For those of you that are not fans of Alexander McCall Smith (if that's possible!) then I promise to read something else next!Morality for Beautiful Girls was the first in the pile of books from my colleague L that I read, mainly being as it was the first chronologically (she couldn't find the original book when she first delivered my package to work). Once again it's a fantastic book, possibly not my favourite though. Much of the attention is on Mma Makutsi and we learn about how she came to be appointed to be the Assistant Manager (and then Acting Manager) of ... read more
Botswana Bonanza!
My colleague L left a fantastic package on my desk at work today - four more books from the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency. I can now look forwards to reading Morality for Beautiful Girls, The Good Husband of Zebra Drive, In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (isn't that just a fantastic title!), and The Miracle at Speedy Motors.Luckily I got these books before I'd started reading anything else - so I'm now looking forward to curling up with one of them and having an early night! Thank L! ... read more
The Full Cupboard of Life – Alexander McCall Smith
I seem to be reading rather quickly this week and have already finished the next book I have in the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series: The Full Cupboard of Life. Yet another fantastic read with larger than life characters.Mma Potokwani at the Orphan Farm is once again taking advantage of Mr J. L. B. Matekoni's inability to say no to her requests and finds himself in the frame to do a parachute jump to raise money for the orphans - not something that him or Mma Ramotswe are happy about.At the same time the question as to why Mma Ramotswe and Mr J. L. B. Matekoni are ... read more
Tea cosy mania
I think there must be a bit of a tea cosy thing going on at the moment - I'm quite amazed by the number of people who seem to be coming to this blog having googled "tea cosy" or some similar phrase. I also seem to keep coming across mentions of tea cosies in pretty much every thing I read, especially on other people's blogs.I then came home from work today and found another of those Amazon e-mails suggesting something new to read - only today's was for Wild Tea Cosies by Loani Prior. Now I have to say that this book ... read more
Delia’s Frugal Food
At a time when the Credit Crunch is making quite a few of us tighten our belts and the press are full of the doom and gloom of the UK heading towards another recession, many people are looking back to how we coped in the past - both during the days of rationing and also how we coped through past recessions.I see that Delia Smith is no different, and according to this article she's even being green in recycling one of her oldest published cook books; Delia's Frugal Food. Now I have to admit that I haven't seen a copy of this yet, it hasn't even been published as a ... read more
On Green Dolphin Street – Sebastian Faulks
It may sound a bit strange, but Sebastian Faulks is one of those authors whose name I instantly recognise, but if you'd asked me to name one of their books I would have failed. That has changed though as if I look on my bookshelf now I can find four of his books. It was this realisation that made me think that it was about time to pick one up and actually read it. On Green Dolphin Street was the one that ended up on top of the pile and I have to say that it was a thoroughly enjoyable read, especially when I consider that it only cost 79p from a local charity shop.The ... read more
Knitalong
I get quite a few e-mails from Amazon and I have to admit that quite a few of them end up not being read properly. However, I am a big fan of the recommendations that they send out and have discovered quite a few good authors via this route. I've not really tried out the system for non-fiction books, but having now bought quite a few knitting related books I'm starting to get some interesting recommendations into my inbox. One that arrived recently that I took advantage of was Knitalong: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together by Larissa and Martin John ... read more
Salem Falls – Jodi Picoult
I'm not quite sure why, but Salem Falls initially didn't draw me in as other Jodi Picoult books have done. It may have been the talk of paganism and witchcraft that I'm not too fond of, but luckily as I carried on the strength of the characters came through and it ended as a reasonably good read.Jack St. Bride arrives in Salem Falls having been released from prison where he was serving a term after being accused of raping a pupil. He is determined to pick up the pieces of his life and takes a job washing dishes at the local diner that is run by Addie Peabody. ... read more
Woolly Embroidery
I certainly wasn't planning to buy any more craft books when I went to the Knitting and Stitching show, but this one on the Embroiderers' Guild book stand caught my attention and I just couldn't put it down.Woolly Embroidery is an American English language version of a book that was originally published in Japan in 2006. Split into two halves, the first part of the book provides beautiful photographs of various embroidered items, whilst the second half contains instructions and patterns for the reader to be able to reproduce them, along with a detailed reference ... read more
My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult
Another Jodi Picoult book, and another that came to me second hand (my mother in law originally bought this as it was the book at her book group). Having read My Sister's Keeper I can certainly see why this book would stimulate enough discussion at any book group due to the subject at its heart.The main character in this book is thirteen year old Anna. Her sister is fighting leukaemia and Anna was a "designer baby" conceived to be a perfect genetic match for her sister and to help her sister live. She has now reached the stage where she wants to ... read more