poppyshake

I read quite fast normally, maybe two or three books a week. I'm married to a shift worker so I read to fill the time. I never understand how people can read a book a day though .. especially a large book. When I read about people reading the Harry Potter book (the last one) in the space of a few hours, I was just amazed. It was such a tome as well. I don't see the point in speed reading though, surely there's not much enjoyment in that. I could do with reading a book a day, to get my TBR down.

Oh no, another book to put on my wishlist. Thanks for the review Rose Just editing this post to say that I bought the book today at a library sale for 10p!! Thank you so much for recommending it Rose because I never would have noticed it amongst the piles of books otherwise.

Thanks Kylie, I am though .. I never spot anything. I couldn't even work out whodunnit when Noddy was falsely accused of stealing Mrs Fluffy-cats tarts and pies. If you know don't tell me .. it might be a re-read Aww thank you My bank balance is looking critical, and though I fully intended to lob my books in the general direction of the library counter tomorrow, I've just seen on-line that the library is having a 'Giant Bank Holiday Book Sale' this weekend. Surely just having a little look won't hurt!

Yes I fancy 'The City & The City' too, I've not got it yet but it's on my mental TBR. I've got 'Un Lun Dun' by China Mielville, which I must get around to reading soon. It'll be interesting to compare it with Neil Gaiman's 'Neverwhere' as the theme's are similar. Look forward to reading what you make of Perdido Street Station

I really must get around to reading this, I keep meaning to. I haven't read many of the 'Blandings' books ... just 'Heavy Weather', 'Summer Lightning' and 'Uncle Fred in Springtime' but they made me laugh loads, I'll have to look out for 'Full Moon' I loved this book too and was disappointed with the movie .. I like John Cusack, but relocating the plotline to America just didn't work for me and it lost some of it's subtlety. I still bought a copy on DVD though! .. purely for watching John I expect. Somehow Jack Black just irritated me in the film. I liked 'Fever Pitch' the movie for similar reasons ... Colin Firth was in it and I'm a bit of a 'Firthluster'! .. and the whole British guy fixating about football is a scenario I'm familar with. Thankfully I married someone who is more into Formula One than football ... meaning he only spends every other Saturday and Sunday camped out in front of the TV (during the season) and I've only been required to trog off to Silverstone once .. luckily there was so much mud that year that we had to put plastic bags on our feet and have the car towed out of the car park at the end of the day ... we've never attempted it again. Great reviews as always Frankie

Finished Set in Stone by Linda Newbery, it was undemanding but really readable. Started Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh and straight away ... wow!

Set In Stone - Linda Newbery Waterstones Synopsis: When Samuel Godwin, a young and naive art tutor, accepts a job with the Farrow family at their majestic home, little does he expect to come across such a web of secrets and lies. His two tutees are as different as chalk and cheese - the beautiful younger sister Marianne, full of flightiness and nervous imagination, and Juliana, oddly sensible and controlled. Assisted by their elusive governess, Charlotte Agnew, Samuel begins to uncover slowly why Marianne is so emotionally fragile. But his discoveries lead to revenge and betrayal - and lives all around are turned upside down as life and death combat each other for supremacy. Linda Newbery has written a novel in diary style, combining different voices and a different century with her usual brilliance and ease. These are characters full of the same passions as our own today, while living in a less familiar and fascinating time. Review: This book won the Costa Childrens Book of the Year and it's easy to see why (though there are some dark themes so I'm surprised that it's classed as a children's book), it's a real page turner. It's set in 1898 somewhere near the South Downs in a beautiful country mansion named Fourwinds (not a crumbling mansion for a change .. a very beautiful, newly built mansion) and the narrative alternates between Samuel Godwin, a young artist who has been employed as tutor to the two young ladies that live at Fourwinds (Marianne and Juliana) and Charlotte Agnew, their governess and companion. The story begins with Samuel travelling to Fourwinds to take up his post as artist and tutor. Darkness has fallen by the time he arrives, and as he opens the gates to enter the grounds he hears a shrill cry and soon after see's the cloaked figure of a young girl running towards him. She's in great distress and seems to be searching for someone, when Samuel enquires who she is looking for, she eventually answers 'the West Wind ... he must be found, captured and secured'. This young lady turns out to be Marianne, one of his pupils. She's sixteen, very beautiful, passionate and wilful. Her sister Juliana is nineteen, small, delicate and recently returned from convalescence. Samuel learns that their mother is lately dead and their father is doing his best to provide a secure home and proper education for them. Samuel finds that the inhabitants of Fourwinds are hiding some secrets, one involves the sculptures that adorn the house walls. There are three sculptures on three walls, the North Wind, the South Wind and the East Wind, but the West Wind sculpture is missing. Samuel learns that the sculptor was dismissed, as was the girls previous governess, what could the reasons be behind this?. Also it would seem that the girls mother fell to her death from an upstairs balcony, was it an accident? Charlotte, is very prim and proper, she has grown very fond of the girls and is quite jealous of any mention of their former governess. She is hiding some secrets about her own life but like Samuel she is curious to know the answers to some of the mysteries at Fourwinds. Like all good literary characters, instead of minding their own business, they go digging around (seperately) for clues and answers. It's very atmospheric, quite Jane Eyrish (though to compare the writing to Charlotte Bronte would be pushing things a bit) and gothic in style. There's a bit of a nod towards Jane Austen's 'Sense & Sensibility' too with the two girls .. one passionate and wilful (called Marianne), one quiet and serious (though it was only the slightest of nods, a mere incline of the head really). There are twists and turns a plenty including one pretty shocking one which I totally failed to see coming, but then I am a plotline twist-ignoramus. Definitely recommended for young adults (and old adults), but not for children. 8/10

Thanks, Hope you enjoy it too

Jimi Hendrix Shortbread or Digestives?

The Devil and Miss Prym - Paulo Coelho Amazon Synopsis: The Devil and Miss Prym is the conclusion to the trilogy And on the Seventh Day which began with By the River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept and the hugely popular Veronika Decides to Die. Each of the three books focuses on a week in the life of ordinary people faced with a major life-changing force; be it love, death or power, it is Coelho's firm belief that "the profoundest changes take place within a very reduced time frame". Review: This was another choice from the 1001 Books YMRBYD list. I haven't read the others in the trilogy (infact I haven't read anything by Paulo before), but I don't think that was much of a problem because it seems that they are three completely seperate stories albeit linked by a common theme. On the whole I enjoyed it, it's a story about good and evil, temptation and greed. Berta has spent fifteen years sitting outside her front door in the village of Viscos, one day she sees a stranger heading toward the village, but he is not alone, he's accompanied by the Devil. The next day the stranger sets off to the mountains on the east side of the village, and in the surrounding forest he digs two holes not far from one another, in one he hides one gold bar and in the other he hides ten gold bars. As he walks back to the village he see's a young woman, Miss Chantal Prym. He strikes up a conversation with her, she works at the bar of the hotel where he's staying. He tells her that the information that he gave on the form at the hotel is false, and tells her that he want's to show her something, she follows him (clearly she had never seen any of the 'Charley Says' public information films!) back to the site where he hid the single gold bar. He tells her to dig, she does and uncovers the ingot. He takes her to the second site and gets her to dig again ... she uncovers the ten ingots. Why is he showing her this? What does he want from her? He want's to put a proposition to her, he want's her to go back to the village and tell the villagers what she's seen and also tell them that he is willing to hand all the gold over to the inhabitants of Viscos on condition that they do something they would never dream of doing. That they break a commandment. That they commit a murder. He also tempts Chantal to steal the single ingot, thus breaking the comandment "thou shalt not steal". Obviously this throws up all sort of problems for Chantal, she's exhausted thinking about it, she can't function properly. She tries to forget about her conversation with the stranger, she thinks about telling the priest. Her troubled mind veers from one solution to another, she procrastinates, she digs up the single gold bar and looks at it again. But then her hand is forced, the stranger hands her a note requesting a meeting, and Chantal, much stressed and with a gun pointing at her, ends up agreeing to speak to the villagers. It turns out that at one time the stranger believed in being a good man, and abiding by the law, but tragedy struck, and whilst trying to do the right thing, his whole world was destroyed. He has no compassion now, his heart is shrivelled, but he still has some questions that he needs answers to .. 'I want to know if, when Good and Evil are pitted against each other, there is a fraction of a second when Good might prevail'. In the hotel bar that evening, Chantal bangs a fork against a wine glass and ask for silence .. she then repeats the strangers proposition to the villagers. The story from then on in of course is about how the villagers and Chantal respond to that proposition, will they be tempted or will justice and goodness prevail?. I felt the first half of the book was more interesting and the second half fairly predictable. It was thought provoking ... how would we react if tempted, would we always choose the right path, have we all got a price? I did like his writing style and will look out for his other books. 7/10

Thanks Lucy, I hope, if you get around to reading it, you enjoy it too

I've got Possession on my shelf (but I think there is an unwritten rule that you can only read one Byatt per six months, same goes for David Mitchell ) I loved The Earth Hums in B Flat, it was one of my favourite reads last year. I've been thinking, for a long time now, of downloading Stephen Fry reading A Selection of Oscar Wilde's Short Stories at Audible (the combination of Wilde/Fry is too irresistible). I must get around to it. Anyway, good books Noll and not only because I have them/loved them/want them .. although, of course, mainly it is that

As long as it's for the right reasons then that seems like a pretty good recommendation Most books are 'yes-but's' anyway, there's very few 'definitely yes's' out there.

Even though I said I would just 'drop the books and run' ... I bought home another two books from the library The Way Things Look to Me - Roopa Farooki Notes From Underground - Fyodor Dostoevsky

Elephant Keeper - Christopher Nicholson Waterstones Synopsis: 'I asked the sailor what an Elephant looked like; he replied that it was like nothing on earth.' In the middle of the 18th century, a ship docks at Bristol with an extraordinary cargo: two young elephants. Bought by a wealthy landowner, they are taken to his estate in the English countryside. A stable boy, Tom Page, is given the task of caring for them. 'The Elephant Keeper' is Tom's account of his life with the elephants. As the years pass, and as they journey across England, his relationship with the female elephant deepens in a startling manner. Along the way they meet incredulity, distrust and tragedy, and it is only their understanding of each other that keeps them together. Christopher Nicholson's charming and captivating novel explores notions of sexuality and violence, freedom and captivity, and the nature of story-telling -- but most of all it is the study of a profound and remarkable love between an elephant and a human being. Review: I love Elephants, they're probably my favourite wild animal and so I found this book both really enjoyable and incredibly sad in places. Tom Page is a stable boy at Harrington Hall in Somersetshire. When his master buys a couple of Elephants fresh off the boat (or not very fresh actually, they had suffered terribly during the journey) Tom is given the job of looking after them. To most of the other workers the Elephants are creatures to be feared or a curiosity. This is the 18th century and hardly anyone in England has ever even seen a picture of an Elephant, but Tom falls in love with them and with time and patience creates a special bond. He calls them (secretly) Jenny and Timothy and his life begins to revolve entirely around them to the detriment of his relations with his family and his sweetheart Lizzy. Timothy's behaviour gives cause for concern, he is 'on heat' and during this time becomes aggressive and unmanageable, even Tom struggles to pacify him. This along with the financial strain caused by the upkeep of the Elephants and several unfortunate incidents and accidents involving them, leads to Tom's master deciding to sell them both. Unfortunately they are parted, Timothy is sent in a packing crate to Lincolnshire and a few weeks later Jenny is sold to Lord Bidborough in Sussex. Tom is given the choice to either stay at Harrington Hall or accompany Jenny to Sussex. Much to his mother's and Lizzy's dismay, Tom decides to go with Jenny to Sussex. Lizzy's words burn in his ear 'Tom, you cannot tie yourself for ever to an Elephant. You cannot spend the rest of your life caring for an Elephant - You cannot, it is unnatural. She is only an Elephant' .. but Tom is adamant, however much he feels for his family and Lizzy, it is as nothing compared to the love and responsibility he feels towards Jenny. It is Lord Bidborough who asks Tom to write a History of the Elephant (and this we read in the introduction), and after writing a few stilted phrases such as 'the Elephant is, without dispute, the largest creature in the world' and 'Its ears are broad while it's skin is generally grey' Tom decides it would be better if he wrote the history in journal form starting with the day he first met them and bringing it right up to date and adding to it each day (which is in effect what we read for the first half of the book). It's a pretty idyllic life for Tom and Jenny in Sussex but nothing good lasts forever and eventually a series of misfortunes lead to Jenny being sold on again, and again and again. It's at this point that you realise how much Tom's own life has been put on hold and how his devotion to Jenny has cost him a chance of a happy family life himself, or even a stable and settled life (no pun intended). Before he leaves Sussex he enquires after Timothy and he eventually intercepts a letter detailing what happened to the bull Elephant after he left Somersetshire The book gets sadder and sadder, Tom and Jenny end up in London in a badly kept and badly run menagerie, and I found the accounts of the sad, malnourished animals doing tricks or being forced to entertain the meagre crowds almost unbearable. You just keep hoping that something will happen to release them from their misery .. it's torturous reading. Tom is old by now and he worries about what will become of him if he loses Jenny and worries even more about what will become of Jenny if she loses him. It's an easy, undemanding read, though very sad in places. It is a bit patchy, there are times when it rambles on too long and others where you would like a bit more detail. But the lovely way in which it describes the relationship between Tom and Jenny/Timothy makes it a great read, especially if you love Elephant's. 8/10

Spot Judy Garland or Doris Day?

Stephen Fry and Alan Bennett (though they hate the term). Both Victoria Wood and Julie Walters. Judi Dench, David Jason and Delia Smith. Even though we don't hear much from her anymore I must add Kate Bush .. the epitome of creativity, integrity and eccentricity. Who else would use Lenny Henry and Rolf Harris as back-up singers/musicians?. Having said that Rolf is a bit of a national treasure too.

I think being 'out of touch with the times' ought to be celebrated .. it means you're a literary maverick. You'd only leave them on buses if you did buy them I'm happy as long as there are no titles by Katie Price in the list, I found one of them at the library today (not a Katie Price book *shudders*, I know I'm trying to read my five a day but there is a limit) .. and bought it home with me .. The Way Things Look to Me - Roopa Farooki. Sadly I'm definitely a trend follower rather than setter .. if a book has 'Longlisted/Shortlisted for the Orange/Man Booker/Costa Award' on it I'm automatically more interested. I'm beginning to think if they had 'Shortlisted for the Richard Hammond Outstanding Contribution to Literature Award' written on them, I'd think ooh .. that's bound to be good.

Finished The Elephant Keeper and have started on The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho .. interesting so far.

I enjoyed The White Tiger too Kate, I thought it was very clever of Aravind to write a character in who you began to connect and empathise with ... and then have him do something evil. My thoughts and opinions of him were all over the place then.

Yes, I don't even know what it's like but I want to read it already

Like you Kylie, I've read a lot of books about the war (WWII especially), I'm wanting to read Helene Berrs book 'Journal'. I can't say that the books are enjoyable .. especially the true accounts, but you learn a lot from them and it does make you appreciate what they went through and how easy we have it in comparison. Have you ever seen the dramatisation of Anne Frank that was on the BBC last year Kylie? It was excellent, the girl who played Anne was fantastic. I've looked up 'Number the Stars' on my library catalogue and though they have got some books by Lois they haven't got that one yet .. I'll keep checking though. 'Noughts & Crosses' is one I've had my eye on for a while, since it was in the top 100 of the BBC's 'The Big Read' (God, it sounds as if I'm on their payroll .. I'm not, unfortunately!). The library has got a copy so I'll have to get it out at some point. You've reminded me also that I need to read some more Jasper Fforde. I've only read the first one (of the Thursday Next books) and have been meaning to read some more for ages.

Hi Giulia Welcome Home!! Yes, it wasn't what I was expecting at all. I was surprised, but in a good way.

The longlist/shortlist for the Orange Prize for fiction 2010 The Very Thought of You - Rosie Alison (shortlisted) The Rehearsal - Eleanor Catton Savage Lands - Clare Clark Hearts and Minds - Amanda Craig The Way Things Look to Me - Roopa Farooki The Twisted Heart - Rebecca Gowers This is How - M.J. Hyland Small Wars - Sadie Jones The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver (shortlisted) Secret Son - Laila Lalami The Long Song - Andrea Levy Black Water Rising - Attica Locke (shortlisted) The Wilding - Maria McCann Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (shortlisted) Black Mamba Boy - Nadifa Mohamed A Gate at the Stairs - Lorrie Moore (shortlisted) The White Woman on the Green Bicycle - Monique Roffey (shortlisted) The Still Point - Amy Sackville The Help - Kathryn Stockett The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters I've read one (The Little Stranger), am listening to one (The Help), have one on the shelf (Hearts and Minds) and one on my Amazon wishlist (The Very Thought of You). I've heard about Wolf Hall and The Long Song but I don't really know anything about the others. So have you read or got your eye on any of these titles?

A History of the World in 10� Chapters - Julian Barnes Book Blurb: Connecting themes of voyage and discovery, A History of the World in 10� Chapters has become one of Barnes's most studied and talked about novels. The mixture of fictional and historical narratives provides Barnes the opportunity to question our ideas of history, our interpretation of facts, and our search for answers to explain our interaction and placement within the grand scope of history. Review: This is really a collection of short stories, loosely connected by themes such as Noah and his Ark, boats and water in general and woodworm! Most of them are fictionalised accounts of true stories. Most of the stories were really enjoyable. The first one is a humorous retelling of Noah and his journey on the Ark .. from the viewpoint of a stowaway woodworm. The woodworm is not a big fan of Noah or his 'role model' God, and that's putting it mildly. There is a fascinating account of the 'Shipwreck of the Medusa' (1816) which is split into two parts. The first part details how after the ship struck a reef some of the crew built a raft and this was towed by one of the ship's launches. Fearing that they would be overwhelmed by the desperate crew of the raft the launch crew cut the ropes and left the raft adrift in the ocean. What followed is a tale of despair, dissent, fighting, starvation, cannibalism and execution until the few survivors left were eventually rescued. Tucked in between the two parts is a folded book plate which when pulled out reveals a beautiful painting depicting the crew of the raft hailing a tiny boat on the horizon. This painting is by Gericault and is called 'The Raft of the Medusa'. The second part is an account of how catastrophe can be turned into art and Julian attempts to provide answers as to why Gericault chose to paint the raft and it's crew in the way that he did for 'the incident never took place as depicted'. There are stories of a cruise ship beset by terrorists, a bizarre medieval tale about some woodworm which are on trial at a French court (they are accused of infesting the Bishop's throne legs causing the chair to topple and the Bishop to fall into imbecility) which was quite a challenging read and a tale of an astronaut who believed that during his moonwalk, God spoke to him and urged him to find the Ark on Mount Ararat .. he subsequently comes home and sets about raising funds for the trip. On the whole I liked it a lot. Perhaps the title is misleading, this isn't really a history of the world, just a few fictionalised random accounts of historical events and some musings from Julian about love, life and death. It was rewarding and thought provoking though, the sort of book that makes you head straight to 'Google' during and after reading it. 8/10