor in frustration - also made me put the book down and go for very long walks.

As for the characters, I really didn’t care if any of them, including Robert Langdon lived or died.

Eventually, and believe me I've never been so pleased to see the end of a book, I made it through and I still don’t get it. I loved the first two instalments in the Millennium series by the late Stieg Larsson both of which kept me reading far too late into the night - I'm currently reading the third and am finding it hard to put down. I understand why people love the Harry Potter books and I kind of understand why the Twilight series is so popular. But this reads like the bad third instalment in the National Treasure series of films - you know the one that should never be made but everyone is cashing in while they can - don't take this as a criticism of the films I loved them.

It's official

2009-07-13T20:34:00.005+01:00

apparently cats exploit us - duh!

Superpod

2009-07-04T10:34:00.005+01:00

No its not the name of some new pop band, although give it time... did you see this film of a superpod of dolphins off the coast of Wales on the BBC website? This bought back memories of the superpod of dolphins I saw whale watching off Kaikoura back in 2004 - its scary its been so long since I last travelled properly and I have very very itchy feet but a combination of study and freelancing (lack of cashflow) has stopped me and unless more work comes travelling to any of the places I want to see is a very far horizon.

I finally got to meet the whales and dolphins on my fourth attempt on that trip - I'd tried off Auckland and in the Bay of Islands but no one was home, and on my first visit to Kaikoura the weather was abysmal so the boats stayed in port and the helicopter was grounded, not that I was going anywhere near a helicopter in that weather. The second time I went through Kaikoura the weather was perfect and this is an extract from my diary:

We sailed a little way from shore, where the continental shelf drops away very steeply and the warm tropical waters meet the cooler waters from the Antarctic (I think). Then the captain started the hunt, I guess, as in the Bay of Islands, the earlier boat and the other boats all keep in touch so that they all know what is going on, so the captain knew that there were whales around. He kept dropping the sonar over the side of the boat to listen for their calls.

He did have good news, there was a sperm whale about and he sounded as if he was going to surface – so we sailed around a bit and there he was (they are all males in this area). Amazing. It sounds so new agey, but it did feel very spiritual as the whole experience was so peaceful despite everyone else on the boat and the helicopters overhead. We could see him and hear him spouting water regularly from his blow hole. It was very humbling experience, he was so unconcerned that we were watching him, he just got on with the business of re-oxygenating his body, just so calm, magnificent, wonderful.

Took lots of photos, of course, they told us when we was ready to dive and hopefully I got one of his tail. (I did).

Then we were off again. ... We found another whale again, once again it was just so calm and so peaceful and gentle (although not if you are a squid apparently). Whales are like icebergs, the majority of the whale stays underwater. Amazing that it was so calm as there was another boat and the helicopter there – a third boat had already had several encounters so they backed off – the NZ authorities insist that only three craft (including helicopters) can get close to the whales in the water (you can just see one of the other boats here).

We sailed around some more and the lookout found some dusky dolphins. Amazing, but so different to the whales. There were some 50 – 100 so they were hard to see as they splashed around and dove and looped. Where the whales don't seem to care or notice that we are around, the dolphins seemed genuinely delighted to see us – they swam over to us and started playing around and under us – such a feeling of joy and fun (these photos give just a very small idea of the size and closeness of the pod).

Then back to the whale hunting and the first whale we encountered had resurfaced, apparently they come up for air every couple of hours or so. They turned off the engines and stopped the commentary and we had some quiet time with him (despite the other boat and the helicopter). Such peace and a feeling of timelessness, agelessness even though he is a relatively young male (around Kaikoura they are under 40, when they get that old they are finally large enough to mate and so leave for warmer waters where they get to meet girls!) just amazing.

Feeling like Alice...

2009-06-27T09:41:00.004+01:00

I'm sitting here typing with a fidgety cat by my shoulder, which is very distracting to say the least.

I've just finished reading Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, its a wonderfully imaginative children's book so may not be on every ones radar, although it was made into a film which starring Brendan Fraser. I haven't seen the film, but as it has the fantastic Paul Bettany playing Dustfingerwho is my favourite character in the book, plus Helen Mirren and Andy Serkis playing the evil villian Capricorn, it is now on my 'to watch' list. The central conceit of Inkheart is that when he reads a book aloud Meggie's father, Mo, can conjour characters from the book into our world which is how Dustfinger, Capricorn and various of Capricorn's associates all got here. I would have absolutely adored this book when I was a child.

I've also read a couple of books by Neil Gaiman, who writes the most wonderful contemporary fairy stories, Neverwhere probably being my favourite - travel on the tube will never be the same after reading this. The Graveyard Book, his most recent release reworks The Jungle Book into a darkly beautiful, fairy story. While Coraline has just been made into a deliciously scary film - one day Coraline finds a strange door which leads to an alternative version of her home with Other Mother and Other Father which initially looks more fun.

I loved these books as an adult and would have absolutely adored these books as a child as they sit alongside Antonia Barber's The Ghosts (aka The Amazing Mr Blunden) Penelope Farmer's Charlotte Sometimes and Philippa Pearce's Tom's Midnight Garden, three of my favourite childhood books.

I don't remember being a particularly unhappy child, but these three books all share the central conceit of an escape to another world which does make me wonder - OK I'm not sure I'd want to be living in a girls boarding school during WWI. I also have a vivid memory of me aged around seven wobbling on my mother's precious sideboard and staring intently into the big sitting room mirror, trying to recreate the opening of Alice Through the Looking Glass - only a seven year old would want to meet some of those characters, its been a while since I read the Alice books but I am sure that the Red Queen is in the second book as well - so let's chalk this up to childhood imagination and a desire to learn about places other than the small cathedral city in Southern England I grew up in. A desire I still have as an adult, especially after a very bad day at work.

Small Beginnings

2009-06-14T23:34:00.003+01:00

1,032 words written. Not an enormous amount I know, but they look like good words and in the right order...

Quick Update

2009-06-06T10:11:00.004+01:00

You may have noticed that a new widget has appeared on the blog called "Book" showing how much of my book I've written. It stays relentlessly at zero for the moment, although I do have a rough chapter breakdown and I've concluded most of my research, so I am ready to go.

But not a word has been written.

Why?

I've had a really bad couple of weeks with work, and when I say bad I mean sleepless night, 3am pacing bad - worrying about the discovery of a huge issue with one project close to completion which seemed, at 3am at least, completely unsolvable - while trying to deal with a series of 'what if...' questions that are basically unanswerable. So my poor head feels as if a hole has been drilled in my skull and various fingers have poked and prodded what's left of my brain.

The good news is that there are certain deadlines that can't be avoided so things should get easier soon. But I'm still not getting enough sleep as I'm worried that it is going to be too quiet in the second half of this year!

The good news is that this all means that I might actually have the time to get a good first draft of the entire novel written. I nearly abandoned the whole project a couple of weeks ago, because I thought I didn't really have anything to say, but then I read a couple of books that really didn't seem to be saying anything at all, to me at least, and this has spurred me on and I'm aiming to write around 10,000 words a week which a break for the bit of research that I've been avoiding. The 100,000 words on the widget is just an estimate, I may write more, I may write less - as Neil Gaiman says in the Intro to Smoke and Mirrors 'Sometimes the only way I would know that a story had finished was when there weren't any more words to be written down' and I suspect that this is true for me.

When I am old

2009-05-16T10:37:00.004+01:00

I may well wear purple, but I won't have a red hat - I hate wearing hats. But I shall go to my local supermarket and fling a few items into a basket. When I get to the head of the queue at the checkout I'll put my hands to my head and exclaim 'oh my, I've forgotten to get ....'. When that arrives I'll remember something else I've forgotten. When that arrives I'll complain that its the wrong size and wait for them to come back with the 'right size' and then mention that I actually wanted two. I'll drag this game out for as long as I can and then I'll pay my bill with ten pence pieces, slowly counting each one out. Then I'll drop the receipt ... and then pack my shopping, one item at a time - I am old after all. Eventually I shall turn to the extremely long queue behind me and, with a big grin, apologise for keeping them waiting and skip out of the shop.

To Write or Not To Write

2009-05-05T20:20:00.003+01:00

As some of you may know I completed the NaNoWriMo Challenge in 2007 and since then I've been slowly researching things and letting the plot of my novel brew. I've also just finished this Birkbeck Novel Writing 1 which I would highly recommend to anyone in the London area considering writing a novel. Everyone was writing a very different kind of novel and we all seemed to be at very different stages in the process and this was part of the joy. The exercises in class enabled me to refine my plot, gave me some brilliant ideas and has, I think, enabled me to find the way into writing this book because write it I must, even if no one else reads the manuscript.

My problem is that I need to do some more research on one particular area for the book - its actually a very significant part of the plot. I have the books all piled up on my bookshelves, most of them are on loan from various friends, but, for various reasons, mainly the subject matter, I'm reluctant to start reading them - and not just because of the looks I am likely to get on the train.

So my question is should I just start writing and fill in the research as I go along or should I wait to start writing until I finish my research? Or should I just do nothing?

Ill

2009-05-03T17:42:00.007+01:00

For once the sun may be shining on a bank holiday weekend, but I'm stuck indoors with the mother of all colds. Its not Swine Flu, this cold has been brewing for a couple of weeks, but of course I would start sneezing the moment that having a cold in public is the social equivalent of walking naked down your local high street. Despite my assurances that I don't know anyone whose been to Mexico, or know anyone who knows anyone whose been to Mexico, I am being eschewed by everyone bar the cat and even she's asleep in a different room.

Which leads onto the question of the day. If you feed a cat, but the cat doesn't see you feed it, even though the cat eats the new food, does this mean that the cat has been fed?

I've been a recent lucky recipient of Library Thing Early Reviewers largess. Its been a good bunch on the whole and there are a couple of books that I really want to recommend to people.

This is a road-trip book and some reviewers have compared this to Little Miss Sunshine, I wouldn't go as far as that. This is a deceptively simple but in reality a very complex book. Toews is both compassionate and detached in her exploration of the effects of Min's, possibly terminal, depression on her children, Thebes and Logan, and her sister, Hattie. Hattie's relationships with her sister and with her niece and nephew feel rooted in reality. In particular the dialogue between the characters is superb and feels very authentic, and Thebes and, especially Logan, are never sentimentalised, but are compelling oddballs in their determination. On the trip to find the children's father the family encounter various quirky characters, who bring humour and insight to family's predicament. This is a book I highly recommend and I will be be looking out for Miriam Toews's other books.

Petina Gappah's writing is so masterly that it is hard to believe that this is her debut. Her writing has an elegance which reminded this reader of Katherine Mansfield, which is especially true in the things that Gappah does not say. Gappah writes about the daily lives and struggles of the people of her native Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean leaders only appear in passing in these stories, as Gapph is writing about the ordinary people and how the increasing inflation and AIDS epidemic impacts on their daily lives. The characters in these stories are very real and whilst they seem very rooted to their geography and situation they are also universal, we all know people like 'My Cousin-Sister Rambanai' and the people who live 'In the Heart of the Golden Triangle' and people's whose marriages are similar to the one in 'The Negotiated Settlement'. 'Midnight at the Hotel California' made me laugh out loud, but Gappah never lets you forget that behind the laughter there are tears. Superb. Gappah is definitely a writer to watch.

I must read other books by Helen Garner as this is an absolutely amazing book. Garner, seemingly effortlessly, encapsulates in this tiny text, the fear, sadness, anger and frustration of watching someone you love in denial of their own death. I shared Helen's anger at the doctors Nicola trusted and who charged her for expensive treatments and her frustration and anger with Nicola 'The one thing I was sure of, as I lay pole-axed on my bed that afternoon ... was that if I did not get Nicola out of my house tomorrow I would slide into a lime-pit of rage that would scorch the flesh off me, leaving nothing but a strew of pale bones on a landscape of sand.' This is a brutally honest, gentle, compassionate, loving and, at times, funny novel which is beautifully written.

Sadly, last does mean least this time. I love a crime novel, and was really looking forward to this one, but having read it I am quite ambivalent this book. It has an interesting premise, a paedophile is brutally murdered in the City of London, and fearing that this will escalate the police question the families of other victims of paedophiles possibly connected with the murder, but somehow it just doesn't work. The story is bleak and is overly complicated, but that isn't the issue. The main problem is that Staffe feels too much of a written by numbers dysfunctional DI, almost as if in creating Staffe Adam Creed had taken elements of all the dysfunctional D.I.s ever written (Rebus, Dalziel, Morse, Dagliesh to name a few) and mixed them all up. Other readers may like this book, but it just felt too formulaic for me.

An Important Ramble

2009-04-25T10:49:00.007+01:00

Once again didn't mean to be away this I've taken on far too much work, but, like so many, I am worried that the work will dry up. So there hasn't been much to report.

I am still reading though, it takes a lot for me to stop reading for more than a couple of days and the last time I stopped was in the weeks before my father died. Which leads me to one of my ramblings, and am important one, my Dad had Parkinson's and you may have seen in the news that the Parkinson's Disease Society is asking for people to donate their brains to help further research into this perfidious disease, and why not, whatever happens to us after death (the body isn't part of it as stays here and rots) so why not let it help someone else? More information can found here.

Alive....

2009-04-05T19:53:00.005+01:00

but slowly disappearing under paper.

Not helped by this.

As the box was nearly as deep as it was wide you would think this contained something large and exciting - but no, just these three little things!

Bad bad Canon store.

Not much to say...

2009-02-28T18:51:00.005Z

as all I'm doing at the moment is working and commuting - I tend to read on the train, unless its been a really bad week and then I stare out the window at the familiar suburban landscape, so I am racing through the books.

But I have recently, thanks to the wonderful Library Thing Early reviewers programme, fallen in love with the poetry of Robert Burns through Andrew O'Hagan's excellent book A Night Out with Robert Burns. Being English, and southern English at that, Burns has always been, to me, a bit of a sentimental Scottish cliche - there's a drunken Scotsman who always seems to be staggering through St Martin's Lane, muttering "A Red Red Rose" when I'm on my way home, which is in itself a testament to Scottish education as the average drunken Englishman can at best manage, "Come on show us your tits" - and don't get me started on "Auld Lang Syne".

Burns is much more than this, he was a political poet, just read this, which O'Hagan puts into context with an extract from an MOD release announcing the death of a 19 year old Highland Fusilier in Basra in 2004:

I Murder Hate

I murder hate by field or flood,
Tho' glory's name may screen us;
In wars at home I'll spend my blood,
Life giving wards of Venus;
The deities that I adore
Are social Peace and Plenty;
I'm better pleased to make one more,
Than be the death of twenty.-

I would not die like Socrates,
For all the fuss of Plato;
Nor would I with Leonadas,
Nor yet I would with Cato:
The Zealots of the Church, or State,
Shall ne'er my mortal foes be,
But let me have bold ZIMRI's fate,
Within the arms of COSBI!-

Children say the funniest things...

2009-02-17T07:58:00.003Z

A five year old was jumping up and down on the train station platform over-excitedly yelling "Hurry up and come Mr Train we're going to Slough"!

Working too hard...

2009-02-08T20:30:00.002Z

and too much, to post. Still commuting, so still reading.

In the meantime someone forwarded this to me at work.

Dog's Diary

8:00 am - Dog food! My favourite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favourite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favourite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favourite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favourite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favourite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favourite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favourite thing!
6:00 pm - Oooh, Bath . Bummer!!!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favourite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favourite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favourite thing!

Cat's Diary

Day 983 of my captivity.
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. Ba$tards.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now.................

The Vesuvius Club

2009-01-11T15:33:00.004Z

As you would expect from a member of the League of Gentlemen and one of the writers for the new series of Dr Who, this is an opulent romp. Lucifer Box is an Edwardian painter and spy whose office is based in a gentleman's lavatory underneath the Royal Academy of Art. Lucifer is an interesting, self-obsessed character, the opening chapters are peppered with asides about his pretty mouth and fine white hands. He's also very very naughty, with 'a girl with a name and the body of a goddess ... There'd been a balcony, starlight, whispered words and then something very cheeky in the rhododendrons' as well as with anyone else who takes his fancy. He lives at 9 Downing Street (someone has to and its "awfully handy for town"). The prose is superb, darkly funny and surreal and this is an entertaining read.

All Books Read in 2008

2009-01-10T18:36:00.001Z

1. The Lost Luggage Porter by Andrew Martin
2. Murder at Deviation Junction by Andrew Martin
3. Suite Françoise by Irene Nemirovsky
4. The Careful Use of Compliments by Alexander McCall Smith
5. Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
6. The Year of Living Magically by Joan Didion
7. Agatha Christie: The Biography of Agatha Christie by Laura Thompson
8. I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan
9. Silent as the Grave by Deanna Raybourn
10. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
11. Silk by Alessandro Baricco
12. The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
13. The Owl Service by Alan Garner
14. The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
15. These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer
16. Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn
17. The Man in The Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
18. Deadlock by Sara Paretsky
19. Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie
20. The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie
21. The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon by Richard Zimler
22. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
23. Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer
24. Frederica by Georgette Heyer
25. The Big Four by Agatha Christie
26. The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
27. A Case of Two Cities by Qiu Xialong
28. The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie
29. Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie
30. Miracles of Life by J G Ballard
31. The Underdog by Agatha Christie
32. Blood Price by Tanya Huff
33. Blood Trail by Tanya Huff
34. Blood Lines by Tanya Huff
35. Blood Pact by Tanya Huff
36. Small Favour by Jim Butcher
37. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
38. The Mysterious Mr Quinn by Agatha Christie
39. The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
40. The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House by Kate Summerscale
41. Blood Debt by Tanya Huff
42. Red Mandarin Dress by Qiu Xialong
43. The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie
44. B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton
45. C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton
46. Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
47. The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie
48. Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie
49. The Helene Hanff Omnibus: Underfoot in Showbusiness by Helene Hanff
50. The Helene Hanff Omnibus: 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
51. The Helene Hanff Omnibus: The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
52. The Helene Hanff Omnibus: Apple of My Eye by Helene Hanff
53. The Helene Hanff Omnibus: Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff
54. D is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton
55. Smoke and Mirrors by Tanya Huff
56. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
57. The Listerdale Mystery by Agatha Christie
58. E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton
59. Why Didn't They Ask Evans by Agatha Christie
60. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
61. Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie
62. Trading Tatiana by Debi Alper
63. Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie
64. Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
65. Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
66. ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
67. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
68. The Search for Sana by Richard Zimler
69. The Hound of Death by Agatha Christie
70. Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie
71. Sepulchre by Kate Mosse
72. F is For Fugitive by Sue Grafton
73. Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman
74. Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie
75. Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie
76. Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie
77. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
78. Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie
79. Maisie Dobbs An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
80. Batting on the Bospherus by Angus Bell
81. G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton
82. Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie
83. Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie
84. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
85. The Regatta Mystery and other stories by Agatha Christie
86. Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie
87. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie
88. Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie
89. N or M by Agatha Christie
90. The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
91. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
92. The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie
93. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
94. Towards Zero by Agatha Christie
95. Death Comes As the End by Agatha Christie
96. Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie
97. The Hollow by Agatha Christie
98. The Labours of Hercules by Agatha Christie
99. Taken At the Flood by Agatha Christie
100. Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie
101. Crooked House by Agatha Christie
102. A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie
103. Winchester from Prehistory to the Present by Tom Beaumont James
104. The Ivy Chronicles by Karen Quinn
105. The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith
106. Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
107. The Mousetrap and other Plays by Agatha Christie
108. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
109. Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs
110. They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie
111. Mrs McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie
112. Underground London by Stephen Smith
113. Hunting Midnight by Richard Zimler
114. They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie
115. H is for Homicide by Sue Grafton
116. Nation by Terry Pratchett
117. After the Funeral by Agatha Christie
118. A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
119. Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie
120. The Rose Labyrinth by Titanie Hardie
121. Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie
122. Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie
123. 4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie
124. Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie
125. Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
126. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie
127. The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie
128. The Mirror Crack'd from side to side by Agatha Christie
129. The Clocks by Agatha Christie
130. The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels
131. A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie
132. At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie
133. Third Girl by Agatha Christie
134. Endless Night by Agatha Christie
135. By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie
136. Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie
137. Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie
138. Nemesis by Agatha Christie
139. Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie
140. Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie
141. Poirot's Early Cases by Agatha Christie
142. Curtain: Poirot's Last Case by Agatha Christie
143. Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie
144. Miss Marple's Final Cases by Agatha Christie
145. Letter from New York by Helene Hanff
146. To Dream of The Dead by Phil Rickman
147. A River Runs through It by Norman MacLean
148. Address Unknown by Kressman Taylor
149. Once Upon A Time in the North by Philip Pullman
150. The Weirdstone of Brisingham by Alan Garner
151. The Amazing Mr Blunden aka The Ghosts by Antonia Barber
152. Tom's Midnight Garden by Phillipa Pearce
153. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
154. The Wildest Dream: Mallory - His Life and Conflicting Passions by Peter Gillman
155. The King and Mrs. Simpson: The True Story of the Commoner Who Captured the Heart of a King by Erin Frances Shulz
156. The Mystery of Mallory and Irvine by Tom Hozel and Audrey Salked
157. The Ghosts of Everest: The Authorised Story of the Search for Mallory and Irvine by Jochen Hemmleb, Larry Johnson and Eric Simonsen
158. The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas
159. Detectives on Everest: The 2001 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition by Jochen Hemmleb and Eric Simonsen
160. The Haunted Tea Cosy by Edward Gorey
161. The Headless Bust by Edward Gorey
162. The Luck of Troy by Roger Lanclyn Green
163. Saturday by Ian McEwan
164. Sorbonne Confidential by Laurel Zukerman
165. Agatha Raison and a Spoonful of Poison by M C Beaton
166. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
167. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
168. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
169. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
170. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
171. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
172. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket
173. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
174. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
175. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket
176. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket
177. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket
178. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
179. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
180. Stray by Rachel Vincent
181. Absent Light by Eve Isherwood
182. The Songs of the Kings by Barry Unsworth
183. How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young

First Book of 2009

2009-01-01T18:15:00.007Z

This is the third book in the Brenda and Effie series and is no less bonkers than the other two. Something is up in Whitby - Mr Danby is hosting an all night radio phone-in show which seems to be keeping most of the locals up all night and Mrs Claus is hosting a convention for British ex-super heroes, Harry the Cat and Mrs Midnight are two of those in attendance, but something is coming and its not just romance for Brenda, whether she likes it or not. As usual Brenda, Effie and their sidekick Robert are determined to get to the bottom of the various goings on, and their investigations lead Brenda into danger and Effie, Robert and Sheila Manchu have to go very deep in their attempts to save their friend. Lots of fun.

Reading Review of the Year

2009-01-01T14:30:00.004Z

My reading statistics for 2008.

183 books read in total, which averages around 3.5 books a week.

I've read books written by authors whose surnames start with every letter of the alphabet from Debi Alper to Richard Zimler.

Favourite books of the year were (in reading order):

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
The Year of Living Magically by Joan Didion
Miracles of Life by J.G. Ballard
Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie
Underfoot in Showbusiness by Helene Hanff
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
The Duchess of Bloomsbury by Helene Hanff
Apple of My Eye by Helene Hanff
Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
Letter from New York by Helene Hanff
To Dream of the Dead by Phil Rickman
The Weirdstone of Brisingham by Alan Garner
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

Many of these, the Agatha Christies, some of the Helene Hanffs and of course the Alan Garner and Philippa Pearce were re-reads, but I was pleased to note that time had not diminished the power of the writing and the narrative. If you like life/travel writing do read Helene Hanff, she is an exuberant companion and you won't be bored!

But there is one book that has stood head and shoulders above the others, and as I actually read it in December 2007 shouldn't really be mentioned in a reading review of 2008, but its the book that has stayed with me since I first read it, when I blogged about it back then I headed up the blog with 'You Must Read this Book' and I still feel the same about this over twelve months. I've read other books in the Zarco series as well as Search for Sana and they are each superb and compelling reads, but haven't haunted me in the way that this one has. Read it.

Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, my worst book of the year was The King and Mrs. Simpson: The True Story of the Commoner Who Captured the Heart of a King by Erin Frances Shulz. This was a book that came to me through the excellent Library Thing Early Reviewers programme and was fortunately very short, but oh dear. I've just realised that I was extremely generous when I rated this book on Library Thing and doubled my rating as this book sadly only managed to be ranked at 2 points out of 10 on my system. I've just looked at it again to see if I was too hard, as the book is intended as a 'snapshot of history' and to attract readers who wouldn't normally pick up a history book, which is not me, but sadly I was right. As I wrote in my Library Thing review, 'this is sadly not a book I can recommend to newcomers to the story, as the inaccuracies combined with the simplistic prose make what should be an epic and engaging read, flat and uninspiring.'

Oh yes, and if you are considering joining Library Thing Early Reviewers, do, unlike other review programmes (cough cough Amazon) they don't penalise you for bad reviews and I can confirm that as I snagged another Early Review copy after posting this review.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T13:50:00.004Z

I didn't mean to be away for so long, but the last couple of months have been a bit strange.

Firstly, like so many, I've staggered from one cough and cold to another - probably not helped by travelling on the tube where on every journey someone seems to kindly cough or sneeze in my face - which left me wiped out.

Secondly my laptop threw all its toys out of its pram by keeping on shutting itself down, usually when I was in the middle of typing an email which it would send to some random person in my address book. After investigation a virus was ruled out and it was decided that I'd just bought a lemon. So eventually I bit the bullet and bought a bright new shiny laptop from the lovely people at John Lewis.

It hasn't all been bad news though, the company Christmas do was at the London Hippodrome seeing La Clique . I'd expected to only make it through the first half because I wasn't feeling so great, but lasted throughout the entire performance. David O'Mer and the English Gents were probably our, all female table, top recommendations ('The Man in the Bath' was one person's request for our office Secret Santa, but as we had a £6 limit per person so even if we'd pooled our resources it was never going to happen - you need look at the website to really understand this!) and I have a soft spot for Mario Queen of the Circus - did you know Freddie Mercury was really writing about ... juggling! All the performances were fabulous, although Ursula Martinez's strip divided our audience - especially as she later proved she has singing and comedic talents without taking her clothes off.

I also sat through the 165 minutes of this. Its had some mixed reviews, which are not unfair, but I have seen it described as a turkey which is unfair - I don't think Baz Luhrmann is capable of making a bad movie, but this one is just a little too busy and overlong and he should have concentrated on one of his story arcs, rather than trying to deal with two complex stories in depth - oh yes and there was a complete Thomas Hardy moment, well as Thomas Hardy as you can get in the outback! But it is overlong and the narrative drags in places, but its a lot better than a lot of the stuff out there at the moment.

Oh yes and while we are on the subject of movies, I also had the requisite Bond moment. I loved Quantum of Solace and thought it pitched perfectly the emotional depth and tone for a direct sequel to Casino Royale. I've also just started to read the Bond books in order of publication - I read some of them when I was at school years ago, and have to say that Daniel Craig may be blond, but he seems to be the actor whose got the closest to Bond, well in my humble opinion!

Oh yes and finally, but not least, congratulations to Sir Terry Pratchett for his much deserved knighthood, the man is a genius and not afraid to stand up for what he believes in from humanism to Alzheimer's research and if you haven't read any of his books, why not?

National Identities

2008-11-02T17:48:00.004Z

I am getting really fed up with people, in books and in blogs, using England when they mean the United Kingdom or Great Britain or using the terms incorrectly. I've recently seen on a blog someone commenting that they have met people from 'the United Kingdom ... Scotland'! Oh and my personal favourite, from a book about the abdication crisis, discussing events at the end of WWI,‘France and England divided the Middle East between them'. Even better, apparently King Edward VIII became ‘King of England and the Dominions beyond'!

Get it right people.

Madness

2008-11-01T09:48:00.006Z

I've been watching the scandal of Ross and Brand unfold over the week with a real sense of bemusement. Were the calls puerile and offensive? Yes. Should they have been broadcast? Probably not. I say this because its clear that someone at the BBC cleared these for broadcast - as to whether they should have is a whole different issue and we need to wait for the published outcome of the OFCOM enquiry to assess this. Was it right that this whole furore pushed the disastrous news from the Congo, the Indian bombings, the credit crunch and the interminable US elections from the headlines? No.

The wonderful Debi Alper has blogged about this and the bullying of women here . As some of you may know, I work on the business side of the boys clubs that are TV and radio (not on any of the shows presented by Brand and Ross). But, after much thought, I'm not sure that I agree with Debbie in this instance. Apart from the invasion of her privavy, I'm not sure just what Georgina Ballie's hurt is in all of this - of course you don't want your grandparents to know about your sex life and to find out about it in such a puerile and public way, but she seems to have confirmed that she had a relationship with Brand. I've listened to the calls and read the transcripts (the calls are still available on Youtube should you care). In the calls Brand confirms that they had sex and at one point comments it was 'consensual lovely sex'. Neither he or Ross say anything about Ms Ballie's character or morals, so I'm a bit unclear of what she was referring to in her statement on The Sun website when she stated, "Calling me that in public". They didn't even reference her membership of The Satanic Sluts. And, of course, she's so upset about this invasion into her privacy that she has sold her story to The Sun, which I'm sure will include details of her sex life with Brand. In contract, her grandfather, unlike so many in this story, accepted the offered apologies and has now withdrawn from the public debate and is the only person or entity involved in this whole sorry tale who seems to have behaved with grace and dignity.

As for Brand and Ross. Brand has flown off the US to work on a couple of movies ad his career will continue. Ross has been suspended and will return to the BBC one way or another. The most high profile casualty is Lesley Douglas, the only female member of the Radio Management Committee, who has been forced to resign, but as she is a talented and capable executive, she will find another job with a commercial broadcaster and she should get severance package from the BBC.

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross has been cancelled until next year, Brand's radio show has also been cancelled, while the status of Film 2008 is still unclear. All of this means that freelance members of the production teams and associated service companies will be laid off with little chance of securing other work at this time of year. Oh yes they will get some compensation from the BBC and the production company, which I believe is still being negotiated, but the chances are that it won't be the equivalent of the salaries and fees they would have earned if the shows went ahead.

So as The Daily Mail, The Sun, which I would remind you is owned by Rupert Murdoch who also owns Sky, and Georgine Ballie crow their delight, spare a thought for the members of the production team, many of them women, who could be facing a bleak Christmas. Oh yes and please also consider whether or not you want The Daily Mail and the other tabloid newspapers to arbitrate just what we can or cannot hear and see on television and radio, as today's it taste and decency, but tomorrow?

Didn't Mean To Be Away For So Long...

2008-10-26T18:44:00.003Z

But I am slightly more than over committed at the moment, as I've started a new contract covering a friend's maternity leave and I have a couple of projects of my own to finish off, plus I have the novel writing course, which seems to be going well, although I'm not really getting the writing time I would like.

Of course I haven't stopped reading, I used my time off in September to almost complete the great Agatha Christie re-read - officially there are couple of collections of short stories to go, which I will read over the Christmas break. All I will say is that this has opened up my eyes to just how much ITV is mangling the Miss Marple adaptations, don't watch them and stick with the BBC versions with Joan Hickson as these are nigh on perfect.

One of the books I've read is the new Phil Rickman, To Dream of the Dead. If you haven't read any of Rickman's Merrily Watson series of books, do, the cast of characters is superb - Merrily is a vicar in a village on the Welsh/English border, and she's also the local exorcist. The books are dark, but full of local colour and wisdom and tackle current concerns as well as the echoes of the past - this latest books covers Christian fundamentalism, atheism, floods, archeology, local politics and drugs as they all impact on the murder of a local councillor.

Before I leave you with that recommendation, I believe that I may owe Jeff Housewife an apology. Back in August I posted a review of Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, which may have exposed Jeff to some teasing from his parents for his choices in fiction. Encouraged by my friend the book pusher (so called because I tend to leave her house with carrier bags of books) I've now read New Moon and have to say that its a far more sophisticated book than its predecessor as it explores teenager relationships - OK with vampires and werewolves thrown in for good measure.

The Queen of the Flat Pack

2008-09-20T12:56:00.005+01:00

Yesterday I assembled 5 flat pack bookcases without any tantrums, odd bits and pieces left over or any of the other dramas usually associated with the task. Yes five bookcases, I have a lot of books.

How did I achieve this momentous task? On my own. All the menfolk who had offered to assist suddenly had urgent reasons to be elsewhere. As I still bear the scars, emotional and physical, from assembling the bed - we had three screws left over, and I was assured that these were spares, of course they were and had nothing to do with the bed collapsing when the cat jumped up, no no no - I was quite happy to be left alone with the boxes and the toolbox.

Two Things

2008-09-09T17:50:00.005+01:00

The latest release from the master, which is interestingly a non-Discworld book. I will admit that I was concerned that because he has been diagnosed with a rare form of early onset Alzheimer's that the book may not be that good, but Terry Pratchett on a bad day is far superior to most other authors. I needn't have worried. He's on great satirical and comic form in this one - set in the Nation, which is one of the Mothering Sunday Islands in the Great Southern Pelagic Ocean (held by the British to be an extension of the Bank Holiday Monday Islands). The Nation has been devastated by a Tsunami and now its up to Mau and Daphne (aka Ermintrude, well wouldn't you change it?), who, with the ship's parrot, is the only survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, to create a new Nation. As the great man says 'Thinking: This book contains some'.

I went to see this last night, for the first time, although the friend I saw it with was on her third viewing! Unless you are a regular reader of this blog, you may not be aware that I hate musicals, Rent left me cold, The Sound of Music is just plain annoying and there was a bad incident a few years ago in Buddy: The Musical which I won't expand on here in order to protect the innocent.

I've thought about this a lot and essentially my problem is that the genre is basically cheesy and corny but somehow its fans, and the people involved in it, expect the genre ed to be treated with gravitas and reverence that I only give to say Ibsen or Shakespeare - yes I know Shakespeare has its corny moment and yes I have sat through Kiss Me Kate. So its weird that I was quite happy to go and watch this, especially as I am not an ABBA fan either, and I really enjoyed the film. Oh it has its faults don't get me wrong, but it sends itself and the genre up so beautifully - the image of the boys in flippers dancing will stay with me for a while - and the main cast, Meryl Streep, Julie Walters, Christine Branaksi, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård and Pierce Brosnan (who has more courage than anyone because he can't sing, but still goes for it) are superb - I don't think I've laughed at a movie so much in years.

'We have seen you from afar and we are dying of hunger'

2008-09-07T10:44:00.004+01:00

Is the greeting used by Midnight,the Bushman, who is the title character of this story. I've been waiting to read this novel as I knew it was going to be an enormous treat and I wasn't disappointed, Richard Zimler is that rare combination of a great storyteller who can write in a literary, yet, accessible style, which is emotional without being overly sentimental. John Zarco Stewart, the main protagonist, is an engaging and complex character, whose relationships with his family and friends, Daniel, Violeta and especially Midnight, the African John's father rescues from slavery, dominate his life and the story. I've been on an emotional journey with John as he crossed continents and comes to term with his own humanity and that of those whose surround him.

Zimler's prose and magical mixing of history and fiction is superb, but at the heart of the novel are his characters. Midnight, who, after a long journey, drinks so much that his belly swells to near bursting. John, whose family is destroyed by an act of betrayal

Superb and never mawkish, this novel travels from nineteenth century Porto, to London and then to the US and, the southern US sections of this novel portray the evils of slavery. But the ultimate message of this novel is that redemption that comes through love and the power of freedom.

Did you see this?

2008-09-06T14:14:00.004+01:00

From the BBC News Website - Music tastes link to personality .

I live underneath a couple of country and western fans (who also like Daniel O'Donnell, I must have been really evil in a previous life) and the sound of their favourite, 'I killed my dog and my wife left me' album is currently assaulting my eardrums from above - and 'hardworking and outgoing' are the last two words I would ever use in connection with their names.

Underground London

2008-09-03T20:48:00.004+01:00

As someone whose spent most of her working life in and around Central London I found this a fascinating account of the various bits of subterranean London, with various historical asides. Smith spends a night with the night workers on the tube - I really don't want to be a patrolman working alone at night 'pacing out the deserted tunnels with his lamp and his walkie talkie and his large box-spanner' - and one who may or may not have had a ghostly encounter in a Jubilee line tunnel.

He also meets, the men disinterring remains from St Andrew's crypt - Smith needed to immunised against smallpox and be cleared by a home office pathologist before joining them - its a full crypt dating back to before the Black Death, which is estimated to have killed half the population of fourteenth century England. I love how Smith describes their respectful professionalism, even those the inhabitants have been dead for centuries, 'They've all got descendants.... 'You'd expect it too, if it was your own family.'

Smith describes the subterranean diverted rivers and culverts of London - the Fleet is probably the most famous - the buried tram lines, the dead tube stations, the mothballed Royal Mail underground railway and tries to discover the miles of tunnels that the MoD have, allegedly, sunk under the capital. All in all its amazing that we don't have more landslips in London.

Twilight

2008-08-26T18:46:00.003+01:00

In case you hadn't heard the release of the latest Harry Potter movie has been postponed until next July and the movie of this book, Twilight, is being released in its place. I'd not heard of the Twilight books, but having heard that this series is 'the next Harry Potter' I thought I would investigate.

I love vampire stories, yes I am a Buffy and Angel fan, but I am not really a fan of romantic fiction and that caused me problems in reading this book as its essentially an overblown romance peppered with the kind of language I would expect from a Mills and Boon, but without the sex, apparently Mills and Boon allow their characters to have sex now! As tortured lovers Bella and Edward mentioned in the text, Edward has no problems touching or kissing Bella - he can carry her for miles - and his 'family' accept her role in his life very readily.

If you want tortured romance done with depth and emotion watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Angel and Buffy, as vampire and human, had more depth and emotion in their little fingers than Bella and Edward have in this entire book. As I'm not a fan of romantic fiction all the 'I love yous' got a bit wearisome, but I can see why that for certain teenagers and women this novel (and the sequels) have been so successful. But its derivative, Bella and Edward are a younger, less tortured version of Buffy and Angel and the vampire collective of Edward and his family is reminiscent of Lestat, Louis and their little family from Interview with a Vampire, but without the homo-eroticism, or any eroticism for that matter. Also I have to say that J.K. Rowling is a much better writer than Stephanie Meyer, who just doesn't have the finesse to have fun with her characters, in the way that Rowling sometimes does and that Charlaine Harris has with her Southern Vampire series.

OU Anonymous

2008-08-25T15:01:00.004+01:00

I'm finished with the OU, honest. I've signed on for this Birkbeck course in novel writing which starts in September and the plan is to spend the next eight or so months trying to find out if I can actually write a novel - a novel that someone else wants to read and, ideally, someone else wants to publish and other people want to buy. So why why why do I keep popping onto the OU course website and keep clicking on the Shakespeare course? And its got an exam and I am hopeless at exams, my school actually drugged me with tranquillisers to get me through my A'levels and I always dropped at least 10 points on my course work on every OU exam I ever took.

Help.

Random Book Reviews

2008-08-25T14:20:00.007+01:00

Due to the great Agatha Christie reread, 50 down 33 to go, I haven't been posting my thoughts on any books up here recently, although I have been adding my reviews on Library Thing - god I love that website and I have been accused of infecting others with my enthusiasm. Anyway I thought I would post some thoughts on some random books I have read recently, so here goes.

I have to write about this book because it is probably my favourite Christie novel, and is the perfect Poirot as he investigates a murder in retrospect. Sixteen years ago Amyas Crane was poisoned by his wife - but in her last letter, from prison, to her daughter Caroline Crane protested her innocence. Now her daughter, Carla wants to find out what really happened. The five little pigs of the title are the five main witnesses to the crime, any of whom could have really killed Amyas. The plot twists and turns and is full of information and disinformation. I am not going to tell you who dunnit, because that would spoil this for you, but the plot explores the good and terrible aspects of love and how time and emotion distort memory. Perfection.

Alexander McCall Smith seems to be one of those authors you either love or hate. Personally I love the deceptive simplicity of his writing and Precious Ramotswe is an endearing character whose wise optimism and stoicism is a philosophy more of us should follow. She is perceptive - when she hears of a woman imprisoned for killing her husband, who beat and abused her, Mma Ramotswe acknowledges that her first marriage could have ended the same way - and engaging, her kettle seems to be permanently on the boil ready for a nice cup of redbush tea.

I love the Artemis Fowl series of novels, Arty, the teenage criminal mastermind, and his sidekick and bodyguard, Butler, are the perfect team. One of the things I have really enjoyed about these books is the development in Artemis's character as he grows up and becomes a much more likeable character. This is something explored in this book, as Artemis goes back in time to battle his 10 year old self, and discovers what a maddening little know-it-all he was. Artemis needs to stop his younger self selling the last of a species of lemur to a group of mad extinctionists in order to save his mother's life. He travels back in time with Holly and meets up with old, new friend, Mulch Diggins. This book has come in for some criticism for not being as funny or as good as some of the previous in the series, which I think is a little unfair. I think that Colfer is aging Artemis with his readers, just as J.K. Rowling did with Harry Potter. This book is much darker than the first ones in the series as Artemis really seems to have an understanding of the consequences of his actions, whereas in the first books he was determined to save his father no matter what - now he is determined to save his mother but understands just what this may cost.

I'm now off to read the first in the Twilight series of books. Depending on who you talk to these are either rubbish or better than Harry Potter. But are they as good as Philip Pullman I ask?

Small Rant

2008-08-22T17:48:00.004+01:00

Why is it that some drivers think that using their indicator is an optional exercise? Grrr.

Its been one of those ....

2008-08-18T19:46:00.001+01:00

Huge Decision

2008-08-17T13:06:00.005+01:00

Don't you just hate it when events prove that you were right about someone.

My most difficult, demanding client flounced on in a huff earlier this month - it was an early birthday present and I am convinced that the flouncing was caused because I told this person that I wasn't working on the weekend of my birthday as I had other plans, which were lovely - and now this person is refusing to pay my account. Its not a surprise, I've been here before and I know others who've been there, its a sad reality of being self-employed and its seems that it is always without fail the companies and individuals who are very demanding and full of their own importance who have difficulty in making payments. Ultimately I should have walked away from this company months ago, but as this person is a friend of a friend I felt that I couldn't just drop them without finding someone to replace me. I am confident that I will be paid, eventually. But the best news is that since this company flounced out of my life and the daily round of demanding calls, emails and manufactured crises - without I might add any thought or respect for me and the other companies I work with - I've actually had space to breathe and enjoy my life and catch up with my other work.

After the months of cashflow issues and constant work, this is the final straw, so I've decided that I'm finally ready to get a JOB! This isn't going to happen immediately, I have a contract to fulfil which takes me round to next June, and I need to find the right job, one that interests me and pays me enough... Hmmm.

Stress

2008-08-01T20:01:00.004+01:00

This time last year I was working just as hard as I am now and trying to finish off my degree, but I wasn't as stressed out as I am now. Its been a horrid week, where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. The week has been rounded off nicely by the failure of the memory board on my main laptop for the third time in less than twelve months. Somehow I think a new laptop is on the cards, as soon as I can afford one. I've been trying to work just why I am so stressed, apart from the broken laptop of course, and although I am busy I think its down to dealing with lots of difficult and demanding people.

The main effect of all this stress is that I can't read anything new as I'm just not taking it in. So the great Agatha Christie re-read continues - I've read 39 of her books in the last few months, all in publication order. The good newsw is that I've hit Christie's golden period when she wrote classics such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death in the Clouds, ABC Murders, Dumb Witness, Death on the Nile and my personal favourites Appointment With Death, Sad Cypress and Evil Under the Sun.

I'm reading Miss Marple, The Body in the Library, at the moment to be followed by probably my favourite and, to my mind, most perfect Poirot story, Five Little Pigs. I can hardly wait.

Yesterday

2008-07-25T16:41:00.007+01:00

Even though it doesn't look sunny in this photo, it was. So who says you have to leave London to go to the beach?

To OU or not to OU

2008-07-20T16:52:00.004+01:00

Well it wasn't much of a week off as I ended up working every day and I am not dealing with very nice people. So I am seriously beginning to wonder if I want to do this any more ... but how else to earn an honest crust? Hmm.

I did have time to sort one thing out though. For a while I've been trying to decide whether or not I want to take another OU course. A few people have been trying to seduce me into taking the new level 3 creative writing course which I have been more than a little reluctant to sign up to for various reasons. Anyway while I've been dithering about what to do, I've been offered a contract which will keep me working in central London for the next six months or so. After years working either from home, or North London, or West London and more successfully recently on the South Bank, I am going home to Soho! Whoo hoo. So I've been able to sign up for one of the many creative writing courses, aimed at potential novelists, which run in Central London.

Yes potential novelists - the real decision is that I've decided to really have a go at writing the novel which has been brewing in my brain for the last ten or so months. Not that writing as a profession is a way to make an honest, or dishonest, crust so I guess I am going to have to keep the day job.

Does this mean I am through with the OU? Well, there is this short course in Ethics starting in October ...

St Swithin's Day

2008-07-15T10:55:00.002+01:00

St Swithin's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain na mair

And from the dark clouds gathering outside my window its not looking good...

St Swithin was Bishop of Winchester back in Saxon times. When he died in 862, as was the custom of the time, he asked to be buried humbly outdoors close to the entrance to the old Minster so that people would walk across his grave as they entered. Nine years later on the 15th July, Bishop Elthelwold (love those Saxon names) arranged for St Swithin to be disinterred and moved to a shrine within and St Swithin is said to have shown his displeasure at the proposed new arrangement by bringing down violent storms and rain for the next 40 days and 40 nights.

Shhhh

2008-07-14T23:15:00.005+01:00

I'm not really here, I am somewhere else.

I know I know, but as far as most of my clients are concerned I am working today, just for someone else.

Its been non stop recently, with deadline has following deadline, and they just keep on coming. The thing is, no one will die if I don't meet these deadlines and I just need one day of truancy. If I try and work today my head may just explode. Seriously. And that would not be good.

So if anyone asks, you've not seen me, I'm at my desk and working hard.

Love This

2008-06-30T22:48:00.002+01:00

OK so I work on the Southbank and I can't believe that I didn't know that this was outside the Royal Festival Hall until yesterday. As Meltdown is over I think it will be off soon, so watch this from its time at the V&A. Beautiful.

Not around much but still reading and working...

2008-06-22T16:56:00.005+01:00

And the Agatha Christie challenge continues. I've now read twenty five of the detective novels all in order of publication - it should be twenty six but one is out of print and I can't track down a copy. This looks impressive until you realise that I'm only in 1936 (she was first published in the UK right up until 1976 - with a couple of collections not published until the 1990s) and I've still got fifty nine books to go.

I am reading other books as well, one is Debi Alper's Trading Tatiana. Like Debi's previous book, Nirvana Bites, this book is set in South London and its full of local colour and we do end up back at the Nirvana Housing Co-Op, which is wonderful. The book is fast and furious, Debi has a great sense of humour, the scene where Jo first meet's Bare Botty Man's botty (you have to read this) is wonderful. What is also fantastic is that, as anyone whose met Debi or has read her blog knows, she has a very strong sense of social justice which comes across in this novel. If you can get your hands on a copy of this and read it, do, you will be entertained, terrified and ultimately moved.

This is an amazing book, part fact, part fiction, although the two are woven together so closely that it is hard to see where one begins and the other ends. Richard Zimler had a chance encounter with Sana at the Perth Writers' Festival, autographing a copy of his first book The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon for her. The next day Sana committed suicide, an act witnessed by Zimler, and he is propelled into an obssessive investigation of her life in order to try to understand why. He uncovers the story of Sana's friendship with Helena, a remarkable relationship which endures across the divide - Sana is a Palestinian and Helena an Israeli Jew - a relationship which opens the book up into an exploration of the personal issues at the heart of the conflict and atrocities, big and small, committed on a daily basis in the name of politics and religion. I couldn't put this amazing book down and ended up reading it in one sitting.

I should be working, but...

2008-06-09T17:53:00.004+01:00

I couldn't put this book down. I read and enjoyed Kate Morton's previous book, The House at Riverton and as this one takes a similar format there wasn't much chance of me disliking this one.

This is another sprawling saga spanning a hundred years, it starts with the discovery of a little girl abandoned on the docks following the sea voyage from England to Australia. A little girl who doesn't remember her own name. Ninety years later she bequeaths a Cornish Cottage to her granddaughter, who slowly discovers the just how and why her grandmother ended up alone at the docks. I particularly loved the use of fairytales, written by one of the main protagonists, as a device revealing some elements of the story. I did guess quite early on who Nell, as the little girl is named, really was, but I didn't guess why she was abandoned.

This was absolutely perfect reading for my current state of mind and if you like this kind of book, one I would recommend.

Impecunious...

2008-06-08T18:41:00.006+01:00

That's me. My pleas for payment have all been ignored, yet again. Grr. I feel some begging phone calls coming on tomorrow... What is really annoying is that I am still working flat out but my bank account feels like I have been unemployed for months. My bank manager is being understanding but his patience will be exhausted if some money doesn't arrive in my account soon.

The good news is that I managed to get to Milton Keynes on Friday, thanks to a loan from my generous friend Wonderful, so I could hand in my ECA before the midnight deadline. I've been so busy with work that it amazes me that I've actually finished, I nearly dropped out in January for a variety of reasons, but mainly because I wasn't enjoying myself. But thanks to some support from the OU I got there and I actually enjoyed writing my ECA - which doesn't mean that anyone will actually enjoy reading it! But its all over and I've got the first summer for four years free of study and I can hardly wait.

I have of course been reading all the way through this, mainly old favourites as my brain couldn't cope with anything new - I've added to the list at the side of the blog. But my reading has slowed down, which is never a good sign.

I have to particularly recommend one book, The Helene Hanff Omnibus. I was prompted to pick this up by Table Talk's reference to 84, Charing Cross Road in her blog. If you have never read 84, Charing Cross Road, do. Its a wonderful collection of letters, showing how friendships can form from the simplest thing. The other books in the Omnibus include Underfoot in Show Business which details Hanff's attempts to become a playwright in New York, as she says of producer's '...if they take you to lunch they don't want your play.' 84, Charing Cross Road is just superb. The Duchess of Bloomsbury is Hanff's diary of her first visit to London following the success of 84, Charing Cross Road, she met Frank Doel's wife, Nora, for the first time and I love how Nora insists on calling her 'Helen'.

My particular favourite in the Omnibus is Apple of My Eye, as Helene and her friend Patsy explore New York. It's hard not to be moved when Helene describes their visit to the World Trade Center and how she 'gloried in the high-handed, high-flying, damn-your-eyes audacity that had sent the Trade Center's twin columns rising impudently above the skyline at the moment when New York was declared to be dying, and so deep in debt it couldn't afford workers to dispose of the Center's trash, police its plaza or put out its fires.' Long may that audacity reign!

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch was, via his writings, Helene's mentor and a champion of plain English and Q's Legacy is her tribute to him and also narrates her adventures on two later trips to London. She describes an encounter in Winchester Cathedral, which I recognise '... I started down a long side aisle ... with one eye on the stone graves I was walking on. That's how I came on Jane Austen's grave. To look down at a spot in a stone floor and know that Jane lies buried beneath can shake you.' It does. But only when you know just who Jane Austen was and what she achieved in her short life.

Sadly the Omnibus is out of print, but copies are still in circulation, try Helene she's amazing...

All work and no play makes...

2008-05-11T17:41:00.006+01:00

River a very dull girl. Very dull indeed.

What is really annoying is that although I am working flat out and have been for the last three or so months, I am really impecunious. Its the peril of self-employment as I can never quite tell when the money is going to come, although from the silence following my last set of cost updates (which are usually greeted with a resounding chorus of 'send us your invoice'), it won't be soon.

My only solace is reading and its when that stops I am really in trouble. I've had days recently when I thought my head might explode, so I've been limiting myself to reading old favourites and undemanding prose. Stuff meditation, yoga etc., 30 minutes with a good, fun undemanding read is all that I need to prevent my brain overheating.

One book I would really to recommend everyone interested in detective fiction (as I am) is The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House
by Kate Summerscale. This is an examination of the Road Hill House Murder in 1860 and how this murder and its investigator, Jonathan Whicher, captured the popular imagination and inspired Dickens (Inspector Bucket in Bleak House) and Wilkie Collins (Sergeant Cuff in The Moonstone). The Afterword is particularly salutory and stunning.

If Hell exists its not other people...

2008-03-30T14:06:00.005+01:00

Its having a cold. Seriously. I caught the cold from hell at the beginning of the month from a generous friend. The combination of the constant cough, the inability to breath or clear my sinus and the headache was torture, in fact so much that on a couple of days death was a viable cure - no it wasn't flu, I had that once and on the midst of the horror death was the only cure. And this cold goes on forever.

I've also been working like mad, this is generally my busiest time of the year as everyone wants to film in the summer so I've been trying to get everyone set up with everything that they need. We don't film because the weather is good, no one here is that stupid sunny days are always a bonus, its for the long hours of daylight, although its not really daylight when you can't see the sun and the rain is beating down. People wonder why I chose an office based job! I know the world thinks that the British are obsessed with the weather, but as on any day you can easily see three or four different weather conditions, its always a debate as to how to dress in the morning!

I have been reading constantly through the month, although the cold slowed me down somewhat and there are a couple of books on the list that I need to shout about:

I love Zimler's writing and this book is no exception as it is superb evocation of the events before, during and after the Lisbon massacre of 1506. But atrocity and its aftermath are only part of this story, what Zimler is really concerned with is humanity, however it is expressed. I am really looking forward to reading the other books in this series.

If you only ever read one book by Agatha Christie read this one. It is rightly considered her masterpiece as she subverts the genre without comprising the narrative. I don't want to give too much away, but read it and enjoy!

I read this in one sitting. This is a superb memoir as Ballard recollects aspects of his life. The descriptions of his childhood in Shanghai are evocative and I found his feeling of alienation from Britain when he arrived here in the late 1940s fascinating. The passage about the death of his wife is moving without being sentimental and what is particularly lovely is that as much as Ballard reveals he conceals - it is clear that his children are important to him, but he doesn't feel the need to reveal all about them.

I'm spending today catching up with the news by reading everyones blogs I usually read and am really looking forward to seeing how you all are.

Breaking the silence...

2008-03-03T19:59:00.003Z

Sorry for the long silence, I have, as usual, been busy working. Its one of the perils of self-employment that after four long relatively quiet months on the work front things kick off all at once and its been so quiet I won't turn anyone away. But I am really annoyed because I am still waiting for the money I am owed to land, and am living from cheque to cheque and on handouts from friends. But so the cash flow should start to err, flow, once the gigantic stock-exchange listed company I've been working for starts to pay me weekly, as they promised ro do several weeks ago, but an HR cock-up means that I am still waiting, but once the money starts to come in my friends will be able to stop crossing the street to avoid me.

Its been a busy few weeks. As some of you know Cailleach stayed with me the night before her poetry reading at the Pipe and Slippers, it was a lovely evening full of chat and tea - oh yes and hares, my latest obsession, well it is March after all and I have a feeling there will be a hare immortalised in clay soon, I bet you can hardly wait, did you know that you can see Irish hares racing aeroplanes on the runway in Belfast, oh the ambition... Also the fox and phantom rider stayed away, so a good night's sleep was had by all. Then we set out for Debi's...

OK so first of I can I say that I so know where Debi lives, I've been there before, but somehow on Sunday morning I drove off confidently in absolutely the wrong direction and we were a couple of miles around the South Circular before I realised my mistake. So I turned around, tried to make a sneaky pass past a car at a junction and hit the kerb.

How you react to a flat tyre shows the true worth of the woman, Cailleach started rummaging in my boot for the tool thingy that releases the spare tyre, while I, truly being my father's daughter, called the RAC - 45 minutes they said, but we needed to be at Debi's, now. So Cailleach called Debi, to get someone to pick her up while I rummaged in the boot until I found something black and tool like which I wafted in the air in triumph. C grabbed it out of my hand and proceeded to release the spare, unpack the jack, pull out the tiny spare tyre that 'looks as if it came off a go cart' that comes with all Peugeots apparently, and changed the tyre, whilst I floated around getting in the way. OK I did make a contribution, I slung the spare in the boot and we proved the rule that just because someting came out of a tiny space it doesn't mean its going back in - so we left the jack bouncing around in the boot. The only offer of help came from the local launderette, after she'd tightened the last nut of course, just in case, 'we could go in and wash our hands if we liked' - so we did, with enough washing power dispensed in each hand to destroy the entire eco-system of SE London and wash the dirty football kit of the entire Premier League, twice over. Oh yes and then we got lost two roads from Debi's, OK I was still driving so it was me, just what you don't need before a poetry reading.

But Debi's was lovely as always, and one of the benefits of my high pitched piercing voice was that the deaf one could hear me, oh yes and Minx told a story that I cannot repeat here, but means that I will never ever look at hedgehogs in the same way again. Debi's lovely husband, um, tightened my nuts... so that I stopped having visions of my tyre bouncing down the road ahead of me, which I am sure was an offer he could have refused, but didn't, so when the cashflow starts to flow, fingers crossed, I will be sponsoring him in the London Marathon for SOS Africa

Oh yes and how many Kwik Fit fitters does it take to change a tyre, five, seriously, I counted. Oh yes and they couldn't get the jack back into the box either!

And I have been reading, and writing poetry as well as working, but more of that later.

One of those moments

2008-02-19T21:37:00.003Z

Walking home tonight across Hungerford Footbridge I had a moment when I saw my Dad walking towards me. Hungerford Footbridge is not somewhere I would expect to see my Dad especially as he died nearly five years ago. But for a heartbeat it was as if he were still here and all the pain and suffering of his last few months on earth were erased. Just for a heartbeat.

Madness

2008-02-17T22:33:00.006Z

Sorry for not being around much at the moment, having had a very quiet few months workwise everyone of my clients seems to have woken up and want my services, which is fantastic for my bank balance, but is killing the rest of my life - somehow I need to write 42 lines of poetry by the end of the month, I have fragments but not a lot more and I am definitely not a poet, Cailleach is staying with me over the weekend before her gig at the Pipe and Slippers hmm, run Cailleach, run while you can.

While I've been away I received a couple of awards from the lovely Belle:

Which came with the following It’s a big kiss, of the chaste, platonic kind, from me to you with the underlying ‘thanks’ message implied. I really do appreciate your support and your friendship, and yes, your comments.’ Ahhh...

Which also came with something: I love being a part of the blogging community and part of all the friendships that I've formed so I wanted to give a blog award for all of you out there that have Excellent Blogs. By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you have to award it to 10 more people whose blogs you find Excellent Award worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want but please award at least 10.

So this is going straight back to Belle and to Cailleach and Brunhilde because they are all putting up with my whingeing about not having enough work/having too much work etc etc oh yes and having to read my poetry. Debi Alper, because she is a great writer, activist and all round wonderwoman; the Inner Minx as I love her book and want the sequel NOW; Tina because her blog makes me laugh and because forty is the new thirty; to Rainbow because, well I've said it already, but CONGRATULATIONS; Chief Biscuit who doesn't even know I read her blog but because she is a poet who lives in a part of the world I adore and want to live in, and because I'm not holiding it against her that the albatross were out when I visited the sanctuary she works at, if you ever visit Dunedin go its worth it, even if there isn't a single albatross in sight; to Mid Lifer and Single Mother on the Verge just because.

Comfort Reading

2008-01-29T19:14:00.001Z

This is my ultimate comfort read, and, heresy that this may be to some, is far more satisfying, and better for you, than a box of chocolates. I haven't yet read a Georgette Heyer novel that hasn't had fully realised characters, interesting plots, fully realised characters and sparkling, witty dialogue. This one is a classic, with reason, and is just sheer bliss from start to finish. I don't want to give the plot away, but Heyer transcends and transforms the conventions of romantic fiction and produces a scintillating and exciting novel. Try one. If you don't believe me fans such as A.S. Byatt, Margaret Drabble and Stephen Fry (yes really!) can't be wrong.

And another book

2008-01-27T21:14:00.000Z

I'm on a comfort reading binge, this doesn't mean that I don't also comfort eat, but in times of need nothing can beat rereading an old favourite and The Murder on the Links is an old favourite. It has a quite complicated plot, which is apparently based on a real case, and is very French in its feel. Unlike The Mysterious Affair at Styles Poirot is completely at the heart of this book and you can feel his character and his 'little grey cells' developing. There is a slightly ludicrous, romantic subplot involving Captain Hastings, but this does not detract from the novel in the least, which is vintage Christie.

Nostalgia

2008-01-26T18:34:00.000Z

I loved this book as a child and I have to say that I love this book as an adult. Garner's writing is multi-layered and there are nuances to his writing that I am sure that passed me by as a child such as the differences between those who speak English and Welsh and the class barriers between the children which divide them. The story feel both fresh and as ancient as the myths it encompasses. Why Alan Garner is not as popular as JK Rowling I don't know as he should be.

Not My Favourite Christie

2008-01-26T13:54:00.001Z

This is the first Tommy and Tuppence novel, they are not my favourite Christie characters as I do find all the 'old thing' and 'old bean' stuff cliched, but on first release this book sold very well, so it may be that the book has not stood up to the passage of time. It certainly is very much a book of its time and the annoying over exuberance of the characters does reflect a certain post WWI attitude. One nice thing about this book is that Tommy and Tuppence are characterised as equal partners in their adventures, which for 1922 was very progressive.

This is a spoiler if you haven't read the book, so stop here. But its interesting, especially if you follow Laura Thompson's idea of looking for clues about Christie's life in her texts, to note that in this book one of the characters pretends to have amnesia and sustains that deceit for a period of time. This book predates Agatha Christie's breakdown, disappearance and only memory loss by some years, but it is an interesting parallel.

Silk

2008-01-23T20:23:00.000Z

I would have loved to have been able to read this in the original Italian, but as I can't I have to celebrate Ann Goldstein's translation which is beautifully delicate, just like the material it describes. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but just as a silkworm spins its thread, this book spins the tale of French silkworm merchant Herve Joncour's obsession for a Japanese concubine.

This is definitely a book where 'less is more', the chapters are extremely brief, the longest runs to four pages the shortest is just two lines and, like a poem, every word, every chapter break has been carefully considered. Its been made into a film, but, like Brokeback Mountain, the prose is so evocative that I find it hard to believe that any film adaptation can capture the essence of this book, without giving way to mawkish sentimentality, so its not a film I will be rushing to see.

I've got another of Alessandro Baricco's books, An Iliad, lurking in my tbr pile and I am so pleased, as if its half as good as this I am in for a treat.

The beginnings

2008-01-22T20:07:00.000Z

This is the first book Agatha Christie published and the one that introduced Hercule Poirot to the world. The story was inspired by her experiences working at the Torbay Dispensary during WWI and of all the criticisms that could be thrown at her stories, no one could accuse her of not knowing her poisons. This is especially true of this book where an understanding of how two chemical compounds interact is key to solving the murder. But this book uses Christie's key device of misdirection, as well as the assembling of all the suspects for the denouement, are there. What is interesting is that Poirot's moustache, which in later novels almost becomes a character in its own right, is not described as luxuriant, but as being 'very stiff and military' and isn't referred to again.

Harper Collins have been issuing facsimiles of the first editions which are wonderful. The back of the dust cover has given me hours of pleasure, did you know that in 1920 a book cost between 7s 6d net and 10s net?

Sweeney Todd

2008-01-20T20:52:00.000Z

I have a confession to make, I hate musicals. This is completely my Dad's fault as whenever a musical was playing on television over Christmas or on a Sunday afternoon, he would growl, rustle his paper and point out every cliche of the genre. Many of my friends have tried, and failed, to get me to appreciate the various nuances of the genre. I can just about cope with 'Once More with Feeling', the musical episode from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as this really doesn't take itself seriously and is very clever. However I had to see Sweeny Todd as its been directed by Tim Burton, who is one of my favourite directors. I am so glad that I did because the film is wonderful, gory and doesn't follow the standard musical conventions. Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman are, as always, superb. Go see it, you'll enjoy it.

Silent as the Grave

2008-01-20T20:38:00.000Z

I have to start this with a quote from the back of the book, 'To say I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor...'. This is a marvellous and fun detective novel set in London 1886 and in creating Lady Julia Grey and Nicholas Brisbane Deanna Raybourn has created two fun, convention busting characters, in a detective novel that doesn't take itself too seriously. I shall definitely read later instalments in this series.

I, Lucifer

2008-01-20T20:15:00.000Z

The basic premise of the book is that God offers Lucifer a second chance if he can live one month as a human. Declan Gunn is depressed London novelist contemplating suicide so God puts his soul on ice for a month and Lucifer takes control. This is an at times hilariously funny novel as Lucifer immerses himself in the pleasures of the flesh. The descriptions of Lucifer's reactions to smelling the various odours that make up a walk through the London streets are particularly vivid. The ideas that Duncan raises in this novel are not new but the first person narrative helps to create a compelling portrait of a fallen angel, who may or may not be ready to return to the fold. My only criticism is that Duncan's prose is very dense and I had to stop reading at regular intervals in order to assimilate the events narrated.

I understand that a film of the novel is proposed, starring Daniel Craig as Lucifer and Ewan McGregor as Declan Gunn. I suspect that this is not an easy novel to adapt to the screen and I look forward to seeing the final film with interest.

Agatha Christie

2008-01-13T19:31:00.000Z

I am a fan of Agatha Christie's books and this book is an interesting and informative insight into Dame Agatha's life. There is a chapter about the famous 'disappearance' which feels psychologically sound, but, because Agatha Christie refused to discuss this incident, no matter how much Laura Thompson tries to illustrate her theory by using possible hints from the books, this is interesting speculation. What I really enjoyed about this book is the fascinating analysis of both the detective novels and the novels written under the pseudonym, Mary Westmacott, which forms part of Laura Thompson's argument that Christie's writing is, on the whole, of literary merit and value. She also, very fairly in my opinion, criticises some of the latest adaptations for their tinkering with the plots, ITV take note. I am now planning and scheduling a major re-read of of all the detective novels as this book has whetted my appetite.

An amazing meditation on grief

2008-01-13T18:56:00.000Z

If you are in the fortunate position of never having to witness someone you love die then this is not a book for you to read ... yet. However if you have ever grieved, or are in the process of grieving, please read this book, death and grief are the greatest taboos in western society and this book carefully deconstructs this taboo in moving and unself-indulgent prose.

If you don't know the story, on the 30th December 2003, Joan Didion's and John Gregory Dunne's only child, Quintana, was desperately ill, possibly dying, in a New York hospital. Her parents spent the day with her at the hospital. Later that evening, as they sat down to dinner, John suffered a fatal heart attack. Although Quintana recovered from her illness, two months later, following a collapse, she underwent life saving brain surgery and in this book Joan Didion tries to make sense of these events. The result is an intensely moving and graceful meditation on all the emotions of grief, incredulity, anger, sadness, depression,etc. which is both personal and wise.

In one extremely sad footnote to the book Quintana died just after the book was completed.

Yet Another Book

2008-01-09T17:53:00.000Z

In this novel Mr Watts tells Matilda, the main protaganist, that 'you cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe. The house can catch alight and a reader deep in a book will not look up until the wallpaper is in flames.' So true. But sadly not me when reading this book. Its a shame as I loved the idea of a group of children on a South Seas Island enchanted by Great Expectations. Essentially the narrative is just too detached from the events depicted in the book, terrible things happen, some as a direct result of reading Dickens, but as a reader I was completely undisturbed. But having said all of that, Lloyd Jones is an author I will look out for again as I like his ideas. The good news is that having made it to the 2007 Booker shortlist with this novel his other works (past and future) should be published in the UK.

Bliss

2008-01-08T19:06:00.000Z

I've had a lovely day, playing hookey from work - I'm self employed so I gave myself the day off, which was not sensible as I need to keep the money flowing, but I couldn't miss this opportunity - as the planets aligned to grant me a day of peace. You see I have a very annoying neighbour who watches television for around twenty hours each day, and at top volume just in case anyone in the vicinity can't quite make out what she's watching. I agree that compared to some annoying neighbours, one friend has neighbours who are tone deaf yet persist in loud howlalongs around the piano every evening and don't get me started about my friends under siege in their South London Estate..., its not really that bad, but its been going on for four years now night and day with only a few days off. Polite requests to turn the sound down are greeted with either "I'm ill you know" or "How dare you, we've lived here for five hundred years" or my personal favourite "We've got rights you know" all accompanied by a wobbly lip and followed by the slamming of the front door and the turning of the volume up to maximum. After four years of 'This Morning', 'Loose Women', 'Richard and Judy' and the output of UKTV Style blaring into my home, I have realised that the only escape route is to move and take on a bigger mortgage(unless I win a large prize on the lottery that is)and that means returning to the world of employment, as bigger bills need a more regular income. In the meantime, you will understand, that on the very rare occasions that she actually leaves the building, rather than work I indulge myself by loafing around with a good book enjoying the silence.

And this was a good book. I love Alexander McCall Smith's books because they are deceptively simple and not at all overwritten, Ian McEwan take note. This is the fourth book in 'The Sunday Philosophy Club' series which is, for some reason beyond me, not as popular as his other books. The series is centred around Isabel Dalhousie, Edinburgh resident and editor of the 'Review of Applied Ethics' as she struggles with the ethical and moral dilemmas that life throws at her. I know that McCall Smith is a prolific writer, but I can assure you that he's no Barbara Cartland, his writing is deceptively gentle but, as he is lawyer and philosopher, his writing is far from superficial.

One of the best books I have ever read

2008-01-07T18:38:00.000Z

This is one of the most powerful and moving books I have ever read. The book is comprised of two parts of unfinished four or five part novel that Irene Nemirovsky conceived as a 'symphony' about war. The first part deals with a disparate group of Parisians as they flee Paris following the fall of France in 1941, the second part follows life in and around a small village in rural France under occupation. Nemirovsky's characters are vividly drawn and complex as they try to come to terms with their changing situation and her greatness as a writer lies in her detachment, her German characters are just as vividly drawn and compelling as her French characters. This is a book which depicts war and how it changes everyone, oppressed and oppressor, for good or evil. Although this is a work of fiction there is a poignancy to reading this as Irene Nemirovsky died in Auschwitz in 1942. The second appendix to the book reproduces the frantic letters and telegrams her husband sent to the authorities and her publisher following her arrest, sadly he was also to die at Auschwitz, in the gas chamber, later that year.

Something missing

2008-01-06T11:54:00.000Z

I finished reading this book a couple of days ago but was so unsure of my reaction to it that I decided to wait a couple of days before reviewing it and I am still unsure. It was an OK read, Jim Stringer is still a railway detective out of York and the mystery element kind of worked. The best I can say about this book is that it passed the time, but I won't be in a hurry to read any more books written by this author.

First book of 2008...

2008-01-02T13:23:00.000Z

This is a better read than either of the first two books. Firstly there is much less about trains, which is good news for me, as Jim Stringer is now a railway detective working out of York. The mystery part of the novel works well and is actually thrilling as Jim gets entangled in a series of crimes that may or may not be linked. We also get to meet a wide spectrum of characters as the mystery gets solved and, for the first time, the solution made sense to me, which is always a bonus in this genre. The novel is set in 1906 and Andrew Martin certainly seems to really evoke the feel of the period. Oh yes and we get to see more of Jim Stringer's family, which is always a bonus.

Last book read in 2007

2008-01-02T12:32:00.000Z

This book is just as bonkers as the first book as Brenda and Effie settle down in Buffy The Vampire Slayer style on the edge of a hell mouth in deepest darkest Whitby. I don't want to give too much away, except to say that even more shenanigans ensue as they deal with the various beings and entities drawn in by the hell mouth. I love how Magrs mixes up the genres, horror, fantasy, detective fiction all take their turn in this fun book. Although I enjoyed this book, I have to say that on balance think that the first book is better than this one. But I really want to find out just what is going on at the Christmas Hotel so will definitely read the next instalment when it comes out.

Wonderful

2007-12-30T15:37:00.000Z

As is usual with Claire Tomalin biographies this is a wonderful evocation of a life. She deals with Hardy's complexity both as a man and a writer without ever being judgemental. It is hard to reconcile the man who wrote to Rider Haggard, 'sympathy with you both in your bereavement. Though, to be candid, I think the death of a child is never to be regretted, when one reflects on what he has escaped.' with the man who wrote such wonderful poetry in mourning of his first wife. Emma Hardy is a fascinating character in her own right and one who it seems has been unfairly demonised throughout the years, Tomalin writes that 'she had many faults, but her courage was unflinching and she remained stoic.'

I first studied Hardy years ago when I was studying for my English Literature O'level, The Mayor of Casterbridge as well as his Selected Poems. I had a wonderful teacher called Mrs Sampson, who was probably Hardy's biggest fan, but I didn't appreciate his writing. She also taught me for my A'Level Literature, when we studied Tess of the D'Urbervilles and took us all to Dorchester to see Hardy's birthplace at Bockhampton as well as Maxgate. I was just too young to appreciate Hardy's writings and so she had a hard time convincing us of his merit. I came to appreciate Hardy's novels in my twenties and his poetry, which I feel is greater than his novels, in my thirties, so Mrs Sampson, I am so sorry, you were right Hardy is one of the great English writers.

Tomalin's biography had me searching on the net for this poem, which Hardy wrote in reminiscence of his visit to the churchyard the day before his friend Horace Moule's funeral (Moule was a depressive who committed suicide):

Before My Friend Arrived

I sat on the eve-lit weir,
Which gurgled in sobs and sighs;
I looked across the meadows near
To the towered church on the rise.
Overmuch cause had my look!
I pulled out pencil and book,
And drew a white chalk mound,
Outthrown on the sepulchred ground.

Why did I pencil that chalk?
It was fetched from the waiting grave,
And would return there soon,
Of one who had stilled his walk
And sought oblivion's cave.
He was to come on the morrow noon
And take a good rest in the bed so hewn.

He came, and there he is now, although
This was a wondrous while ago.
And the sun still dons a ruddy dye;
The weir still gurgles nigh;
The tower is dark on the sky.

The Last Emperor

2007-12-27T17:20:00.000Z

I spent Christmas Eve at the British Museum at a special showing of The Last Emperor Exhibition. Apparently this is the first time that the British Museum has ever opened on Christmas Eve, they also opened the doors for the Exhibition on Boxing Day and I see that there is a chance to do the same on New Years Eve as well. The rest of the museum was closed, so there wasn't any chance to go and browse the other exhibits, but there was tea and cakes as a welcome and a special exhibition of Chinese dancing in the Great Court, which passed the time until it was time to enter the exhibition. It all felt very grown up and it was great to have the chance to see the Great Court without too many people around.

The Exhibition has taken over the Reading Room and they use the space superbly. As for the Exhibition itself, as someone who plays around with clay, I found it very moving to stare directly at these figures made over two thousand years ago and see the tool marks in the clay as someone personalised each piece. Its also very sobering to realise that the techniques for working clay haven't really changed that much in the intervening years. I want to go to China and visit the site at Xi'an as this just feels like an appetizer and I just can't imagine how it feels to see hundreds of these figures lined up

.

And my favourite piece, strangely not one made of terracotta, but this beautiful and elegant bronze crane, which was discovered alongside other bronze birds by a mercury river in one of the many pits around the site.

My only complaint, and its one I have at every exhibition I go to, is audio description, somehow plugging into headphones makes people very rude as they shove other viewers out of the way to view the piece that is being described, and then linger to read all the information labels, which are telling them everything that they've just heard and yell at their friends and family "to come see this". I appreciate that audio description fulfils a need, I really do, I just wish that people would remember that they are not viewing and listening in isolation and that there are others around who have paid just as much as them for the privilege of viewing the exhibition.

If you haven't booked tickets, the British Museum have just released some more late night tickets, so do go as its absolutely worth it, just watch out for those people with headphones!

Trains...

2007-12-27T15:56:00.000Z

I work for someone who is a self-confessed train spotter and, for various reasons, he recommended these books to me for a Christmas read.

This first book is fascinating, did you know that at the turn of the century there was a dedicated railway from Waterloo taking bodies for burial at Brookwood Cemetery, I didn't. Andrew Martin has created a great character in Jim Stringer, an engine cleaner on the Necropolis Railway who gets caught up in a mysterious series of deaths. There is a lot of background colour which gives and authentic feel to the novel. As I knew this was all about trains it feels churlish to comment that, for me, there was a little too much information about trains and not enough mystery.

This is the second book in the series and Jim Stringer has now moved to Halifax and has been promoted to fireman. Once again the period is beautifully evoked, I'd forgotten about trips to the sea and Wake Weeks for mill workers, but as for the first book there was not enough mystery and too much train and not enough about Jim Stringer's personal life.

Sarf London...

2007-12-27T15:29:00.000Z

First of all I have to admit that I've met Debi Alper a couple of times as she is a good friend of Cailleach and I read her book with interest. This book is fast, funny, tragic, compassionate and rude and I really enjoyed reading it. Set in and around an area of South East London I know well there is lots of local colour. She's a great storyteller, but for me its in her depiction of the characters that Debi really excels, the central character, Jenny, is funny, loyal, sexy, troubled and flawed, as she attempts to come to terms with the damage inflicted on her during her childhood. But Jenny has found refuge and a new family amongst her diverse and compassionate fellow inhabitants of the Nirvana Housing Co-op. The bizarre job interview at the BBC where Jenny comes face to face with Stanley, who she previously knew as "Stapled Stan", is hilarious and very rude, but I was also deeply moved as Jenny and her friends are devastated as they try to help Stanley. As you can only buy this second hand from Amazon it seems that this is yet another book that seems to be out of print and shouldn't be, Kerry Katona and her ilk have a lot to answer for.

That's Better

2007-12-23T10:23:00.001Z

This may be too much information for some people, but I spent ages wallowing in the bath yesterday as the next thing on my list was a visit to my local supermarket, which at this time of year could easily be one of the rings of hell in the Inferno and, when I finally got there, it was just as bad as expected... So I lay in the bath, procrastinating, topping up the hot water and reading this book.

From the Amazon listings it seems that this book is out of print at the moment, this copy came from my local Oxfam shop, and I don't know why. Unlike Arthur and George (see posting below) Esther Freud's characters are all three dimensional and very engaging so I was immediately drawn into their world, which is also beautifully described. The central character is a child, Tess, and I really felt that as I read I was inhabiting her skin and experiencing her pain as William, her pseudo stepfather, ignores her and exposes her embarrassing secret to the world. All the characters in this book are three-dimensional but Freud has also got under the skin of William, who, while not truly evil, is self-obsessed and selfish, seeing the world only in terms of his needs and inevitably causes pain and anguish to those who love him, including his own children. The world in this book is beautifully evoked and so painfully realistic that there were times when I felt that I wanted to shake Tess's Mum, Francine, and ask her what the hell she was doing. I'm not sure why I haven't read any Esther Freud before but I shall definitely be looking out for her other works and if they are half as good as this one I shall be happy.

OK but

2007-12-22T10:40:00.000Z

This is an interesting, surprisingly gentle book based on a real-life case which ultimately led to the setting up of the Courts of Appeal. It reads, more or less, like a typical work of historical fiction with a narrative that is alternatively focused on George Edjali, accused and convicted of mutilating animals, and Arthur Conan Doyle who was convinced of his innocence. My main criticism is that the characters just do not come across as three-dimensional and emotionally sound leaving me, as a reader, as a detached observer of the events described in the text. Ultimately as a work of fiction I preferred This Thing of Darkness.

Oh well..

2007-12-18T00:22:00.001Z

Its clear that I am not supposed to have children, real or ceramic. At my last ceramic session I had a go at interpreting Barbara Hepworth's Baby in clay. This was my second attempt, the head of my first attempt exploded in the kiln smashing another of my pieces in the process. But I'm not one to run away crying when something doesn't go to plan so I decided to have another go. How foolish I am. This time during the biscuit fire the baby's face slipped right off, oh how I laughed when I found out. It may not be terminal, so I've glazed the body and the face as there is always the possibility that one application of hard of nails later no one, but me, and you, will ever know about my faceless baby! Although it may be a case of third time lucky.

But I did pick up a couple of other of my creations which are now fully glazed and finished and I promised a friend that I would photos of them to the blog.

This one you may recognise as its been here before, but this is it finished. The glaze is my favourite glaze and is the Gok Wan of glazes, or dolomite to those who pot.

This one you won't have seen, he's based on a lovely garden gargoyle owned by friends, I've cropped the photo to hide the mass of books on my floor.

I absolutely promise any friends popping by that these will not be wrapped under your tree this Christmas.

Bonkers

2007-12-16T12:01:00.001Z

I was asked to read this book by a friend, who wanted a second opinion, which is yes this book is bonkers, but then the Amazon blurb does warn you:

"Brenda has had a long and eventful life and she has come to Whitby to run a B&B in search of some peace and quiet. She and her best friend Effie like nothing better than going out for tea at the Walrus and the Carpenter or dinner at Cod Almighty and keeping their eyes open for any of the mysterious goings on in town. And what with satanic beauty salons, more than illegal aliens, roving psychic investigators and the frankly terrifying owner of the Christmas Hotel there are no shortage of nefarious shenanigans to keep them interested. But the oddest thing in Whitby may well be Brenda herself. With her terrible scars, her strange lack of a surname or the fact that she takes two different shoe sizes, Brenda should have known that people as, well, unique as she is, just aren't destined for a quiet life."

And shenanigans just about sums it up. I love books like this, they are fun and play around with popular culture. There are other authors out there I would recommend before this one, Terry Pratchett (and long may he continue to write) and Jasper Fforde, but this book passed the time nicely. If you don't like fantasy fiction don't read this book.

Small Rant...

2007-12-16T10:48:00.000Z

I see on today's BBC website that several top British authors have approached the government about declining standards in children's literacy asking that children be encouraged to read for an hour each day. On Belle's night out on Friday themymblesdaughter and I had a quick conversation about the crisis in publishing in Britain. What crisis I hear you ask, well the one that means that the best selling books each year are generally connected with a film, television programme or have a celebrity endorsement, which means that its hard for new writers, both fiction and non-fiction, to get published, let alone make some money from their efforts. The sublime example of this was on Jonathan Ross on Friday night, Kerry Katona was on promoting her new work of fiction by Kerry Katona, which to be fair she admitted wasn't actually written by her. I rest my case..

Stunned...

2007-12-12T21:52:00.000Z

I've been out and about today, meeting someone about finding some more work, and at the lovely Christmas lunch held by one of my clients and while I was out the sneaky OU published our results. I've just checked my results and I've gone and passed my last course for my degree. So on Monday I will be accepting a honours degree in literature. Whoo hooo.

You have to read this book

2007-12-10T15:01:00.000Z

Every so often a book comes along that I recommend to all my friends, last year's was This Thing of Darkness and this is the one for this year. Buy or borrow this book as its certainly one of the best books I have ever read. Its well written and has an engaging central character, Sophie Riedesel, who grows from precocious child to woman during the course of the book.

I know some people won't want to read the book as it is set mainly in 1930s Berlin and so is, inevitably, harrowing. Sophie's friends are Jewish and ex-circus performers, some of whom are disabled, and she has an autistic brother, all of whom she tries to protect from the horrific policies that are put in place towards the 'inferior'. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried as these policies began to take their inevitable toll on her friends and her family. But this is also a beautiful and enduring love story.

Its also helped me to understand how events in Germany unfolded during the 1930s and and how something similar could easily happen again, if it hasn't already. Zimler shows ordinary people having to decide whether or not to stand up for what they believe is right, in the knowledge that by doing this they would inevitably put themselves, their families and friends in grave peril and how the smallest compromises can lead to the acceptance of a great evil.

I'm sure a few people have been put off reading this book by the Kabbalist framework, don't be, it works and makes sense within the book.

I'm supposed not to be buying any more books until I've reduced my piles of books to be read (which extend along my hall) but I'm now in the process of acquiring other books by Zimler because if they are half as good as this one they will be worth it.

Seven Things

2007-12-10T14:55:00.000Z

I see Belle's tagged me for the Seven Things meme, which I will do, but not today because all I can think about is the seven bloody times I've had to pull my washing machine out into the centre of my kitchen because of an annoying alarm telling me that my hose is kinked, when it isn't and the pump has been checked too. Even though the machine is still under warranty this is one of those problems they charge you for fixing so I want to be sure before I go to the expense of having an engineer tell me I'm imagining things! I thought I'd cracked the problem by leaving the machine pulled out all over the weekend but obviously not as I can hear it bleeping away again, sigh.

Another Day Another Book

2007-12-07T10:07:00.000Z

One of my old English teachers used to start every class with "It was a dark and stormy night..." and expect one of us poor students to come up with something witty and intelligent to follow on, we didn't, ever. But last night was a dark and stormy night, so stormy that it felt as if the house had been transplanted from its snug London suburb to the Yorkshire moors, with Kathy Earnshaw's shade, looking remarkably like Kate Bush, dancing around outside howling to come in.

So rather than trying to sleep I finished reading The Savage Garden. Hmmm. Its a nice book, but strangely unsatisfying. As I read I found my mind wandering to other things, of which more in a moment. The book is a mystery tale which has echoes of The Da Vinci Code as Dante's Inferno is the key to the story of the garden. This is very interesting and has encouraged me to reread Dante, but somehow it just doesn't work, while the contemporary mystery which is intertwined throughout the story just isn't mysterious or compelling. The best I can say about this book is that it feels well researched and Mark Mills isn't a bad writer, but something went slightly wrong as it just didn't grab me the way a mystery novel should.

One of the characters in the book is an up and coming sculptor and the book lists contemporary sculptors, one of which is Elisabeth Frink, one of my favourite artists. My very first job was working for an embezzler, I'm serious - he was eventually sent to prison in the US for embezzlement and allegedly found God while inside, but that is a whole other story - who had a sculpture park and herb garden at his house in Hampshire, I absolutely promise I am not making this up! Anyway he had two Frink heads in his sculpture park, In Memoriam I and In Memoriam II which were placed together in a walled garden, these two pieces of art were so full of power and emotion, I used to sneak out of the office and just spend time sitting by them, trying to understand them. There were other sculptures in the park by Henry Moore, Miro and even Barbara Hepworth, but none of them affected me as much as the two Frinks. Her Walking Madonna at Salisbury is also amazing and powerful, but I can't find an image of it at the moment to link to. Her works are everywhere, London, Chatsworth House, Winchester, Belfast and worldwide, if you get a chance to see one or see a collection do, I promise it will be an experience, whatever you think of her work you won't be indifferent I promise.

Books and Stuff

2007-12-05T12:46:00.000Z

When I started this blog it was supposed to be about books, not quite sure what happened there. Anyway if you've been reading the blog you'll have seen the posting about being reader which was written in response to a friend of mine who can only read a pristine copy of a book, preferably one that has never been sullied by human hands and if the cover is creased heaven forfend.

Setting aside all that the literature degree brings (there is just about a week to the results and I do feel sick) one of the things I demand of a book is that it fulfils whatever criteria the writer set out to fulfil, so its a thriller, it thrills, if its a detective novel there's some investigation, etc.

But I digress, I've just finished reading The House at Riverton and, to my surprise I really enjoyed it. Its one of those Gothic novels set in the first half of the twentieth century, with a mysterious tragedy haunting the present and a big English country house at the centre, the kind of story that generally rocks my boat. Its well written and I certainly didn't feel Kate Morton reaching for a metaphor or getting carried away with her own cleverness, like Henry James and Ian McEwan, I think I am the only person in the world who loathed Atonement.

This is the first book recommended by Richard and Judy that I've enjoyed in a while, and makes me feel a little easier about the collection of Richard and Judy recommendations I was seduced into buying by the Book People earlier this year. Sadly I really didn't like the first two books I read from the collection, Looking After Matthew, which was at best an OK read until the ending, or Relentless, I love thrillers, but Relentless neither thrilled or engaged me, if you want a good thriller my advice is to read Christopher Brookmyre.

When I was at school...

2007-12-04T21:19:00.000Z

I wanted to be a writer of some kind, but the teachers at my school said no that's not a career, you need to do something practical to earn money. So, partly because my parents had paid a small fortune for my education and partly because then I was a superficially compliant girl, I followed their advice and chose something else that made them, but necessarily me, happy. Of course as soon as I left school I did something completely different just to be annoying, finally falling into my career by chance in my twenties. Don't get me wrong on a good day I still kind of, sort of, like my job, but today, some 20 years after I left school, I printed out the 130 pages of my NaNoWriMo novel and I want to look all those teachers in the eye and tell them "You were wrong. I am a writer."

Yes Yes Yes

2007-11-29T11:30:00.001Z

50,791 words written since the beginning of November.

Jumping The Shark?

2007-11-24T16:15:00.000Z

I had an Eureka moment this morning. I was sitting in the bath (how appropriate) mulling over my NaNoWriMo dilemma (see previous post)and trying to work out of I could write my characters out of their rut. I was just at the point where the goose pimples were beginning to form as an idea popped into my head, a stupid ridiculous idea that would make even the creators of the 24 amnesia plot blush, but still.

Six Characters In Seach of

2007-11-21T15:28:00.000Z

I am still plugging on with NaNoWriMo and have written just over 32,000 words. Which amazes me. If I want to make it through I have just over a week to write 18,000 words, or just about 2,000 words a day. Doesn't sound much does it but "there lies the rub". To all those writers out there who have ever commented that their "characters wrote themselves" at which I used to laugh hysterically, I'm sorry. I believe you now. Somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 words my characters staged a rebellion, took over the keyboard and began to write themselves. Well why don't you just sit back and relax and let them finish you may ask? The bloody idiots have written themselves into a nice little plothole with no visible means of escape and are looking at me in the same way Oliver used to look at Stan, "here's another nice mess you've gotten me into".

Eight things...

2007-11-18T16:14:00.000Z

Inspired by Belle I thought I'd have a go.

Eight things I am passionate about:

1. Reading
2. Wine
3. Fairness
4. Literacy
5. Ceramics
6. Peace
7. The environment
8. Human rights

Eight things I want to do before I die:

1. Travel around the world - I want to go everywhere!
2. Write a novel
3. Graduate
4. Move to the country
5. Swim with dolphins
6. Find and inspire love
7. Become a published writer
8. Become fearless

Eight things I say often:

1. Get a grip
2. What's the problem
3. Mine's a large one..
4. Oh for fucks sake..
5. Why?
6. I don't know, but I'll find out
7. It'll be OK because it has to be
8. That leaves us some wiggle room

Eight books I have read recently:

1. Death of a Red Heroine - Qiu Xiaolong
2. A Masculine Ending - Joan Smith
3. Kairos - Barbara Smith
4. Stardust - Neil Gaiman
5. Persuasion - Jane Austen
6. No Name - Wilkie Collins
7. Point of Departure -James Cameron
8. Making Money - Terry Pratchett

Eight songs I could listen to over and over

1. Just Like Heaven - The Cure
2. Serene - Throwing Muses
3. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
4. Primary - The Cure
5. Bright Side of the Road - Van Morrison
6. Heart Shaped Box - Nirvana
7. New Year's Prayer - Jeff Buckley
8. All Tomorrow's Parties - Velvet Underground

Eight things that attract me to friends

1. Laughter
2. A sense of the absurd
3. Eccentricity
4. The ability to talk at length about absolutely anything
5. Loyalty
6. A passion for the thins they love
7. Integrity
8. Endless patience

Reading

2007-11-16T13:25:00.000Z

I love to read. If you know me you will already know this as I always have a book with me, if you have visited my home you will know that every room is stuffed to the gills with books, so stuffed that even I am beginning to feel that I am teetering on the edge of having too many books, if that is a possibility. I am a reader and I love talking about the books I have read and hearing about books my friends have loved reading. I will read almost anything, or at least give it a try and can count the number of books I have abandoned reading halfway through on the fingers of one hand. I am a reader and have been known to happily sit down and read the yellow pages or a dictionary if there was nothing else around to read. Reading is my solace, my escape, my education, my entertainment. Whatever I read has to fit my mood, sometimes I am in the mood for a piece of light and fluffy fiction, or a gruesome murder mystery, or a piece of non-fiction, it doesn't matter as long as the writing captures my attention. I am a reader. But I am not a book lover. Don't get me wrong I love books and I can't ever see myself reading through choice from a computer screen as nothing beats the sensory experience of picking up a book and feeling its weight in my hand, experiencing the colours and design of the cover and its particular aroma. I am a reader. I may appreciate the cover and binding of a book in the same way that I might admire the beautiful cup that holds my coffee or the glass that holds my wine, but you can only look for so long before taking a sip. I am a reader.

Hmmm

2007-11-06T12:47:00.000Z

For all those who are asking, here is a short extract from the NaNoWriMo work in progress, I make no claims as to its worth or even coherence as this is the novel writing equivalent of going for the world land speed record and I am definitely speeding over those salt flats without a seat belt right now. So here goes with a very small extract from yesterday's efforts.

'Go see your son, he's supposed to be sleeping'.

Of course he wasn't, he was standing up in his cot looking fretfully through the bars, starting to wail the moment he saw me. I picked him up and he smiled at me through his tears, reaching out for the half-eaten carrot stick in my hand, which he sniffed at before throwing it to the floor. He snuggled down into my arms, his clear blue eyes blinking up as me as I sniffed in his fresh, innocent smell and suddenly all the fears I had held at bay over the last few days came flooding through. If this all went wrong I wouldn't be able to protect him, to keep him safe and secure, possibly not even be a father to him again. His fingers reached out for mine and gripping them tight he sighed contentedly as the tears rolled gently down my cheeks. His regular breathing calmed my fears as he softly slipped into sleep. I tenderly placed him back in his cot, and as he rolled reaching for his bear I pulled the covers over him and kissed him goodnight.

Oh yes and I am still slightly ahead of schedule with 8,360 words under my belt.

Artistic Moi?

2007-11-05T12:43:00.000Z

Case sensitive who writes narcissistic navel-gazing has asked me if I have produced anything at my ceramics class that I use/display? Well I have never produced anything useful at class and as for display, well there are odd lumpen ceramic objects stuck on various shelves around my home for visitors to admire, which strangely they never do, suspect that they are scared that they may be given said lumpen object, rest assured I like my friends far to much to do that. So, in the spirit of sharing my friend's pain, here is a photo of my latest creation, which may or may not have survived its initial firing, I'll find out on Friday.

I am also a writer, I can say that as I am taking part in NaNoWriMo, and have undertaken to write a 50,000 word novel in November, which means aiming to write around 1667 words each day. This is my first year and it seemed like a really good idea when I signed up at the beginning of October, but now I am not so sure! The good news is that at the moment I am more or less on track having written 6,876 words as of last night, leaving 43,124 words to my goal, what have I done?

Grrrrr!

2007-10-29T18:57:00.000Z

I've just found a really good quote for my ECA in yesterday's Observer, shame I had to hand it in by the 28th September, if you don't know what an ECA is check out Belle's blog, but in essence it was all about judging literature and the distinctions between canonical and popular literature. Kate Mosse, no not the supermodel but the one who co-founded the Orange Prize, dismissed this whole question with 'You can't compare a cheese sandwich with foie gras. The only question is: is it a good or bad cheese sandwich? Is it good or bad foie gras?'. Brilliant. Sadly I thought her book was a cheesy foie gras sandwich, but you can't win them all.

Finally...

2007-10-28T15:29:00.000Z

I am very late to the party as this book has been available for over six weeks now, but I have to say that it gets better on each read and is not one to be missed.

You can buy it here.

As a taster here is one of my favourite poems, reproduced with permission of course:

Roosters

My granny used to soak the spuds too,
making it easier to peel them later.
Part of the morning's ritual was topping
their pot with water. Later, after
fowl were fed and tae and bread were ate,
she'd peel them slowly, humming all the while
a medley of Moore's Almanac songs.

Steeping my potatoes now, as she did,
brings her Four Green Fields down the years to me.
Scaly and read, these Roosters, instead of
her soft Queens; mine tattle of modern machinery;
long scars that I smooth away with a stainless
peeler. I split them with a long, broad knife,
rinse them down and leave them by for dinner.

My parents ran a business together so Sunday was the one day of the week when we would all be together without interruption. My mother was not a natural cook, so the rituals of the kitchen were something she endured rather than enjoyed, but the preparation of the vegetables for Sunday lunch was a ritual of some importance, the soaking of the potatoes signalling the start of the main preparations for the meal, as the potatoes had to be peeled and parboiled, before they could be added to the tin to be roasted alongside the meat. It's been years since my mother died, but I can still see her hands as she peeled and chopped the vegetables and hear her voice as she sent me to the garden to harvest the herbs for the sauce. Once the preparations were complete we would sit drinking tea as she told me tall tales of her youthful exploits.

River's Rambles

Ennui

It's official

Superpod

Feeling like Alice...

Small Beginnings

Quick Update

When I am old

To Write or Not To Write

Ill

An Important Ramble

Alive....

Not much to say...

Children say the funniest things...

Working too hard...

The Vesuvius Club

All Books Read in 2008

First Book of 2009

Reading Review of the Year

Happy New Year

National Identities

Madness

Didn't Mean To Be Away For So Long...

The Queen of the Flat Pack

Two Things

'We have seen you from afar and we are dying of hunger'

Did you see this?

Underground London

Twilight

OU Anonymous

Random Book Reviews

Small Rant

Its been one of those ....

Huge Decision

Stress

Yesterday

To OU or not to OU

St Swithin's Day

Shhhh

Love This

Not around much but still reading and working...

I should be working, but...

Impecunious...

All work and no play makes...

If Hell exists its not other people...

Breaking the silence...

One of those moments

More reading!

Madness

More Comfort Reading...

Comfort Reading

And another book

Nostalgia

Not My Favourite Christie

Silk

The beginnings

Sweeney Todd

Silent as the Grave

I, Lucifer

Agatha Christie

An amazing meditation on grief

Yet Another Book

Bliss

One of the best books I have ever read

Something missing

First book of 2008...

Last book read in 2007

Wonderful

The Last Emperor

Trains...

Sarf London...

That's Better

OK but

Oh well..

Bonkers

Small Rant...

Stunned...

You have to read this book

Seven Things

Another Day Another Book