poppyshake

I want to read 'Moby Dick' soon ... I've also got Philip Hoare's 'Leviathan' to read so glad to see that you liked both of those

Muse's 'Feeling Good', Jeff Buckley's 'Hallelujah' and 'Lilac Wine' definitely Jimi Hendrix's 'All Along the Watchtower' and Sinead O'Connors 'Nothing Compares 2 U' I love the Futureheads 'Hounds of Love' but I could never consider it better than Kate's. Liked Amy Winehouse's 'Valerie' .. thought she gave it an extra edge. Paolo Nutini singing a cover of almost anything ... but especially 'Daydream'. and though a lot of people hated it, I loved Corinne Bailey Rae's version of 'Sexyback'. Also love almost everything Mark Ronsons has covered .. especially 'Stop Me' .. oh and Santana's version of 'She's Not There'

Finished We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson ... great read, really unusual and chilling. Started The Way Things Look to Me by Roopa Farooki, it's on the Orange longlist so hopefully it will be a good read. I'm still thinking about the characters in Shirley Jackson's book though and finding it difficult to shake them out of my head.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson Waterstones Synopsis: Merricat Blackwood lives on the family estate with her sister Constance and her uncle Julian. Not long ago there were seven Blackwoods - until a fatal dose of arsenic found its way into the sugar bowl one terrible night. Acquitted of the murders, Constance has returned home, where Merricat protects her from the curiosity and hostility of the villagers. Their days pass in happy isolation until cousin Charles appears. Only Merricat can see the danger, and she must act swiftly to keep Constance from his grasp. Review: A fantastically macabre and sinister little book. Full of atmosphere and dread. You are grabbed straight away by the first paragraph. 'My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise, I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death cap mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead. This isn't strictly true, the two sisters live with their uncle Julian in their big rambling old house. uncle Julian isn't well, he hasn't been well since that fateful night when a dose of arsenic found it's way into the sugar bowl on the dining table. 'You will be wondering about that sugar bowl, I imagine. Is it still in use? you are wondering; has it been cleaned? you may very well ask; was it thoroughly washed?' We join the book as Mary Katherine or Merricat as she is nicknamed, is making her way home from her twice weekly shopping trip to the local village. She needs to go to get food and library books, Constance and uncle Julian never leave the house and Merricat wouldn't go either if it wasn't strictly necessary. The villagers stare at her, they mutter insults, the curtains twitch, shopkeepers serve her immediately to hasten her departure, the children jeer, they sing rhymes .. 'Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea? Oh no, said Merricat, you'll poison me. Merricat, said Connie, would you like to go asleep? Down in the boneyard ten feet deep!' Constance had been suspected of the murders and put on trial but was subsequently aquitted. She looks after Merricat and uncle Julian now, lovingly attending to their every need and want. Cooking all their favourite things and making sure they're comfortable. But she never goes into the village, it would be too much for her. Uncle Julian, in a wheelchair now (thankfully he didn't put too much sugar on his blackberries) and slowly losing his wits, is writing a book about the murders. He checks from time to time with Constance to verify the facts of that fateful day ... he constantly replays every moment. Merricat loves her cat Jonas, she likes to bury and hide things as talismans. She can sense change is in the air and she thinks of three magic words ... Melody, Gloucester and Pegasus ... if nobody says these words then everything will be fine. Change comes in the shape of cousin Charles. His parents had forbidden him to come to the aid of his orphaned cousin's and uncle before but now they are both dead. It's not long before he's settled into their fathers room. Merricat hates him, and not least because Constance seems to like him and is suddenly beginning to view things his way. Perhaps she should get on with her life, perhaps she should stop running around after Merricat and uncle Julian, perhaps she could venture into the outside world again. We inhabit Merricat's mind, everything we read is from her viewpoint. And Merricat's mind is a pretty dark and disturbing place to be. When she feels threatened, she often recites the names of poisonous plant's or mushroom's (drummed into her by Constance) which is very disturbing for their occasional do-gooding visitors. They hover over the cup of tea and cake they've been given, unsure now. Merricat's distrust of Charles heightens, he is a threat to their future safety and security, Uncle Julian doesn't like or trust him either, only Constance is taken in. The book ends quite tranquilly, though in a tragic and desolate way. I thought it was a good ending befitting the story. Like a calm after the storm ... and it is a ferocious storm! A strange little tale, quirky and unusual, macabre and disturbing. A real treat. 9/10

Notes from Underground - Fyodor Dostoevsky Waterstones Synopsis: How far would you go to escape the real world? The underground man had always felt like an outsider. He doesn't want to be like other people, working in the ant-hill' of society. So he decides to withdraw from the world, scrawling a series of darkly sarcastic notes about the torment he is suffering. Angry and alienated, his only comfort is the humiliation of others. Is he going mad? Or is it the world around him that's insane? Review: I could kick myself because I've only just realised the importance of reading the correct translation of this book, and I'm not altogether sure that this was the best translation, however, it was the only one in the library. It seems that Pevear and Volokhonsky are widely regarded to be the best translators of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky though I guess, like everything, it's subjective. It's not an easy read that's for sure, even though it's short at around 150 pages, it was definitely a struggle to begin with (and perhaps that was down to the translation, I don't know). He's most definitely Mr Angry, our man from Underground. He has a liver complaint and a toothache and yet he refuses treatment .. out of spite he says and spite is something he knows a lot about. The first part of the book is a monologue from the narrator, our Underground Man. He starts off saying 'I am a sick man .. I am an angry man. I am an unattractive man' He's full of hate, he's disillusioned with the world, he's disillusioned and ashamed of his fellow man. He hates himself, he's paranoid and vindictive. His thoughts writhe and twist about in an agony of torment .. he broods and festers! The second part of the book is a record of some specific events which befell our Underground Man earlier in his life and this was a lot easier to read. He invites himself to dine with a bunch of old school fellows, they clearly don't want him there but for the most part remain civil and courteous. Underground Man, suffering from real or imagined slights, begins abusing them verbally. He thinks they are looking down at him, being condescending and his behaviour towards them would make Victor Meldrew blush. He alternates between being outrageously rude and insolent to feeling humiliated and craving their approbation. At times his behaviour is nothing short of maniacal (but you couldn't help laughing from time to time, his behaviour was like a toddler's. At one point, after his friends had moved away from him to enjoy a few drinks on their own .. he marched up and down in front of them, making as much noise as possible, for three hours!). This is where the narrator says that he will write no more from the Underground, although Dostoevsky adds a footnote to say that the notes continued on, but not for our eyes. A challenging read, I enjoyed the second half more. I'd like to read the other translation someday, just to see if it makes a difference. 8/10

Hi Brida , I saw a couple of Paulo's books at the library today, but I didn't dare add to my already groaning TBR shelf, but I definitely want to read more of his books .. what is your favourite book of his? I know what you mean, I'm beginning to get overwhelmed by the amount of books I've bought, borrowed and wished for. However, 'Middlesex' is one of the best books I've read this year so, when you do get around to reading it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, I hope you will anyway .

Same here .. though it was a library loan. You won't regret it, it's a fantastic book and I want to get my own copy now because I know I'll want to re-read it.

Finished Middlesex ... loved it. Am going to start Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky later tonight.

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides Waterstones Synopsis: 'I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974. My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver's license records my first name simply as Cal.' So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides, and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of l967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Point, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret, and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, "Middlesex" is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic. Review: I loved this book and found it utterly absorbing and engrossing. It was a real pleasure to read, warm and funny for the most part but incredibly sad in places. It's told from the viewpoint of Calliope/Callie/Cal Stephanides, who was, to all intents and purposes, born, or at least raised, a girl. However, as she nears puberty, alarm bells start ringing, not only in her own head, but in that of her parents also. She narrates both the past and the present day story. We travel back to 1922, to Bithynios in Asia Minor, where Cal's grandparents, Desdemona and Lefty, are preparing to flee from the great fire of Smyrna (with a pretty shocking secret of their own) and make their way to Detroit, USA. 'I'm the descendant of a smuggling operation. Without their knowing, my grandparents, on their way to America, were each carrying a single mutated gene on the fifth chromosome' They plan to stay with their only relation, cousin Sourmelina (Lina). In the five years since they've seen her, Lina has 'managed to erase just about everything identifiably Greek about her'. She know's their secret, but she's family, and in any case she has secrets of her own, they move into the house she shares with her husband, Jimmy Zizmo. Lefty at first get's a job at the Ford plant in Michigan, but things don't work out for him there and he eventually opens a bar up in his own basement and calls it 'The Zebra Room'. He and Desdemona have a son, Milton, and Lina and Jimmy have a daughter, Tessie. Milton and Tessie are attracted to each other, but it's an attraction that Desdemona is vehemently against. Tessie, encouraged by Desdemona, agrees to marry Father Mike, but her love for Milton finally overcomes all opposition and anyway, what's wrong with second cousins marrying?. In the present day Cal has met Julie, he really likes her, they've been dating for a while, but they haven't slept together. Whenever Cal finds himself in a relationship with a girl he likes, he can go so far but no further, he retreats, scared of what they will say and think. Will he ever be able to trust someone enough to be honest with them? Tessie and Milton have two children, Chapter Eleven (I liked the fact that we were never told why he was called that) and Calliope. We follow Callie as she grows up, her growing doubts and fears that she's not like the other girls at school, her crush on the 'Obscure Object', right up until the fateful day, when, following an accident, a doctor discovers Callie's hermaphrodite anatomy. The fallout from this discovery is immense, it's heartbreaking to see how Cal and her parent's view this new situation, and what happens as a consequence. It's a big book, but the pages flew by, at no time was it a trial or tedious. I literally ate up all the words, and, like with all good books, I miss the characters now it's ended. Highly recommended. 10/10

I'm glad you enjoyed Byatt's Possession. I think you will enjoy The Children's Book a lot as, reading your summary of Possession, it sounds fairly similar. I must read Possession, it's on my shelf, but library books are dictating at the moment and because I found The Children's Book quite daunting, I've not been in a hurry to start it. There was lot's that I enjoyed about The Children's Book though and she does write quite exquisitely.

Great review Lucy. I've just started this, well am nearly half way through, and am loving it, but then I haven't got to the bit where Cal actually finds out her/his true identity .. though of course you know it's coming. I love it, reminds me a lot of 'A Long, Long Time Ago & Essentially True' which I loved, but I'm enjoying this one even more so far.

Finished Brideshead Revisited yesterday and started Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides .. absolutely loving it, I'm gripped.

Aww thanks both The copy belongs to the library though unfortunately (I would love it on my shelves). I enjoyed it so much that I'm going to look out for it now.

Brideshead Revisited - Eveleyn Waugh Waterstones Synopsis: The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, "Brideshead Revisited" looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly-disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognize only his spiritual and social distance from them. Review: Brideshead Revisited or, The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder, is a story told in flashback, of Charles Ryder, and his fascination and infatuation, with the Flyte family at Brideshead. The story starts in England during WWII, Captain Charles Ryder and his men have been ordered to leave their barracks and travel to their next billet. They travel by train, and reach the outskirts of their destination in darkness and bad weather. They set up camp for the night, and in the morning Charles asks his second-in-command, for the name of the place they are heading to. 'He told me and, on the instant, it was as though someone had switched off the wireless, and a voice that had been bawling in my ears, incessantly, fatuously, for days beyond number, had been suddenly cut short; an immense silence followed, empty at first, but gradually, as my outraged sense regained authority, full of a multitude of sweet and natural and long forgotten sounds: for he had spoken a name that was so familiar to me, a conjuror's name of such ancient power, that, at its mere sound, the phantoms of those haunted late years began to take flight' Charles begins to reminisce about his first visits to Brideshead, more than twenty years before, and about how he first met Sebastian Flyte at Oxford University (after a night of revelry Sebastian appeared at Charles's ground floor open window and promptly vomited into the room). Sebastian is a complex character, quite childlike in a way, he carries his teddy bear Aloysius every where with him and converses with him as you would a friend or confidante, he's also charming, charismatic and self destructive. He appears to have a difficult relationship with his family (he is the younger son of the Marquess of Marchmain) and takes Charles on his first visit to Brideshead when he knows most of them will be absent. Charles's relationship with his own father Ned is strained (and though it was painful for Charles, I did find myself laughing at Ned's seemingly innocent but scathing remarks) and he's relieved when, during the holidays, he is summoned to Brideshead by a telegram from Sebastian that says 'Gravely injured come at once'. Fortunately, Sebastian has only cracked a bone in his ankle playing croquet .. a bone 'so small, that it hasn't a name' but he has no-one at home to keep him company. His sister Julia picks Charles up at the station but has pressing engagements of her own to attend to and all the rest of the family have already gone (the Father has long since eloped to Italy with his mistress). This is when Charles really gets to know Brideshead and the Flyte family. Lady Marchmain, a strict Catholic, abandoned by her husband and trying to keep control of the rest of the family. Lord 'Bridey' Brideshead the eldest son, amiable enough but a bit stuffy and serious, with the same devout Catholic views as his Mother. Cordelia, the youngest sister, precocious, intelligent and loving, with the most devout Catholic belief of all. Julia, physically similar to Sebastian, confident and assured but wavering and doubtful about Catholicism. And of course, Sebastian, engaging and attractive, troubled and secretive and a self confessed half-heathen (though still believing in Catholicism as a 'lovely idea').Charles is an agnostic, and so is in turns bemused, irritated and curious, about the family's strict adherence to the Catholic faith. Charles falls in love with Sebastian, he says he has been searching for love and then with Sebastian found that 'low door in the wall, which others, I knew, had found before me, which opened on an enclosed and enchanted garden, which was somewhere, not overlooked by any window, in the heart of that grey city' ... though whether it was a fully realised sexual love is debatable ... nothing overt is mentioned. Later on in the story he falls in love with Julia, but you can't help thinking that it's partly down to her connections with Brideshead, and her physical resemblance to Sebastian. Exquisitely written, I enjoyed the first half enormously. The second half was far more melancholic, reflective and religious in tone but I still enjoyed it. 9/10

Television news (gave up reading a newspaper years ago) Coleslaw or Potato Salad?

Been out visiting and whatnot this Bank Holiday weekend so haven't done a lot of reading but have nearly finished Brideshead Revisited. Went to a library sale on Saturday and bought The Gathering - Anne Enright Past Imperfect - Julian Fellowes Guernica - Dave Boling The Snow Garden - Christopher Rice The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway The Piano Teacher - Janice Y.K. Lee The Atlas of Impossible Longing - Anuradha Roy Ragtime in Simla - Barbara Cleverly Mudbound - Hillary Jordan The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss Long Spoon Lane - Anne Perry Bleak Midwinter - Peter Millar for the princely sum of

Ha I did , they kept replenishing the books .. so that after I'd bought my books and then browsed around the library, I saw them restocking. I wanted to look again but hubby was almost out of the door by then so I had to leave with the knowledge that there might have been books there from my wishlist. You can't be greedy though. I'm looking forward to reading 'The Gathering', it won the Man Booker prize a few years back so should be a good read.

Ooh I'm interested in that one, I know some people have found it a difficult read, but it looks intriguing and it's on my wishlist. Look forward to hearing what you make of it.

Ah poor you It's frustrating when you're too busy with work to read. It does interrupt the flow a lot (why do we have to work??? we could be reading!!) I went to the Swindon library today (the North Swindon one at the Orbital retail park) and they had a book-sale on. They were selling fiction books for 10p (or 12 for a �1) and audiobooks for 50p and DVD's for about �1.50. I think it's on tomorrow as well as today, if you have any time to spare and you're not toally overloaded with books. I'm totally overloaded with books but it didn't stop me spending �3 and bringing home two carrier bags full. Hope you're able to get some reading done this weekend and that you can recapture your mojo

I've heard bits of it on 'Oneword' (before it died). I'm interested, but it's so vast I could never devote enough time to it. Maybe later down the line.

You know me too well In my defence I have to say that they were selling their books off remarkably cheap and not all of them are for me. The fiction books were 10p each!!!! and 12 for �1!!! .. madness. The books I bought were The Gathering - Anne Enright Past Imperfect - Julian Fellowes Guernica - Dave Boling The Snow Garden - Christopher Rice The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway The Piano Teacher - Janice Y.K. Lee The Atlas of Impossible Longing - Anuradha Roy Ragtime in Simla - Barbara Cleverly Mudbound - Hillary Jordan The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss Long Spoon Lane - Anne Perry Bleak Midwinter - Peter Millar England, England - Julian Barnes (unabridged Audio) The Eye in the Door - Pat Barker (unabridged Audio) I also got two unabridged audio books for my Dad .. The Pumpkin Rollers - Elmer Kelton (Dad's a cowboy at heart so this was perfect) The Legend of Bagger Vance - Steven Pressfield .. which I'm delighted about as Dad is disabled and can't read anymore but loves listening to audiobooks. Because he has limited mobility he prefers audio cassettes rather than CD's, because CD's always go back to the beginning again so it makes it a faff for him to find his way back to where he left off. Unfortunately, audio cassettes are a dying breed now .. so I was so made up to find these books at 50p each, he'll be delighted. Most of the books weren't on my wishlist/TBR ... but one was recommended to me on here yesterday!! (Patrick Rothfuss) and I got it for 10p. In all I spent �3.00 and hubby carried the bags to the car .. perfect day:) I had the nerve to get out 2 library books too The Wild Things - David Eggers Girl in a Blue Dress - Gaynor Arnold (which apparently is a loosely disguised fictional biography of Charles Dickens's wife). I have no idea how I'm going to find enough time to read them, or where I'm going to put them whilst they wait their turn.

I agree with you, I thought the dialogue and the plotline were terrible. The animation was stunning but the film went on for too long lessening the impact. Titanic had all sorts of problems, some of the CGI wasn't good, parts of the storyline were awful, parts were downright insulting to the original crew members and parts were just ludicrous (like the rude gesture made by Kate as she entered the lift .. as if!) ... but I thought because it was based on a true event, it still had a lot of impact. I couldn't get some of the images out of my head after .. especially of the people in the sea, and the ship going down. It's never quite been bought to the screen as realistically as that before. There's no excuse for Celine Dion though .. that's unforgiveable. I loved the Lord of the Rings, occasionally it was a bit creaky. Those child doubles for the hobbits were very evident at times, and I thought the pile of burnt Orcs looked very much like a pile of latex heads and limbs .. which was exactly what they were (you would think they could've got real Orcs but no .. cheapskates!). On the whole I thought it was fantastic and as near as we're ever going to get to seeing the book come to life. The realisation of Gollum on screen is one of the most fantastic things I've ever seen at the cinema. King Kong was silly though, too long and awful dialogue and overuse of CGI again. I hated Pride & Prejudice, Keira Knightley cannot act, Mr Bennet was not Canadian and what on earth had happened to Longbourn???? I haven't been so affronted since I saw those new style Winnie the Poohs where the Hundred Acre Wood had sprouted waterfalls and canyons. They thought Shepherd would turn in his grave at seeing the animation for the original Disney WTP films ... he'll be dizzy by now.

oh that is a major source of annoyance to me

It's totally irrational, but I do love a nice cover. It will draw me to a book or repel me. I hate the movie/TV tie-in covers, though I probably would buy the Colin Firth wet shirt cover for P&P .. if it existed.

The 'Blandings' books are the one's set in or around Blandings Castle, and they usually involve the fantastic Lord Emsworth and his pet pig ... 'The Empress of Blandings'. There are eleven full novels and nine short stories so not quite as prolific as the Jeeves books but almost. I read the book first and saw the film very shortly afterwards, I think that was the problem, some of the music references were all wrong and stupid things like that annoyed me. Plus, because I'm British, I got annoyed that they had thought it was necessary to change location. Thank God that Spielberg wasn't allowed to change the location of Harry Potter and cast Haley Joel Osment as he wanted to!!! I'm not Daniel's biggest fan but I would've hated that to have happened. He probably wouldn't have cast Alan Rickman or Maggie Smith either (unthinkable!). Hooray for whoever's decision it was to hire somebody else. It's like a British version of 'Saturday Night Fever' .. it would be all wrong! Have you ever seen 'Serendipity' .. it's not particularly rivetting but John Cusack is adorable in it. You want to live here! Because of the World Cup all the shops are full of memorabilia, you can't move for St George's Cross flags. It's ridiculous, Rooney is bound to get injured before we start and we'll probably be home after the group stage. Then all those poor little mugs and fluffy toys will be in the dump bins