Hayley

Just a reminder that the read-a-thon for March will start tomorrow! I will be aiming to get at least half way through Syren by Angie Sage

It's cold and raining here - no need to rub it in I wondered whether there was a poem about spring and autumn and came across this one: Every season hath its pleasures; Spring may boast her flowery prime, Yet the vineyard's ruby treasures Brighten Autumn's soberer time. So Life's year begins and closes; Days tho' shortening still can shine; What tho' youth gave love and roses, Age still leaves us friends and wine. Phillis, when she might have caught me, All the Spring looked coy and shy, Yet herself in Autumn sought me, When the flowers were all gone by. Ah, too late;--she found her lover Calm and free beneath his vine, Drinking to the Spring-time over, In his best autumnal wine. Thus may we, as years are flying, To their flight our pleasures suit, Nor regret the blossoms dying, While we still may taste the fruit, Oh, while days like this are ours, Where's the lip that dares repine? Spring may take our loves and flowers, So Autumn leaves us friends and wine.

I wasn't expecting that first sentence to turn into a positive but I'm glad it did! (quiet 'yay' for the possible return of reading motivation ) Aww no . I hope you feel better soon. Glad that you at least enjoyed a really good book! I feel like I need something light-hearted (because, you know, the state of the world) but something I can still sink my teeth into - so I think I'm going to start the next Septimus Heap book, Syren.

Yum! I have never had a home made custard cream but I bed they're so much better than the packet ones! I'm going to be eating Goan beef curry soon. It smells amazing and I can't wait

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience with forums in the past. As others said, we're a friendly bunch here, so you don't need to worry. Your Alphabet Challenge sounds good! I like that it would give you a lot of options to explore different genres. It's definitely one I'd consider doing!

I actually noticed this book initially because it has a very pretty cover, but I hadn't looked much in to the content. As you recommend it though, now I have a good excuse to buy the pretty book

It definitely would be a good Christmas present! (I would like to offer my copy for you to have a look at but a certain puppy managed to chew up one corner ). I've never read anything like the puzzle story either but I'd definitely read one again. I do kind of wish I'd realised that's what it was doing from the start though - it just seemed a bit weird to begin with! Only one review to catch up on this month... Silence in the Age of Noise by Erling Kagge 3.5/5 This is quite a tough one to review because my feelings about it shifted a lot as I read. I also do have a lot of thoughts about it though. If there's one thing this book is very good at it's achieving a sense of quiet. The sparse layout of the text, interspersed with lone images on some pages (always very simple, generally in shades of white and blue), combined with the very relaxed voice Kagge writes in, creates what I think could fairly be described as a 'quiet' reading experience. The blurb of this book is very misleading. It tells us, for a start, that 'Kagge shows us how to find perfect silence in our daily lives, however busy we are'. I just don't think that's true at all. This is more a collection of philosophical musings on the nature and definition of 'silence'. Kagge never even settles on a definition of what 'silence' is. The actual absence of noise, he suggests, isn't really 'silence' in the way he's talking about. Towards the end of the book he starts to consider various artists and musicians throughout history who've engaged in some way with 'silence', which was quite interesting but... this is where my negatives start to creep in. There were times when it just felt a bit pretentious to me. One of the small sections of this books focuses on Elon Musk - who Kagge obviously admires. That section particularly annoyed me. He implies that musk single-handedly solved a problem which NASA had not even thought about ('NASA scientists were always convinced that space shuttles could only be used once [...] this continued all the way up until the moment when Musk informed them that there was no reason not to build a shuttle that could be launched multiple times [...]'). He says that Musk manages to be so brilliant by using the 'first principle' -'instead of relying on sanctioned truths he uncovers what is fundamentally true in order reason from that basis. He disconnects from the world'. But then he mentions talking to one of the minds behind Musk's space programme, who says that the only time he gets to shut out the world is when he exercises, takes a shower or goes to the toilet - that's when he comes up with new solutions. So, as well as totally failing to acknowledge that Musk does not come up with these ideas all by himself by being very special and more intelligent than everyone at NASA, we're just going to ignore the fact that his employees are so insanely busy, they don't get time to practice this wonderful 'silence' themselves. Kagge then says that he also uses the 'first principle', like Musk, and starts to tell us about setting up his own publishing house. One day he just decides to start a publishing house while he's washing the dishes. He says that 'the entire book industry was dominated by an established truth that no one had thought to question: books of high quality were to be sold through booksellers and book clubs at a high price. Romance novels, on the other hand, have the monopoly in supermarkets'. Aside from being a massive oversimplification of the way publishing and bookselling works, it's just ridiculous to claim that nobody else in publishing had ever noticed these selling trends before. Kagge says at the end, 'I am not so stupid as to compare myself to Elon Musk' but... that was literally the point of bringing up his publishing company? This brings me to the last point of my rant/review... Kagge is obviously very rich and very privileged but he does not acknowledge that at any point. Apart from just deciding one day to set up a publishing company, he also tells us that he has travelled around the world in his pursuit of 'silence'. At the beginning of one chapter, for example, he tells us that 'one summer I flew eighteen hours from Oslo to Sri Lanka in order to relax in order to relax, eat healthily and practice yoga in lush surroundings'. There's never any recognition of the fact that most people will never be able to travel so extensively in pursuit of their 'silence'. The blurb also tells us that Kagge 'once spent fifty days walking solo across Antarctica, his radio broken'. That's not entirely true either though. His radio was not broken. He was given ('forced' to take, he says) a radio by the company who flew him to Antarctica but he took the batteries out of it and binned them while he was on the plane. To me, that seemed like a stupid and selfish act. Clearly, they want you to take a radio for your own safety. How would the people who flew you there feel if you never made it home? That doesn't even seem to enter Kagge's mind. AND YET. As much as those things did annoy me in the book, I actually do think it's worth reading. I don't agree with everything Kagge says, or his outlook on life in many ways (although I do agree that quiet in a noisy world is incredibly important), but there are lots of interesting concepts here. I've definitely learned a lot about different philosopher's I'd never come across before, for a start! And (when he wasn't making me feel outraged) it is actually a very relaxing, 'quiet' experience reading this book.

I was very close to buying this book in the January sales, but I saw some bad reviews about the ending that put me off. At 7.5/10 though I'm guessing it didn't ruin the book for you? Do you think you'd read the next one?

Yay! You're welcome . The first one doesn't sound familiar to me but hopefully someone might recognise it!

Sorry I'm a bit late with mine! - I think that things start to feel more seriously perilous in 'A Journey in the Dark'. The suggestion that Rivendell would fall if they turned back with the ring (especially after experiencing Rivendell) makes the threat feel much bigger and their position so much more... adrift? (can't think of the word I mean here). - Sam being told that he has to leave Bill behind is heart-breaking. But Gandalf's spell of guarding does show the importance of animals again! - The 'speak, friend, and enter' puzzle is clever. - The Bridge of Khazad-Dum is my least favourite because I hate reading the fate of Balin. The whole 'we cannot get out. We cannot get out' makes me feel very claustrophobic and it's sad that these dwarves came to such a horrible end. -Also... Gandalf and the desperate attempt Aragorn and Boromir make to stand with him against the Balrog - Love the idea of Lothlorien (although it does seem more hostile than Rivendell) and the nice quote from Haldir 'The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater'. - Galadriel seems a lot more magical and mysterious - maybe even more powerful - than any of the other elves encountered. - I feel really bad for Sam (again!) when he wants to see elf magic and sees the possible destruction of the Shire. Agree, it is amusing! Feels like a bit of light-hearted relief after the mines. That would be spoilers I think this is hinted at later but I can't really say what I think it is without spoilers again - but yes agree she is definitely testing them. Sam is pretty close to failing his.

Could this one be ‘The Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse’ by Ursula Moray Williams?

That's such a lovely idea! (Also, accurate!)

That is gorgeous! I love the colour you chose for edge. If it was my blanket (I wish it was!) I think I would go for tassels .

Ooh this is a good one. Glad you posted, even if it is after Valentine’s Day! (Although the onion reference does make me think of Shrek now…)

I remember that but I’m not sure where it is either. I also like that 33 is the hobbit ‘coming of age’ and the years before that considered the ‘irresponsible years’ . That’s the version I have and I’ve never actually paid attention to how long that chapter was!! Only good people were allowed at the council of Elrond. I encourage you all to search ‘Frodo as a wraith meme’

I loved that one! I didn't know that either! I remember reading last year that there was some research going on into Austen and slavery but I never did see the outcome.

Yes, totally agree, book-Frodo is very different to film-Frodo! I was also really shocked when I found out how old Frodo is meant to be in the books. Choosing a teenager to play a man who's meant to be 50 was an interesting decision. I like book-Frodo better. Agree on this too. It definitely seems as though Tom Bombadil has some sort of special connection to the land/nature and I think semi-divine is a good way to describe him and Goldberry. I was also pleasantly surprised by how easy it felt to read when I got the audiobook! I had tried to read it after I read the Hobbit as a kid but when I got to the part with Tom Bombadil I just got utterly lost - had no idea what was meant to be going on and gave up. That gave me the impression that it would be a difficult read for quite some time!

I honestly didn't even notice that! But, anyway, thoughts : - The Black Riders just hanging around in the shadows, waiting for Frodo to become controllable, feels much freakier than their actual appearance/ attack. - I really like the references to Bilbo's past adventures in these chapters. Finding out about the dwarves Bilbo travelled with was a nice touch, as was the moment of humour with the trolls. On the other hand, I think Sam's song about the trolls might be my least favourite of the whole book. I thought it was interesting that Frodo feels better in the presence of joy in that part though and did have thoughts about the potential symbolism of resisting the 'darkness' (and why hobbits, in particular, seem to be good at it) -Agree with Raven about Glorfindel. I think that moment in the book actually makes the elves feel a lot more special than they ever seem to be in the films. After seeing Glorfindel's true form, he almost seems to be a mythical figure and it makes sense that others should be so in awe of them. I do also see why they wanted Arwen to appear at that moment of the film, taking a more action-filled roll than she does in the book but I also think that changes the way we see her as a character completely. When she's introduced in the book she feels very mysterious and perhaps a little ethereal; like a figure who's entered directly from a mythical song (especially when she's literally compared to one of those figures!). In the film version she feels a bit like she's crossed with Eowyn. - I love Rivendell. Frodo waking to Gandalf, after the building tension about where he was, then meeting back up with everyone including Bilbo, and the whole 'safety' of Rivendell just has a lovely feel to it. Can see why Bilbo decided to retire there. . I think Glorfindel's horse is another of the 'special' horses (can't remember what they're actually called), like Shadowfax isn't he? They almost feel a bit magical. Actually these horses are another example of Tolkien being particularly attentive to the animals of the world. Not something I ever thought about before this! I really love that about the books as well. The natural world feels like an important part of the adventure too and, because of that, the world feels more real. I actually came across an amazing thing this week - did you know there's step-counter app where your challenge is to do enough steps to reach Mordor? I'm very tempted to install it... Sunday is good for me!

the invisible whopper, maybe. Honestly sounds like something I would do! That sounds amazing. I've never tried cornbread but I always want it when I see it on American TV programmes. It looks so thick and soft! And I love a homemade chilli! I had a lovely dinner to make up for my disaster lunch - my boyfriend cooked duck with soba noodles (it was more complicated than that, but they are the two ingredients I'm sure of!) and vegetable gyozas .

I love it but now I wish I had a milk tray... I'll go for a twist too and offer this by Emily Dickinson, which is basically a love poem to books: There is no frigate like a book To take us lands away, Nor any coursers like a page Of prancing poetry. This traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of toll; How frugal is the chariot That bears a human soul! Happy Valentines Day everyone!

At least it was worth it in the end then I had a bit of a rubbish morning, which included the sink being blocked, so decided to just order a burger king meal to eat at lunch... they forgot the burger. Really not my day so far! Chips were still nice though, looking on the bright side.

Oh dear… beans on toast and a nice slow cooked brisket for tomorrow? I once put my dinner in the oven, came back absolutely expecting it to be done, and discovered that the wall switch hadn’t been on so literally no cooking had been achieved… if that makes you feel better

Definitely worth a read. Not much actually happens in it, it’s just a very beautiful snapshot of a few moments on a summers day in Kew Gardens, with the view drifting between different visitors (and a snail ). I had ambitions plans for my reading this evening but then had a call from my mom to say my old neighbour’s dog had run away and she was in a terrible state - so I ended up walking around in the rain looking for a dog instead (he’s been found safe and well now!). Going to read a little bit of Silence in the Age of Noise before bed instead!

I did really enjoy it! I read other parts of Dubliners years ago and just remember it feeling quite depressing, so never went back to it, but I’m glad I ended up reading The Dead. Arguably is still a bit depressing, but so well written and raises some interesting questions about identity. Once I’d finished I realised the next story was Kew Gardens by Virginia Woolf, which I like (and it’s very short) so I read that too. I hope it’s good!

I love dark chocolate too but on its own, the way you eat it, not on biscuits. Still agree with Andreas’ milk chocolate biscuit preference!