poppyshake

The Information - Martin Amis (Unabridged) read by Steven Pacey Audible Synopsis: How can one writer hurt another where it really counts? The answer: attack his reputation. This is the problem facing novelist Richard Tull, contemplating the success of his friend and rival Gwyn Barry. Revenger's tragedy, comedy of errors, contemporary satire - The Information skewers high life and low in Martin Amis's brilliant return to the territory of Money and London Fields. Review: This is a really dark satire about life in the literary world, practically everyone is unlikeable. The main character, writer Richard Tull is definitely unlikeable, he's absolutely riddled with envy over his friend (and I use the word 'friend' in it's loosest sense .. you wouldn't want a friend like Richard) Gwyn Barry's recent literary success. Richard's own literary career is somewhat depressing, he is now reduced to vanity publishing and reviewing biographies for 'The Little Magazine', biographies about long dead and largely forgotten people. He has written quite a few novels and early in his career he was moderately successful, but he wasn't able to build on that success and for a few years now his career has been on the downward slide. He lastest book is actually called 'Untitled' (amongst other titles Richard thinks it may just as well be called 'Unread'), indeed as far as he knows he has a readership of one (there is a running gag about his latest book giving anyone who attempts to read it a crushing migraine, no-one can get past the first few pages). The worst part of all is that the novel that has made Gwyn so famous, rich and successful is the biggest pile of politically correct horsesh*t that Richard has ever had the misfortune to read, it's absolute tripe. And it's mystifying because, in Richard's view, he is the more intelligent and creative of the two. They have known each other since university and it was always supposed to be he that went on to greater things. To say that Richard is bitter is an understatement and his greatest desire now, far outweighing his previous desire to write a bestseller, is to screw up Gwyn Barry's life. He hits upon various schemes, he tries to seduce his wife, he tries to discredit him with the judges of a literary prize, he arranges to have him beaten up (and rather helpfully Richard's readership of one turns out to be a screwed up sadistic ex-con), found with a prostitute, found guilty of plagiarism, he will in short stop at nothing, until he has covered Gwyn in dishonour and disgrace and seen him stripped of his prizes. Now you may think that you'd feel sorry for Gwyn but you don't because he is an obnoxious, jumped up, puffed up little twerp who believes all the hype. It's viciously dark, Richard is going through a bit of a mid-life crisis (to put it mildly), apart from his jealousy regarding Gwyn, he has problems at home ... his wife is exasperated by his lack of motivation (for anything involving work), he's impotent, he's middle aged and feeling it, he smokes, drinks and takes drugs and now he's involved with a gang of extremely ruthless people. But for all the spite and vitriol it's also very funny (in a black humour kind of way), you can't help laughing at some of the scrapes Richard gets himself into or at some of his innermost thoughts which are scathingly cruel but hilarious. For the most part enjoyable but, though it is undoubtedly clever, I though it was too wordy and verbose at times and at 17 hours and 19 mins ... too long. 8/10

Ah that's a shame, the assistant in Waterstones recommended The Elegance of the Hedgehog to me the other day and it seemed intriguing but I didn't get it because I'm overloaded as it is. Hope you have better luck with The Eyre Affair, I thought it was great.

Hope you enjoy all your books Brida , The Book Thief is one of my favourite reads ever and I loved Catch 22 although I listened to it rather than read it. Libraries are not the places to go when you're trying to read all the books on your TBR, they have seriously messed up my plans this year. Good luck with The Book Thief

I was wincing a bit when Jimmy Connors was saying about Andy being Englands big hope ... I bet Andy hates it when he hears that sort of thing. He's Britains big hope

I think Andy is growing on people gradually, it took a while for us to get over Tim. Tim's so nice but he had the killer instinct of a poodle. Andy has the killer instinct but I don't think he'll beat Rafa at Wimbledon .. yet anyway. I wish him the best of luck though I was sorry to see Roger go, he's such a graceful tennis player, quite beautiful to watch. You couldn't expect his wife to look anything but gutted, it must be horrible for the players partners.

I watched Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are .. quirky and odd but I quite liked it .. though not as much as the book that followed it. I've just been sent Precious to watch .. that's going to be harrowing, the trailer practically had me curled up in a ball sobbing.

Actually succeeded in going to the library twice now just to return books, didn't get a single one out which must count as a miracle. I've still got a couple of library books left to read but then it's back to my shelves which have been neglected for too long. Just started The Still Point by Amy Sackville, not quite sure what to make of it yet. It's not grabbing me at the moment.

well done Kate I've only managed 5 Did you enjoy A Hat Full of Sky? It's one of my favourite Pratchett's .. I love Tiffany Aching, the Nac Mac Feegles and Granny Weatherwax.

Watching the tennis at Wimbledon (Justine Henin v Kim Clijsters), this year must be one of the hottest years at Wimbledon ever .. it's scorching. The roof is redundant! Lovely weekend watching sunny Glastonbury, especially loved the headliners on the Pyramid Stage ... the Gorillaz, Muse (fantastic) and Stevie Wonder .. I had a grin on my face for the whole time watching Stevie .. just brilliant. All the coverage was great though, so many fantastic bands and singers. Pity the football was abysmal .. from an England point of view that is.

Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel García Márquez Waterstones Synopsis: 'It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.' Fifty-one years, nine months and four days have passed since Fermina Daza rebuffed hopeless romantic Florentino Arizo's impassioned advances and married Dr. Juvenal Urbino instead. During that half century, Florentino has fallen into the arms of many delighted women, but has loved none but Fermina. Having sworn his eternal love to her, he lives for the day when he can court her again. When Fermina's husband is killed trying to retrieve his pet parrot from a mango tree, Florentino seizes his chance to declare his enduring love. But can young love find new life in the twilight of their lives? Review: This was my second Gabriel García Márquez book and though I didn't enjoy it quite as much as One Hundred Years of Solitude I still liked it a lot. The story takes place in the Caribbean so it was the perfect sun lounger read. When Florentino Ariza delivers a telegram to the house of Lorenzo Daza and spots his daughter reading in the sewing room, he falls hopelessly and irretrievably in love with her. Fermina Daza is busy teaching her Aunt Escolástica to read and she casually glances up as Florentino passes the window, that casual glance is 'the beginning of a cataclysm of love that still had not ended half a century later.' Florentino set's out to learn all he can about the Daza family, and he turns into somewhat of a stalker. Very early in the morning he sit's in a nearby park, pretending to read a book of verses as he watches Fermina stroll by on her way to school or church or just out for a leisurely walk with her aunt. 'Little by little he idealized her, endowing her with improbable virtues and imaginary sentiments, and after two weeks he thought of nothing else but her.' He decides to send her a note, or at least that's his original intention. But the note turns into a letter which itself turns into a dictionary of compliments, sixty pages written on both sides, inspired by books he has learned by heart because he has read them so often whilst waiting for her to stroll by in the park. Thankfully he has the good sense to ask his mother's advice and she, understanding his heart but realising that the girl will probably run for the hills if she receives this tome of a billet-doux, persuades him not to send it and instead advises that he subtly let Fermina know of his interest and try to gain the approval of her aunt. All this is quite unnecessary though for Fermina would need to be extremely dense not to have noticed Florentino lurking about in the park, and she's not, she's very astute and so is her aunt and they have not only noticed him but are expecting a letter at any moment. Thankfully when Florentino does give Fermina the long looked for missive, he has shortened it quite considerably to half a page. In it he has promised, what he believes to be essential, his perfect fidelity and everlasting love. They soon begin a clandestine exchange of letters, leaving them in secret hidden places and behaving in the most ridiculously besotted way (or hopelessly romantic depending on your viewpoint) with Florentino eating roses until he is sick because they remind him of her, going without sleep and inscribing verses onto camellia petals with the point of a pin and Fermina sending him butterfly wings, bird feathers and a square centimetre of St Peter Claver's habit. After two years of this, Florentino eventually sends perhaps his shortest letter of all, one paragraph asking for Fermina's hand in marriage. They have hardly ever spoken to each other in person, their love affair has all taken place on paper. Fermina needs time to think it over but she eventually, with a bit of encouragement from her aunt who is a hopeless romantic, writes 'very well, I will marry you if you promise not to make me eat eggplant'. Unfortunately, Fermina's father Lorenzo (Fermina is motherless as Florentino is fatherless) begins to suspect that something is up, he finds packets of love letters spanning three years hidden in the false bottom of Fermina's trunk. He's not happy, he has financial difficulties and has been fostering great plans to marry Fermina off advantageously. He packs off poor Aunt Escolástica, has words with Florentino and takes himself and Fermina off on an 'extended journey of forgetting.' The clandestine correspondence continues but when Fermina returns home and accidentally see's Florentino for the first time in ages, she realises that she's been mistaken, the ferocious and all encompassing love she has felt for him seems to be entirely notional. She feel's nothing for him now but pity. She returns all his letters and love tokens and asks that he return all of hers too. Florentino is heartbroken, he doesn't see her alone again for fifty-one years, nine months and four days when, on her first night as a widow, he returns to her and repeats his vow of eternal fidelity and love. Now, I don't know what your idea of eternal fidelity is but mine is certainly not the same as Florentino's for although he keeps Fermina on her pedestal he is anything but constant during their fifty odd years of separation. Fermina soon after marries Dr Juvenal Urbino, a doctor committed to ridding the country of cholera, and Florentino begins his journey and exploration of purely physical love. This book could have only been written by a man, because all male fantasy's are played out here. Florentino is not handsome, or particularly prepossessing in any way but for some reason women are mad with lust for him. He spends an inordinate amount of time falling from one bed to another. The women wait in their houses naked or in various stages of undress, deceiving their husbands and lovers, hot blooded and practically attacking him in the manner of women who have been sex starved for a very long time. It's fairly racy stuff but not graphically described, it's almost as if he's bemused that all this love is coming his way (and frankly so was I). One of his conquests is a fourteen year old girl which made me feel more than a bit uncomfortable, especially as he is by now seventy and her guardian. When Fermina's husband dies (this happens quite early in the novel, the story being told in flashback). Florentina is hoping for another chance, he begins to woo her for a second time with letters and visits. Is it possible that Fermina will accept his love this time.? It doesn't have all the glorious magical realism of One Hundred Years of Solitude but it still has all the beautiful dreamy prose and wit. 9/10

Thanks Kylie . My books got off lightly, I have parted with a few (just to make it look good) but only those that I could bear to see go. I have stopped adding to them lately though, hubby is relieved but it's only temporary. Once I've moved, found my feet, found the bookstore (and I already know that there is a local Waterstones there) and unpacked my purse I know where I'll be heading.

It's a book very much in demand isn't it Again, I hope you enjoy it Chesil when you finally get your hands on it.

We should be moving house mid July and I've been buried under a pile of paperwork and stress for weeks, it's a nightmare. What with that and trying to de-clutter so that the contents of our house can reasonably fit into one large van, I haven't been able to read much I've listened to a lot of books though because I can do that and clear cupboards at the same time.

It might be because I took the lazy route and listened to it Lucy, I did try and borrow the book from the library but it was constantly reserved. Long or complex books are so much easier to listen to than to read, especially as the narrator already knows the story so he or she never get's lost in the plot. There was a lot of info to take on board at the beginning of Wicked, the narrator made it easy, I'm sure if I'd have been reading it I would have been confused at times. Thanks CaliLily I really hope you enjoy it when it gets to the top of your pile Laura

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West - Gregory Maguire (Unabridged) read by John McDonough Audible Synopsis: Heralded as an instant classic of fantasy literature, Maguire has written a wonderfully imaginative retelling of The Wizard of Oz told from the Wicked Witch's point of view. More than just a fairy tale for adults, Wicked is a meditation on the nature of good and evil. Elphaba is born with green skin, a precocious mind, and a talent for magic. An outcast throughout her childhood in Munchkinland, she finally begins to feel as though she fits in when she enters the University in the Emerald City. While she hones her skills, she discovers that Oz isn't the Utopia it seems. She sets out to protect its unwanted creatures, becoming known as the Wicked Witch along the way. Narrator John McDonough draws you in to Maguire's magical world of witches and talking animals, making it possible to believe in a land somewhere over the rainbow. Review: Loved it!! I had two concerns at the beginning, one was that it was read by a man and I wasn't sure how well that would work, and two I have never read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz or any of it's sequels, my only point of reference was the film and for the first couple of chapters I found it hard to shake the image of Margaret Hamilton's cackling Wicked Witch of the West from my mind. The reading turned out to be a triumph, there's something about John McDonough's voice that suits fantasy novels perfectly, and despite the fact that he had more female voices to do than male, he was marvellous. I got so swept up with the story that it only took a few chapters to rid myself of Margaret's image, she returned again near the end as Elphaba grew into her reputation but that was ok, it seemed fitting. It's such an entertaining story, I absolutely loved all the descriptions of Oz, it's characters, places, politics, religions and social history etc. It is every bit as real as Middle Earth. Elphaba Thropp, or Elphie as we learn to call her (amongst a hundred other names) was unfortunately born green. It may have worked for Kermit and Shrek but, coupled with some rather vicious looking teeth and a bit of a surly disposition, it didn't work for Elphie. Her parents are unnerved by her (and this leads them to summon my favourite character, the glorious Nanny) and the local children are inclined to taunt her. My favourite part of the book was probably Elphaba's time at Shiz University. She has grown into a clever young woman with strong views and beliefs, especially concerning animal welfare. In Oz there are talking thinking animals, as well as the ordinary kind. One such is Doctor Dillamond, a sentient goat who is a professor at Shiz. Elphie learns from Doctor Dillamand that the Wizard of Oz (a despotic usurper now ruling Oz) is trying to discriminate against and oppress the sentient Animals and this makes her angry. Probably because of her early experiences, she is initially quite withdrawn and doesn't make friends easily. Her fellow pupils regard her as a bit of an oddity and you feel she may be destined to always be a loner but gradually she becomes part of a small group of close friends. Amongst this circle of friends is Galinda, or Glinda the Good Witch of the North as we now know her. Galinda is not at first inclined to give Elphie a chance but Elphie's cleverness intrigues her and they form a strong friendship. At Shiz we are also introduced to the headmistress, the sinister Madame Morrible and her odious wind-up servant Grommetik and we learn more about Elphie's sister Nessarose (or the Wicked Witch of the East). Much to their parent's relief Nessarose is not green, she is beautiful, but life has sent her a different trial, she was born without any arms. After University, Elphie continues with her political activities, working underground and becoming somewhat distanced and isolated from her friends and family and it's here that things start to deteriorate. Fighting for the causes she believes in and finding love when she is least expecting it, Elphie becomes happy and contented for a time but tragedy is just around the corner (isn't it always?!) and her happiness is replaced by bitterness and resentment. Angered by all the injustices, jealous of what she see's as her father's preference for Nessa, fearful of the Wizard's growing power and all that that will mean for the Munchkinlanders and Oz, furious at Dorothy for squishing Nessarose and incensed by Glinda's gift to Dorothy of those enchanted shoes (I'm totally with her there, I could forgive anything but to be promised shoes and then see them on the feet of another ... it's more than flesh and blood can stand,) Elphaba starts to lose her reason. She becomes increasing unhinged and starts making rash decisions, one of which involves capturing Dorothy, who she believes intends to kill her. So much time has been spent getting to know Elphaba that even now, as she grows more and more wicked, you always feel that there is a way back for her, a way in which her better judgement will lead her back to the right path. Rather ridiculously I was hoping for a different outcome, although in hindsight that would have been preposterous. I knew that bucket of water was coming but somehow I was still thinking it could be avoided. It was fascinating to see the story played out from Elphaba's perspective rather than Dorothy's though. It's funny also how you no longer see it as a victory over evil when Elphaba dies, instead you feel sad that it's come to this. The book is quite graphic in parts which may shock readers of the original classic but it didn't feel inappropriate or gratuitous. It's very funny in places, Elphie and Nanny in particular have a very dry and sarcastic wit. And quite sad and poignant too, especially the story of Liir, who may or may not be Elphie's son. Totally entertaining, I've just noticed that there's a sequel, so I must read L. Frank Baum's original book and then hopefully move on to it. 10/10

Banjo Paris or Rome?

Sunflowers Parsley or Mint?

It's well worth reading although it's fairly dispiriting. I did a lot of frowning when reading it, it was a frown-out-loud book.

Something called a 'Moo and Blue pie', charlotte potatoes and minty peas. The pie is from 'pieminister' and like all their pie's it was delish. A combination of steak, stilton and red wine gravy. My favourite of theirs is still the 'Henny Penny pie' though, chicken, mushrooms, white wine and herbs mmm. I haven't tried them all yet.

Scottsboro: A Novel - Ellen Feldman Amazon Synopsis: Alabama, 1931. A posse stops a freight train and arrests nine black youths. Their crime: fighting with white boys. Then two white girls emerge from another freight car, and within seconds the cry of rape goes up. One of the girls sticks to her story. The other changes her tune, again and again. A young journalist, whose only connection to the incident is her overheated social conscience, fights to save the nine youths from the electric chair, redeem the girl who repents her lie, and make amends for her own past. Stirring racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism into an explosive brew, "Scottsboro" is a novel of a shocking injustice that reverberated around the world. 'A fine novel ...Anyone who wants to appreciate the scale of the miracle that a black man has been elected president of the United States should sit down with "Scottsboro"' - Lionel Shriver. Review: Though this is a fictionalised account of the Scottsboro trials, it reads very much like a factual one. It's a gripping but uncomfortable read. Our main narrator is Alice Whittier, a female journalist who becomes involved in the case. Her character was the only one that seemed too obviously fictional to me which was a shame. For one thing I couldn't believe, given the circumstances, that she would be able to gain so much access to the convicted boys. But it did enable the writer to make some valid points about women's rights, or the lack of them, in 1930 and she was a likeable character. Our other narrator is Ruby Bates, one of the two white women on the freight train, who falsely accused the black youths travelling on it, of rape. Sometimes the injustice of what happened to the 'Scottsboro boys' is overwhelming. It seems that all along the process they were let down, not only by the corrupt and rascist judicial system but also by the very people who set out to help free them. Lawyers became famous, plays were put on, books were written and money was made but those black youths, one of whom was only thirteen when convicted, lost their freedom, their dignity and their hope of a decent future. Some of the actions of the Communist Party of America and the other organisations, who were supporting the boys and campaigning for their release, seemed, at times, questionable and self motivated. The boys are convicted of rape and sentenced to death and we follow them through the trials and retrials. Ruby seems to regret the lies she told and sets about trying to help clear the boys names. In a way Ruby's life is as blighted as the Scottsboro boys. Although briefly feted, she soon has to return to a life of poverty and rejection. Nearly every decision she makes is motivated by money, it's hard to like her because it seems that she will sell her soul for a few dollars, but then few of us have to live as she did and cope with the daily grind of poverty. The case was said to have inspired Harper Lee to write To Kill a Mockingbird, although I think she has since denied it and mentioned a lesser known case. There are strong similarities though between the cases of the Scottsboro boys and the fictional Tom Robinson, the same sense of futility and racial injustice. The point made by Lionel Shriver in the synopsis is a relevant one. I can't imagine that any of the Scottsboro boys would have believed that one day, in the not too distant future, a black man would become president of the United States. Living, as they did daily, with the state sanctioned oppression towards black people and with still some years before the birth of the civil rights movement, that would've seemed an impossible dream to them. The book made me feel quite angry, it wasn't a comfortable read. I couldn't quite get my head around how the boys were convicted when so much evidence seemed to contradict the allegations. But then, the objective was to send eight of the nine black youths to the electric chair so truth didn't come into it. I'm glad I read it, I wont easily forget it. 8/10

Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (Unabridged) read by Simon Slater Audible Synopsis: Tudor England. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is charged with securing his divorce. Into this atmosphere of distrust comes Thomas Cromwell - a man as ruthlessly ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages. Review: Absolute bliss. This is a great tome of a book, but it didn't take me long to get through it because listening to it was such a pleasure. This is a fascinating fictionalised account of Thomas Cromwell, from his humble beginnings as a blacksmiths son living in Putney to his much documented position as Henry VIII's most trusted right hand man. It's absorbing and rivetting. Hilary Mantel manages to turn history on it's head and make Cromwell into a likeable man who we come to understand and, to some degree, respect (though this does become harder as the book progresses) In the main I loved Simon Slater's reading, though his narration for Thomas's More and Cranmer were a little odd. Thomas More in particular sounded like a regular pantomime villain, but then Hilary's depiction of him rather suited that. I was hoping against hope that the story was going to take us all the way to Cromwell's fall from grace and subsequent execution. Alas it didn't, we didn't even get as far as the demise of Anne Boleyn, though she was definitely on shaky ground as we left her. The title is a bit of a mystery also, Wolf Hall .. the ancestral seat of the Seymour's ... is only mentioned fleetingly but what little is written about it is intriguing and it was obviously a place of great interest to Cromwell. Although often criticised as unauthentic (good job, we'd never understand it if it was) I loved the dialogue. For instance, More's remark .. “lock Cromwell in a deep dungeon in the morning and when you come back that night he’ll be sitting on a plush cushion eating larks’ tongues, and all the gaolers will owe him money” and Cromwell's observations of the King when he is called to see him very early one morning in his bedchamber (a frightening, bowel loosening experience for anyone) to explain away a bad dream of Henry's “The sable lining creeps down over his hands, as if he were a monster-king, growing his own fur.” .. fantastic. Also I didn't have any problems with the lack of speech marks or overuse of pronoun's, probably because it was being read to me - perhaps reading it would have been a different experience (though I quake at the thought of 600 odd pages). Loved it, could've listened all day (and sometimes did). 10/10

I used to have extreme agoraphobia and I still cling to walls, not literally, but I'll walk as close to a wall or building as I can, I don't mind being in an open space if it's a field or meadow or anything like that but I hate spaces in built up areas or rooms ... high ceilinged places especially. Museums are a trial, I went to the Ashmolean recently and was rigid and sweaty palmed all the way around. I went to the cafe so that Algie (hubby) could have a good look around. I bite or tear the skin around my fingernails, to the point where they bleed. In times of high anxiety my hands will look like raw lumps of meat. I can't skip words in a book, even if I'm bored with it etc. if I do skip words it preys on my mind until I go back and read it. Since reading Gold by Dan Rhodes, I have to be blessed when I sneeze or bless someone else if they sneeze. Husband also read it and he is the same now. We are obsessional sneeze blessers. The most bizarre is probably that I go through spells where I think my nearest and dearest are trying to poison me. Mum says I've thought it ever since I was little, especially when ill, upset or anxious. I'm still like it now and Algie sometimes despairs of me, there have been times when I've got him to taste the food or drink he has made me before I will touch it .. like I'm Henry VIII or something. I have no idea why I think they would want to poison me. Then I get to thinking that I will drive them up the wall so much with it that they will poison me and my whole life will just end in irony.

The Old Man and the Sea I thought was outstanding. It's only short but you feel like you've been on that fishing boat with him by the time it ends.

Boho Whales or Sharks?

Tilly Almond .. it could work I guess