poppyshake

The guests were a bit hit and miss .. some worked better than others (some made me squirm.) I liked P.D. James, Jeanette Winterson and Sue Perkins best, their love of books just shone out. Debo shouldn't really have been on there because she hates reading (though she did sort of acknowledge this with Evelyn Waugh's present of a blank book.) I suspect they weren't just her five favourite books they were probably the only five she'd read I could listen to Jeanette talk all day and Sue's books were some of my own favourites. Faulks on Fiction was ok, I guess any programme talking about books is a good thing. I didn't agree with the choices but liked hearing his opinions anyway. Looking forward to the programme on Saturday. I haven't caught up with the Channel 4 programme in a while .. the presenters made me cringe a bit.

Love Letters : Leonard Woolf & Trekkie Ritchie Parsons 1941-1968 edited by Judith Adamson Waterstones Synopsis: It was the middle of the Second World War, and Trekkie, a painter and book illustrator, was married to the publisher Ian Parsons, who later became Leonard's colleague. Leonard was 61, Trekkie 39. He wanted her to get a divorce and marry him, but instead she persuaded him to move in next door to her in London and spent the weekends with him at Monk's House in Rodmell. When Ian came back from the war, life became more complex. Trekkie was a feisty, principled feminist - she had never wanted a husband and now, it seemed, she had two at once. She spent the weekends with Ian and the week with Leonard: she took holidays with them separately, acted as hostess for them both, and talked to no one about the way they lived. The arrangement worked smoothly for the next twenty-five years - an inventive and honest solution for a woman who loved two men in different ways at the same time. When Trekkie and Leonard were not together they talked through the post - a letter scribbled while she cooked dinner could reach him before breakfast the next morning. Trekkie sealed up their correspondance, and it was only opened after her death. Linked by excerpts from her diary, the letters shine with details of daily life: of gardens and glow-worms, books and plays; of Leonard's publishing and politics; of Trekkie's struggle to balance her professional and personal life. But above all they are a romance in two voices - his besotted, hers tender and sensible. This remarkable exchange of letters tells the story of two contrasting personalities, their love for one another and their unusual and creative domestic arrangement. Review: I really enjoyed reading these letters, I didn't know anything about Leonards relationship with Trekkie, I've only ever connected him with Virginia. They met through Trekkie's sister Alice, who had had books published by the Hogarth Press. Alice became terminally ill and Trekkie looked after her during the last few weeks of her life. Leonard had very generously lent Alice some money 'on the poor security of an unfinished book' (Alice's words) and Trekkie was able to return it to him saying that she had been able to cover Alice's expenses without using it but that it had given Alice the greatest of comforts to feel that she wasn't being a financial burden on her sister. It had only been a few months since Virginia had committed suicide and at first the correspondence between the pair is sporadic and fairly tame but soon Leonard is visiting Trekkie (who herself was an artist and illustrator) and leaving her little presents of strawberries and flowers and their letters start to reflect how much they are enjoying one anothers company. The relationship was complicated, there was a twenty two year age gap for a start plus Trekkie was already married. It's hard to say what her husband thought about it, nothing is really known, they kept it all private with a capital P but if he did have towering rages about it nobody ever recorded it. His own romantic life was entangled too so maybe it was a case of 'what's sauce for the goose' etc but in any case there didn't seem to be any rancour between them and indeed they all ended up living in the same house (on separate floors) and working together. The editor here thinks, despite Trekkie's assertions to the contrary, that her relationship with Leonard was sexual, though since reading these letters I've read a biography about Leonard which takes the opposite view. Either way it doesn't matter, he clearly adored her and she him .. she was his 'Dearest Tiger' and he her 'Dearest Lion'. Extract from one of Leonards letters (showing him to be a hopeless romantic with too much time on his hands) 'I don't mind what you write your letters with or on, even a lithographic stone, if they're like the one I got this morning at breakfast. It was an amazing morning here yesterday & still more lovely this morning. It's no good your saying that you may create a wraith out of yourself which will haunt the garden, because that's just exactly what you have done. I never go into the garden now, I think, without it. It walks by my side, feeds the goldfish with me every morning, notices the new flowers as they come out. Sometimes I see it painting in the orchard or eating a mutton pie under the fig tree. I even hear it laugh or say "No, Leonard, I do not agree with you'. And the other night when the moon was up & I went out on the terrace before bed, it walked by my side in a long golden dress & was so beautiful that I realized that the penny novelette writer is quite true to life when he works up to the grand crisis with 'Her beauty was such that he caught his breath, a lump came into his throat, & for a moment his heart stopped beating." It even follows me up the village street when I go to post a letter in the new box on the main road for the other day the wraith of a bus appeared & your wraith let me hold it's hand & got into it saying: "Well, Goodbye Leonard". And don't you know that this evening & last evening after tea your wraith came out with me into the orchard & gathered the apples with me & I wasn't at all nice to the wraith, being depressed because it was not you but the ghost of you - for that is one of the things you've never done here & ever since you began to come I've looked forward to the September evening - sunny, absolutely still, with the first chill of autumn in the air & the mist beginning to creep up out of the water meadows - when I should see you in the orchard gathering the apples - for I think it's really the most beautiful moment of the year here. Don't you know all this dearest tiger? If not, I think it's rather disgraceful. For if you create a wraith of yourself, you oughtn't really let it wander ab- (this is Peats interference - I flung him off, whereupon he has leapt on the table and upset a large bowl of flowers & the floor is swimming with water) about with me here out of your control.' I've always thought of Leonard as a bit of a serious creature, but these letters show a different side. His in particular are very affectionate, sometimes too much so and Trekkie often had to try and bring him back into line .. 'I want you to love me ... but not as an epidemic disease.' I think he was ripe for falling in love, certainly he seems to be the more enthusiastic of the two especially to begin with and Trekkie was just the sort of woman to attract him, creative and artistic but less highly strung than Virginia. The letters are often funny, they both have a great sense of humour and were fond of writing spoof letters to each other. They had lots of shared interests .. they adored plants and gardening and they had an absolute mania for animals .. their houses were awash with cats and dogs. The relationship survived and prospered until Leonards death in 1969. Very, very enjoyable. 9/10

I'm not even convincing myself but I really must try ... I'm surrounded by books, they're piling up on the floor and I will be crushed before too long by a collapsing wall of unread stories. Memento Mori - Muriel Spark Waterstones Synopsis: Unforgettably astounding and a joy to read, Memento Mori is considered by many to be the greatest novel by the wizardly Dame Muriel Spark. In late 1950s London, something uncanny besets a group of elderly friends: an insinuating voice on the telephone informs each, "Remember you must die." Their geriatric feathers are soon thoroughly ruffled by these seemingly supernatural phone calls, and in the resulting flurry many old secrets are dusted off. Beneath the once decorous surface of their lives, unsavories like blackmail and adultery are now to be glimpsed. As spooky as it is witty, poignant and wickedly hilarious, Memento Mori may ostensibly concern death, but it is a book which leaves one relishing life all the more. Review: I enjoyed this one, it's macabre but with a comic touch. All the characters are elderly and in various stages of decrepitude and some of them are beginning to lose the plot. When they start receiving disturbing phonecalls saying 'Remember you must die' they are at a loss to discover who is making them. One thing in particular is peculiar, the voice on the end of the phone appears different to each listener although the message always remains the same. Having lived fairly full lives they each have their secrets and intrigues to hush up and plenty of enemies to suspect of foul play or blackmail. As the title suggests this is a book about being mortal and how we cling tenaciously to life even when it becomes insupportable. Each character reacts differently to the phone calls, one is not that concerned, one refuses to acknowledge - even to themselves - that they've received a call and others draw up list's of suspects. One of the suspects cannot confirm or deny the accusations saying that as far as they are aware they haven't made the calls and yet they might have made them during a Mr Hyde moment. There is a particular sinister Mrs Danversish type maid who lurks about listening at keyholes and amassing evidence to use as blackmail ... a real boo-hiss character. Despite there being plenty of absurdity, it's also a bit depressing. You feel slightly uneasy reading it, realising even when you're laughing that it's an all too accurate portrayal of old age and a reminder of what lies in wait. All the horrors of old age are here, vulnerability, fear, failing health and intellect .. the slow decline etc but for all that you can't help but smile at it ... 'I have quite decided to be cremated when my time comes' said Godfrey. 'It is the cleanest way. The cemetries only pollute our water supplies. Cremation is best.' 'I do so agree with you,' said Charmian sleepily. 'No, you do not agree with me,' he said. 'R.C.s are not allowed to be cremated.' 'I mean, I'm sure you are right, Eric dear.' 'I am not Eric,' said Godfrey. 'You are not sure I'm right. Ask Mrs Anthony, she'll tell you that R.C.s are against cremation.' He opened the door and bawled for Mrs Anthony. She came in with a sigh. 'Mrs Anthony, you're a Roman Catholic, aren't you?' said Godfrey. 'That's right. I've got something on the stove.' 'Do you believe in cremation?' 'Well,' she said, 'I don't really much like the idea of being shoved away quick like that. I feel somehow it's sort of ...' 'It isn't a matter of how you feel, it's a question of what your Church says you've not got to do. Your Church says you must not be cremated, that's the point.' 'Well, as I say Mr Colston, I don't really fancy the idea ...' 'Fancy the idea ... It is not a question of what you fancy. You have no choice in the matter do you see?' 'Well, I always like to see a proper burial, I always like ...' 'It's a point of discipline in your Church,' he said, 'that you mustn't be cremated. You women don't know your own system.' 'I see, Mr Colston. I've got something on the stove.' 'I believe in cremation, but you don't - Charmian, you disapprove of cremation, you understand.' 'Very well, Godfrey' 'And you too, Mrs Anthony.' 'OK., Mr Colston.' 'On principle,' said Godfrey 'That's right,' said Mrs Anthony and disappeared. Muriel doesn't tie up all the ends, she allows the reader to come to their own conclusions (not always wise in my case ) and gives them plenty of food for thought. Not a cheerful read overall but an interesting one. 9/10

Thanks Weave I hope they'll be good reads .. some of them I know and some are a bit of a leap into the dark What a marvellous thought .. we should all do that regularly .. once a month at least There was a time when my family were loathe to buy me books .. it was like 'is that all you want?' because although they are all readers they're not obsessive readers and cannot see why I would prefer books to shoes or jewellry etc. But they've thankfully got over that now and they get pleasure out of buying me books (hurray!!) I will take a photo of the books I bought from Amazon when they've been delivered and that will be that until January 2012 .. I WILL NOT BUY ANY MORE BOOKS THIS YEAR ... if I do I will pay some terrible forfeit like being banned from reading any further Jasper Fforde's or not being allowed to come on here

When you say you were naughty Kylie, do you mean that you stretched your voucher a bit further? .. I'm totally guilty of doing that. These books look exciting, I mean 'The Castle of Crossed Destinies' .. how brilliant a title is that? I can't wait to hear what you think of them .. though I have no right to be impatient given the current state of my own TBR list .. let alone my review backlog. Oh and 'The Phantom Tollbooth' ... I've just added it to my wishlist, can't have the Mistress saying it's one of her favourite books ever without taking notice

Thanks Chesil , my family are brilliant .. they know that books are the things I love above everything and so they're more than happy to buy them for me. I stick the one's that I like on my Amazon wishlist and they choose from there. Sometimes they will choose a book that is not from the list (they like to have a bit of input in my reading matter ) but usually it's accompanied by at least two that are and it's nice to have surprises amongst the wished fors. I'm very, very lucky.

These are the books bought for me for my birthday .. mostly by my lovely husband and mum and dad. I'll list them to prevent you from squinting. Mr Vertigo - Paul Auster Stuart : A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters A Journal of the Plague Year - Daniel Defoe The Hand that First Held Mine - Maggie O' Farrell A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry Started Early Took My Dog - Kate Atkinson The Hare with Amber Eyes - Edmund de Waal A Book Addicts Treasury - Julie Rugg & Lynda Murphy The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar A Strange Eventful History - Michael Holroyd Birdcloud - Annie Proulx The Finkler Question - Howard Jacobson Faulks on Fiction - Sebastian Faulks .. and of course the lovely signed Jasper Fforde book .. One of our Thursdays is Missing ... which I wrote about in Jasper's thread on the Fantasy forum. ... I'm still on cloud nine!

Thanks Kylie, I was so happy to get the Bloomsbury books, they didn't all come from the same shop and I still haven't got them all but what a result. I only paid about £2.50 each and they haven't been read Most people (ordinary mortals that is not proper book reading one's) nearly fainted when I told them I'd bought fifty books. I feel a bit daunted by them now I'm home (which usually happens after Christmas when I've bought a lot of books) and the situation has been compounded because I got more books bought for me for my birthday and I've just put in an order at Amazon using some of my birthday money (did you feel like that when you got home from the bookfair?) I can hear the unread books in the house .. the one's that were on the shelves when I left for Hay .. tutting and grumbling. I don't have a plan at all for my TBR's, I'll just have to see what leaps out. I hope you get to visit Hay again for an extended visit, it's just book heaven. Thanks Kidsmum Hay's a lovely place and I would imagine it would be somewhere nice to go on your own because it's nicely busy without being crowded and everyone there is obsessed by books. There's lots of squashy sofas and chairs to sit in and cafe's for refuelling and no-one thinks it at all odd if you stick your head in a book every five minutes. We'll probably go back for the day, go early and then browse all day and have dinner and then come home (it's about a two hour drive so though it'll be tiring it's do-able.) I'll have to save and save though before then and figure out where the extra bookshelves are going to go

I loved the TV series, once or twice I thought I would die laughing. Poor Karl, he may have been visiting the seven wonders of the world but they weren't holidays/trips that anyone would envy. Just the sight of his poor stressed out puzzled face made me laugh ... and the way that he wasn't particularly enthralled with any of the wonders. He was more impressed with the Elephant Baba than anything else Is the book written in diary format Tunn?

Shopping in general is a pain if you go with anyone who doesn't particularly share your tastes but shopping/looking for books with someone like that is a nightmare. I admire your restraint (but like the way you didn't let your friends opinions overide yours) .. really you should have just asked her to wait a minute while you searched for the heaviest tome (don't waste time looking for the English translation ) to whack her with. I hate people chattering away to me in the library, I can't concentrate. Alan will come with me and go off somewhere looking at computer/art/music books and then dump himself down in the seating area if I'm still busy. I couldn't cope with someone looking over my shoulder (unless it was a like minded friend or relation) I'd give it up and go back another day. Well done you for coming away with a good book despite all the distractions. Same here, and I hate it when people say 'I don't have time to read' implying that only those with nothing better to do and lots of idle time would waste it on reading books Yes him and all the rest of us on here

Frankie ... Yes, he's a star ... most of the time I've put them on my reading blog, Frankie .. I thought I'd been good and stuck to my lists but now I've typed them up I see I did a bit too much freestyling! Chesil for the link, he's right it was a dangerous outbreak of roadworks .. they more or less appeared about five mins before the talk started and at various times during the evening it sounded as if the church was going to be bulldozed .. thank goodness for microphones. The question and answer session was interesting .. I didn't ask anything until he was signing my book .. too nervous but a lot of interesting questions were asked like 'are there any books/characters that you wouldn't satirize?' and Jasper said yes .. Scout and Jem in 'To Kill A Mockingbird' .. he just thinks the book and those two characters in particular are sacred. I'm so envious that you're almost up to speed with the series .. how exciting!

List of Books Bought at Hay-on-Wye From the 1001 Amis, Kingsley - The Old Devils Atwood, Margaret - Surfacing Carey, Peter - Oscar and Lucinda Cunningham, Michael - The Hours Fitzgerald, F. Scott - Tender is the Night Greene, Graham - Brighton Rock Keneally, Thomas - Schindler's Ark Kureishi, Hanif - Gabriel's Gift Lawrence, D.H. - Women in Love Murdoch, Iris - A Severed Head (already read a library copy) Orwell, George - Keep the Aspidistra Flying Stein, Gertrude - The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Updike, John - Rabbit Run Woolf, Virginia - Mrs Dalloway Books from my Wishlist Barnes, Julian - The Pedant in the Kitchen Bullington, Jesse - The Sad Tale of the brothers Grossbart Byrne, Paula - Mad World : Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead Comyns, Barbara - Our Spoons Came from Woolworths Dahl, Roald - Boy : Tales from Childhood Ferguson, Rachel - The Brontes Went to Woolworth's (Bloomsbury group) Fforde, Jasper - The Big Over Easy Graves, Robert - Goodbye to All That Hay, Sheridan - The Secret of Lost Things Hemingway, Ernest - A Moveable Feast Hoffman, Alice - Practical Magic McCourt, Frank - Angela's Ashes Naipaul, V.S. - A House for Mr Biswas Woodsford, Frances - Dear Mr Bigelow : A Transatlantic Friendship Books Bought Not on Lists (oh dear!!) Adams, Richard - Watership Down (better copy) Baker, Frank - Miss Hargreaves (Bloomsbury group) Benson, C.F. - Mrs Ames (Bloomsbury group) Bronte, Emily - Wuthering Heights (better copy) Conradi, Peter - A Writer at War : The Letters & Diaries of Iris Murdoch 1939-1945 de Bernieres, Louis - The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Gazman Dennys, Joyce - Henrietta sees it Through (Bloomsbury group) de Rhodes, Danuta (Dan Rhodes) - Little White Car Dickens, Monica - One Pair of Feet Gallico, Paul - Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (Bloomsbury group) Jensen, Liz - Ark Baby (already read a library copy) Jensen, Liz - My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Crime Mosley, Diana - The Pursuit of Laughter Murdoch, Iris - An Unofficial Rose Murdoch, Iris - The Flight from the Enchanter Orwell, George - Animal Farm Pasternak, Boris - Letters to Georgian Friends Rhodes, Dan - Gold (better copy) Spark, Muriel - Far Cry from Kensington Spark, Muriel - Robinson Spark, Muriel - The Comforters Starling, Belinda - The Journal of Dora Damage Stevenson, D.E. - Mrs Tim of the Regiment (Bloomsbury group) Taylor, G.P. - Mariah Mundi : the Midas Box (better copy)

I'm just back from a glorious few days in the town of books .. Hay on Wye on the Welsh/English border. It's an absolute book lovers paradise, there are about thirty seven bookshops and anywhere they can squeeze in a bookshelf they do. I took my list of books with me and though I didn't stick to it religiously, it helped me to focus because to be honest you could just go mad in a place like Hay. Alan took my list and went off searching for the books I wanted ... I tried to rely on memory to help me out (not always successfully.) The bookshops are often housed in buildings that are ancient (one is in a ruined castle) and there are tottering piles of books everywhere. You find yourself halfway up a rickety staircase .. craning your neck sideways to look at the book lined walls .. there's no room for superstition, you get passed on the stairs a hundred times. Nearly all the books are filed alphabetically (by author) so that makes life a lot easier but sometimes they're just mish mashed together and you have to work a bit harder. Every day we went back to the hotel Alan photographed my book haul so far (see pics) .. day one looks a bit pathetic but we only reached Hay at half past two in the afternoon and had to book in etc so I thought I'd done pretty well to find anything. I bought some more before I left for home so the pics aren't quite up to date but almost. The little card that's in some of the photographs is an early birthday card for me from Alan, he looked especially for one with books on (he's spoiled me so much, I'm beginning to get suspicious The hotel was lovely, there were bookcases everywhere .. even in the loo and you were free to borrow any of the books to read (which I did .. I bought fifty odd books over three days and took my own reading books with me and was still delving into theirs ... other people's books always look more exciting than your own.) It is such a lovely place and we had a great time there, we're tempted to go back when the festival is on but the hotelier warned us that it gets really busy. I'm saving up my pennies to return though .. it's a great place to hunt for books.

I was just so thrilled, it had been quite a long day as we didn't get back from Wales until mid afternoon and then to drive over to Abingdon which is about an hour away, I was just hoping that it would be worthwhile and of course as soon as I knew it was Jasper I totally perked up and didn't feel tired at all. He's doing a tour (I think he said this was his second night) all over the country so perhaps he may come to a town near you Chrissy .. if he does, grab the opportunity with both hands .. he's so entertaining. He has got a brother Kylie, in fact he has a couple of them but I couldn't .. hand on heart .. recommend them. I definitely got the best of the bunch When I tell you that not only did he .. over the course of three days ... spend all his time in bookshops with me but he also took my lists and scoured the shelves for books I wanted etc and found lots of them for me, then you'll know how lucky I am. I managed to buy over fifty books (mostly second hand) and he was as excited as I was whenever we discovered one that I'd been searching for. Jasper is lovely, I hope he comes to Australia (if I'd have known I was going I would have asked him that.) I'm sure I said some pretty stupid things, I'm only surprised that I didn't fall down at his feet. I could have listened to him forever, he was just so interesting. He said the sequel to 'Shades of Grey' will not be out until the year after next which I felt a bit disappointed about because I was hoping for it sooner but I have got to read 'First Among Sequels' then 'One of Our Thursday's Is Missing' and 'The Last Dragonslayer' so lot's of Jasper still to enjoy. He said that the plot twist involving Granny Next was the only plot development (for the whole series) that he had planned from the beginning and that he writes approx 2,500 words per day which frankly wears me out thinking about it. His family were Bronte readers rather than Austen readers and as such he doesn't much care for Jane's fiction much but he positively loathes 'Wuthering Heights' and that's why he was glad to get his own back on the characters in 'The Well of Lost Plots' ... on the other hand he reveres 'Jane Eyre' and says he was unable to write extensive dialogue for her because she is just so iconic. I haven't read anything about the new book and Jasper wasn't giving much away except that it contains two Thursday's .. the actual one and the written one (from all the previous books) ... just that snippet alone makes me want to read it NOW.

I can hardly contain my excitement Because it's my birthday at the end of this week, Alan took me to Hay on Wye for a few days of absolutely blissful book buying. We got back yesterday and I knew he'd booked tickets for me to see an author give a talk about their latest book last night .. he wouldn't tell me who it was and asked me not to google it .. the only info he gave me was that it was a man and I liked his books. It could have been anyone, tbh I was a bit worried but imagine my delight in finding myself in an old church in Abingdon with the one and only JASPER FFORDE .. I was so excited I nearly burst. He was lovely and the talk was very funny. I bought a copy of his latest .. naturally ... and he signed it for me .. with my name in and everything We had a little chat (mostly with me gushing and probably embarrasing the life out of him) and him telling me a few bits and pieces about the writing of 'Something Rotten' which I told him was my favourite so far (I haven't read 'First Among Sequels' yet.) I am still on cloud nine. I took a photo of him with my book ... I'll try and upload it. They were also publicising an event called 'Fforde Fiesta' .. which takes place in May I think and is a celebration of his books (the event is best described as random) .. it get's booked up pretty quickly apparently.

I had tea in the pump room at Bath once and just to be in a place where Jane had visited was exciting. I went to the museum too and even partook of some bath water .. it was disgusting and far from making me feel well it made me feel decidedly dodgy. That is a definite bargain Janet, what can you get for 40p? .. you can't even buy a kit-kat (WH Smiths are actually charging 75p for a kit-kat ... I needed smelling salts and aromatic vinegar when I saw that!) It's a lovely read, hope you enjoy it. 'A Kestrel for a Knave' is one I've earmarked from the 1001 list .. I liked the film a lot so hopefully it will be as good or better.

News From Nowhere - William Morris Waterstones Synopsis: 'The only English utopia since More's that deserves to be remembered as literature.' News from Nowhere (1890) is the best-known prose work of William Morris. The novel describes the encounter between a visitor from the nineteenth century, William Guest, and a decentralized and humane socialist future. Set over a century after a revolutionary upheaval in 1952, these 'Chapters from a Utopian Romance' recount his journey across London and up the Thames to Kelmscott Manor, Morris's own country house in Oxfordshire. Drawing on the work of John Ruskin and Karl Marx, Morris's book is not only an evocative statement of his egalitarian convictions but also a distinctive contribution to the utopian tradition. Morris's rejection of state socialism and his ambition to transform the relationship between humankind and the natural world, giveNews from Nowhere a particular resonance for modern readers. The text is based on that of 1891, incorporating the extensive revisions made by Morris to the first edition. Review: Until I saw this on the 1001 list, I didn't know that William Morris had written any fiction. This is William's idea of Utopia, and it's a million miles away from the futuristic science fiction novels/films that we're used to. It seems he was inspired to write the book after reading Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward.. it has a similar premise to News from Nowhere in that the central character awakes to find himself a few hundred years in the future in a world where poverty and corruption have been eradicated. William didn't much like Bellamy's version of Utopia though and thought it vulgar and materialistic but still the book obviously sowed the seeds of an idea in his mind. William's central character William Guest falls asleep after returning from a meeting of the Socialist League, when he awakes the next day, he finds himself in a very different world indeed. He meets Dick who undertakes to row him on the Thames, from Hammersmith through London and onwards to Kelmscott (Morris' true home) stopping frequently along the way. He learns from Dick that things have much changed .. though Dick doesn't know he is a traveller in time .. he passes himself off as a foreigner or jokingly as a being from another planet to account for his ignorance and wonder. Cities have been transformed, the urban sprawl has been eradicated and there is more 'elbow room', the buildings are handsome and there is a heavy emphasis towards arts and crafts in all their forms but always beautifully and simply done (especially clothing ... women are no longer upholstered like furniture. Work is undertaken for pleasure rather than payment, in fact there is no monetary system at all and food and goods are shared willingly. Everyone is content and happy, there is no discord, no prisons, no courts, no crime and everyone, especially the women, are extremely good looking and long lived (he would be shocked if he walked down Swindon high street on a Friday night to see how far away from his idyll we are ) There is no schooling in the literal sense, children are encouraged to learn for themselves by being in and of the world instead of stewing inside and those more inclined to further their knowledge do so. I'm not sure how I felt about William's ideal world. On the whole I didn't think it could ever possibly work and I'm not sure I'd want it to. He still saw the woman's role as the child bearer and nurturer but though in this new world women were free from oppression by men (and vice versa) and their opportunities were varied and unconstrained, domestic labour was still seen as the job they were most fitted to (because it was the job they most enjoyed ) But of course, this is the author's vision and it's not a picture of what he thought would happen or thought should happen, it's just a version of his ideal world. When William reaches London he meets Dick's kinsman, Old Hammond, and learns from him how this new change came about. It's a tale full of civil unrest, revolt and bloodshed which takes up several chapters. Though interesting to begin with, this part of the book dragged for me and I was glad when William returned to the Thames and his journey (which just illustrates how empty headed I am ) It's an interesting book, he writes lovely prose, using delicious words such as slumbrous, thitherwood, behoof and wherry. I've always lived near to the Thames so his journey was familiar to me, I used to live at Lechlade which is fairly near to Kelmscott and visited his gorgeous manor house and garden. There is a craft barn in the garden and I couldn't help but think he'd be dismayed if he saw it. Anything that could be covered in a William Morris pattern had been ... you know the sort of thing .. toaster covers and draft excluders and peg bags ... I suppose they do come under the heading of useful .. I'm not sure all of them are beautiful .. but he hated clutter and fuss. In contrast his house was just lovely, so simple (if a house that grand can be simple) but absolutely gorgeous with the most beautiful tapestries and embroideries that I've ever seen. Actually I did a tapestry of one of William's designs some years ago which is one of the few things that I've managed to put up in our new home .... I'll try and include a pic later. I do love his designs and the whole arts and crafts movement in general. 7/10 It's called 'Woodpecker' and it's approx three feet tall. Alan made a frame for it out of reclaimed floorboards which seemed more fitting than an off the peg frame. It was a labour of love and took me weeks but it was worth it. The original tapestry that this is taken from is breathtakingly gorgeous.

Speaking for Themselves : the Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill Vol One (Unabridged Audio) read by Michael Jayston and Eleanor Bron Audible Synopsis: This is a fascinating collection of the personal correspondence between Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine between 1908-1929. Review: Though this is only volume one and so contains only half of the letters, it's still an engrossing sixteen hours long. What I loved about the letters most was how lovable and affectionate Winston's were, for all his rather serious public persona he was obviously a deeply devoted (as he often liked to sign himself) husband and father. It's often said that Winston's unhappy childhood and the lack of affection felt from his mother and father made him all the more appreciative of the love he felt for and received from Clemmie. Clementine's letters were affectionate too but what struck me most about hers was the fact that she wasn't afraid to give out political advice to Winston or to strenuously write in favour of taking said advice when she thought it was going unheeded. In the main though their letters are full of love and concern for one another. Winston being referred to as pug, dog or pig often and Clemmie being his puss or cat. The children (five in all) are the precious PK's (puppy kittens) which now I've written it down all seems rather silly but doesn't come across so at all because the letters are full of such sound good sense. They are wonderfully romantic letters though for the most part. There were very few that were terse or cross .. none at all I think from Winston (though he could be resolute, in the face of her disapproval, about sticking to his guns politically.) I think I fell in love with him a bit myself just listening to him telling her how lucky he was and how beautiful she is Then again some letters were burnt or destroyed - both Clemmie and Winston sent letters to each other that were meant for each other's eyes only but these were of a mostly political nature and at times of great political sensitivity and secrecy - others have been edited or weeded out so it's not a complete picture but a pretty detailed one all the same. The first few letters are about their early (quite short) courtship and marriage, then we follow Winston through to his cabinet position in Asquith's Liberal government, his disastrous involvement in the Gallipoli campaign which devastated him and forced him to leave government and his time spent serving on the Western Front commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. These letters from the trenches and dugouts are fascinating. Sometimes Winston sends home lists of the things he needs and my mind was boggling at the thought of Clemmie parcelling up sleeping bags, sturdy boots, brandy and cigars .. though quite possibly she didn't have to go and queue up at the post office and wait interminably for 'cashier number four please' to become vacant This particular volume of letters ends with Winston as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Baldwin's Conservative party. I'm looking forward to downloading the second half of the letters which will take me through his time as prime minister to their end days. 9/10

Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord - Louis de Bernieres Waterstones Synopsis: Dionisio Vivo, a South American lecturer in philosphy, is puzzled by the hideously mutilated corpses that keep turning up outside his front door. To his friend, Ramon, one of the few honest policement in town, the message is all too clear: Dionisio's letters to the press, exposing the drug barons, must stop; and although Dionisio manages to escape the hit-men sent to get him, he soon realises that others are more vulnerable, and his love for them leads him to take a colossal revenge. Review: Goodness gracious me This was a torrid, surreal, and at times harrowing, read. I knew I was in for something different when the first paragraph read ... 'Ever since his young wife had given birth to a cat as an unexpected consequence of his experiments in sexual alchemy, and ever since his accidental invention of a novel explosive that confounded Newtonian physics by loosing its force at the precise distance of 6.56 feet from the source of its blast, President Veracruz had thought of himself not only as an adept but also as an intellectual. His speeches became peppered with obscure and recondite quotations from Paracelsus and Basil Valentine; he joined the Rosicrucians, considering himself to be a worthy successor to Doctor John Dee, Hermes Trismegistus, Sir Francis Bacon, Christian Rosencreuz, and Éliphas Levi. He gave up reading his wife's women's magazines, from which he had previously derived most of his opinions, and took up reading La Prensa .' The book tells the story of Dionisio Vivo, who is annoyed but unworried, when he finds his front lawn repeatedly littered with grotesquely disfigured, dead bodies. His friend, the local policeman Ramon, tries to tell Dionisio that these killings are warnings, sent because of Dionisio's regular letters to the press condemning the local drug barons and criticising the corrupt government. Dionisio however, refuses to be frightened or to believe that the two things are in any way connected and he continues to go on with his life as before. Well, almost as before, he has in fact fallen in love with the beautiful Anica and is determined to settle down and shape up (in other words he has to give up his frequent visits to the town prostitutes.) There are desperate and repeated attempts on his life but inexplicably they all fail and his enemies, plus the local townspeople, begin to believe that he is in fact a 'brujo' ... a magical being who is kept free from harm by the spirits. The hit men are advised to target his loved ones instead with terrifying and far reaching consequences. For a book that's so steeped in violence it's surprisingly funny. The thugs are often bumblingly stupid and there's an element of farce in their early assassination attempts but just as you begin to get accustomed to the almost cartoonish violence things take a sickening turn. At times I found it very, very reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, there's a mix here of humour, lust and violence which is very like the writing in One Hundred Years of Solitude especially when you add in the huge dollop of magical realism that weaves through both. Obviously de Bernieres is keen to expose the evils of drug trafficking and he manages to get his point across here loud and clear without it seeming at all preachy or sanctimonious. I've only just learnt that this book is the central one of a trilogy .. I didn't know this as it was lent to me but I thought the story stood by itself anyway. Perhaps it would have been less confusing at the start if I had read The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts ... it did take me a few chapters to get the feel of the writing but the story grips you within no time (literally by the throat.) Like Marquez, de Bernieres's tale is full of red blooded males, hot blooded women, tarts with hearts, slow witted thugs, calculating evildoers and ridiculous despots. There is plenty to make you blush and if you don't like sex in novels then this one definitely isn't for you. There's violence too in abundance .. including a particularly harrowing scene near the end which I couldn't actually make it through. Somehow the humour still comes through and so does the magical, mystical elements. Action packed and absurdly funny but not for the faint hearted. 9/10

I don't see why Boo shouldn't be on the list .. he deserves his place much more than some already on it. Yes, it's his fault after all. I think it's his worst book ... though I haven't read them all by a long chalk .. there may be other horrors lurking. I enjoyed 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' though you couldn't call it uplifting and someone recommended 'The Woodlanders' .. actually I can't remember who .. I think it was recommended in a book I've recently read but bother, I can't remember which one *checks January's reading list* ... I think it may have been Iris's husband John Bayley during one of his meditative rambles through literature. I can't help but think that Hardy suits male readers more than female ... men are far more likely to tolerate a soppy (but beautiful) heroine. I really enjoyed Nick's writing, he's such great company and it was refreshing to read that a writer has the same reading dilemma's as the rest of us mere mortals. I would just love to know what he's reading now although for the sake of my TBR's .. it's probably best that I don't. I'm looking forward to reading him ... I'm not looking forward to the dent he is undoubtedly going to make in my bank balance though

Yes I liked Marcus too and Truly. I like books that are quite poetic ... I'm pretty sure they have WFW at my library so I'll look out for it now .. thanks Pickle ooh this is on my wishlist .. lucky you Lucybird

I read 'The Little Giant of Aberdeen County' last year .. or it may have been 2009. It's quite odd but I liked it. 'White for Witching' is one I'd like to read but it's got a difficult reputation .. be interested to read your thoughts on it Pickle.

Great review of 'Shades of Grey' Weave I enjoyed it too .. really Jasper can do no wrong. I'm looking forward to the sequel. Interesting too to read your thoughts on'Elidor' by Alan Garner .. I read his 'The Owl Service' a couple of years ago and it was one of the strangest books I've ever read, I enjoyed it though and I know 'Thursbitch' has a great reputation also (and I think it's on the 1001.) I'm interested to read 'Elidor', I like the sound of it. I always think it's extra creepy when the forces of evil from another world .. find their way into this one

well at least that's good to know, well done them. I do believe in free speech but I wish the powers that be would do something about websites that promote hatred and violence, I guess it's just not possible to police it. But I have to believe that most people are essentially good ... it's too dispiriting otherwise (I mean I'm not Pollyanna or anything .. there's probably not a day that goes by without me wanting to throttle someone .. someone on TV usually.) I'm definitely going to read Elie's book because though, like I said, I have read a lot of Holocaust books already I don't think I've read any firsthand accounts. Thanks for highlighting it Frankie I know it'll be an uncomfortable read but it'll be food for thought too.

Great reviews Frankie I'm definitely interested to read Elie Wiesel's 'Night' .. I don't think you can ever read too much about the Holocaust .. we should learn from it but never ever forget it. I've read quite a lot of stuff about it too but it never ceases to shock and sadden me that human beings can behave like that to one another. As for Holocaust deniers .. words fail me. I suppose all those pictures of the death camps, and the first hand accounts of the people that survived them, and the written testimony's from those that helped liberate them was all just fabricated ... yes, of course .. and it's just typical that in order to refute it, the deniers would resort to intimidation and violence. I wouldn't be able to go on his website .. I'd get too angry and disillusioned.