poppyshake

It was so good to see you and Claire, Janet Happy Reading in 2018! I hope you enjoy both your books. I'm so tempted by Caraval .. might wait though and see what you think of it Fingers crossed that you like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine as much as I did and more than Claire did

Started The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa and loving it so far ...but I know it’s going to get sad 😞 Recently listened to the audiobook of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol ....an absolute must for this time of year. I’ve watched a film adaptation too Also recently listened to Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend ... very enjoyable. I’d like to read something wintry but haven’t really got anything that fits the bill. Was going to buy Mr Dickens and his Carol by Samantha Silva yesterday but Waterstones had sold out! Thwarted!

Ooh that reminds me Claire ... I've got it on the shelf to read I'm reading Nigel Slater's The Christmas Chronicles .. part recipe book but part homage to Winter! It's fabulous

Some sentences on books that didn't exactly set me alight. Please excuse me if I'm just a bit brutal. Time has done nothing to heal the wounds of disappointing reading. The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marion Keyes Thoughts: I'm a big fan of Marian Keyes. I moved on to her after exhausting Maeve Binchy and she didn't disappoint .. I particularly loved all her books about the Walsh family (Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday, Angels and Anybody Out There? although I've yet to read the last one The Mystery of Mercy Close) very readable and absolutely guaranteed to put a smile on my face. Alan bought me this book for my birthday and so I had an extra reason to love it but I just couldn't. Unlikeable characters, implausible plot and dialogue and just perplexingly awful. I couldn't believe it was the same author. It's a tome too .. I would have given up on it if it hadn't been a present (why is there always a reason!?) I trudged through it. I've since read a lot of rave reviews about her latest book The Break but I'm not sure now .. I think she may have gone off the boil .. she could of course boil again .. but can I take the risk? Disappointing! The Secrets of Wishtide by Kate Saunders Thoughts: I've actually wiped this from my memory so can't really remember much of it but I do remember being annoyed. I was unaware that the story was, in part, a re-imagining (God! .. a word to strike fear and all that) of David Copperfield and so alarm bells were ringing when I recognised a particular plot situation from that book in this (nothing up to that point had put me in mind of it so I just thought the author was taking liberties until such time as the liberties became so blatant that I realised it must be intentional.) All very well to write in the style of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins if you can live up to them .. few can .. I didn't think Kate Saunders was one of them. There's more in the series apparently. No thanks. The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Thoughts: Now, I'm not for one minute saying that this isn't a work of genius or that it is defective in any way .. millions of readers can't be wrong it's just that it didn't hold my interest. As soon as Audible advertised their wonderful Sherlock Holmes: Definitive Collection read by Stephen Fry I rushed to download it. Never was an Audible credit parted with so willingly. I haven't heard all the stories yet, I've only really dipped my toe in but what I have heard has been marvellous .. for the most part. This was the one story though that I couldn't seem to get involved in. It couldn't have been Stephen's reading .. we all know he could read from the cornflake packet and make it riveting so it must have been that the story didn't suit. I don't think there was enough Holmes and Watson in it. I usually always listen when out walking and I was wandering off constantly (in my mind .. not feet!!) I did like the denouement though (which of course I can't tell you about) and what it led to. Mrs Zant and the Ghost by Wilkie Collins Thoughts: It's a bit rich of me to include Wilkie here after hailing him as a genius earlier. It's not that I didn't enjoy the story it's just that it was a bit slight and didn't really go anywhere. It's only a short story and I felt it suffered a bit from being squashed down into 76 pages. On the plus side, I listened to it (free .. thank you Audible) .. Gillian Anderson narrated and she was excellent. Wouldn't appear on Wilkie's Greatest Hits .. not volume 1 anyway. Talking to Addison by Jenny Colgan Thoughts: Again, Jenny Colgan has written better books .. much better books. This was one of her earlier efforts I think and as such she was probably testing the water etc. It was readable, I didn't at any point want to hurl it and I was interested in the outcome so not a disaster just not up to the standard I've come to expect of her. It did get sillier as it went along. Books often do though .. take Frankenstein! The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean by David Almond Thoughts: Oh dear! What a struggle. I bought this book many moons ago seduced by it's beautiful cover. So seduced that I bought it in hardback and put it in my glass cabinet in the lounge where all my beautiful books live. Once books get put in the cabinet they stand even less of a chance of being read than any of the others in the house as they're in (neatish) piles and the faff involved in unlocking the cabinet and disturbing the piles is more than I'm equal to most days. I think I must have been at a bit of a reading low ebb when I decided to liberate this book. It's time had come .. ta-dah!! Obviously I was hoping for a tale that lived up to the great cover .. I've rarely been let down in this department so I had confidence but imagine my face when I realised that the whole book was narrated by Billy and, given that he has never learnt to write or spell, it was written phonetically! By the end of the first page I had a headache!! Here's a taste: 'Next day he brout a groop of men. They tarkd in foren voyses & kept ther eyes turnd away from us. They set to work reparing the room as best they cud. They prepard it as the plays wer I wud grow. They put loks on the dore & went away.' There was never any let up, I willed for one of the other characters to take over the narration just to give me five minutes break but nope! Now, it wasn't necessarily difficult to decipher as you can see but it meant that the story never flowed because there was always something on the page that was incomprehensible so I just stuttered and stumbled my way through it. NOT RELAXING!! There is a good story here and that's what kept me reading. Fool! I've just seen that the new edition of the book is subtitled 'Telt by Hisself' and I feel this may have forewarned me and so now feel cheated as well as exhausted. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells Thoughts: This is not to be compared with the others here that I've been complaining about. I love H.G.Wells and think The War of the Worlds is THE best science fiction story I have ever read .. or am ever likely to .. and I loved the beginning and the end of this story. It's just that I didn't like the middle much (so in other words .. I hated the time travel!! ) .. it seemed a bit preposterous and I didn't feel the story had aged well. I know it's much beloved so again, it's probably just me. Vintage sci-fi and me usually get on okay but this time we didn't really get past a friendly handshake etc.

Bloomin' things Mum is on the mend now thankfully .. thanks Madeleine It was great to see you on Monday Claire Hope you've had a good holiday Thanks Di The kitchen will be a long process but it's progress .. a step in the right direction. I keep wanting to bake though .. cakes and biscuits .. also jacket potatoes .. I'm dreaming about those (and not a white Christmas as it turns out ) We could get one of those mini table top oven and hobs but we had one before when we were renovating a previous kitchen and I killed it in super quick time Probably best to steer clear. You'll all be glad to know that I have a toaster AND a toasted sandwich maker so I'm not going to be toast deprived

Thanks Gaia Thanks Poppy We're just going to have a low key Christmas this year. Alan hasn't got a lot of time off so we're just going to chill out, be together, and eat sandwiches or something It'll be bliss not to have to wrestle the turkey for once.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman Synopsis: Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive - but not how to live. Eleanor Oliphant leads a simple life. She wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. Eleanor Oliphant is happy. Nothing is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except, sometimes, everything. One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted - while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she's avoided all her life. Change can be good. Change can be bad. But surely any change is better than ... fine? Thoughts: If I was asked just to recommend one book this year it would be this one, without hesitation. It's the best book I've read in a long while. That is to say I listened to it and I'd urge everyone to do the same .. or everyone with an Audible account anyway because the narrator brings Eleanor to life but I also know people who read the book and they equally raved about it so I'm sure the Eleanor in your head would be every bit as good. Eleanor's not your average protagonist. I've never really read about anyone quite like her. Just when you think you have a handle on her she surprises you (there are little twists and shocks all the way through and one major, major, twist.) Her story has much to say about loneliness and isolation and how difficult it is when you don't fit in, how difficult it is when you have issues .. terribly dark issues that you have learned to live with and bury deep. Eleanor isn't immediately likeable, she has no social skills and can be blunt and rude, still there's something intriguing about her and also something which strikes an empathetic chord. You start to see life through her eyes and can see the struggle but what is it that lies behind all of this? There's some terrible dark secret in her past which she only hints at but which becomes clearer as the story unravels. It's a dark and gloomy subject but for all that it's quite funny .. probably more funny than sad for the most part but then the story turns really dark and by this time you're so invested in Eleanor that it's a painful read. But it's also uplifting because, along the way, she does find people who believe in her and this is a revelation to her. I missed her so much when the story ended which is the greatest compliment you can give to a book .. some characters stay on the page but Eleanor lives and breathes. Outstanding! Read it!

Thank you xxx

I'm so behind with my reviews as usual .. I might not have read anything lately (actually, when I was updating my reading list I noticed that I did actually finish a book while I was at Mum and Dad's .. it was a book I had already got three quarters through and it took me ages to read the last quarter but it was a book finished .. so that's something!) but I'd only got as far as March with my reviewing before I left. Consequently the chances of me reviewing them all is slim .. so I'll just pick out the highlights and lowlights and go from there

The January Man: A Year of Walking Britain by Christopher Somerville Synopsis: The January Man is the story of a year of walks that was inspired by a song, Dave Goulder's 'The January Man'. Month by month, season by season and region by region, Christopher Somerville walks the British Isles, following routes that continually bring his father to mind. As he travels the country - from the winter floodlands of the River Severn to the lambing pastures of Nidderdale, the towering seabird cliffs on the Shetland Isle of Foula in June and the ancient oaks of Sherwood Forest in autumn - he describes the history, wildlife, landscapes and people he encounters, down back lanes and old paths, in rain and fair weather. Thoughts: On the whole this was a great read. I enjoyed rambling about the countryside with Christopher and hearing him reminiscing about his father - a reserved man who Christopher struggles to get close to but eventually understands. I liked hearing all the old folk tales and legends too and February was my favourite month (as it is anyway .. birthday and all that ) because it told the tale of one Reverend E. Donald Carr, Rector of Woolstaston who was in the habit of giving a morning sermon at the pretty church in the grounds of his rectory at Woolstason, tramping four miles across extremely hilly country to preach the afternoon service at Ratlinghope and then walking back to Woolstaston for the evening service. He never missed a service in ten years despite often having to go in the worst of weather. In 1865 the countryside about Woolstaston was covered in a thick carpet of snow .. the deepest snow there had been for fifty years and the Reverend still set out for Ratlinghope. Somehow he got there and after giving the sermon the villagers begged him to stay overnight but he was anxious to get back for the evening service at Woolstaton .. he'd never missed one after all .. and so refused to stay. There followed a perilous journey, one that saw the Reverend brought to the very brink of death and one which he later wrote a little book about called 'A Night in the Snow'. In this book Christopher retraces his steps, in pretty bad weather but nothing like the calamitous conditions that Reverend Carr endured, all the same it was thrilling to hear him recount the tale as he went along. The book did become a bit samey after a while, the weather being more often dreary than otherwise (I know this is Britain and therefore sunny days are few but still!!?) and so it became a little bit of a trudge towards the end and I wanted more tales like that of Rev. Carr but didn't really get any but perhaps I should have read it more leisurely over time .. reading an extract every now and then rather than gulping it all down at once! It did make me want to get out in the countryside more but it also reminded me that I need to be properly waterproofed first.

Need to, attempt at least, to write some sentences about books read earlier in the year .. if I can remember them

Sorry to be so long in replying poppy I didn't see Life in Squares but will try and seek it out. I remember wanting to watch it but somehow not getting around to it which is the story of my life and this blog unfortunately. Since the end of August I've been away looking after my Dad as Mum had a fall and broke her femur and was herself in hospital for seven weeks. I think I may have mentioned before (after a long stint there last year) that it is impossible to read at Mum and Dad's .. the noise .. the constant babble of the TV/radio etc and just the stress and anxiety of being away from home for so long. I was only able to snatch five mins here and there and for that I picked up my crochet as I can do that even when it's noisy. I went away in August and only came back on the 15th October .. Alan came at weekends but other than that I was on my own with Dad (who is severely disabled and needs constant care.) I've been living on my nerves and not on books and cake as I normally do. I did manage to listen to a couple of audio books as night .. to aid me to sleep .. but anyhow .. I was six books ahead with my Goodreads target and now I'm six books behind I knew they'd find a way to scupper me and quite frankly I suspect them of sending the helicopter over my Mum's in the wee small hours of the morning which led to her getting out of bed and falling over in the dark!! Nothing would surprise me. Now I'm at liberty to read I find I can't quite get back into it .. I know I will but at the moment I'm finding it hard. Might be that the C word is just around the corner and I'm trying to get organised for that (big family .. lots to organise) or it might be that I've got no kitchen!!! Al ripped it all out when I was away. I've got a washing machine and a fridge/freezer in the space that once was my kitchen but that's it (and how long they're there for who knows!) .. no oven .. and worse no sink!!!! This last is what causes most of the headaches. I have to carry any washing up upstairs in a bucket and wash it in the bath! I have the deepest respect for my ancestors now. Still that, and seven weeks of dust, has meant that I'm not really getting into the frame of mind to read. It's hard because .. like all of you .. reading is like eating to me and I feel like I'm starving!! Never mind! Things can only get better. Good to see all of you again, wish me luck! xox

Yes .. it was me! I enjoyed it, some parts more than others but, on the whole, great read! Edit: If either of you want to borrow it you're welcome .. I'll bring it with me next time we meet

I'm also confused now I should have read about Nancy before as I've often got one leg in Bloomsbury so to speak but nope .. can't recall her at all or Lawrence (the first ) From Gerald's recollections .. I didn't much care for brothers Lawrence and Leslie.

Thanks Hayley The film is well worth seeing, it's beautifully acted. The two leads are amazing. Hi Gaia! You will have to get around to it soon, I'm sure you'll like it. Hope so anyway It all went wrong poppy Thank you lovely

^^ That went a little wrong somehow

Goodness!! It's been far too long since I've been here .. mostly because I haven't got a lot further with conquering Mount Virginia though I have read volume one of her letters and have bought a copy of The Waves .. so that's progress! I thought about listening to it .. and will still keep that as an option should the reading not go well (confidence ) .. as a sort of aid. Sometimes a book read well can make a lot more sense than it does when it's just tumbling about in your head. I am a little bit daunted but also intrigued and determined although I notice that I'm not that determined as I haven't yet picked it up Anyway, I'll attempt a review of volume one of her letters. The Flight of the Mind: The Letters of Virginia Woolf, Volume 1, 1888-1912 Very insightful. By the end of this volume of letters Virginia is beginning to get her first novel (The Voyage Out) into shape .. and is a sought after literary reviewer and essayist too, writing pieces for The Guardian and The Times Literary Supplement amongst others. She goes through some extremely affecting changes during this time period. Her mother died in 1895 and her half sister, Stella, in 1897 .. and it's around this time that she experiences her first nervous breakdown (little is mentioned in the letters about any of her breakdowns .. or nothing in detail anyway as, of course, she never wrote any letters during these times so they were experiences that were only talked about with fear on their approach or loathing afterwards.) In 1904 she loses her father and his illness is much detailed here, she sends out daily bulletins to family and friends and is very instrumental in his daily care. Losing him was perhaps the biggest blow to her and it contributed to her most serious mental collapse (or thus far anyway.) Partly I think because, although extremely ill, he lingered for quite a while and Virginia was so aware of every little symptom and temperature change etc .. and then it was mostly left to her to communicate all of this to those waiting for news. Her nerves were shredded and life was practically on hold at Hyde Park Gate. Also there were financial considerations, who will provide for the family once her father has gone and where will they live? Perhaps the most sad loss of all though was the death of her beloved brother Thoby, from typhoid which he contracted in Greece. Virginia and Vanessa had also travelled to Greece but returned when Vanessa became unwell to find Thoby already at home .. extremely ill. Vanessa recovered but Thoby did not. One of the saddest things I read in this volume were Virginia's letters to her great friend Violet Dickinson during Thoby's illness. Violet herself was also extremely ill with typhoid and when Thoby died, Virginia felt strongly that she should keep writing to Violet as if he were still alive so as not to alarm her or bring about a crisis. So she wrote about his increasing appetite and how he might get up tomorrow etc and how the doctors were pleased with him etc .. and this went on for a good three weeks!!! Bearing in mind that Thoby .. next to Vanessa .. was the person that Virginia loved most .. it's almost inconceivable that she put herself through it. Perhaps she shouldn't have .. all these things were such a strain on her already fractured peace of mind. The majority of the letters printed here are to Violet, probably because she was most assiduous in keeping them, but there's a definite difference between the letters written to Violet during the first two thirds of this collection and those written after. To begin with Virginia's letters are very warm, in fact they're positively gushing .. they have pet names for each other and when apart Virginia hardly knows how she will cope before they're together again and she's always impatient for letters and news. Violet is much older (seventeen years I think or thereabouts .. and married) and Virginia is smitten with her, she relies on her for advice and comfort and there are hints that the relationship may have been a sexual one but later on, as Virginia develops and becomes more confident in her writing etc, there is a definite cooling off or a sea change anyway and it feels as if Virginia, although the younger, is leaving Violet behind .. and moving on and developing. Anyhow this is a fascinating collection of letters. Virginia has a sharp eye and a sharp tongue, is gossipy, witty and confiding and of course, highly intelligent and observant. Probably best of all is the insight into her writing and in particular her first novel. How she is shaping it and arguing with herself about it and fretting over it and deliberating over the names of her characters etc. Riveting!

Currently reading H.G.Wells' 'The Time Machine' and 'H is for Hawk' by Helen Macdonald Need to download an audiobook to keep me company on walks but not sure which one to get!?!

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman Synopsis: Shattered by his experiences in the World War 1 trenches, veteran Tom Sherbourne returns to his home in Australia to his wife Isabel. Looking for restoration and peace the couple move to an isolated lighthouse where they try to rebuild their lives and long for a child that never comes. Then, one day, a boat washes ashore with a baby inside - a gift that offers the hope of a future they've longed for but the consequences of their actions may be more far-reaching than they could ever have imagined. Review: Though I've copied the synopsis from Waterstone's .. it's garbage Like misheard lyrics, especially the first part. Tom has returned from the trenches and he does get a job as a lighthouse keeper, on the remote (and fictional) island of Janus (in Australia.) There's nobody else on the island and it's balm to Tom, a place where he can heal. On one of his trips to the mainland (and in fact this may have happened before he went to the island for the first time .. I can't quite recall .. but they certainly didn't marry at that point) he meets Isabel. Tom doesn't have marriage in mind at all, the island is not really suitable for a young wife. It's a wild place, sometimes serene but often savage as it's situated between two oceans and completely isolating. It hasn't ended happily for some of the previous occupants. He's broken down too by his experiences in the war, not suitable company or so he thinks. Isabel though has her own reasons for wishing to escape. Her two brothers died during the war and her parents are almost suffocating her with their love (and loss) plus few eligible men have come her way .. certainly none as appealing to her as Tom. She more or less proposes to him or plants the seed anyway and after spending some more time alone on Janus .. Tom asks her to be his wife. To begin with they're blissfully happy. Isabel is as enchanted by the island as Tom and they fall head over heels in love but then follows a series of pregnancies and miscarriages .. each more painful than the last and Isabel begins to despair. She can't see a way forward, doesn't want to see a way forward .. until that is the day a boat washes up .. with a dead man inside and a live baby girl. Surely, it's a miracle. I can't say any more than this because it would be too spoilery (and you know I never spoil :lol:) but suffice it to say that I spent the rest of the book in tears and all my heartstrings were stretched to breaking point. It's such an emotional read. I watched the film adaptation of it shortly afterwards and, though they didn't strictly stick to the plotline (do they ever??,) they did an admirable job and once again I cried buckets. I really like Michael Fassbender anyway and also Alicia Vikander (saw her recently in Testament of Youth and thought she was brilliant) and they were perfect as Tom and Isabel. A really enjoyable read. Yes I spent most of it sniffing but that's good for you .. I'm all in favour of having a good cry. It didn't end as I wanted it to .. which gave me the extra sniffs. I'm not sure what I wanted actually but it wasn't what I was given but in a way it was good .. my way (whatever it was) would have been too convenient. I felt heart sore after reading it because the characters had got under my skin but it's such a page turner and completely engrossing that it was worth the pain. Keep your tissue box handy unless you are made of stone 5/5

Think I've found a way to still write in good old trebuchet .. until the alarms go off anyway Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood Synopsis: Felix is at the top of his game as Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg Theatre festival. His productions have amazed and confounded. Now he's staging a Tempest like no other: not only will it boost his reputation, it will heal emotional wounds. Or that was the plan. Instead, after an act of unforeseen treachery, Felix is living in exile in a backwoods hovel, haunted by memories of his beloved lost daughter, Miranda. And also brewing revenge. After twelve years, revenge finally arrives in the shape of a theatre course at a nearby prison. Here, Felix and his inmate actors will put on his Tempest and snare the traitors who destroyed him. Review: I enjoyed this re-telling of Shakespeare's The Tempest. I hadn't read the original play which in hindsight would have been desirable, I had an understanding of it (and there is an outline at the back of this book) but doubt I got the full picture. Possibly, even if I hadn't known a thing about it, I'd still have enjoyed this, although part of the pleasure in reading any re-telling is to look for all the parallels etc and to see how cleverly the author incorporates the old story into the new. At times it did feel a bit forced but on the whole it was smooth, easy and intriguing. It's very visual, quite dark and often funny. Intelligent too, I felt I needed to be firing on all cylinders to keep pace with it. I particularly liked the incorporation of Felix's dead daughter Miranda - she's very much alive to him and as such has huge influence on his actions. I'm not so sure about the rapping!! It was less painful to read than Tolkien's poems (shorter for a start) but I felt vaguely uneasy about it as if I could see Margaret at her desk, dressed as, and channelling the spirit of, Kanye I recently listened to (on the radio though so I haven't counted it as a book read) an adaptation of Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler which is a re-telling of The Taming of the Shrew and wasn't that impressed. Rightly or wrongly it put me off of reading the book though it had been on my wishlist before. Jeanette Winterson's The Gap of Time (re-telling of The Winter's Tale) is on my radar though .. I like her writing anyway and it's had good reviews. This one was definitely worth reading, it takes flight and invites your imagination along. 4/5

Oh! .. I'm having to type in the default font .. bear with! I'm sure I shall get used to it but at the moment .. it's like a scone without butter/winter without Christmas/Kate without Bush etc. I'm going to have to man up! Something very odd happened to one of my earlier posts during the update but I think I have it sorted now. I still have colours .. that's a comfort isn't it? Actually one of the reasons I didn't use my iPad for writing posts here was that I couldn't change the font so perhaps I will use it now .. suddenly the world is opening up to me

Thanks bobbs Sorry for the huge delay in replying ... life swallowed me up for a bit. Hope you do enjoy A Kestrel For A Knave if you get around to it.

Another one-off! and ... Ooh .. abrupt ending! There's not many songs where you'd get lines like these ones .. 9.15 Monday morning at the printing works the boss notices someone's not clocked in. And the water department of the council offices have a message that Mrs Park's daughter is missing. Meanwhile the Carlisle turn-off of the M6 Motorway, drinking cold black coffee, eating hot cup-cakes. She stares at him with his beard unshaved. Wonders at his power of staying awake. He whispers slowly 'you did just fine', they shared the driving all through the night. She laughs 'my mother will have lost her mind, we're only ten miles to Gretna they're three hundred behind.' Fabulous .. and I love it even more that he works at the printing works

This can still move me to tears .. along with Alone Again (Naturally.) I loved Gilbert in his 'schoolboy' phase in particular .. such thought provoking lyrics. He was a one-off.