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
Author: AnnaBookBel
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
An eloquently written misery memoir, long but loaded with nuggets of the author’s wit and bite
Closing Time by Joe Queenan I have enjoyed all the Joe Queenan books I’ve read, particularly The Unkindest Cut: How a Hatchet-Man Critic Made His Own $7,000 Movie and Put It All on His Credit Card. Queenan is a journalist and author, having written for the New York Times and The Guardian amongst others, where his Read More
Gaskella goes walkabout on Bookmunch
I was delighted when Peter at Bookmunch invited me to review a book for them. So you can now see my review of Fists by Pietro Grossi here. I really enjoyed it.
My Life According to Books I Have Read
I got this fun meme from Kay at The Infinite Shelf. Using only books you have read this year (2009), cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. It’s a lot harder than you think! * Describe Yourself: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo * How do you feel: Cloud Busting * Read More
A book with mischievious intent, that doesn’t entirely live up to its promise
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith If you look at all the reviews, you’ll see that this monster mash-up of the beloved novel has totally split opinions of those who have read it. I’ll tell you mine after a bit of explanation. Zombies have been plaguing the English countryside for Read More
Rude Awakenings!
Maybe it’s my current reading (Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith), but I’ve been having vivid dreams. The latest of which consisted of a science experiment at school involving woodlice which transmogrified into giant maggots (remember the Pertwee vintage Dr Who with maggots – but not quite so big and Read More
She sells sea shells by the sea shore
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier This is the story of two women in the early 1800s – fossil hunters who played an important part in the beginnings of the evolutionary debate. Elizabeth Philpott and her younger sisters have to move after their brother marries; not being able to afford to live in Brighton, they choose Read More
What my cricket-mad brother is reading and listening to …
After my Mum obliged my request to make some remarks on the blog about her recent reading, I asked my brother if he was interested in doing the same some time. Within an hour or two he had supplied me with the paragraphs below – not keen at all! As you will see, three out Read More
Good Clean Spy Fun – with a spot of murder, and a good dose of drugs …
The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler When I saw that Penguin were reissuing five of Ambler’s novels in their Modern Classics series, the choice of which to read first was easy – I picked The Mask of Dimitrios. Apart from having been published during the same year as Chandler’s The Big Sleep, this novel Read More
What my Mum is reading
Being between books to review at the moment, I asked my 70-something Mum what she’s reading. She probably reads more books than I do, and every time I see her she borrows a bagful or two. She always returns them with sticky notes on telling me what she thought. She reads widely, and dare I Read More
My new cult faves have arrived – WooHoo!
I’m now the proud owner of two new cult faves – which to read first? The Booker longlisted Me Cheeta, the ‘autobiography’ of the Hollywood star chimp. Our book group has chosen this for our October book, but I can’t wait that long to read it. Or should I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Read More
Griff does Abingdon!
I’ve just got back from a very entertaining evening in Abingdon in the company of Griff Rhys Jones, along with half the town it seemed. It was a sell out event and the Guildhall was absolutely full. Brits need no introduction to Griff – he’s been on our telly screens for about three decades now Read More
Powerful prose wrought from chemistry and music…
Solo by Rana Dasgupta I read Dasgupta’s first novel Tokyo Cancelled back in 2007 and it was one of the most original debut novels I’ve read in recent years; it has really stayed with me. A modern take on the Canterbury Tales, Tokyo Cancelled is really a linked story cycle in which a group of Read More
A solid and enjoyable police procedural
Spider Trap by Barry Maitland Barry Maitland is the author of a series of nine crime novels so far featuring the detective team of ‘Brock and Kolla’. Some years ago, I remember reading one of the earlier ones, The Chalon Heads, which was set in the world of stamp collecting. A plot involving gangsters and forgers Read More
From Wilson to Thatcher – what a decade!
When the Lights Went Out: Britain in the Seventies by Andy Beckett The 1970s were my formative years. I was ten years old in 1970, so I was a Seventies teenager. My 1970s were full of being a teenybopper with my beloved David Cassidy, girl guides then the youth club, and the hard graft of Read More
A slow-burning yet rewarding novel
How to Paint a Dead Man by Sarah Hall I hugely enjoy reading all the buzz about the Booker Prize, but I normally don’t indulge in any deliberate speculative reading, preferring to pick and choose a select few short/longlisted titles after the event. Today though I can say I’m totally with it just this once, Read More
