chesilbeach

Roasted sun dried tomato pasta bake

I like your thinking

Matt just tweeted a link to a blog post from last year, which he says is the what started it all off: http://www.matthaig.com/reasons-to-stay-alive/

This was on the Bookseller article about the books

Fabulous review of Diving Belles … Beachcombing was my favourite. I think we talked about it when we met up, but I saw her in a discussion panel at Shortstoryville a couple of years ago, and that was why I bought the book. I really want to read Weathering but will wait for paperback or download on Kindle at some point.

I found the original news item saying the Orion had signed her for a three book deal, and book three is out in July. With nominations for awards and good sales, I would hope she would be signed up for further books, but haven't seen anything more in the book press.

I was a bit worried when I realised it wasn't set in the school as well, but believe me, you don't mind at all … and they do have a governess while they're staying at Daisy's house, and some of her school friends stay with them, so it's still a bit like school in a way.

Arsenic for Tea by Robin Stevens Synopsis (from waterstones.com): Schoolgirl detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are at Daisy's home, Fallingford, for the holidays. Daisy's glamorous mother is throwing a tea party for Daisy's birthday, and the whole family is invited, from eccentric Aunt Saskia to dashing Uncle Felix. But it soon becomes clear that this party isn't really about Daisy at all. Naturally, Daisy is furious. Then one of their party falls seriously, mysteriously ill - and everything points to poison. With wild storms preventing anyone from leaving, or the police from arriving, Fallingford suddenly feels like a very dangerous place to be. Not a single person present is what they seem - and everyone has a secret or two. And when someone very close to Daisy looks suspicious, the Detective Society must do everything they can to reveal the truth . . . no matter the consequences. Review: Book two confirmed it. Daisy and Hazel are my new favourite detectives! I loved the boarding school setting of the first book, and the move to Daisy's home, a large country house, was just as good. Hazel's insecurities about herself, and her honest reading of Daisy, who isn't as perfect as the image she projects of herself, make the girls genuine and real. It's set in 1935, so there's the division of the classes with humour aplenty and an exciting murder mystery that'll keep you guessing until the end, exactly the sort of gentile crime novels I love. The next instalment, First Class Murder, is out in July and is set on the Orient Express! Can't wait.

Brilliant! Well, you'd better hurry up and read them while your mojo is still going strong

Half Bad by Sally Green Synopsis (from waterstones.com): You can't read, can't write, but you heal fast, even for a witch. You get sick if you stay indoors after dark. You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one. You've been kept in a cage since you were fourteen. All you've got to do is escape and find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. And do that before your seventeenth birthday. Easy. Shortlisted for the Best Fiction for Teens category of the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2015 Review: I loved this book. Witches live among us, but keep their gifts hidden from normal society. They are White witches who are the good, pure witches, who only use their gifts for good, and the Black witches who are bad, often violent (even murderous). The story follows Nathan and other than than his name, I'm not going to tell you anything more about him. What I will say, is that is was refreshing to read this sort of story from a boy's perspective, and I loved that while this was about witches, they were very much an ordinary lifestyle that we would know, and it felt very rooted in reality. There are themes of familial bonds, friends and peer pressure, finding out who you are and what you want to be. There are brutal scenes, and Nathan suffers physical abuse, but his spirit and determination keep him going. I loved the writing. Sometimes there are short chapters with spurts of text, just giving you a glimpse of the story, and then there are longer chapters where the plot and characters are fleshed out. At times, you'll be engrossed in learning about the witches, and then you'll suddenly find the pace has dramatically changed and Nathan will be on a knife edge and there's a heartstopping moment of life-threatening peril. I'm finding it difficult to choose between this and The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender as my favourite in the teen category at the moment, but for two fantasy novels, both grounded in reality, they are two completely different books. A few days after reading it, it's put a little worm in my brain, and I'm really looking forward to the sequel, Half Wild due out later this month.

Violet and the Pearl of the Orient by Harriet Whitehorn, illustrated by Becka Moor Synopsis (from waterstones.com): Meet Violet Remy-Robinson, an amateur Sherlock Holmes in the making... When a new family move in next door, Violet is sure there's something strange about them. Then her eccentric, but lovely neighbour, Dee Dee Derota, has a precious jewel stolen. Could the new family be to blame? Violet is on the case to uncover the truth… Shortlisted for the Best Fiction for 5-12's category of the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2015 Review: I have to say, while I bought this because it was on the shortlist, when I picked it up, I read the back and liked the look of it, but didn't look inside. If I had, I'm not sure I'd have bothered, as there's not much to it, and it's very simple and easy reading, so I'm guessing it's aimed at the 8-9 year olds, rather than the 10-12's. Despite that, it's a good fun book, the illustrations are lovely, and a good crime novel to wean younger children on. Perhaps if I'd read books like this when I was little, I'd have more of a taste for crime novels myself now!

I hope you like them, if you try them. I wouldn't be able to wait for a copy of either of the other two books to become available, I'd have to find something else to read in the meantime! Good luck with your next book, whichever option you take. You could always have a look for the first Nursery Crimes book? It's called The Big Over Easy.

Just been reading that Daniel Craig is going to be in a Comic Relief sketch again this year, and it reminded of the one he did with Catherine Tate a few years back

I've long been meaning to read some Robert Macfarlane and after reading this article, I think Landmarks, published later this month, may well be my first.

https://twitter.com/DoubledayUK/status/572331828511711232 I want one!

scripturient (adj.) having a consuming passion to write.

Sad to hear of the death of author Mal Peet today. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/11447377/Mal-Peet-writer-dies-aged-67.html

Interesting review of The Humans, Noll. Personally, I found it a slow burner at the beginning, and found it grew on me more and more as I turned the pages, and by the end I wanted to hug it as I loved it so much.

Yay, pleased you liked it! I finished the sequel, Arsenic for Tea today, and although it's not set at the school but at Daisy's home (her parents are Lord and Lady Hastings, so they live in a country house) it's just as good!

Yes, please, that would be great.

I misread that initially and thought you were reading Cold Comfort Farm … very different books I imagine!

Excellent work, I highly approve of spreadsheeting!

Not a bad day at work, although I've been daydreaming about quilts all day! Every time I've stopped working for a break, my mind has wandered to thinking about my sewing machine and the workshop I'll be going on soon … I lead a glamorous life in my head

Have you read Jasper Fforde's Nursery Crime books, muggle not? I think Thursday Next is probably my favourite, but I did enjoy the two Nursery Crime books too, and they're very much in the same vein.

The only trouble with reading from a list, is that I feel compelled to read the whole list! It's certainly given me a focus for the last couple of weeks, but also means I've bought more books than I intended. I think next year, I'll have to plan for it, and save a bit of money before hand so I can splurge in one go and get the shortlisted books all together.