Madeleine

January has been a mixed month so far. My first read was "The Angel Tree" by Lucinda Riley which I held over from xmas so I could read more Christmassy-themed books, and it was disappointing, telling the story of Greta who when we first meet her is working as a dancer at a revue in London. After a fling with an American GI she realises she is pregnant and obviously won't be able to keep her job much longer, but David, who is working as a comedian, persuades her to go to his country estate in Wales, where she has her baby, a girl called Francesca (Cheska) and duly returns to London where she finds an office job, which she loses after another disastrous love affair! In the meantime her small daughter has been "spotted" by David's agent and soon Greta lives through the child, who starts to earn a fortune and becomes the British Shirley Temple. But child stars grow up and Cheska is obviously very troubled and disturbed, however Greta pumps her full of pills and says she just needs rest. At this point I really started to dislike Greta, and it's no surprise when Cheska rebels and falls pregnant, and is soon whisked off to Marchmont to have the baby. In the meantime Greta has a terrible accident and spends the next 20 years or so in a coma, and when she does come round she goes back to Marchmont to try to regain her memory. Cheska has become a huge star in the US, but falls prey to the usual drugs, divorce etc and when she is fired from her hit show she returns to the UK, supposedly to pick up her career there and finally get to know her daughter Ava, who has just started college in London. At this point it really becomes Cheska's story and frankly it's just not very interesting; although she is obviously seriously ill I found her very unsympathetic, but she's really a victim of her mother's ambition and is a tragic figure. I found most of the characters two-dimensional and in some cases a bit too good to be true. apparently this book is a re-issue and has been extensively re-written, it would be interesting to see what the original version was like. 5/10

Bad - Michael Jackson

Went into the Works (discount book/toy/stationery chain in the UK) and they had lots of Easter stuff in - eggs, chicks, make your own craft stuff etc.... and of course Valentine's Day stuff is everywhere!

I didn't know he was in NCIS:LA, funnily enough I watched an ep last night (about the only thing I could find that I hadn't seen before) and they put a little note up at the end with his dates, he didn't look very well I must say, poor man.

Yep the fog's the worst....however there was a gorgeous sunset last night, the sun really was a bright red ball.

Yes it does sound a bit worrying doesn't it!

Thanks Athena!

Cold and foggy.

Out of the Blue - Robert Goddard

Girls on Film - Duran Duran

Went out earlier and fog was already beginning to form, meant to get worse over the next couple of days, even colder too

I got another Wycliffe novel today - the guilt-Edged Alibi, and also the latest in Ann Cleeves's Shetland series "Cold Earth".

Lovely and bright again but cold.

Kiss the Girls - James Patterson

I enjoyed "Tenant", definitely one of the better Bronte books. I don't think I could read 3 at once!

Same here, chesil.

Thanks very much Peacefield, I wish you the same. bought the latest in the Mary Russell series yesterday - The Murder of Mary Russell.

I preferred the film versions of both Howard's End and A Room with a View.

I was once in the local park and saw a fox running at full pelt, with a cat close behind! We do put out left overs for them and they come quite regularly now.

You can also register with publishers to receive newsletters etc, and they might send ARCs occasionally. Waterstone's also give out Review copies (on a first come, first served basis) so if you sign up for their newsletter they usually have details of ARCs, I've received a couple from them (including Kate Mosse's last book).

Same here, lovely but cold, quite a frost this morning.

I'm enjoying Timeless too, daft but fun, haven't seen this week's yet. They must love all that dressing up!

Cold and sunny.

I used to watch Blindspot but had to stop due to all the shaky camera work, which made me feel sick and dizzy! Had a look on imdb and it seems I'm not the only one, hope it's improved with the second series.

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald