Dear Booklovers, On Tuesday November 3rd, on behalf of Mostly Books I’m hosting a Literary Quiz entitled ‘Mostly Bookbrains‘ at the Manor Preparatory School in Abingdon. Guess who’s Quizmaster and writing the questions? Yes, it’s me. We will cover the whole world of books – from bestsellers to prizewinners, cover art to author photos, children’s Read More
Month: September 2009
Short Takes
Catching up on some shorter reviews … Amulet by Roberto Bolano Translated by Chris Andrews To paraphrase the Cranberries album title, Everybody else is reading it, so why can’t I? – I’ve finally read some Roberto Bolano. He is definitely the flavour of the moment; his posthumously published epic 2666 is generating acres of discussion Read More
An evening with Alan Titchmarsh
The people of Abingdon had a treat tonight. Another national treasure came to visit in the body of Alan Titchmarsh, gardener supreme, broadcaster, chat-show host and great favourite of ladies of a certain age. I don’t count myself as one of them yet, but he is responsible for encouraging me into gardening during his stint Read More
Guilty Secrets #3
When I started my blog just over a year ago, I wrote a couple of posts about things I haven’t read but should have. I’ve had so much to say since, I haven’t had much time to reflect further on the gaps in my reading. Then this afternoon on Radio 4, they were talking about Read More
A nail’s tale.
This is not a post about books – It’s a musing about fingernails! I tend to keep my nails really short – it’s a habit – I used to be a fiddle player. My nails have never been strong either, flaking at the slightest exposure to harsh treatment; but apart from painting on nail strengthener Read More
Two women, two cultures, two lives
Antigona and Me by Kate Clanchy This is a true story. Antigona is Kosovan, a single mother with two daughters and a young son; they are refugees in London. They had a terrible journey to get there escaping from war and Antigona’s wife-beater of a husband. Kate Clanchy has a happy home and a young Read More
A true story of the Russian Revolution
Blood Red, Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick There has been renewed interest in the beloved children’s author Arthur Ransome lately due to the publication of a new biography: The Last Englishman by Roland Chambers. What many people don’t know is that years before he wrote the children’s classics, including Swallows and Amazons, for which he Read More
My Blog is 1 today!
Dear everyone, It is a year ago today that I dipped my toes into the blogosphere with a very tentative post titled Is there anybody out there?, (the Pink Floyd inspired title was in deference to Rick Wright who had died earlier that day). I’ll be getting back to bookish stuff in a day or Read More
Housekeeping …
… no, not the book by Marilynne Robinson, just a rounding up of bookish things, as later in the week, it’s my first blogbirthday! I’ve been trying to be good and actually get rid of some books recently (inspired by Scott’s efforts over at Me and my big mouth). I’ve not ditched as many as Read More
Power Games in Puritan New England
The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent To be honest, I wanted to get this book out of the way. I didn’t warm to the cover at all, particularly as when you see it in a stack it stares at you; it gave me the willies one morning when I woke up to see it looking Read More
Richard III – Dastardly murderer or totally misunderstood?
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey Most people if asked, including me, would think of Richard III as the hunchback who murdered the princes in the tower. Our information generally comes from Sir Thomas More’s hatchet-job of him by way of Shakespeare and Laurence Olivier or Anthony Sher with a crutch capering around the stage. Read More
Rogue apostrophes and all that grammar and punctuation stuff…
There have been some great pictures of signs with rogue apostrophes and appalling grammar in the papers lately. With the new school year just starting, the government has produced a document as part of the National Literacy Strategy to tell teachers when to use a full stop. Apparently, up to a third of trainee teachers Read More
Now Titchmarsh is coming to Abingdon!
We’re getting all the big names in Abingdon now. Next to visit is the gardening everyman megastar Alan Titchmarsh. The event promoted by Mostly Books is on Friday September 25th. The venue is being finalised, but tickets are on sale at £6 from the bookshop (01235 525880). Alan has a book to promote (naturally!). I Read More
Monkey Business in Hollywood
Me Cheeta by James Lever This year’s oddball choice on the Booker longlist is a satire on Hollywood as seen through the eyes of Tarzan’s long-lived chimp companion. When it was published last autumn as an autobiography, the book had Cheeta listed as its writer, but it didn’t take long for the real author to Read More
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood – were they really desperate?
In the same way that I adored watching Rome and am enjoying The Tudors, I also loved Desperate Romantics which recently finished screening on the BBC. All of them are generally utter tosh historically, but great entertainment to watch – and of course everyone looks marvellous; (Rome also wins prizes for being the most creatively potty-mouthed programme Read More
