chesilbeach

I bought four new books today! I swear I'm not falling back into old habits, but it was an unusual day. I downloaded a couple of books from my wishlist - Hope and Glory by Stuart Maconie and A Moment of Silence by Anna Dean, plus had a day out in Bath and had to support the indie bookshop there, so also bought Divorce Islamic Style by Amara Lakhous and Qissat: Short Stories by Palestinian Woman. A good day

No, sorry, I didn't mean you did either, but I think I'm on the same wavelength as Maconie, and I definitely laughed and smiled more with Maconie than I did with Bryson.

Still have a few reviews to write, but I finished Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson for this months Reading Circle. My thoughts on it can be found here. I downloaded a couple of books this morning - Hope and Glory by Stuart Maconie which I've been wanted to read for ages, and A Moment of Silence by Anna Dean, which vodkafan reviewed a little while ago and sounded interesting. I met up with Kay in Bath today, so a trip to Mr B's bookshop was inevitable, and I came away with Qissat: Short Stories by Palestinian Women (edited by Jo Glanville) and Divorce Islamic Style by Amara Lakhous, whose other book Clash Of Civilisations Over An Elevator In Piazza Vittorio I read a few weeks ago and loved it. Made a start on A Moment of Silence first.

Interesting review, Janet. I've just finished my first Bill Bryson (Notes From A Small Island) and I'm rather ambivalent about him, and in the answers to my questions for the Reading Circle discussion I've just said I would recommend Maconie over Bryson! I'm glad you'll be reading more Maconie though, I've just bought one of his recent ones, Hope and Glory, so I'll be reading that shortly.

Hello! This is certainly the right place to come for suggestions! Have a browse around the forum and I'm sure your wishlist of books to buy will find itself filling up nicely.

What did you think of Bill Bryson as a narrator? It alternated between either funny and witty or irritating in the extreme. At times, I did genuinely chuckle out loud at some of his observations, and on the whole, I was entertained by the narration, but sometimes, and it was a few times, I found him rude, obnoxious and just felt like he was whinging for the sake of comic/dramatic effect. There were some occasions when I also felt that he stereotyped some people, while other times, he was keen to debunk preconceptions and stereotypes that are well known, so it was a pretty erratic reading experience for me! Was there a particular part you enjoyed more than the rest? I'm not sure there was a part I enjoyed more, but I did find the chapters about areas of the country I know were more interesting that those I didn't. As I sit contemplating though, I actually enjoyed the opening chapters finding out how he first came to Britain, and meeting his wife to be. Was this the first book you've read by this author and has it encouraged you to read more? Yes, this is the first Bryson book I've read. I've only just finished the book this morning, and when I'd just finished it, I didn't think I would read another, but as I've pondered it this afternoon to answer these questions, I may consider giving him another go. Ask me again in a few months time! Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with? Not really. I did, however, find it a bit of a slog, and I'm not sure why. It took me a good few days to read, and I found I could never read more than a few chapters at a time, which is unusual for me. I even had to intersperse chapters with some Pride and Prejudice to keep my mojo going. Were you engaged immediately with the story, or did it take you a while to get into it? As I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed the opening chapters, but I never really got gripped by completely. Overall, was reading the book an enjoyable experience? In short bursts, I did enjoy it, so I can't say no to this question, but it certainly wasn't a totally satisfying experience either. If you enjoyed the book, would you have liked a sequel? How do you think the story could develop in the sequel? I'm not sure a sequel is the right name for a follow on book, but one of the things that did irritate me was there was so little of Wales and Scotland in his travels, and nothing at all of Northern Ireland, so if he was to revisit his journey of our "small island" I would like to see more coverage of these areas, and some more variety of the places he visited, rather than just what I felt were the traditional tourist destinations. Would you recommend the book to others? As I sit here now, I would have to say no, I wouldn't recommend it to others, but I think that's a bit uncharitable. I would probably advise that it's worth a read, but with reservations, so it wouldn't be a whole hearted recommendation, but I certainly wouldn't say avoid it. If someone was interested in reading travel books set in Britain, I'd recommend Stuart Maconie over Bryson any day of the week.

We went to see Hope Springs yesterday. Not what I was expecting from the trailer, but not bad.

Hello Emmy! Welcome to BCF

My old jacket isn't waterproof any more and I've had it for years and have been in need of a new one for ages. I usually struggle because although I'm only average height, I have long arms and legs, and it's tricky to find womens clothes where the arms are long enough (they usually stop short of my wrists ), but luckily managed to find a nice jacket today which will hopefully keep out the wind and rain, until the cold of winter when I'll switch to my proper cold weather coat. That should hopefully be all I need until next spring now, thank goodness, as I detest clothes shopping.

Hmm, we might have to agree to disagree there! I'm getting a teeny bit tired off his poor reading of the cue cards, not remembering who anyone is and getting things wrong (he called Erin an Aussie on Saturday - she's a Kiwi. Little thing perhaps, but she's been on the show since the very beginning, so no excuse really). Having said that I'm not sure who could replace him. Bruce is taking a week off part way through the series this year, but they haven't said who will present in his place yet as far as I know, so we'll get a chance to see someone else take his place for at least a week anyway, although they may just do what they do for the results show now, and have Tess and Claudia host together.

We were away on holiday last week, so got on the scales for the first time this morning in about 10 days, and have actually lost weight! I think it's because I'm more active on holiday instead of tied to a desk, and although I didn't diet as such, I tried not to go overboard with the indulgences, although we did have a few portions of chips, well, we were on holiday after all! Back home this week, and I've been to the hairdressers today and had some lowlights put in my hair. I have a darkish brown hair, and I've had some red put in - good opportunity to get some reading in while waiting for the dye to take effect.

Woohoo - another person trying Ali Smith! Hope you enjoy it, frankie, although I know she's not to everyone's taste I'm over half way through my first Bill Bryson now, but have to admit, I have taken a detour and started Pride and Prejudice for my Jane Austen challenge as well.

I don't think that it matters if the first person needs to come across in the film, but the author of the article was saying that it's useful for the scriptwriter as it concentrates the focus on the story or something like that. I wish I could remember where I read it so I could refer back to it.

Have done very little reading this weekend, but hoping to remedy that today - off to the coffee shop shortly and hoping to make a dent in Notes From A Small Island.

I read an article recently where the argument was that short stories make better film adaptations rather than novels, the idea being that the shorter form provides focus on a brief period of time or on a restricted number of characters, and are often written from a first person perspective which lends itself better to the 90-120 minutes of a film.

Jerry Hall is partnered with Anton, not Brendan, Booknutt - Brendan will dance Victoria Pendleton, so he's a very lucky boy! I actually love the partnerships, in fact, I'm finding it hard to find anyone I don't like. My heart says Johnny Ball is my favourite, and he's one of the reasons I'm so interested in numbers, which led me to set up a reference site for Strictly including statistics for celebs, professionals and dances, but I also would love to see some of the dancers who've never won the series to come through, as well as wanting to see the Olympians do well to add to the fantastic year they've had. Strictly has taken over my weekend completely - I've only managed to read one chapter of a book today, I've spent so much time on my website and twitter, as well as watching the launch show again today, so I could actually enjoy it properly rather than trying to do website updates with the partnerships as soon as they were announced!

Glad to hear you enjoyed both films, bree! I watched Around The World in 80 Days yesterday - the David Niven version. Politically incorrect at times, but a glorious film of its time, and I still enjoy watching it.

I won The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals by Wendy Jones in a competition here on the forum, and am delighted to say it was a charming story. The description in the title sums up perfectly what the book is about, following undertaker Wilfred Price in a small Welsh town in the 1920s, and the tangled mess he gets himself into while taking his first steps into the world of love and marriage, and the weight of expectation and duty. This was a charmingly told story from debut novelist Jones, deceptively gentle in its style, but with serious undertones about the secrets and lies told to conform to the expected morals of period. I loved the character of Wilfred, a young man, trying to live up to the expectations and standards set by his mentor Mr Auden during his apprenticeship, who loves his father who has single-handedly brought him up, and finds himself unexpectedly proposing to local doctor's daughter, Grace. After believing he has extricated himself from the engagement, he falls in love with the enigmatic Flora. I think the author develops the story well and felt that the resolutions seemed authentic for the characters, but there is a plot line about Grace I don't want to spoil, but I have to say, I did figure out what was happening about a third of the way through, so I wasn't as shocked as I think the author wanted the reader to be. I definitely enjoyed reading it, and will be interested to read more by the author.

I won The Thoughts and Happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals by Wendy Jones in a competition here on the forum, and am delighted to say it was a charming story. The description in the title sums up perfectly what the book is about, following undertaker Wilfred Price in a small Welsh town in the 1920s, and the tangled mess he gets himself into while taking his first steps into the world of love and marriage, and the weight of expectation and duty. This was a charmingly told story from debut novelist Jones, deceptively gentle in its style, but with serious undertones about the secrets and lies told to conform to the expected morals of period. I loved the character of Wilfred, a young man, trying to live up to the expectations and standards set by his mentor Mr Auden during his apprenticeship, who loves the father who has single-handedly brought him up, and finds himself unexpectedly proposing to local doctor's daughter, Grace. After believing he has extricated himself from the engagement, he falls in love with the enigmatic Flora. I think the author develops the story well and felt that the resolutions seemed authentic for the characters, but there is a plot line about Grace I don't want to spoil, but I have to say, I did figure out what was happening about a third of the way through, so I wasn't as shocked as I think the author wanted the reader to be, and was perhaps a little bit predictable for me. However, I definitely enjoyed reading it, and will be interested to read more by the author.

We're reading another Patrick Ness book for our reading group this month, and if it goes well, I think I'll recommend this one for a future book choice. I think we have to wait for a while before the library will allow book groups to reserve it, but I'd love to share it with others too. I know this is one book that won't be destined for the charity shop, but will definitely be staying on my shelf.

Hope you enjoy it, June.

Synopsis (from amazon.co.uk): The monster showed up after midnight. As they do. But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming… This monster is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth. Patrick Ness spins a tale from the final idea of Siobhan Dowd, whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself. Darkly mischievous and painfully funny, A Monster Calls is an extraordinarily moving novel of coming to terms with loss from two of our finest writers for young adults. About the Author (from amazon.co.uk): Patrick Ness is the author of the critically-acclaimed and bestselling Chaos Walking trilogy. He has won numerous awards including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, the Costa Children's Book Award and the Carnegie Medal. He lives in Bromley, Kent. Siobhan Dowd was the widely-loved, prize-winning author of four books, two of which were published after her death from cancer, aged 47. In 2009, she became the first author ever posthumously awarded the Carnegie Medal. The edition of the book I read was illustrated by Jim Kay, and the book has won the both the Carnegie Medal and its sister prize for illustration - the first time in the history of the award. I'm often amazed at how powerful children's books can be, and this was one of the most powerful stories I've read. It's actually difficult to know what to say about this book, other than it's completely, and at times, overwhelmingly wonderful. Evocative illustrations, honest and affecting storytelling, and at times I had to put it down as I was sobbing and unable to see the pages through my tears. For anyone who has experienced anything like what Conor is going through, you will appreciate this story, and may well bring a sense of relief to know that you are not alone, and that what you are feeling is not wrong, but often what others are going through too.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness is the story of Conor, who has been having the same nightmare ever since his mum started the treatment for her illness, but one night, the monster of his dreams appears at the window of his room, and it's a powerful, ancient creature who wants one thing from Conor - the truth. The story is based on an idea by the author Siobhan Dowd who died before she could write the story, and was taken up by Patrick Ness. The edition of the book I read was illustrated by Jim Kay, and the book has won the both the Carnegie Medal and its sister prize for illustration - the first time in the history of the award. I'm often amazed at how powerful children's books can be, and this was one of the most powerful stories I've read. It's actually difficult to know what to say about this book, other than it's completely and at times, overwhelmingly wonderful. Evocative illustrations, honest and affecting storytelling, and at times I had to put it down as I was sobbing and unable to see the pages through my tears. For anyone who has experienced anything like what Conor is going through, you will appreciate this story, and may well bring a sense of relief to know that you are not alone, and that what you are feeling is not wrong, but often what others are going through too.

In Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous, the colourful residents of an apartment building in Rome each tell their own version of events relating to the murder of a neighbour, all the while revealing their own story, tales of immigration, religion, culture and above all, their relationships with each other. I bought this book from my favourite independent bookshop, Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath. I always look for the unusual when visiting the bookshop, and try to find something I wouldn't find anywhere else, and this was a classic example. I'm not always a fan of multiple narrators, but it's a device used to beautiful effect in this book. Each chapter is the story from one residents point of view, and as it builds, you find out how they all view each other, who is friends with whom, the prejudices, the misconceptions, and the clash of cultures, and the individuality of each person. Both warmly humorous and satirical, the story is wonderfully developed in this novella (just 140 or so pages), and throws you a few curve balls along the way, before ending with a rather surprising conclusion. A lovely gem of a book.

In Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous, the colourful residents of an apartment building in Rome each tell their own version of events relating to the murder of a neighbour, all the while revealing their own story, tales of immigration, religion, culture and above all, their relationships with each other. I bought this book from my favourite independent bookshop, Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights in Bath. I always look for the unusual when visiting the bookshop, and try to find something I wouldn't find anywhere else, and this was a classic example. I'm not always a fan of multiple narrators, but it's a device used to beautiful effect in this book. Each chapter is the story from one residents point of view, and as it builds, you find out how they all view each other, who is friends with whom, the prejudices, the misconceptions, and the clash of cultures, and the individuality of each person. Both warmly humorous and satirical, the story is wonderfully developed in this novella (just 140 or so pages), and throws you a few curve balls along the way, before ending with a rather surprising conclusion. A lovely gem of a book.