I have been invited to be ‘tagged if in the mood’ by the blog phenomenon that is http://meandmybigmouth.typepad.com/scottpack/ having left a comment asking him to comment on my blog. He graciously did so – twice – Thank you very muchly indeed Scott. The rules for this are: 1. Link to your tagger (see above). 2. Read More
A sense of place
The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato Novels with a strong sense of place are always attractive to me, and the most attractive of all are those set in Italy. I can’t get enough of them – the romance, the passion, the art and architecture, the food. But absolutely top of the list are those set Read More
Lost Light by Michael Connelly
Published in 2003, Lost Light by Michael Connelly is the 9th Harry Bosch novel in an outstanding series set in Los Angeles that shows no signs of diminishing returns at all. In fact they’re getting better… What’s new about Lost Light is that Harry retired from the LAPD at the end of City of Bones, Read More
Bookended by great lines…
People and quizzes often tend to concentrate on opening lines of books all the time. Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again . . . … from Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier being, of course, an absolute classic. But who knows the last line, which just so happens to be beautifully elegaic … Read More
Boy in the striped pyjamas by John Boyne.
A lot has been written about this book, especially since it was filmed, so I came to it having realised the ending, but I hadn’t worked out how it happens. Told from the point of view of nine year old Bruno, the son of a high ranking soldier who gets promoted to become the Commandant Read More
The Man Without by Ray Robinson
Ray Robinson’s debut novel Electricity was one of the best things I read this year … until I read his second novel The Man Without. Electricity has a superb heroine in Lily – a severe epileptic who was abused and in care as a child. The novel follows her quest to find her lost brother Read More
Words of wisdom
From the sublime … “The marvellous thing about a joke with a double meaning is that it can only mean one thing.” Ronnie Barker … to the sublimely ridiculous but still true… “A sure cure for seasickness is to sit under a tree.” – Spike Milligan “Never trust a man, who when left with a Read More
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
This is a brilliant novel, but one I found it difficult to enjoy. The title, appropriately for a parody of America’s deep south in the 1960s, comes from master satirist Jonathan Swift and is a perfect description of the book. The author has assembled a cast of grotesques, from aged crones to spoilt housewives, and Read More
Genrification … that’s the name of the game?
If a fiction book is labelled chicklit, or Science Fiction, does it put you off? – Possibly … Sci-Fi was one of the most spurned, if not the most derided genre of novels until chicklit came along. Personally, I can’t see anything wrong with either genre – in principle … Now I have to defend Read More
One from the archives
Updated and republished into it’s original place in my blog’s timeline My eight year old daughter recently asked me what my favourite film is. She probably meant which is my favourite film of hers … but I quickly replied The Blues Brothers. Not the best film ever made, and a close run for my top Read More
National poetry day today!
To celebrate National Poetry Day, dear Readers, I am going to subject you to a Gaskella original. I haven’t written a poem since I was at school over two decades ago, but inspired by events of earlier this week, I’ve had a go at writing not just one, but two (oh yes!) haiku. Early October Read More
Spotlight on ***** Books #2
It’s time to introduce you to another pair of the books I have particularly enjoyed this year getting five out of five stars each. A full list of my five star books can be found on my Librarything site – there’s a link to your right. First in the spotlight this time is Always Outnumbered, Read More
School Dinners by Becky Thorn
My sister-in-law has a book out and it’s a real retro nostalgia trip. I saw the manuscript earlier this year, and it got us all talking for hours about stories of our own school dinners when we were little – loved and loathed in equal measure I think. And as for the dinner ladies … Read More
Underneath its prickles is a charming story …
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery Translated from the French by Alison Anderson. Get past the prickles in this novel by Muriel Barbery, and there is a charming story underneath. It’s told from the alternating viewpoints of Renée, a widowed concierge who has a love of philosophy, cinema and Tolstoy, and Paloma, an incredibly Read More
I Love Lists!
Books about books are like a magnet to me – if they’re booklist books, they have even more pull. They can also drive you mad when you find your own favourites titles or novelists are missing and others you think less of are included. Any book of this kind is entirely subjective and the opinion Read More
Big Brother is watching you…
1984 by George Orwell I read this first, as I’m sure many of us did, as a teenager. I’m also sure that the savage satire on totalitarian states went straight over my head – I was into Science Fiction, and sadly didn’t pay any attention to modern history. Instead I was probably thinking how clever(!) Read More
A Musical Interlude
Tom Waits – one of music’s best-kept secrets… Republished into its original place in my blog’s timeline from the lost post archive. You may not know his name, but you’ll know his songs – Rod Stewart’s cover of Downtown Train or Springsteen’s Jersey Girl for instance. You may recall a distinctive looking actor in supporting Read More
Desert Island Books #1
This weekend has been totally hectic and I got virtually no reading done, so instead I’ll tell you about one of my desert island books – a book that’s made a big impression on me, and shaped my reading habits thereafter … The first on my list is The Shipping News by Annie Proulx who in those Read More
What makes a good choice for a book group?
I maintain that the best books for book groups are those that provoke discussion – titles that not everyone will like, or genres you don’t usually read for instance. Most important though is not to get stuck in a rut, by reading totally different types of books each month. The book group I belong to Read More
In praise of the Literary Quarterly
Slightly Foxed… …is a four a year magazine billed as ‘The Real Reader’s Quarterly’. It is beautifully produced on cream paper with lovely illustrations and usually comprises 15 or 16 articles – all championing books that are often out of print, but always an influential book for the essay’s author. As usual, No 19 was Read More
Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason
Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason Nick Mason has been with Pink Floyd right from the beginning – through all the band’s incarnations and troubles. He makes a genial host in his biography of the band, yet he proves too easygoing and unconfrontational to give us much analysis of the Read More
Guilty Secrets #1
This is the first in an occasional series where I am going to risk ridicule and tell you which books and authors I really ought to have read but haven’t. I am enjoying the new BBC adaptation of Tess of the D’Urbervilles immensely. Its young star Gemma Arterton is just the part with her Pre-Raphaelite Read More
A Trio of Five Star Books
As this is a new blog and we’re still getting to know each other, I thought I’d briefly introduce you to a trio of the 5 star books I’ve read this year, so you can see some of the books I’ve really enjoyed reading. The Scheme for Full Employment by Magnus Mills This was a Read More
Rebus #2
Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin Ian Rankin’s second Rebus novel is not quite as good as the first, but is still very enjoyable. Inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, this time the doughty inspector investigates the death of a junkie with possible satanic overtones, while his super involves him in Read More
What’s your relationship to your reading?
Can you have more than one book at a time on the go? In other words are you a serial monogamist or a two-timer in your relationship to your reading materials? I’m always impressed by people who can manage to read several books at a go, swapping between them as the mood takes them and Read More
“Is there anybody out there?”
I finally decided to dip my toes into the blogosphere. But before I write anything else, I must go and listen to Echoes from Meddle. I only found out today that Rick Wright died earlier this week, there was a good obituary in the Telegraph. I’ll be back tomorrow when I hope to get started Read More
