poppyshake

I'm intrigued .. how exactly does it all hang together?

Yes, I'm going to read more too .. I enjoyed it immensely

Yes, I will .. I'm interested in what Stephen Fry has to say so I'll definitely look that one up.

Well, I missed it too and only realised the truth of it by reading other people's reviews, the blurb on the back said 'best of all is the ending, quietly revelatory and chilling' .. and I thought well that's odd, I didn't think it revealed anything much more than had already been said and then a few Amazon reviews also mentioned a twist ... such as ... 'In a more conventional ghost story, a bundle of old letters or musty deeds discovered in an attic might cast light on the ancient curse afflicting the house, or some old wrong for which they are being punished. Here there is no such revelation. The Ayres family seem relatively innocent (though the two grown up children admit to having played cruel pranks on the servants). No solution to the mystery is spelled out. Even Faraday confesses himself baffled. And yet, the conclusion is chillingly satisfying - and a startling twist' and this .. 'I was expecting a huge twist at the end and at first I couldn't see one at all. However I would recommend that should you read the book, and I think people should, you might want to re-read the final few chapters as I suddenly saw a huge twist that shocked me a little and actually the very last line alludes to slightly which I then had to re-read. If my second reading and discovery is true then that gave me the chills far more than the ghostly parts of the book did' I did re-read the last two chapters and the penny dropped It is so so subtle, and I would doubt the truth of it if the cover itself hadn't talked about the ending being chilling. But there are clues earlier in the book when Caroline Anyway have another look at it and see what you think.

This sounds like something Jasper Fforde would write about

I don't know if I quite buy it .. I've only seen the Heather Mills episode and so have not really given it a fair chance but Pamela just seemed to be spouting the same old pyscho-babble to me ... stuff that would be obvious even to the novice. I know she's well qualified now but it all seemed a bit sycophantic ... I didn't think I knew anything more about Heather than I previously did .. she wasn't really challenged .. Pamela just kept re-affirming stuff that Heather has been telling us for years. Some of Heather's accounts didn't ring true and yet were not questioned .. maybe that's not the pyschologists job .. but it just meant that we were no nearer knowing her true personality than we were before. Pamela's line of questioning and tone of voice just seemed more like a parody of a pyschologist to me and I was just thinking that if she had seen this programme years ago she would've laughed her head off. Perhaps I should give it another go. I felt uncomfortable watching it though.

'The Little Stranger' by Sarah Waters ... I found it gripping and spooky without being overtly horrific.

I dip in and out of some of the home magazines .. 'Country Living' is one I like, the photography in it is always stunning. I like the 'Sainsbury's Magazine' and always get that if I can, also 'The Radio Times' is a must every week. If 'Muse' or 'Radiohead' are featured then 'Q', 'NME' or 'Kerrang' will come home. I aways get a copy of 'Books Quarterly' from Waterstones whenever there's a new issue. If I like the look of the designs I might buy a cross stitch magazine (but now they're all in plastic covers it's so hard to flick). I usually buy a 'Puzzler Monthly' too. I've just discovered ... I spend too much on magazines.

'The Wrong Boy' by Willy Russell ... hilarious (you don't have to be a fan of 'The Smiths' to enjoy it but it helps). It's a bit sad in places but no more so than Adrian Mole, Raymond is a misunderstood teenager who pours out all his woes and frustrations in letters to his hero Morrissey. Full of Russell's wit as seen previously in his other works 'Educating Rita' and 'Shirley Valentine' etc Also I'd second (or fourth, fifth or sixth) a lot of other recommendations .. PG Wodehouse, Terry Pratchett, Bill Bryson, Jonathon Coe, Nick Hornby and Nancy Mitford.

Ooh thanks for the review Janet .. this is a book that I have on the shelf and am looking forward to reading so I am greatly encouraged by your review.

bless you

aha .. well, if you read it, let me know what it's like. I think it has a fairly complicated plotline to start .. and because I kept putting the book down for lengths of time I always needed to go back to the start again. After doing this about four times I gave up .. but I had less time then, I think I'd get on better with it now (but the book long ago went to the charity shop )

I have it on my TBR pile, but have read so many mixed reviews of both book and film that it doesn't yet inspire me to move it up the pile .. I do have a copy though and so will read it sooner or later and as someone else said, it's best to make up your own mind .. we can't all like the same thing.

Has anyone here read this? Austen fans will know that this is the book that so deliciously frightened Catherine Morland in 'Northanger Abbey' and I did try and read it once (quite a few years ago) but never got further than a few chapters .. I just couldn't seem to get the plotline into my head. I would like to know what dreadful thing is behind the black veil so, is it a book worth persevering with?

I don't know cos I haven't seen it but just watching the clips from the 'BAFTA'S' ... the film 'Precious' made me well up Goodness knows what it'll be like to watch it in it's entirety

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters Waterstone's Synopsis: In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, its owners? mother, son and daughter? struggling to keep pace. But are the Ayreses haunted by something more sinister than a dying way of life? Little does Dr Faraday know how closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his. Review: Given, as I said earlier, that I am a complete scaredy cat when it comes to reading thrillers or horror, I'm impressed that I even considered reading this book And of all the things that scare me the most 'the supernatural' would come top so it was with a bit of trepidation that I began reading One thing I loved about it from the outset was how well she sets up the story. Within a couple of chapters I became really familiar with the doctor, the Ayres family and the crumbling old Hundreds Hall .. and though there were hints at dark things to come I sailed merrily on wanting to know more about them. The author then starts to drip-feed tension .. quite slowly at first (though it wasn't long before I didn't want to be in the house alone when reading it .. but then I am a custard ) but it really ramps up towards the end. There is a huge twist which is so subtlely done that I failed to see it at first even though I had had suspicions regarding it and I had to re-read the last two chapters to fully understand it. Atmospheric, creepy and quite reminiscent of the old gothic style chillers. It probably won't frighten seasoned horror lovers but for those that like to have their spine tingled a little it was great. 9/10

Fine Just the Way It Is - Annie Proulx Waterstone's Synopsis: The fantastic new collection of stories from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain. Fine Just The Way It Is marks Annie Proulx's return to the Wyoming of Brokeback Mountain and the familiar cast of hardy, unsentimental prairie folk. The stories are cast over centuries, and capture the voices and lives of the settlers this sagebrushed and weatherworn country has known, from the native Indian tribes to the modern day ranch owners and politicians, and their cowboy forebears. In 'A Family Man', an old man nearing the end of his life unburdens himself of the weighty family secrets that were his father's unwelcome legacy. 'Them Old Cowboy Songs' follows Archie and Rosie, a young pioneer couple, and their hardships in their attempt to homestead in the exposed wintry expanses of the prairie, and 'Testimony of the Donkey' finds a young international couple, Marc and Caitlin, struggling with much more modern concerns, and confronting uncertainty as their relationship comes to its end. These are stories of desperation and hard times, often marked by an inescapable sadness, set in a landscape both brutal and magnificent. Enlivened by folk tales, flights of fancy, and details of ranch and rural work, they juxtapose Wyoming's traditional character and attitudes -- confrontation of tough problems, prejudice, persistence in the face of difficulty -- with the more benign values of the new west. These are bold, elegant and memorable pieces, and once more confirm Annie Proulx as one of the most talented, unique short story writers in the language. Review: I enjoyed The Shipping News so much that I was really eager to read more from Annie. This is a collection of nine short stories set in Wyoming and for me it was a bit hit and miss. There were several that I really enjoyed but some that I found baffling or boring. Despite being a really bleak tale, I really liked 'Them Old Cowboy Songs' .. a story about Archie and Rosie .. poverty stricken newlywed's trying to start married life in their isolated homestead (it has all the ingredients of a really good country and western song .. initial hope and then absolute misery ) and I also really liked 'The Sagebrush Kid' .. a tale about a childless couple who, after trying unsuccessfully to rear a piglet and a chicken as substitute children, take to pampering a sagebrush with disastrous consequences (the moral of the story being ... don't feed your shrubs on gravy and bits of meat .. or they might get a taste for it ) .. bizarre and macabre. Although I wasn't wild about this collection of stories, I still want to read more of Annie's work because when she does get it right, it's extraordinary. 6/10

The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga Waterstone's Synopsis: Meet Balram Halwai, the 'White Tiger': servant, philosopher, entrepreneur and murderer. Balram, the White Tiger, was born in a backwater village on the River Ganges, the son of a rickshaw-puller. He works in a teashop, crushing coal and wiping tables, but nurses a dream of escape. When he learns that a rich village landlord needs a chauffeur, he takes his opportunity, and is soon on his way to Delhi behind the wheel of a Honda. Amid the cockroaches and call-centres, the 36,000,004 gods, the slums, the shopping malls, and the crippling traffic jams, Balram learns of a new morality at the heart of a new India. Driven by desire to better himself, he comes to see how the Tiger might escape his cage... Review : I found this book to be very readable and on the whole enjoyable. Darkly humourous and unflinching it's a story about Balram .. the son of a rickshaw puller, born into poverty (or the Darkness as he puts it) in India and his determination to leave the slums behind and make something of himself. It's told in a series of letters (or one long letter written over seven nights) to the Chinese premier who is due to visit India imminently .. Balram want's to set the record straight about what India is really like .. the corruption, inequality and crippling poverty .. and he describes in detail his journey from being a poor boy working in the teashop crushing coal to his present position of 'Bangalore entrepreneur'. Balram is endearingly honest, likeable and very witty and it's easy to empathise with him so, it's a real test for the reader when, in order to achieve his goals, Balram does something incredibly evil. This book won the 'Man Booker' prize in 2008 and I'm not sure if it's that extraordinary a read as to warrant it but it is enjoyable, thought provoking, and well written. 7/10

I hope you both enjoy it ... I'm sure you will

I'll miss Bradley

How are you getting on with 'My Booky Wook' Benji? ... I read most of it with my mouth open, I'm not sure I would've admitted to half the stuff Russell admits to, but I really enjoyed it. My Mum borrowed it off me and I wasn't sure how she'd take it but she loved it too. I keep meaning to read his 'Articles of Faith' soon.

Puppet Master - Joanne Owen Waterstone's Synopsis: From riches to rags, Milena is growing up in the city of Prague at the turn of the twentieth century. Her parents' once prosperous theatre lies in disrepair and her life seems to be in ruins, and has been since that fateful night her father died in a tragic accident and Milena's beautiful, talented Mother went missing. No trace of her has been found. But Milena has never lost hope that she will come back. The day she meets the flamboyant Puppet Master and his menacing proteges, the twins Zdenko and Zdenka, under the shadow of Prague's famous Astronomical Clock in the Old Town square is, coincidentally, the date of her mother's birthday. And it's the day Milena's grandmother chooses to reveal to her the story of her ancestors...and of her legacy. Or perhaps it's not such a coincidence. Joanne Owen's debut novel skilfully mingles the legends of Bohemia in a story rich in the traditions of circus, theatre and magic, all set in a city waiting to lay bare a myriad of secrets. Longlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2009 and the Carnegie Medal. Review: Again this is a book written for older children so it was an easy read. Set in nineteenth century Prague and woven through with lots of ancient Bohemian myths and fables .. this felt like reading the old fairy stories/fables that I'd read as a child. When we join the story Milena is living with her Grandmother ... her Father (who runs a puppet theatre) is dead and her Mother missing. A new travelling puppet theatre comes to town .. run by the 'Puppet Master' and his evil twin sidekicks Zdenka and Zdenko. He has evil plans (obviously ) and Milena is the key he needs to put these plans into action. Thankfully, Milena has Aunts who are mistresses of magic (phew) and an ancestry linking her to some of the most powerful women in Prague including the great Queen Libuse. Still, the puppet master is evil, his sidekicks are foul and his marionettes are surprisingly lifelike! I really enjoyed this tale, it's beautifully written and beautifully illustrated .. not in the conventional way but with images on nearly every page .. sometimes drawings and sometimes letters, roomplans .. pages from books .. that kind of thing .. enchanting. 7/10

I think it may be a prequel, anyway Jonathan is currently writing it. http://www.jonathanstroud.com/journal.html I can't wait.

Tales of Terror from the Black Ship - Chris Priestley Waterstone's Synopsis: At the Old Inn, which clings precariously to a cliff top above a storm-lashed ocean, two sick children are left alone while their father fetches the doctor. Then a visitor comes begging for shelter, and so begins a long night of storytelling, in which young Ethan and Cathy, who have an unnatural appetite for stories of a macabre persuasion, sit out the last throes of the storm in the company of a sailor with more than enough grisly tales to satisfy them. But something about this sailor puts Ethan on edge, and he becomes increasingly agitated for his father's return. Only when the storm blows itself out can Ethan relax - but not for long, for the new dawn opens the children's eyes to a truth more shocking, more distressing than anything they heard the night before. Review: This is the sequel to Chris's wonderful Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror which I read last year. Being a bit of a scaredy cat, this book, which is really a childrens book (age range 9-12 approx), is about as scary as I go without needing to leave the light on at night It's a collection of short stories told to two children on a dark stormy night by a stranger who needs shelter from the raging storm outside. As in the previous book, some tales are scarier than others .... 'The Scrimshaw Imp', 'Irezumi' and 'Nature' I found particularly chilling .. and the brilliant 'Wolfsbane' which concluded the tales with an unexpected twist. Some of the stories are more predictable and you can work out what's going to happen pretty easily (but then, it is meant for children) but the whole together make a really chilling and spine tingling collection. I really love David Robert's illustrations that pepper both books. I'm looking forward to reading the paperback edition of Tales of Terror from the Tunnel's Mouth as soon as it is published 8/10

I love singing along to it but it always trips me up before it even gets to the chorus .. fantastic, I love Paolo