It was Mr C that originally picked up a copy of Marie Phillips' Gods Behaving Badly. He really enjoyed it and added it to my to be read pile when he'd finished.It's a completely original book, set in modern day north London. The slight oddity is that living in north London are the central characters of the book - a family consisting of the Greek Gods! They don't particularly like modern day living, especially as they're stuck in a dilapidated house that's too small, dirty and doesn't have enough hot water. Life becomes a bit more interesting though ... read more
Gifts for myself
I'm guilty of a little bit of indulgence this last weekend. I had some money on a internet based credit card that I'd got as a result of a repayment following some fraudulent use of my card. I don't have the pin number for this card, but wanted to use up the money before closing the account. A trip to amazon was therefore in order and I bought some of the books that have been sat on my wish list for a while now.There's a definite yarn related thing going on with my book choices and I'm really looking forward to going through these over the next few weeks and adding more ... read more
Blue Shoes and Happiness – Alexander McCall Smith
It felt like a while since I'd read any of the Alexander McCall Smith books on my shelf, so I decided to pick up the next in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series in the new year.Blue Shoes and Happiness follows the similar formula of the others in the series, but after a bit of a break it felt great to catch up with Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi. Mma Makutsi found herself a fiancé in the previous book and this one sees her getting used to being a woman who is going to be married. When Mr Phuti Radiphuti asks her if his wife to be is a feminist ... read more
Chaos
Ae we really only ten days into 2009? Last weekend I remember feeling so organised for going into the new year; now I'm not too sure. So much seems to have happened in these last ten days that I'm not even sure where to start. Sorry there are no photos to accompany my words - I've just not had time to take my camera out of my handbag all week.I went back to work on Monday and was expecting a quiet week before starting all the regular meetings etc next week. Someone else obviously thought differently. I feel like I've been on a treadmill that's been getting faster and faster ... read more
The Outcast – Sadie Jones
My first finished read of 2009 was Sadie Jones' The Outcast. I picked up a copy of this before Christmas based on a recommendation from my friend P. She was blown away by it. I wasn't.Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy it, but just not as much as I was expecting to. The book is set in the 1950s in the South of England and centres around Lewis Aldridge. We visit Lewis at various different times in his life and gain a painful insight into the hurt and confusion that he suffers due to events around him. The book looks at how suffering like this was covered up in ... read more
Jane Austen’s sock
After a morning and early afternoon viewing houses and shopping for a few bits and pieces in town it was lovely to be able to curl up later this afternoon and have some me time.Back in early December I recorded the tv adaptation of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park on our magic box and this afternoon I curled up with my knitting to watch Billie Piper's interpretation of Fannie Price. Now I have to admit to having not yet read this particular book so my views are very much of it as a stand alone piece of TV drama, rather than a version of the original ... read more
Emma – Jane Austen
It feels like an age ago that I started reading Jane Austen's Emma. I'm not totally sure why, but it was a very long read. I had a small break in the middle to read a couple of other books and I'm really glad I did as it meant that I came back to the second half of the book refreshed. Somehow I managed to get through my whole schooling without studying any Jane Austen and it was only when I left university that I bought all the set and thought that I ought to read them. I wasn't really sure what to expect with Emma. Other books like Sense and ... read more
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer
I first heard of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society from Auntie Doris' blog and although I was fascinated by it at the time I have to say that I forgot about it somewhat until I saw it again in the local Waterstones when I was in there the other weekend. Now I've read it though I've been kicking myself for not getting hold of it sooner.I've always been fascinated by the German occupation of the Channel Islands and was even more fascinated after being taken to Jersey by Mr C for my birthday earlier this year. That weekend we were ... read more
Unimagined – Imran Ahmad
It was dovegreyreader that first introduced me to Imran Ahmad and I'm so glad that she did!Last week Imran wrote most of one of her posts and as a result I had to go out and buy a copy of his book that afternoon.Unimagined: A Muslim Boy Meets the West is quite simply a story of Imran's life as a Muslim man growing up in the UK. It starts when he is aged "pre-zero" and his family were living in Pakistan. The first bit that really made me smile was the description of him being robbed of the title of the Karachi 'Bonnie Baby' due to ... read more
The lure of books
I went out with such good intentions this afternoon. I needed to make a proper dent in my Christmas shopping and I headed into St Albans with just that intention. I did intend to head into the local branch of Waterstones for a few things, including a travel guide for a weekend away we've got planned in January, but it was supposed to be a trip in which I shopped for other people.Having now come home and looked at the pile of things on my desk I realise just how wrong I got it!Firstly, the Cancer Research shop is the only charity shop in the centre of town that's open on a Sunday - so I ... read more