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The Black Prince - Iris Murdoch (DNF)

  • Jul. 17th, 2009 at 10:02 PM
literature, writer, book
It is a long time since I gave up on a book but this one has defeated me.  I have tried to convince myself I am enjoying this one but I am
not - it is utterly tedious and I want to throw it at the wall. It is putting me off IM for life. Maybe I am just in the wrong frame of mind - but I feel like I have wasted this week trying to get into this one and failing. I have reached page 204 by sheer force of will - but I can't stand any more of it. So I am calling it a day with this one at least.

The stupid thing is there was at least one day in the last four - when I did manage to convince myself I was quite liking this book - yet almost every time I picked it up - it felt like a trial. Life is too short, my tbr is too high, and when I am as tired as I have been the last two weeks, my temper is too short, to bother.
literature, writer, book

Persephone Book No. 75, On the Other Side: Letters to my Children from Germany 1940-46 by Mathilde Wolff-Mönckeberg, are letters written (but never posted) by a 60 year-old woman, to her children living abroad, about the experience of living in Hamburg during the war. Discovered in a drawer in the 1970s, they were translated by her daughter, the late Ruth Evans, and first published in England and Germany in 1979.

The first thing that came  to mind while I was reading these letters, was how easily "Tilli" could have been writing about Britain. The shortages, the cold, the bombings and shelters were as dreadful for ordinary people in Germany as they were for the people suffering in Britain. It was intersting to hear all of this from a Germam perspective. "Tilli" was no supporter of Hitler - quite the reverse, and I think it is easy to forget that there must have been many thousands of people who detested everything he, and the Nazi party stood for. What comes out strongly in these letters however is "Tilli's" love for her family, her children, her sisters, her husband, and numerous other people we hear about in her wonderfully lively letters.

Cold in the Earth - Aline Templeton

  • Jul. 12th, 2009 at 10:50 AM
literature, writer, book
Having heard Aline talk at the Uncon last weekend, I was delighted to find two of  her books on the book buffett. I needed something lightish and  diverting this weekend as I have been so utterly exhausted I couldn't cope with anything else.

Amazon Product Description:
Marjory Fleming is Scottish, a sheepfarmer’s wife, a mother of two, and a police detective inspector in Galloway whose home and family are her refuge from the violence of her job.
Laura is a psychologist, wracked with guilt after the death of her marriage and her mother, who determines to find out what happened to her older half-sister who left home 15 years ago. Laura’s search takes her to rural Galloway, where her sister stayed with an extraordinary family who are top bull breeders.
It is 2001, and with foot and mouth having just broken out, Dumfries and Galloway is one of the first places hit. The bulls are killed, and a body discovered when their field is ploughed up for burial of the carcasses. And DI Fleming – ‘Big Marge’ to her men – can’t go home, where her husband is having to destroy his own animals, because of the murder investigation . . .

I found this an enjoyable and diverting novel, and just the antidote I needed this weekend to the utter exhaustion of this last week. I don't read many modern detective novels, because some of them are too grizzly and unpleasent. Luckily this isn't. The back drop to the novel, the 2001 foot and mouth crisis is fascinating. I remember being driven somewhere at the time, where we had to venture out into the countryside, and seeing, as we drove, empty fields and plumes of ominious black smoke. Other than that like most city dwellers I was largely unaffected, and this novel brings the true horror of it, for rural communities into focus. The main story - the discovery of the body, followed by the discovery of who that body used to be, is also well done. Although there weren't that many suspects it wasn't easy to guess who had "dunnit" - although what strange discoveries are made about some of the characters (I'll say no more)does involve a slight suspension of belief - well it did for me. I liked the characters of Marjorie Fleming and her Burns quoting DS Tam MacNee, and will no doubt look out for more of this series.

Knowing there were other people expressing interest in this book last weekend - I will be setting up a ray for it.

The Queen's Favourites - Jean Plaidy

  • Jul. 9th, 2009 at 7:22 AM
literature, writer, book

This novel is one of the Stuart saga noves, and concerns the reign of Queen Anne. Sister to the dead Mary II and Sister in law to William of Orange, Anne becomes Queen after his death. This novel wonderfully recreates the court of Queen Anne, and the gross ambitions of many who surrounded her. Ever since she had been a young girl, everywhere Anne went, there was also Sarah Churchill. Sarah Churchill (yes those Churchills) was scheming, bad tempered and very high handed. She often spoke to the Queen in way which seems hardly credible. Her loathing for the Queen she allowed almost everyone else to see, and yet she pretended great friendship to Anne, in order to further her own ambitions and those of her family. Sarah however (whom I first met in the novel The Haunted Sisters) hadn't reckoned on Abagail Hill however. Abagail Hill, is brought into court intially by Sarah Churchill as a servantto the Queen, a chambourmaid of sorts, her duties are quite menial, and yet she becomes a favourite of Anne's. Abagail has ambitions of her own, but none of Sarah's nastier ways. This is great escapism, a really good historical novel, that is fascinating for anyone intrested in the first Churchill family, and how Blenhim came to be built.

Uncon - a funny story.

  • Jul. 7th, 2009 at 5:48 PM
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I had a good Uncon despite being unwell, it was so lovely seeing everyone, the venue was great, and Edinburgh is a beautiful city.  Having spent the first night in a hostel with some bc friends, the second night I spent in a lovely hotel (a long story as to why I changed - and all due to lovely friends looking after me) on Princes Street. On the Sunday morning I had breakfast with GingerGoeff and Cinderess. After Geoff had left - Cinderess and I were having a chat about scottish authors. She asked me who I thought was resident in Edinburgh - and I said I thought Alexander McCall Smith lived in that neck of the woods. She said "he's dead!" I was horrified -"when had that happened - why had no one told me" Cinderess assured me she had read his obit. about a month earlier and been very shocked.  I have just had a pm from Cinderess to say AMS is ALIVE and she is sorry she destressed me over breakfast - lol. I must say I did laugh.  Poor man being reported as dead by breakfasting bookcrossers. Phew glad he's still around though. : )

Also have had this catch from the release walk I wasn't on  : )

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5946904/Heaven-Ali/-The-Sweet-Dove-Died-Barbara-Pym

Jul. 2nd, 2009

  • 11:54 PM
bull
I have had a nice day today and feel happy : )

Went back to school - still coughing though not as much. People regarded me with some suspicion, but we all go in when we not well enough half the time. I assured them all I was lots better really. The Y2 children did their big assembly to some of the other children,  this morning, we do it again, to the others and lots of parents tomorrow. They did so well, we have practised a choral speaking thing, and some songs and other stuff over the last two weeks - I have the bloomin' tunes running through my head all the time, but it paid off I thought, Hope it goes as well tomorrow for all the parents. Had my performance management interview after play - it went well too, and I came out feeling positive about how this year has gone.  I felt happy to be back at work - catching up on the gossip and seeing the children (funny how i never used to miss the big ones) - God how sad am I?

Been looking forward to Uncon all day - I am all prepared, and then have had a lovely long read this evening - but too awake and hot to sleep now -so have got up again just for a bit : )

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A Hallowed Place - Caro Fraser

  • Jul. 2nd, 2009 at 11:48 PM
literature, writer, book

I had thought I would be finishing this tomorrow on the train to Uncon, I had promised myself an early night, tonight. I went up at 9.00 had a shower then made a cuppa and propped myself  up on cushions on my bed to read. Suddenly it was nearly 11.30 I was into the last few pages. (This means I'll start another book on the train wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!)

A hallowed place it may be, but No 5 Caper Court in the Inner Temple is riddled with rumour and uncertainty. The head of chambers is dying; there is a move afoot to leave the Temple for Lincoln's Inn; and Leo Davies, the QC with the charmed and amoral life, is about to take one risk too many. Behind him lie a failed marriage, a string of lovers, and a habit of seductive cruelty which, until now, has left him unscathed. But at least two chickens are coming home to roost: Rachel, his ex-wife and a lawyer herself is ready to do anything necessary to protect her son from his father; and Sarah Colman, who arguably knows more of Leo's secrets than anyone, has come to be a pupil at Caper Court. Then there is Joshua, beautiful, uncommitted - and looking for a safe haven.

When I started this book I was irritated slightly by the soap opera style goings on. But I quickly re-engaged with the characters and found myself enjoying it. I felt rather sorry for Leo, although his problems were of his own making. The more I read of these Caper court books the more I like him - he is an idiot at times though. The ending though - oh my goodness what a place to end! I may need to read book 5 sooner than I had planned. Good light reading, for when you don't want to take life too seriously.



Cough cough!

  • Jul. 1st, 2009 at 5:13 PM
bull
Coughing so much last night I drove myself insane and ended up not sleeping. So I also ended up not going into work today.  Which I felt really crap about as I had wanted to get back to normal. But I could not have coped with those kids after another sleepless night. I went to the pharmacy this morning and bought more medecines and cough sweets and olbas oil  and Nitol to help me sleep tonight. I fell asleep for a while this afternoon, so didn't read much. I started the next Caper court book last night - and it is annoying me - but that's probably because I am irritated in general at the moment. 

So will trying again tomorrow.

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June reads

  • Jun. 30th, 2009 at 9:25 PM
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56 The Abortionist’s daughter

Elizabeth Hyde F

57 Crow Lake

Mary Lawson F

58 Once Upon a time in England

Helen Walsh F

59 Gaudy Night

Dorothy L Sayers F

60 Francis Brett Young

Michael Hall NF

61 The Flight of the Maidens

Jane Gardam F

62 The Haunted sisters

Jean Plaidy F

63 Cheerful weather for the wedding

Julia Strachey F

64 When will there be good news

Kate Atkinson F

65 Sky Burial

Xinran NF

66. Up at the Villa

W. Somerset Maugham F

67. Season of the Rainbirds

Nadeem Aslam F

68. Father & I

Carlo Greber NF

69 Cold Harbour

Francis Brett Young F


I have manged more this month although I should mention that some were pretty slim.

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Jun. 30th, 2009

  • 9:17 PM
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I have decided to struggle in tomorrow - I'm still coughing well - but should manage. I tend to think if you are sitting at home in your nightie - thinking about how you feel all day - then you are going to feel pretty crap. Best just get on with it as far as possible.  So will be off to bed soon, as I haven't slept brilliantly this week really.

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Cold Harbour - Francis Brett Young

  • Jun. 30th, 2009 at 9:01 PM
literature, writer, book
From the FBY society
Cold Harbour represents a new departure for Brett Young – unashamedly a ghost story that introduced one of his principal villains, Humphrey Furnival. A puncture-delayed motor trip brings Evelyn and Ronald Wake to a sinister enclave of a rural settlement: the country inn, manor house, parsonage and church of Cold Harbour (in reality Wassell Grove) some five miles from the author’s native Halesby (Hales Owen). The book tells of supernatural happenings at the manor house and the dreadful sufferings of Furnival’s wife.

This is certainly very different from the other FBY books I have read. But I was anxious to read it for that reason. It reads like so many old fashioned gothic type stories of the past - and is therfore hard to put down, and very readable.  Like other stories of this type, however you need to read it for what it is - and not take it too seriously.  The novel opens with Evelyn and Ronald Wake sitting down on  a terrace in Italy one evening, in the company of an unnamed author and clergyman. From here they tell their incredible story. Their listeners chip in from time to time with various  theories of a theological or acedemic nature in a bid to understand exactly what did happen in Cold Harbour.  A good read all in all, but it makes me wonder why FBY suddenly wrote such a different type of book.  I may need to look back at the book I recently read about FBY to see if their are any clues - but I don't  remember anything being mentioned about this departure from the norm.

Father & I - a memoir - Carlo Grebler

  • Jun. 29th, 2009 at 6:35 PM
literature, writer, book

The story spans nearly a hundred years. In Carlo Gebler's early childhood, his relationship with his father, Ernest, was a disaster. A man of the left, Ernest's politics had been 'hammered out in the nineteen thirties'. His early life as the son of a Jewish immigrant was spent working as a rat catcher in a cinema, snatching moments alone to educate himself, but the one with the literary talent was his second wife, Edna O'Brien - Gebler's mother - who left after Ernest claimed authorship of her work. As his father saw it, Carlo and his brother Sasha were over-fed members of the bourgeoisie, and toys and sweets were banned from their lonely childhood, filled with memories of abuse and neglect. Years later, on hearing his estranged father was now senile, Gebler made the journey to southern Ireland and through his past, through diaries that confirmed Ernest's hatred for his sons, yet also revealed the abuse Ernest in turn suffered as a young man, a life of extreme poverty and the abandonment of his first wife. This not a story that ends in hate; by the time Carlo Gebler reached their final years together, he no longer felt the anger that had dogged their relationship.

How funny  it is that books you have on mnt tbr for ages and ages and constantly overlook in favour of other books, turn out to be absolutely marvelous.

I bought this - probably in a charity shop - because I recognised the name of the author -I had not that long before read one of his novels. What I didn't realise then, was that Carlo Gebler is the son of Edna O'Brien.

This is a very well written memoir, honest, even - and this is surprising - becoming sympatetic toward a man who at best was cruel and difficult. Carlo Gebler paints a poignant picture of a childhood, where he and his brother were pulled between their warring parents - they elected eventually to live with their mother. Ernest Gebler seems to have been able to strike at the heart of the child Carlo's insecurities, his cruel barbs never forgotten, and heard so often, Carlo becomes able to predict them almost word for word. As his father ages, and falls victim to Alzhiemer's Carlo Greber begins to see him in a different way - while never forgetting the man he grew up with. It is only after Ernest's death that through painstaking research Carlo comes to a better understanding of his father.


Jun. 29th, 2009

  • 6:21 PM
bull
I have been a bit lurgyish - pretty sure that it's not the dreaded swine flu - although there have been a few cases at school. I  have been ill since about weds - decided to stay home today, and will be at home tomorrow. Hopefully will go back in Wednesday. I haven't rung NHS direct or any of that nonsense as I don't think it is the SF - but if I am not a bit better tomorrow I may do that.  I have an awful chesty cough, and that's about it - I haven't really had a temp - I don't think -  but with all this muggyness it's hard to tell. Anyway whatever I have got it must be the tail end of it now - and so should be fine for Uncon. Anyway had a good rest and read this afternoon.

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Seaon of the Rainbirds - Nadeem Aslam

  • Jun. 27th, 2009 at 9:33 PM
literature, writer, book

Amazon Editorial Review:

A sack of letters lost in a train crash 19 years before has mysteriously reappeared, and the inhabitants of a little town in Pakistan are waiting to see what long-buried secrets will come to light. Could the letters have any bearing on Judge Anwar's murder?


This was Nadeem Aslam's first novel, but I first discovered him when I read (and later ringed) his second novel - Maps for Lost Lovers - which I thought was wonderful.  I thoroughly enjoyed this one too.

This beautifully written novel centres on the inhabitants of a small town and: the discovery of a sack of letters, missing for 19 years, the murder of Judge Anwar, and an affair between Muslim deputy Commissioner and a young christian woman. These different plot strands are subtely woven together, to create a community under pressure.  The small town political and religious tensions are really  well observed. Set against the backdrop of a monsoon season, this is an atmospheric novel, that doesn't have any shattering plot twists or very much to "say", it;s the story of a small isolated community in Pakistan,  but it is a really excellent novel nontheless.


Up at The Villa - W. Somerset Maugham

  • Jun. 25th, 2009 at 7:14 AM
literature, writer, book

Mary Panton walls up her desires in a beautiful villa high up in the hills above Florence, as she calmly contemplates her disastrous marriage. But a single act of compassion begins a nightmare of violence that shatters her serenity. She turns for help to the notorious Rowley Flint, and through him comes to realise that to deny love, with all its passions and risks, is to deny life itself.


This is another enjoyable read from Somerset Maugham, an authour I am trying to read more of. It was not as suspensful as I had expected it to be - and ended up being moe about two people coming together in bizarre circumstances, trusting each other, and making the best of the situation. Still a very good page turner, and such a slight little book I read it one sitting.

Sky Burial - Xinran

  • Jun. 24th, 2009 at 7:45 PM
literature, writer, book

Amazon Editorial Review:

It was 1994 when Xinran, a journalist and the internationally acclaimed author of The Good Women of China, received a telephone call asking her to travel four hours to meet a woman who had just crossed the border from Tibet into China.

Xinran made the trip and met the woman, called Shu Wen, who recounted the story of her thirty-year odyssey in the vast landscape of Tibet. In Sky Burial, Xinran has re-created Shu Wen’s journey, painting an extraordinary portrait of a woman and a land, each at the mercy of fate and politics. It is an unforgettable, ultimately uplifting tale of love, loss, loyalty, and survival.

This is an amazing story. As a young woman in the 1950's Shu Wen meets and falls in love with Kejun, whom she marries. After only a few weeks of marriage Kejun is posted to Tibet. When less than a 100 days later she recieves news of his death, Shu Wen can not bring herself to believe it. She decides to undergo what is then (and now) an unimaginable journey to try and locate her husband. Her journey takes her to a vast wilderness.  The distances, and the time it takes to get from one place to another are almost unbelievable. During her time in Tibet Shu Wen spends over ten years with a nomadic family, learning their ways, language, and becoming a part of their family.  All the time she never forgets Kejun, her love for him never fades.  Her story is an epic one, and an unforgetable one.  The people Shu Wen meets on her 30 year journey and the impact they have upon her make this less of a sad story than it might have been. 

Thanks to Kittiwake and Jazz-ee2 for arranging for this one to come my way.


literature, writer, book
From the Back Cover
In a quiet corner of rural Devon, six-year-old Joanna Mason witnesses an appalling crime.
Thirty years later the man convicted of the crime, Andrew Decker, is released from prison.
In Edinburgh, sixteen-year-old Reggie, wise beyond her years, works as a nanny for a GP. But Dr Hunter has gone missing and Reggie seems to be the only person who is worried.
Across town, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe is also looking for a missing person, unaware that hurtling towards her is an old friend – Jackson Brodie – himself on a journey that is about to be fatally interrupted.
In an extraordinary virtuoso display, Kate Atkinson produces one of the most engrossing, brilliantly written and piercingly insightful novels of this or any year. When Will There Be Good News? sheds new light on to the nature of fate, and on to the human condition itself.

This is a great read, a very hard to put down book. Another installment of the often strange life of Jackson Brodie. We also meet again Det Cheif Inspector Louise Monroe, newly married this time - a wonderfully cynical character who really is the female version of Jackson Brodie. Reggie a 16 year old mother's help is Kate Atkinson's best creation in this novel - her voice is authentic, wise beyond her years, yet still vulnerable, I cheered for her all the way through. The plot is not that complex really - although it keeps you wondering, but this novel, like the previous two Jackson Brodie novels, are as much about the people and the way they interact, as it is about the crime.

literature, writer, book
Bought for me by Liz - for my birthday : )

A very small book - but really a beautifully written and well observed piece. The story concerns a family on the day of a young girl's wedding. Dolly - the bride, is getting ready - the family eat lunch - two cousins squabble.  There is for the reader a real sense of time and place with this novelle - you can hear the china clinking, imagine the chintz, but it is maybe only after you get right to the end you realise just what perfection this little book is.

Thanks Liz - loved it : )

The Haunted sisters - Jean Plaidy

  • Jun. 20th, 2009 at 12:38 PM
literature, writer, book

From the back cover.

Betrayed by his friends and forsaken by the daughters he so loved JamesII made a perilous escpe to France.

Mary could not forgive him for the death of gallant Monmouth. All her love her love now centred on William her husband and the new King of England. Anne disliked Mary and hated William and coveted the Crown. Her ambitions were encouraged by the audacious Sarah Churchill who sought power as her soldier husband sought glory.

The memory of the "King across the water" was to haunt them all.


I absolutely loved this book. I do so enjoy a well written histroical novel. there is scheming and drama and tragedy. Anne is portrayed as a greedy, lazy rather silly woman, who just can't see Sarah Churchill for what she is. Mary is a more sympathetic character, she is married to the cold and controlling William of Orange, they are joint Sovereigns, she is strong and bright and yet she defers to him in all things. She loves him, but he has little interest in her. Sarah Churchill is a marvelous villainous character, and of course it is difficult to know if she was quite as bad as she is painted here - but her scheming and weedling make for a great read. I have the Sequel to this - The Queen's Favourites tbr - and look forward to reading it soon. This has been a fantastic bit of escapism on this quite stresstful and exhausting week at work - due to which I wasn't able to read it as fast as I would have usually - but I am glad I have had this one to look forward to each evening -it brightened the week for me.


The Fligtht of the Maidens - Jane Gardam

  • Jun. 14th, 2009 at 7:16 PM
literature, writer, book

This delightful novel describes the post-war summer of 1946 - and follows the growing-up of three young women in the months between leaving school and taking up their scholarships at university. Una Vane, whose widowed mother runs a hairdressing salon in her front room ('Maison Vane Glory - Where Permanent Waves are Permanent'), goes bicycling with Ray, the boy who delivers the fish and milk. Hetty Fallowes struggles to become independent of her possessive, loving, tactless mother. And Lieselotte Klein, who had arrived in 1939 on a train from Hamburg, uncovers tragedy in the past and magic in the present. Rooted in the north of England, THE FLIGHT OF THE MAIDENS is peopled with extraordinary characters, who are evoked with all the humour, compassion and eye for detail that mark Jane Gardam as one of Britain's most gifted and original novelists.

This was a lovely novel, I read it in a little over 24 hours and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was fascinated by the story of Lieselotte, a German Jew, who had come to yorkshire as a ten year old in 1939. All three girls however have a summer that in some way changes their lives. There are both poignat and hugely funny moments, and so much that rings true - after all we have all been 17. The writing is great, and the characterisation is brilliant - Hetty's mother is a truly awful - and at the same time wonderful character.

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