poppyshake

It does depend on the mood doesn't it ... hmmmm ... bath (I'm thinking candles, bubbles and music ) Stripes or Spots?

Day 16 – Favourite female character Not that I've said this before but my favourite female character is Thursday Next from the Jasper Fforde novels. She's just an ordinary girl but extraordinary things happen to her, she has a time travelling dad and a dodo for a pet. She gets to do all sorts of weird and wonderful things, fighting monsters and villains etc but is usually back at home again in time for tea. Best of all she hangs out in the bookworld and gets to chat to people like Heathcliff and Miss Havisham. She only lives down the road from me and so I feel I could be her for a day because I've had lots of experience of driving around the magic roundabout in Swindon. Other favourite literary ladies are Elizabeth Bennet ('Pride and Prejudice,) Cassandra Mortmain ('I Capture the Castle',) Molly Gibson ('Wives and Daughters',) Tiffany Aching (Terry Pratchett's Discworld,) Liesel Meminger ('The Book Thief') and Miyuki Woodward ('Gold') .. I don't seem to like the feisty females as much as I like the feisty men so Becky Sharp and Catherine Earnshaw do nothing for me but I do like comic creations so love characters like Lady Catherine de Bourgh (P&P,) Lady Montdore (Love in a Cold Climate) and Sairey Gamp ('Martin Chuzlewitt'.)

Now I've figured out your true identity, I realise that you were actually out on a hot date!! .. honestly fancy telling us you were there to talk about books .. do we look simple (don't answer that.) I've got it written down somewhere, I could easily type it up but where would be the best place to put it? (careful ) I would agree but Kylie has asked so prettily .. I can't refuse her. If we read him and hate him Frankie then you can barge into her blog and tell her what you are going to tell Goethe .. if he doesn't come up to snuff. I would do it but you're the one with the testosterone I think it will be a weeny, weeny, small one because the place that it's being held in doesn't appear to be that big .. but who knows. I will try and get pics and yes, Alan is coming to scout around for me and carry back the books that I'm not supposed to be buying. My cousin is coming to tea (you know ... dinner but we'll be having it late afternoon) and so I am only at liberty to be there for a couple of hours at most unless she lets herself in and makes her own tea which frankly frankie might be rude. He does read a lot although not fast enough!! He tends to ask me to recommend books to him because I kind of know what he likes and what he doesn't. I didn't recommend Jonathan Safran Foer to him because he doesn't want to have to work that hard I promise now, because you have asked so nicely that I won't discount him from any of my future book purchases and will try and read 'Atonement' sometime soon. I will probably become a mad convert then and buy up all of his others. Having a phobia about certain authors is my only way of saving money Thanks Kylie as I said, I think it's only small, and I'll never be able to have as much fun as you guys did because there'll be a little bird on my shoulder telling me that we need to buy food next week

Day 15 – Favourite male character It's weird but a lot of my favourite male characters are not characters that I actually like ... there's Heathcliff, Scrooge and Uncle Matthew (from 'Love in a Cold Climate' and 'The Pursuit of Love') .. all absolute monsters but great to read about. There's also lots that I admire like Atticus Finch, Jonathan Strange, Jeeves, Mr Rochester and Eugene Wrayburn (from 'Our Mutual Friend') but I think best of all is Bertie Wooster .. for the same reasons as I gave earlier .. he has such a 'sunny disposish', nothing is ever wrong in his world for long .. he's a twit it's true but then reading about twits is great fun and he is such a lovable twit. I did love him long before I saw Hugh Laurie playing him but Hugh just captures him perfectly ... Bertie singing Minnie the Moocher

Yep, wouldn't really want to be a chambermaid in that motel.

What a shame, the title was the best thing about it You're not alone, I looked it up on Amazon .. the reviews aren't good.

Now that's what I call bliss ... six hours of uninterrupted reading I must say that title sounds intriguing, what's the book about ?

Oh it annoys the life out of me, you save your pennies and buy the books and then all of a sudden .. they change the covers and mess up your bookshelves there should be a law against it. I'd love to go to Finland *wishes for it very much* .. ahh you never know one day You can't beat a bit of BBC .. tbh I'd be happy with just the two BBC channels, I rarely step outside them and when I do HaHa I do love 'Smack the Pony', 'Little Britain' and Rik Mayall .. especially in Blackadder (did you see him in that?) he's just a comedy genius. I am a bit of a scaredy cat so it depends on how dark the thriller/crime programmes are .. I watched 'the Sculptress' though and thought it was brilliant. I think I am in love with Colin Firth so my favourite drama would be P&P but I love all of them and thought Amanda Root was just so touching as Anne Elliot. Ciarán is like Alan isn't he!! Both lovely and always worth watching. I think he also played Rochester didn't he? Yes, that's the only problem with P&P .. the amount of coverage it gets with dramas and films etc .. it is in danger of overkill but then it's like my favourite old jumper .. all comfy cosy and familiar and when I re-read it, I still find stuff I had forgotten was in there. Fanny Price is just too insipid and too pious .. it's hard to like her. I'm sure Edmund lived to regret his choice and wished he had taken his chances with Mary Crawford and lived life a little. Having said that, he was a jerk as well

Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer Well that would be Neverwhere .. I just adored it. Very, very inventive writing from one of the very best writers of fantasy fiction .. but it's not the sort of stuff that addles your brain and makes you turn the book around to see if you've been reading it upside down for the last half hour. It's clever and imaginative but also really, really readable and enormous fun. Synopsis: Under the streets of London there's a world most people could never even dream of - a city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, and pale girls in black velvet. Richard Mayhew is a young businessman who is about to find out more than he bargained for about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his safe and predictable life and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and yet utterly bizarre. There's a girl named Door, an Angel called Islington, an Earl who holds Court on the carriage of a Tube train, a Beast in a labyrinth, and dangers and delights beyond imagining...And Richard, who only wants to go home, is to find a strange destiny waiting for him below the streets of his native city.

Thanks Kylie I could read his stories forever it's probably the only thing the late Queen Mother and me had in common, she loved to go to bed with Wodehouse too Yes, with fiction books, even when they're sad they usually leave you with a little bit of light or hope but of course with Anne's story there wasn't any I'm so glad you liked it too. Actually I want to re-read it soon but it's such a doorstep! I imagine .. and hope .. you will love it because practically everyone does .. it just didn't click with me. Some of it, as I said, I loved but on the whole it just felt cold. Our planets didn't align You will love it I'm sure Frankie, it's brilliant and I'm thankful to Nick for highlighting it. There was a drama too of it which completely passed me by .. must check it out.

I loved 'The Help' too .. great choice Janet

Ahh Kylie you won't regret it .... I hope you could read a different copy in each room (put one in the loo ) and I'm going to have to get the new nice covers at some point too because who could resist them I got the book down off of the shelf the other day after I'd talked to you about it and just started flicking through it ... I'm now on Page 78!! and I'm still laughing at jokes/situations that I've read about a hundred times before. As I've said, you mustn't worry It was bugging me something rotten or I wouldn't have mentioned it. I'm sure I'll have lapses every now and then but I've already got used to typing in Arial and we've made friends (it's a sad life when some of your friends are fonts )

I'm so glad it went well and it's so much easier when you know you share a common interest because otherwise there might be awkward silences etc. I bet all the people in the bar were busy secretly scribbling down your recommendations I expect it was a different kind of conversation to what they're used to. And you had a man checking the pair of you out too bet he likes a well read girl I bought 'What I Loved' partly because it was on the list and partly because I liked the sound of it. I was really bored one day and went through the list one by one, reading all the synopsis's online (this was before I had a copy of the book) and putting big ticks and crosses next to each title. There are some on there that are never going to be my cup of tea in a million years and others that sound way over my head. I figure that maybe in years to come I might want to tackle them but for now I have my own list within a list, if you see what I mean although it changes all the time depending on the reviews I read here etc. I've got a bit of a phobia about Ian McEwan too and I have no idea why either (but we shouldn't ignore it .. we can't both be wrong ) and as there are so many books/writers to read then I'm not too bothered about reading the one's I have no interest in. Alan read 'Atonement' though (way before the film) and liked it .. the book was actually in the house at one stage but it went off to the charity shop without me reading it which is most odd but true. 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' must be awesome then .. I thought it would be but Liisa has confirmed it. I do wish I had more money to spend on books, we are on a bit of an economy drive at the moment so books are considered a bit of a luxury item (which I think is an outrage ) There is a bookfair here this Sunday and I have no idea if it's going to be good or not as I've only lived here for about seven months and they haven't had one before. Alan says I should go and as long as I don't go mad I think it'll be ok if I get a couple of books (will need mammoth amounts of restraint and self control not to bring back my own bodyweight in literature ) .. exciting though. Kylie has beaten me to it, I was going to send you my copy of Mr Chartwell but Alan says he wants to read it first and he is being incredibly slow about it (ie .. he's still reading John Connolly's book .. he's finished the actual story but there's lots of extra stuff at the back.) Anyway bless Kylie for sending you book parcels .. hope you enjoy reading them all especially 'Mr Chartwell' .. I'm so interested to know what you make of it. I liked the song .. I love Sister Sledge. Thanks Janet for posting it.

Day 13 – Your favourite writer Another difficult one, I haven't got an out and out favourite writer. I go through phases, but top candidates would be Jasper Fforde, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, PG Wodehouse, Nancy Mitford, Dan Rhodes, Jonathan Safran Foer and JK Rowling but if I pick the writer that I have probably read the most books by over the past couple of years it would probably be Neil Gaiman, I love his style, I love the weird and twisted way his mind works .. I don't always love his stories .. some of them freak me out but he's always worth reading .. he transports me to magical places and terrifies me half to death .. but in a good way. I think he is quite simply the best storyteller out there.

I always quote 'Pride and Prejudice' as the book that started me off on reading the classics but I forget to add that it was the black and white film with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier (and the peerless Maureen O' Sullivan .. was Jane ever more beautifully portrayed?) that made me fall in love with the story in the first place. Of course, they don't stick religiously to the plot but there's enough there to make you see what a lovely story it is and what fun it is because the title alone used to scare me to death, it sounds as if it'll be very highbrow. I haven't read the 'Mapp & Lucia' books, I'll definitely look out for them after your recommendation Claire

Stuart : A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters Waterstones Synopsis: Stuart, A Life Backwards, is the story of a remarkable friendship between a reclusive writer and illustrator ('a middle class scum ponce, if you want to be honest about it, Alexander') and a chaotic, knife-wielding beggar whom he gets to know during a campaign to release two charity workers from prison. Interwoven into this is Stuart's confession: the story of his life, told backwards. With humour, compassion (and exasperation) Masters slowly works back through post-office heists, prison riots and the exact day Stuart discovered violence, to unfold the reasons why he changed from a happy-go-lucky little boy into a polydrug-addicted-alcoholic Jekyll and Hyde personality, with a fondness for what he called 'little strips of silver' (knives to you and me). Funny, despairing, brilliantly written and full of surprises: this is the most original and moving biography of recent years. Review: Alexander first met Stuart when he saw him sitting in a doorway on the streets of Cambridge ... 'pasty skin, green bomber jacket, broken gym shoes, hair cropped to the scalp and a week's worth of stubble; his face, the left side livelier than the right, was almost mongoloid. Several of his teeth were missing; his mouth was a sluice.' He says something which Alexander has to get down on his knee's to hear ... he whispers 'As soon as I get the opportunity I'm going to top myself.' He meets him again when they come together to campaign against the wrongful conviction of two charity workers and it's not long before Alexander realises he has found the perfect person to interview for his book about the homeless. But Stuart's not at all happy with the first manuscript, apparently it's 'b****cks boring.' Put briefly, his objection is that Alexander drones on. Stuart wants jokes, anecdotes yarns and humour, he doesn't want academic quotes and background research ... 'Nah Alexander, you gotta start again. You gotta do better than this.' Apparently he's after a bestseller 'like what Tom Clancy writes ... something that people will read .. make it a murder mystery ... what murdered the boy I was? See? write it backwards.' So Alexander begins again and writes the book that I've just read. The first bombshell comes soon and gives you a bit of a shake even though it seems inevitable. On the bottom of page six Alexander writes Stuart is the sort of anti-social nightmare that, apart from possibly throwing some coins his way, you'd probably avoid in the street if you saw him. A man who until recently had been living out of skips, who has twenty pages of convictions, a thief, hostage taker, psycho, drug addict and solvent abuser, self harmer, street raconteur with violent tendencies and a love of knives, really, you could name almost anything crime/vice-wise and Stuart has probably done it. But what were the reasons for it, what turned him from the 'happy-go lucky little boy' of his mum's description to the disruptive, violent and withdrawn individual that he grew up to be. And the answers are all here, not immediately apparent although hinted at as Stuart recalls his earlier days. At first of course, we start with the here and now so the story is quite encouraging, Stuart is off the streets and living in his own one-roomed flat and he's on a methadone programme (there's even a recipe here for the 'convict curry' he cooks for Alexander during one of their early sessions.) but soon come the years he has spent in and out of prison and living rough and this obviously is when most of Stuart's crimes were committed and as the years strip away we learn more and more about his adolescence and childhood and what we learn there is truly harrowing. Stuart himself has a hard time recalling any of this stuff and indeed can't talk about a lot of it but there is enough here to make you hang your head .. I read it with tears dripping down my face. This is not just a story about Stuart though but homeless people in general, what it's like to live rough on the streets, what sort of people become homeless and the difficulties of being alienated from the community and although it is relentlessly depressing, thanks to Alexander's great writing (and illustrations) and Stuart's great quotes, there's a lot of humour in it too. I don't want to go into too much detail because, if you are in any way interested, YOU REALLY MUST READ IT. But I must just warn first, some people may find the content offensive. Mark Haddon in the book blurb thinks this is 'possibly the best biography I have ever read' and who am I to disagree with him. 10/10 (I did give it 9/10 originally but now that it has filtered through me I can't think why I docked a point .. was it for the swearing? no, I am a lorry drivers daughter after all .. was it cos it made me feel uncomfortable? maybe a bit but anyway, it has stayed with me like only a 10/10 book can.)

Ooh thanks for the review I'm intrigued, it sounds interesting but a bit mind boggling. I'm still willing to give it a go even though it does sound a bit David Mitchell.

I'm going to say glasses because they're less fiddly than contacts. Jelly Beans or Jelly Babies?

Hazel Goblindancer She brings riches and wealth. I must be most benevolent then .. I've not kept any for myself She lives in places hexed and tainted by black magic. That'll be why this place resembles the hammer house of horrors then She is only seen when the bees swarm and the crickets chirrup. Yeah, when it's sunny in other words She wears black feathers and rose petals and has gentle green wings like a butterfly. Is that what they call vintage style? Well, that clears one thing up .... I knew I had Goblin blood in me

Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore Hmm this is a difficult one, I can't really think of any books that I used to love but don't now. I've probably blocked out all the really awful one's. The nearest I can get to answering the question is to say that now when I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott the story seems a little too twee and the girls, especially Jo, a little too self righteous. I still like the story a lot though but it's the best answer I have.

aah group hug

I'm sorry Frankie I don't know why it happens. Sometimes when you reply there is something that says font/colour just after the quote name I think .. and if you delete it it solves the problem ... it's not always there though. I will make a concession to friendship, and only write on my own blog in blue Verdana .. it will give me 'heavy boots' but it's for the best (it is doing my own head in anyway.) I must apologise in advance for answering some of the posts on your blog already this morning in blue Verdana ( such is the power of this font that even those four words will probably corrupt anyone's reply.) I'm beginning to suspect it of having superpowers ... I'm not quote sure what they are yet except for one is the ability to p*ss people off without trying I'm enjoying EL&IC .. it is just like EII .. the same kind of style. Very weird and wonderful.

Whoops missed this. She sounds like she has great taste, but is it Siri Hustvedt's 'What I Loved' or Siri Hustvedt in general? I bought it a couple of weeks back and I think it's another that's on the 1001 (I'll have to bump it up the list.) I haven't got 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' but I did read 'The Kite Runner' and enjoyed it so it's definitely one I keep thinking about getting. I can see your friend is going to spend all my money for me I've never read anything by Ian McEwan (not even 'Atonement') but weirdly, though I've never heard of her before, I did put a book by Anne Tyler on my Goodreads TBR's yesterday .. it is called 'Digging to America' or something and I saw it in Waterstones .. ooh, perhaps I have 'the force' too .. no, on second thoughts I think it's indigestion

uh-oh clarification needed. Tea is what us Brits (probably the more common ones) call dinner or supper. It's a meal eaten at .. well, teatime or at any rate early evening. It would be pushing it. even for me, to require a personal tea (as in cup) maker ... however I'm liking the sound of it now you've bought it out into the open I am actually green with envy. How lovely to have a meet up with a friend (and she will become a friend most probably if she hasn't already) and talk books. To know that they're interested and not to see them gaze off into the distance and stifle a yawn (not that I'm bitter or anything ) or to hear them change the subject and start talking about shoes. And it's nicer that, although you have similar tastes, she's read different books to you because that means you have so much more to talk about and learn .. and so have we (second hand) ... It's so exciting!