It's rare that I look forward to a book as much as I did Little Men. It's also the case that I'm rarely as disappointed and frustrated with a book as I was with LIttle Men. After reading, and thoroughly enjoying, Little Women and Good Wives I went to quite a bit of effort to track down copies of LIttle Men Jo's Boys and I'm not yet sure it was worth the effort. Little Men is set at Plumfield, the school and home for boys that Jo has set up with her new husband, and follows many of the boys (and a couple of girls) that are in their care through ... read more
The Worst Princess – Anna Kemp & Sara Ogilvie
It seems that Little Miss C is very much following in my footsteps and becoming a complete book addict. The last things she asks for at night is books and first thing in a morning she wants "stories" before anything else. Trying to keep up with her is proving somewhat challenging and I have to admit that some books really test your patience when you have to read them over and over again. One of our last trips to the library resulted in fines that were so large that it would have been chaper to buy the books new! I was delighted therefore when the postman delivered a copy of The ... read more
Lily of Love Lane – Carol Rivers
I'm not sure what's made me so obsessed with period based books at the moment, but I keep finding myself being drawn to them. I even managed to pick up (and pay for I hasten to add!) a copy of Lily of Love Lane whilst I was out shopping for onions one afternoon! It is quite simply another good East End saga set between the wars. There's hardship, friendship and romance and a few twists and turns, all written about in a very warm, friendly manner. Carol Rivers' books are probably best described as "historical chic-lit" but there's something nice and ... read more
Bossypants – Tina Fey
It's fair to say that the only real thing I knew about Tina Fey until recently was the impressions that she did of Sarah Palin during the run up to the 2008 US Presidential elections. She did such a good job that footage of her went completely global, and some news organisations even got so confused that they included a clip of her in a bulletin whilst saying that it was Sarah Palin! My knowledge of her pretty much ended there though. I knew she'd been involved in Saturday Night Live (SNL) and that that was where her Palin impressions started, but I didn't know that ... read more
The old fashioned Brownie Guide
As I mentioned a few months back finding all my old Brownie and Guide badges ended up sending me on a bit of a journey back in time as I remembered more and more about what it was like being in the Brownies and Guides in the 1980s. One major part of this has been getting hold of a copy of The Brownie Guide Handbook version that I had at the time and boy has that proven to be a fascinating read! As a child I was obsessed with this book. It covered everything I wanted to know, not only about the Brownies and how to achieve all the badges that I so desperately wanted on my uniform, but ... read more
Helen’s egg parcels
I've been making a bit of an effort recently to come up with some new things for Little Miss C to eat, especially at lunchtimes. An economy drive means I've been reducing portions for myself and Mr C in the evening, but then that it turn means that any leftovers are big enough to do another evening meal for both of us and hence there's not a small portion left to cover a meal for LMC. Once again I have returned to the fantastic River Cottage Baby and Toddler Cookbook which never fails to give me some kitchen inspiration. This time round I went for Helen's egg parcels which have ... read more
Good Wives – Louisa May Alcott
To follow on from reading Little Women I then moved on to Good Wives - a natural progression as they were originally two volumes of the same book. Good Wives does take things a step further as it covers how the four women have developed into young women. There are marriages and babies as well as tears and sadness. Despite being published in 1869 what amazed me about Good Wives is just how much of that transition from young woman, to young lady, to wife and then to mother is still the same today. The chapter entitled "Domestic Experiences" follows Meg as she ... read more
It’s not what you think – Chris Evans
I think it fair to say that Chris Evans is someone who divides the country. From his loudmouth days on the Big Breakfast through to the controvesy when he took over from the "Nation's Favourite" Terry Wogan on Radio 2 he's often been on the front pages with people praising and criticising him in equal measure. As a teenager at the time I loved the Big Breakfast and also was a regular viewer of TFI Friday and Don't Forget your Toothbrush. When he then went back to radio I didn't really follow him, yet it was hard to escape all the stories in the media about him buying ... read more
The advantages of shopping local
As much as I love the internet and do plenty of online shopping (including my weekly supermarket shop) I am really trying to make sure that I use my local shops too. If you don't use them then I figure that you've no right to complain if they then close. As I've mentioned on here many times before I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful local toyshop in St Albans in the form of Cuthberts Toys. When a friend was asking on Facebook if anyone knew where to get hold of some specific Octonauts toys that she'd promised her daughter as a reward for having to take some particularly nasty ... read more
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
I'm not totally sure why, but recently I have bee feeling a bit guilty about the number of "classics" that I've never actually read. I own many, often picked up in charity shops like many in my book collection, but most of them still sit in my "to be read" pile. Rather than feel bad about it I decided to do something about it recently and am therefore making myself alternate between classics and more modern books. Having looked at my bookshelf I realised that they all appear to be in alphabetical order by author, so starting at the beginning I found myself ... read more