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and rainbow hued delights

'Absolutely bonkers, gone doolally, blown a gasket ... if you ask me,' I said, 'needs locking up. For everyone's safety! Wandering round with a loaded shotgun! I ask you!' 'No-one was asking you, dear, let the Doctor speak.' 'Well, I myself personally feel,' opined the good Doctor, 'that at this point in time, things being as they are and taking all contingencies into account, that the best and most appropriate course of action, keeping at the foremost of our consideration ...

If I remember rightly, Ove and the cat form a close bond in time and it's all part of Ove's transformation from grumpy, self-centred, isolated old man to making friends.

I did continue with The Custard Boys, (until a library book I was on the waiting list for became available). I'm just over 60% through. There's an undercurrent and hints that something awful will happen. I think I'll keep reading in the hope the protagonist, John Curlew, will redeem himself. In the meantime, I'm reading Marple: Twelve New Stories by a variety of authors.

Sing Me No Sad Song ~ Helen Reddy

Two new books I have really liked: (1) The Order Of The Black Robe by Tiana Dokerty (on Amazon and Kindle) - It's spec fic, swashbuckling fantasy and political intrigue (a la Game of Thrones), romance, Christian-inspired (not preachy), mystery and some daubs of horror thrown in. It starts with an intriguing premise: assume the Roman Empire never existed but Jesus Christ still came. He created not a church but left a scripture of His teaching which some accepted and some did not, and especially a group of knights in Europe dedicated themselves to do His will and carry out His teachings. Unfortunately, many people miss this premise because it's in the Foreword, not Chapter 1. What you'd start out with is a lot of warring Principalities in central Europe in what we now call the Middle Ages, I would guess Celtic or maybe Gothic in origin. The original language in the book seems to support Celtic more. But, if you totally miss the premise, never mind because this is a story of people. A 6-year-old child is taken by a local Lord in repayment of a debt and her mother spends most of the book looking for her. She is marked for the brothel to produce revenue to repay the debt but one of her captors is taken by her fearlessness, faith and dignity - and releases her into the care of a Christian family. There is her story and how she eventually becomes Queen of the Principality, as well as of her love relationship with the new young King, who takes the throne by his father's assassination. Then there is the life of the "Prime Minister" and his wife, a totally ruthless and murderous pair, who manipulate the Kings to advance their lust for power and their religion of "the God of this age", which includes human sacrifice and rape in its rituals. Finally, there is the story of the Order, Christian Knights who act as missionaries and also guardian angels, protecting the weak and slaying the evil. So much going on there, you can hardly put it down! I recommend it heartily as a wild ride. (2) The Money Cure by Linda Peer (also Amazon and Kindle) - this is another spec fic book which is a wild ride. But this one is set in the near future and craftily follows a lot of current trends to their logical conclusions: the worsening inequality of income, the unavailability of housing for large swathes of the population, the overbearing State, the manipulation of the media by the State and the wealthy. Until you have a world where most people are destitute and dependent on precarious informal employment, the streets are run by gangs, housing is a privilege for the wealthy few and most people sleep in cars. In this world, while there are often street battles between State and private law enforcers and protesters of various sorts, one group think they have found an answer: the hoarding of all assets by the elite is a kind of disease, and they have a drug that will cure it "The Money Cure". Of course, the elite spend most of the book trying to identify them and wipe them out before they administer their drug to the winners of society unwillingly! Yet, like 1984, which tends to pop up in readers' minds, this is not a political or philosophical pseudo-text but the story of individuals. The book centres on the love relationship of one of the "Money Cure" gang, a passionate, highbrow ideologue, with an ordinary member of the majority "underclass" who is just using every entrepreneurial angle to survive in a world where there is no room at the top. This humanises the story and makes it enjoyable to read, as does the author's biting wit and sense of humour and irony. I again recommend it heartily. Although you probably can't find it in the local bookshop, it is worth the bother if you can access it through Amazon or Kindle.

I like the sound of the Benedict Jacka novel.

An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka is the start of a new fantasy series set in a London where the use of magic is a preserve of several vastly rich families who as practitioners control it's use and supply. Stephen Oakwood is an orphan, or is probably one, his mother walked out, his father disappeared, but he does have some magical skill. Then a couple of scions of one of the wealthiest families turn up, claiming he is a cousin, and hoping to use him in an increasingly heated inheritance battle. It's fast moving, refreshingly different from much of fantasy since it doesn't take itself seriously at all and Stephen as a character develops and grows. Not high literature but hugely enjoyable, I zipped through it and am greatly looking forward to the next book. The Golden Gate by Amy Chua The cover is beautiful, the writing is tedious and bangs far too many drums. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld I like Curtis Sittenfeld's writing most of the time and I'd heard many good things about this romantic comedy between two unlikely figures, a writer on a show clearly based on Saturday Night Live and a glamerous super famous rock star. The first part is great, Sally the writer is sympathetic, smart and her insecurities are believable and the background of the show is fabulous. Noah the rock star is a little one dimensional but hey ho, it's Sally's story. The second part is good too, but it starts getting samey and drawn out and I went from loving every page to rather hoping I was near the end.

What a terrific review! Autumn Rounds is now on my wish list.

Oh so did I.

You're supposed to dislike Ove at the beginning and then what makes him so apparently grumpy starts becoming more obvious. I can't remember anything about him being more callous and indifferent to cats and dogs than other human beings. I really warmed to him by the end.

I'm currently reading Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code'. With each new chapter, something new, unusual, and mysterious opens up. With every new sentence I read, I found myself wanting to finish the book as soon as possible to find out what happens at the end

So that's D.H. Lawrence. Another big beast's head mounted on the wall. I had not read him before, although I have seen Ken Russell films of several of his books. Not Women in Love, however. Some bits were good. Other bits I was not so sure of.

Yes it is a bit, this one was a bit better but they are pretty formulaic.

I listened to the first of these on Audible, The Cove I think, and to be honest wasn't impressed. It seemed both long-winded and Mills and Boonish

A man named Ove by Fredrik Backman. is my current book. Disturbing by his callousness so far to cats as well as dogs. Offers nothing to the story and makes me dislike Ove.

of red, blue, ochre

'I am Dr Philip Mypockets..and before you state the obvious..hahaha bloody ha....no I am not just after money for myself..it's for my wife and kids too..my dog..my cats..every..' 'Dr , is daddy well?', asked Rosie, 'only he's behaving in a rather odd manner...'

Song for whoever - The Beautiful South

"The Bay" by L J Ross - this is the 3rd in the summer suspense series, and this time the main character is police detective Sophie Keane, who has featured in the earlier books. When a body is found on a local beach in St Ives, Sophie is forced to confront her past (I thought that police officers weren't meant to police the same town that they live in,but....) and also sort through the list of suspects, that's after they body is identified. She's drawn into the local artists' community, especially Gabriel, who has returned to his family home, and also has issues from his past to confront, and lay to rest. No surprise that he and Sophie get together, but this is more of a crime novel than the earlier books, though there's a cheeky refernce to Ross's most popular, and longest running, series featuring DCI Ryan, in fact there's even a visit to Northumberland, though at least Ryan doesn't pop up. However the author's habit of making her heroes all pretty much cut from the same cloth ie tall, dark and handsome with blue/grey eyes that are full of emotion, is starting to look a little cliched, as is her theme of which is beginning to also feel a bit repetitive. Apart from that, this was a very quick, easy read, and the atmosphere of St Ives is well evoked (but without having to fight the crowds!). 6.5/10

"Sandwich with ham" is a great book. You must read it, especially if you have kids. It's a bit too realistic and rough at times, but the story of a tough teenager's life is very moving and won't leave anyone indifferent.

Time's Prisoner by Linda Gillard - author Jane is at a crisis point in her life, she's getting divorced, plus her publisher has asked her to stop writing her much-loved historical crime series, and come up with fresh material instead. Now why a publisher would ask an author to stop a successful series I don't know, and why doesn't the author go down the self-publishing route? Anyway, she suddenly finds that she's inherited an old house near Colchester, in Essex, which was once owned by another author, who broke up Jane's parents' marriage, which led to her mother's suicide,so not surprisingly Jane isn't too keen on the inheritance at first. But she decides to see what the situation is, and heads out to Essex, where she moves into the house along with the resident gardener/housekeeper, Bridget, and tries to get the house in working order again. Two other women also come to live there, the elderly author's nurse, and her ailing grandmother. And then Jane gradually becomes aware of another resident - one who is 400 years old, was an actor and who was murdered during a private performance at the house. What follows is a mixture of historical mystery, and a lot of introspection as Jane comes to terms with her parents' break-up and deaths, and also the passing of her best friend. The book is a mixture of humour - some of the ghost's lines are very droll - and a look at grief, which did get a bit depressing after a while and over all I don't think the balance quite worked. However it's beautifully written, and the search for Horace's murderer kept my interest, as did Horace himself, who sort of adopts the current chatelaine of the house as his companion as he tries to find out who really killed him. The author is now writing a prequel. 7/10

The Song Remains the Same ~ Led Zeppelin

a huge marble bag

to screw us for as much as possible. Still, the Major could pay and it'd be worth any price to get rid of the old pestilence. 'Major, I'll just have a little chat with your family first. You stay here in your pris ... err, nice safe room, and we'll be back in a jiffy.' 'Whatdaya mean, chat with me family. That scoundrel there's no family!' he shouted, pointing at me. 'He's out to fleece me, corrupt me daughter, dump rabid cats on me. Don't believe a word he says!' 'Now, Reginald, calm yourself, 'said Mrs Twiddlepass, 'we don't want you having a stroke now, do we. I'll make you a nice cup of tea and you can have a slice of my Dundee cake.' We followed Dr Phil upstairs.